section 75 counter claim

TonyMMM

The refund from the credit card company doesn't affect any claim the hotel may have. It has just taken the payment you made back from them.

They can still try and claim the cost, or part of it, from you - whether they will bother to issue a small claim if you refuse to pay, and if they did whether they would win, is another matter.

born_again

paul_selby77 wrote: »

Sorry Doam , i did not make it clear ! no , just refunded the once , and the refund is marked "mydispute £198" , this is above the original payment to the hotel on my statement .

You have not had a S75 claim. That is a refund for a chargeback.

One of the dangers of chargeback is if the retailer does not contest. They can use legal means to claim the money back.

If you contact them, ask them why they did not contest the dispute.

unholyangel

waamo wrote: »

That's not a valid letter before claim. Write back to the hotel stating if they intend issuing legal proceedings you want a compliant letter before claim.

Failure to provide one will be pointed out to the court and may invalidate any claim they have.

It may well put them off.

Why on earth would you point out the mistake to them? More often than not, its better to let them have the rope required to hang themselves.

Its also extremely unlikely to invalidate their claim. Usually its only taken into consideration when making an order for costs.

Although I don't believe OP said that it purported to be a notice before claim, so it may just be a request for payment.

waamo

unholyangel wrote: »

Why on earth would you point out the mistake to them? More often than not, its better to let them have the rope required to hang themselves.

Its also extremely unlikely to invalidate their claim. Usually its only taken into consideration when making an order for costs.

Although I don't believe OP said that it purported to be a notice before claim, so it may just be a request for payment.

You've answered your own question there really. It's highly unlikely to get the claim thrown out, possible but unlikely.

If they are aware they are getting it wrong it may just make them think twice about launching a claim. It may not but it isn't going to do any harm realistically especially if they think you know what your doing.

unholyangel

waamo wrote: »

You've answered your own question there really. It's highly unlikely to get the claim thrown out, possible but unlikely.

If they are aware they are getting it wrong it may just make them think twice about launching a claim. It may not but it isn't going to do any harm realistically especially if they think you know what your doing.

Maybe if there's a misunderstanding between the two parties over a fact of the case. But you don't clue them in that their legal claim could be stronger. They don't get a "do-over" in court just because they weren't very good at arguing their claim. Therefore its in your interest for them to go full steam ahead with whatever wrong action they're doing. Rather than making them aware and risking them fine tuning that claim.

OP could also send a cheque (for a sum for the 1 night) with a letter stating that it should only be cashed if they are accepting it as full & final settlement and that the offer is made without prejudice.

waamo

unholyangel wrote: »

Maybe if there's a misunderstanding between the two parties over a fact of the case. But you don't clue them in that their legal claim could be stronger. They don't get a "do-over" in court just because they weren't very good at arguing their claim. Therefore its in your interest for them to go full steam ahead with whatever wrong action they're doing. Rather than making them aware and risking them fine tuning that claim.

OP could also send a cheque (for a sum for the 1 night) with a letter stating that it should only be cashed if they are accepting it as full & final settlement and that the offer is made without prejudice.

I don't think it tells them their legal claim could be stronger, as we both seem to agree it probably won't have a great bearing either way.

In saying that responding or not responding is, imho, not a big issue either way. I'm merely suggesting letting them know you are more clued up than they are sometimes discourages action. On the other hand it may be of no benefit at all if they are determined to plough ahead.

unholyangel

waamo wrote: »

I don't think it tells them their legal claim could be stronger, as we both seem to agree it probably won't have a great bearing either way.

In saying that responding or not responding is, imho, not a big issue either way. I'm merely suggesting letting them know you are more clued up than they are sometimes discourages action. On the other hand it may be of no benefit at all if they are determined to plough ahead.

If it was a LBC/LBA, then I would personally go with the suggestion of cheque & letter. If they don't understand the lack of compliance with CPRs means potential financial detriment to them then they probably don't understand that if they cash the cheque, they forfeit any additional claim....even if it has legal basis.

born_again

paul_selby77 wrote: »

On my credit card statement there is the refund showing the same day as we paid , and we received the money back the end of october - would this be the start of the 60 days they (the hotel) have to dispute the claim ? My other half is panicking a bit with the mention of legal action thats all

Yesterday we received a letter from the hotel stating WE owed them £198 and to pay in full within 7 days.
I spoke to HSBC last night and they have basically said "we got you your money back.....thats our bit sorted"

What should we do next ?

NOTHING...

The hotel can contest the chargeback via Visa or Mastercard.
If you pay them and then they contest the chargeback. They will be £198 better off and you will be EXTRA £198 DOWN.
If you pay and they contest. HSBC will redebit the refund you were given by them (MyDispute)

So sit back, do nothing and wait out the 60 days.

LordSmug

paul_selby77 wrote: »

Sorry if this is in the wrong area - newbie 1st post !

i wont go into too longer story as not to bore , but in a condensed version here goes :

In august the wife booked a 2 night stay at a hotel for her and the daughter .
They checked in , went upto room and were met with a very strong smell of cannabis ( room next door) . She informed the front desk (this was around 3pm)
Her room was unclean , and not as advertised. The hotel was full so could not move rooms.
The culprit was removed by police around 11pm , causing alot of disruption in the hotel.
come breakfast time the food was atrocious , tables and cutlery dirty . They ate out .
The 2 night stay became 1 , and they checked out (had paid full fee £198 upon checking in)
I got intouch with HSBC under section 75 , sent all pictures and info and was awarded a dispute refund in full .
Yesterday we received a letter from the hotel stating WE owed them £198 and to pay in full within 7 days.
I spoke to HSBC last night and they have basically said "we got you your money back.....thats our bit sorted"

What should we do next ?

S75 is not intended to cover buyer remorse.

Your wife (why is it always someone other than the directly affected party that signs up to MSE to ask a question? :huh:) booked a 2 night stay in a hotel.

She stayed the first night (so would be considered to have accepted the contract formed), and then opted to leave.

She needs to refer to the booking terms, but it sounds like an advance booking and payment, as opposed to a conventional hotel booking that is settled on departure.

As your wife seems to have soemhow recovered the fee paid via the credit card company, rather than dealing with any complaint directly with the hotel, I'm afraid he hotel is still owed the money due under the contract.

Are you prepared to go to court? As I suspect the hotel are willing to file a claim if push comes to shove.

LordSmug

davidmcn wrote: »

I doubt the hotel is going to bother with legal action for £198, especially if there's a high chance they'd lose. It would cost them more than that to send a lawyer to court for them.

Whilst the sentiments of your post are often well received on sites such as this, I very much doubt your thoughts are correct.

Small claims do not usually cover legal costs.
So either the hotel will not bother to employ a lawyer as one is not required. The hotel can file a claim online, like anyone else, for the £198 owed for £25 (and that will be added to the claim)

Or else the company, especially if large, will simply hand it over to their legal team and ignore the cost. It'll be covered by their budgetted overheads.

Think about it, if companies were to routinely ignore claims for £200 or less, it wouldn;t take long for some less moral characters to soon cotton on and take £200 from such companies on a daily basis. £1k per week, £52k per year, all tax free, and for hardly any effort.

It's not the way any the world works, sorry.