Lastminute.com only offering vouchers for refunds

Life__Goes__On

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AnnoyedFeet said:

Thanks for the assistance. On checking our credit card bill, Lastminute split the charges when we booked into a payment to them for the flights and a payment to the hotel for the accommodation, although our booking (ie contract of supply) was directly with lastminute. I suspect the credit card option could then be more difficult.
When is a package holiday a package holiday (legally covered) and when is it not???
 customercare@lastminute.com have replied that they will investigate and I will share the outcome as I assume this would impact a great many others who booked Flight+Hotel.

I believe they have a duty to tell you that is what is being done at the time of booking.
If you are led to believe  you booked a package holiday, then the Ombudsman  would class it  as such.

Butts

Has anyone got any positive experiences in obtaining a refund from Last Minute.com during the current pandemic ?
I only ask as from what I can ascertain from this and other sites the answer would seem to be no.
As I have alluded to before I only paid a £400 deposit for my USA Flights/Hotel Holiday to Florida for August this year. The balance of 3.7k is due in July.

I wondered if anyone else is in a similar predicament with LM, and if so are you going to throw a large  wedge to them in the forlorn hope of your trip still going ahead or a protracted battle to get a refund. Even Which are advising people to think carefully in these circumstances about writing it off and have criticised LM for being uncontactable

If my booking was with TUI or BA direct I wouldn't hesitate in handing the money over, as they seem to be acting in a far more honourable manner albeit with delays.

As a precautionary measure I have replaced the Credit Card I paid the deposit with and the one they have on record to prevent any "cash grab". The original transaction was not a "recurring payment" but just wanted to be on the safe side. It was an unfortunate coincidence (for LM) I "lost" the card while all this was going on.

Butts

Life__Goes__On said:

"

AnnoyedFeet said:

Thanks for the assistance. On checking our credit card bill, Lastminute split the charges when we booked into a payment to them for the flights and a payment to the hotel for the accommodation, although our booking (ie contract of supply) was directly with lastminute. I suspect the credit card option could then be more difficult.
When is a package holiday a package holiday (legally covered) and when is it not???
 customercare@lastminute.com have replied that they will investigate and I will share the outcome as I assume this would impact a great many others who booked Flight+Hotel.

I believe they have a duty to tell you that is what is being done at the time of booking.
If you are led to believe  you booked a package holiday, then the Ombudsman  would class it  as such.

Did you get an ATOL Certificate when you booked ? - I did with my USA Flight/Hotel booking with them.

AnnoyedFeet

Butts said:

Life__Goes__On said:

"

AnnoyedFeet said:

Thanks for the assistance. On checking our credit card bill, Lastminute split the charges when we booked into a payment to them for the flights and a payment to the hotel for the accommodation, although our booking (ie contract of supply) was directly with lastminute. I suspect the credit card option could then be more difficult.
When is a package holiday a package holiday (legally covered) and when is it not???
 customercare@lastminute.com have replied that they will investigate and I will share the outcome as I assume this would impact a great many others who booked Flight+Hotel.

I believe they have a duty to tell you that is what is being done at the time of booking.
If you are led to believe  you booked a package holiday, then the Ombudsman  would class it  as such.

Did you get an ATOL Certificate when you booked ? - I did with my USA Flight/Hotel booking with them.

re ATOL - Yes we did, and it lists the full cost of the 'package holiday'. However we can now see right at the bottom, it states that the ATOL protected part is valued as the price of the flights only. 
It's looking more and more likely our Flights+Hotel was not a 'package holiday' at all (unknown to us).
We cant be the only ones in this position surely.

foofi22

AnnoyedFeet said:

Butts said:

Life__Goes__On said:

"

AnnoyedFeet said:

Thanks for the assistance. On checking our credit card bill, Lastminute split the charges when we booked into a payment to them for the flights and a payment to the hotel for the accommodation, although our booking (ie contract of supply) was directly with lastminute. I suspect the credit card option could then be more difficult.
When is a package holiday a package holiday (legally covered) and when is it not???
 customercare@lastminute.com have replied that they will investigate and I will share the outcome as I assume this would impact a great many others who booked Flight+Hotel.

I believe they have a duty to tell you that is what is being done at the time of booking.
If you are led to believe  you booked a package holiday, then the Ombudsman  would class it  as such.

Did you get an ATOL Certificate when you booked ? - I did with my USA Flight/Hotel booking with them.

re ATOL - Yes we did, and it lists the full cost of the 'package holiday'. However we can now see right at the bottom, it states that the ATOL protected part is valued as the price of the flights only. 
It's looking more and more likely our Flights+Hotel was not a 'package holiday' at all (unknown to us).
We cant be the only ones in this position surely.

We booked a Flight+Hotel "package" for travel at the end of May (it's not been cancelled yet)
Lastminute gave a single price for the package but two payments have been taken -  one of them is directly to the hotel.  We had a no-cancellation room booking.

Our ATOL certificate says only the flight portion is protected and it says "Package (Multi-Contract)".  This probably makes no difference but we remember it said "ATOL Protected" on the hotel image (i.e. implying the hotel is ATOL protected too - even though now it apparently isn't).

The General Terms included with the email say:
-----
A package holiday is defined as follows: A package holiday is an all-inclusive trip or holiday, resulting from the pre-set combination of at least two of the following services, which are sold or offered for sale at a lump-sum price and which last more than 24 hours or a period of time that includes at least one night:
• transportation;
• accommodation;
....
So it seems as a Flight+Hotel is a package, but then again who knows.

Also just had a quick look at their website (where putting in dates/destination etc) it says "ATOL protected Relax.... your flight + hotel package is covered" - obviously except where it is not!

Reallyclueless

I’m in a similar position, paid £3K to go to America in June to celebrate buying my first house (which hasn’t been able to complete due to CoVid19).
BA said flight was cancelled and last minute said I can’t have a refund only a credit voucher. Really upset tbh 

Life__Goes__On

foofi22 said:

We booked a Flight+Hotel "package" for travel at the end of May (it's not been cancelled yet)
Lastminute gave a single price for the package but two payments have been taken -  one of them is directly to the hotel.  We had a no-cancellation room booking.

To me it sounds like LM are mis-selling package holidays.
A customer believes they have a package holiday, but LM charges it in a different way without the customers consent.

Life__Goes__On

Reallyclueless said:

I’m in a similar position, paid £3K to go to America in June to celebrate buying my first house (which hasn’t been able to complete due to CoVid19).
BA said flight was cancelled and last minute said I can’t have a refund only a credit voucher. Really upset tbh 

Totally rubbish
If cancelled you are due a cash refund (LM can deduct their fees from that, as long as they are fair)

Kashter

I was due a hotel stay at the beginning of April. As the flights were cancelled, I cancelled and Ive been chasing a refund since March. I have been told over the phone that my refund will be processed, but they didnt know when. After 2 months of being told this, I asked my credit card company what they can do. Theyve initiated a dispute and have credited the amount back to me, but warned that I would need to pay the amount back if I lose the dispute, which could take months.

By comolete coincidence, I came off the phone to a new email from last minute.com offering me three options - credit note (12 months), voucher (12 months) and full refund.

Having read the t&cs, the full refund will be subject to the hotel's covid policy and may even include the hotel giving me a vocher. At this point I would need to deal with them. The t&cs for the credit note are that I can use it for all flights or hotels bookings on lastminute.com and I can get a full refund if I dont use it in 6 months, which sounds a little too good to be true.

Life__Goes__On

Kashter said:

I was due a hotel stay at the beginning of April. As the flights were cancelled, I cancelled and Ive been chasing a refund since March. I have been told over the phone that my refund will be processed, but they didnt know when. After 2 months of being told this, I asked my credit card company what they can do. Theyve initiated a dispute and have credited the amount back to me, but warned that I would need to pay the amount back if I lose the dispute, which could take months.

By comolete coincidence, I came off the phone to a new email from last minute.com offering me three options - credit note (12 months), voucher (12 months) and full refund.

Having read the t&cs, the full refund will be subject to the hotel's covid policy and may even include the hotel giving me a vocher. At this point I would need to deal with them. The t&cs for the credit note are that I can use it for all flights or hotels bookings on lastminute.com and I can get a full refund if I dont use it in 6 months, which sounds a little too good to be true.

Where was the hotel?