Chargeback from Barclays due to Thomas cook

Oli_0707

My 1st ever post. Sorry if in the wrong place. But I’m so annoyed, with myself.
I stupidly got flight only tickets on a debit card for August 2020. Now Barclays are saying I have to wait until 15 days after when the flight would be before they will let me claim for a chargeback. So I have to wait until September next year. They said because the service I paid for has not been and gone yet and not guaranteed it’s cancelled as no one can tell until that time. Does this sound right. If I wait for chargeback next year there will be no Thomas cool bank account to chargeback from lol.
Last night I have applied and successful for my 1st credit card. I have learnt a huge lesson by this.
Thanks guys. Appreciate any help.

sal_III

What Barclays have said makes sense, in normal situations. There might be some special rules/conditions around Tomas Cook, given the scale of the impact, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Do you have travel insurance and if so does it cover provider insolvency?

spiro

Try looking here for the latest info - https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/09/thomas-cook-seeking-p200m-extra-funding-/?_ga=2.224687772.787334478.1568453808-1285482808.1484295648

18cc

I would go back to Barclays and tell them that you have to claim a chargeback within 120 Days of 'realising there is a problem'

Tell them that you can't think why and maybe you are being silly but you think there is a problem with Thomas Cook...

Oli_0707

Thanks everyone. Checked insurance and it doesn’t cover the travel operator going out of business. Like most normal covers I think.
I’ll speak to Barclays again but I think I’ll have to put the loss down to my silly ness and ignorance from using a debit card for large purchases.

cloud_dog

Point them at the Thomas Cook website, it clearly states that as of 23 September any future travel bookings have been cancelled.

born_again

18cc wrote: »

I would go back to Barclays and tell them that you have to claim a chargeback within 120 Days of 'realising there is a problem'

Tell them that you can't think why and maybe you are being silly but you think there is a problem with Thomas Cook...

In effect if they do it now it could fail due to being too early, as they do need to wait till after the event.
TC is a very fluid situation at the moment and things will change.
What the OP needs to do is get proof that will not be getting the flights and go back to Barclays.
I would wait a couple of weeks before doing this. Reason being that banks and Visa/Mastercard will be looking at this and may/will take a stance that ALL future events can be actioned straight away. This is how it has worked with other major travel companies going bust.

System

The statement from the merchant saying that they aren't going to honour the transaction is sufficient to initiate a chargeback and given that they aren't going to dispute it, I would hazard a guess of it's success.

For what it's worth, if the merchant isn't around to chargeback then their card processor (usually their bank) has to absorb the loss - such as Bank of Scotland with the Farepak collapse.

18cc

The Civil Aviation Authority: 'If you are due to depart from a UK airport with Thomas Cook Airlines, please do not travel to your UK airport as your flight will not be operating and you will not be able to travel.'


Could not be clearer. Everything is cancelled.

badger09

Several threads here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Terry_Towelling

Have you actually got the flight tickets? If so, just contact the airline to check the status of your booking. I had thought (yes, my knowledge is out of date) that where flight tickets had been issued, the airline (if still solvent) had to honour them. I am (obviously) assuming the airline is not actually Thomas Cook and therefore there is no suggestion that they will become insolvent or unable to provide the flights.

Happy to be corrected by anyone on the subject of flight tickets having to be honoured once actually issued, when bought via a travel agent that has gone under, regardless of whether they passed the funds to the airline or not.