SunWeb offering vouchers instead of refund

HelenaChappell

Does anyone have any experience or advice as to how I can legally recover a refund from Sunweb?  I spent £4,700 on a ski holiday which has been cancelled.  I have been issued a voucher - which I stated I did not want - and like everyone I have been refused a refund.  As I understand it, currently they are illegally witholding the refund as it contravenes the Package Travel Directive as well as their own terms and conditions.  Is this something that could be successfully recovered through small claims court.  If anyone has any legal insight it would really helpful to share.  I think many people are nervous about incurring significant legal costs to recover their money so any clarity on how to go about this and the likely outcome would be much appreciated.

Most concerning with Sunweb is their lack of transparency.  The terms of the ABTA official RCN state that you can get a refund after July 31st.  Sunweb are sending emails to individual customers that are demanding a refund option stating that their 'Corona voucher' can be converted into a refund request after 6 months (so later than 31 July), and then they want 3 further months to give the refund.  So, for a holiday booked for April, you will be lucky to get a refund before the end of the 2020.   In addition, the terms and conditions for the voucher on their website state that there is NO refund option - this is the official document on the Voucher Ts and Cs - so how can the individual emails carry any legal weight? 

Any advice on the above would I'm sure really help those of us stuck in this awful situation. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Small claims court action costs relatively little in the context of your claim. And if you win, I think most if not all of the fees are returned. Worth considering but be warned that it will take many months because there is already a backlog and there will be an influx of claims when things start up again. 

Browntoa

BBC news travel expert this morning said the opposite 

" They should comply but it's very unlikely that they will take action against members not complying " 

mattg4321

Had another email from Sunweb that muddies the water further. Goes against the terms and conditions on Sunweb website for the refund credit note (seems like they're slowly moving towards the ABTA position by dropping the term 'corona voucher') which states 6 months before cash refund, then further 3 months for payment. I believe this starts from 31st May when credit note is officially dated.

Email below:

Thank you for your email, hope you are keeping safe and healthy during these unprecedented times.

Just wanted to touch base with you regarding your question about ABTA's current statement, specifically the section that mentions that you are entitled to a Cash Refund if the Refund Credit Note has not been used on or before the 31st of July 2020. In line with this, we would like to inform you that we will continue to review advice offered by ABTA, and monitor the ongoing global situation.

You can start your process for requesting your refund from the 1st of August 2020 onwards.

Once we receive the request, the team responsible for this will look into it and contact you with further information. Do keep in mind, that we will be receiving a lot of requests from that period so it might take a little longer for us to respond. 

We would like to thank you once again for your patience and understanding. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any further questions.

Kind regards,

So do I believe this email, or their website terms and conditions linked to when the 'voucher' was sent? What a shambles. Anyone else been told 1st August? I'd be happy with that, but the email doesn't specify when to expect to receive the cash. Deliberately vague.

mattg4321

Browntoa said:

BBC news travel expert this morning said the opposite 

" They should comply but it's very unlikely that they will take action against members not complying " 

Rubbish. ABTA chief executive on BBC Breakfast TV at 0751 this morning said completely the opposite.

"We will make sure that ABTA members follow that rule" (To give a cash refund)

"We will take action against our members" (If they claim customer is not due a cash refund)

I have a video to prove it - unfortunately I can't post links here yet.

mea2000

New update on Sunweb site on the vouchers. Looks like they are softening their position a bit. Probably ABTA leaning on them now.
https://www.sunweb.co.uk/ski/faq/questions/79243/information-regarding-the-refund-credit-notes-updated-1442020

desklamp

It maybe worth commenting about Sunweb here:
https://www.coronavirus-business-complaint.service.gov.uk/

Alan_Bowen

Desklamp, the UK government can only take action against UK based companies and Sunweb is based in The Netherlands who have already changed their laws to avoid the issue of refunds. The only enforcement can be the voluntary actions of ABTA which may or may not be having an effect

Life__Goes__On

Alan_Bowen said:

Desklamp, the UK government can only take action against UK based companies and Sunweb is based in The Netherlands who have already changed their laws to avoid the issue of refunds. The only enforcement can be the voluntary actions of ABTA which may or may not be having an effect

Sunweb UK falls under English law, (in their T&Cs)

Link: https://www.sunweb.co.uk/ski/faq/questions/73428/general-terms-and-conditions-sunweb-holidays

desklamp

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07306909