SunWeb offering vouchers instead of refund

Life__Goes__On

"You do have the right to refuse the Refund Credit Note according to the guidelines set by ABTA"

I have been banging on with this issue from day 1, it is so important to counter the "they gave you vouchers so that the refund"
Also what ABTA advise is irreverent, they have no legal standing
It s good that they are finally advising the retailers to follow the legal requirements,  but this should have been done from the start

desklamp

I totally agree!

gegenmike

Since I started this thread, unfortunately it seems there are so many in the same unhappy situation.  I really appreciate all the comments and advice here.  I have now raised a complaint with ABTA abta.com/help-and-complaints/customer-support/register-a-complaint.  Feel free to follow suit if desired.  I'll post the results within the advised 28 days.

bennwood85

Update for those interested. I've received the below email from Sunweb and a separate update from ABTA.
Sunweb:

Dear Benn,
On behalf of everyone at Sunweb, we hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
Firstly, I would like to apologise. In our hurry to reach out to you and our many other customers quickly, the original email you received regarding your Refund Credit Note was incorrect.
I hope you can appreciate that this is an unprecedented and rapidly changing situation. We have been doing our utmost to help ensure the safety of our customers and staff. Whilst also trying to answer questions and reassure you and our many other disappointed customers who have had their holiday plans thwarted by this pandemic. 
Over the last few weeks, our teams have repatriated thousands of our customers whose holidays were cut short at a moment’s notice.  At the same time, we have had to adapt our own working practices to ensure that we are complying with the different government restrictions and advice introduced across all the countries in which we operate.
We endeavour to follow local and international government and trade body advice at all times, including the UK travel association ABTA. However, these organisations are also reacting to the current situation with changes to their advice occurring on almost a daily basis. We are very sorry for the situation this has caused, resulting in information being miscommunicated to you. I’d like to apologise for this and I can understand how frustrating this must be for you.
We would, therefore, like to clarify a couple of points. 
Firstly, your original holiday, as booked including flights, was always protected by SGR. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, regretfully your holiday was cancelled and you were issued a Refund Credit Note (RCN). We initially referred to this as a voucher, but in line with UK industry guidance, we have amended the name of this document to RCN. Your Refund Credit Note is still, protected by SGR.
SGR is the company which Sunweb works with to financially protect our flight-inclusive holidays. This protection ensures that you don't lose the money you paid out and in the highly unlikely event that Sunweb ceases trading, the scheme protects you either if you have booked a holiday or hold an unused Refund Credit Note. You can read all the terms and conditions of your SGR financially protected Refund Credit Note here.
Secondly, you are entitled to a cash refund before the expiry date of your Refund Credit Note.
Your SGR financially-protected Refund Credit Note must be redeemed within one year following the issue date. If you are unable to find and book a suitable holiday within one year, you can request a refund from Sunweb. Any cash refund will be transferred by the expiry date.
Based on the EU Package Travel Directive, customers have the right to request a full cash refund to be paid within 14 days of the cancellation date where a holiday is cancelled as a result of “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances”. However, as organisations like Sunweb are waiting on refunds from their suppliers and do not have the cash to immediately provide these refunds, an alternative solution has been found by offering customers the financially protected Refund Credit Note. You do have the right to refuse the Refund Credit Note according to the guidelines set by ABTA. If you do this, you will no longer be financially protected and we will refund you as soon as possible, however, due to the exceptional circumstances and volume of cases the time limit will currently exceed the 14-day window.
 
Please find below the details of your Refund Credit Note.
***I've omitted personal details in this it*** 
I do understand that with these changes you may have questions about your Refund Credit Note. Therefore please take a look
at our FAQS which includes the most up to date information. Or our website page dedicated to Refund Credit Notes here.
I hope that we can help you enjoy and create some great memories again in the future. Until then, I wanted to say thank you for your support and understanding. Stay safe and healthy.
 
Kind Regards, 
Sunweb Group

ABTA:

07/05/2020

If you booked a flight inclusive package with Sunweb then you are protected by SGR (instead of ATOL) SGR are the Dutch version of ATOL but act In the same way.So if you accept an RCN it will be underwritten by SGR and your money will be financially protected.

-----------------------------------------------------------
This to me sounds like are implying that there is no cover from ABTA or ATOL for Sunweb customers in the UK? Also does not clarify their view on whether we would be financially covered in the event that we refuse the RCN by requesting a refund.

 

desklamp

It is a shame they don’t send a letter out to all their customers like that to clarify their position, considering the number of times they have changed the terms on the voucher/RCN.

In answer to your question, and having read the terms of the Sunweb RCN, and having written to SGR; I believe the Sunweb RCN is not covered by ABTA or ATOL, and if the RCN is refused by way of asking for a cash refund, SGR will NOT protect that refund in the event of Sunweb going bust.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Below is the text of the letter from SGR (I have underlined the section related to a cash refund):

The validity/value of the SGR voucher will expire after the end date.

Before the end date - stated on the SGR voucher - a new trip must be booked, but the departure date may be after that date. If there is financial incapacity of the SGR participant, and the SGR voucher has not been redeemed before the expiry date, SGR will refund the value of the voucher to you.

If there is financial inability of the SGR participant concerned, and a (re) booked trip has yet to take place, then SGR also guarantees the prepaid travel money in accordance with the guarantee scheme.

It has been agreed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets that you can claim back the prepaid travel money from the (travel) organization 6 months after the issue of the SGR voucher. The agreement with SGR is hereby dissolved. The (travel) organization is responsible for the payment of the prepaid travel money. This also means that if this (travel) organization unexpectedly finds itself in a position of financial inability, and you have not yet received a refund, SGR will not cover these costs for you.

julijaishere

Hello everyone,

We're a group of 7 based in UK and bought a ski holiday for £5k. We paid through debit card in chunks and can't claim money through our bank as it's been more than 120 days since the purchase. 

Is anyone here a lawyer? Should we hire one and take Sunweb to a Small Claims Court? I'm really lost here.

Thanks

Life__Goes__On

julijaishere said:

Hello everyone,

We're a group of 7 based in UK and bought a ski holiday for £5k. We paid through debit card in chunks and can't claim money through our bank as it's been more than 120 days since the purchase. 

Is anyone here a lawyer? Should we hire one and take Sunweb to a Small Claims Court? I'm really lost here.

Thanks

You can claim via debit card,  as the time starts from when the trouble first occurred,  not the date of purchase 

desklamp

While pursuing various avenues to get my money back from Sunweb, I also lodged a complaint with ABTA on various issues; from the initial refund refusals, through to the numerous retrospective changes of conditions made by Sunweb on their voucher/RCN, as well as the total lack of response by Sunweb  to my emails, and the fact that any financial protection is removed the second you ask Sunweb for a cash refund.

Very quickly I started to give up on ABTA, as they tried to respond to the complaints with their own standard generic response, however ABTA then wrote and said,

” We've asked the company [Sunweb] for a response within the next 21 days (if not sooner) and should we not hear from them we’ll take steps to ensure our Code of Conduct is enforced.”

Funnily enough Sunweb is treating its trade association like its customers and 4 weeks later they have failed to respond even to ABTA. I am interested to see if ABTA are good to their word and ensure the “Code of Conduct is enforced.”

I am not holding my breath.

Life__Goes__On

desklamp said:

” We've asked the company [Sunweb] for a response within the next 21 days (if not sooner) and should we not hear from them we’ll take steps to ensure our Code of Conduct is enforced.”

I've seen that standard e-mail form ABTA a few times on here, just with different companies.

gegenmike

Wondering if anyone has had any joy what-so-ever with SunWeb?