Scammed? Need to cancel travel package paid for off site

paula.paula13

Hi all, I hope that someone has specialist knowledge re the cancellation of travel contracts. I spend a lot of time helping people with consumer rights disputes so am familiar with the law, but it appears the 14 day cooling off period does not apply to travel packages. So I need further help if possible please!

This is for me, not someone I'm helping. My husband went to a charity auction last week. He was not aware that the auction was being run by a commercial trader - they create "prizes" then give the difference between their fees and what the bidder "bids" to the charity. So, as far as I can tell, normal consumer laws apply. This can't be considered a charity donation.

I've been ill a lot this year and that afternoon I'd said to my husband it would be great to go to New York for Christmas, but we laughed at the thought of the price! That evening he went to an event where a "charity auction" was held. One of the items was a "three night New York Christmas getaway with Broadway tickets." There was no doubt in my husbands mind that this package included flights. The reserve price to indicate it's value was £2200.

Bids were in sealed envelopes, not via an auction. During the evening, a woman came to my husbands table and told him he was the winning bid of £3075. There was no conversation, it was very noisy. She asked him to sign a pad and took payment via a hand held card machine.
He believed all the money was going to the charity and that we were getting the NY trip in return.

No further info was given on the night. The A4 pad was titled "promissory note for auction lots" He paid in full on his Visa debit card. The T&C's were hidden from him inside the carbon copy pad used. He was handed them with the Visa receipt but not even told they were there (on the back of the form.) The paperwork just says "New York Christmas getaway" £3075. He was told further info would be sent in the post.

Today the info arrived by post. It lists what the "3 night NY city Christmas getaway with Broadway tickets" includes, then states "flights and transfers are not included." The trip is actually just 3 nights B&B in a standard 4* hotel room. Plus tickets to a Broadway show.

I'm preparing a letter outlining our concerns and saying we wish to exercise our right to cancel within 14 days. However, I don't usually deal with travel disputes and I'm not sure what laws I should be referring to?

I originally thought there had been a misunderstanding but then in the T&C's on the back of the "promissory note" I found this:

“As the contract between us is made on the premises, a cooling off period does not apply" This stood out to me as a trader who is trying to get around the law and who is unlikely to comply with our request for a refund without legal proceedings. The contract was signed at a hotel nowhere near the traders premises.

Can anyone help please?

bris

If the T&C's were on the carbon pad then they were there for him to read, not reading before paying and signing is a common mistake people often make.
Cooling off period don't apply to Hotels and entertainment so you won't get anywhere with that.


Your only hope is that you can prove the flights were included, that's prove not just assume. Maybe other people who bid for it could also state this?

paula.paula13

Thanks. They were hidden inside, behind the carbon. He was simply handed the pad to sign at his table for the "lot"
There was nothing to indicate further T&C's were behind it and he wasn't given the T&C's until after he paid.

The T&C's are not the issue really. He was misled re what the package included. Putting a reserve of £2200 on 3 nights B&B made sure he never doubted flights were included.

gettingtheresometime

I'm wondering if the reserve was applied so that a sizeable donation would be made to the charity so could be used in the future by the auction organisers

paula.paula13

Probably, however on the night it wasnt even clear that the auction was not an auction! We've been to genuine ones before where the prizes have been donated and all the proceeds go to the charity. We only discovered this was a different business model when I googled the company name on the bottom of the paperwork the next day.

It seems like there's been a deliberate attempt to mislead re what the "lot" contained.

born_again

paula.paula13 wrote: »

He was misled re what the package included. Putting a reserve of £2200 on 3 nights B&B made sure he never doubted flights were included.

Did they say the flights were included?
The fact the bid had to be more than £2.200 means nothing.

If in doubt, check....

Perhaps name the company so other people can be aware....

paula.paula13

It was in a leaflet on the tables. The way it's described makes it seem like flights are included eg
"fabulous 3 night break"
"New York Christmas getaway"

It's actually 3 nights B&B in a hotel with show tickets. He never asked about flights because he was sure it was an all inclusive trip, apart from paying for food while there.

gettingtheresometime

Presumably whoever organised the evening was aware & happy with the arrangement....sounds a bit like those overseas charity events where the participants have to raise so much but only a fraction of that actually goes to the charity.

Aylesbury_Duck

paula.paula13 wrote: »

It was in a leaflet on the tables. The way it's described makes it seem like flights are included eg
"fabulous 3 night break"
"New York Christmas getaway"

It's actually 3 nights B&B in a hotel with show tickets. He never asked about flights because he was sure it was an all inclusive trip, apart from paying for food while there.

I'm sorry to say that even though the reserve price would have led me to believe that flights were included, if the leaflet didn't specify the exact make-up of the lot, it's down to the bidders to check before bidding. How can he have been sure flights were included? Was it described by the auctioneer as such, for example?

paula.paula13

He says it wasn't verbally described, it wasn't a bidding auction. It was a written description on the table. He's not daft and he wasn't drunk! He genuinely thought flights were included and I can see why from the way it's written up in today's information.
He was told that further info would be sent in the post, no written info was available to take away.

Aylesbury_Duck

I think all you can do is set out your reasons for wanting to cancel in a letter and see what the company says. I can't see that any laws have been broken because he willingly handed over £3075 based on the information provided, even paying on the spot without checking what he was buying, but IANAL and there may be others with a different view.

Assuming the company rejects your request, your next course of action would be small claims, but you'd need to have sufficient information to show he was deceived.

Can you not get affordable flights and actually go? To be frank, if your husband was willing to bid fairly impulsively, and pay £3075 immediately, it suggests that finding another few hundred quid for flights is doable.