SunWeb offering vouchers instead of refund

HelenaChappell

I also launched a Small Claims Court bid - my holiday was £4,664 so I submitted a claim to also include the interest which was £91.  Sunweb's solicitors got in touch very quickly and settled the claim in full which was the holiday cost , plus £185 claim fee, plus the £91 interest.  The claim was settled on condition that I stop court action and sign the consent form.  I received my refund within 2 weeks.  I would recommend to anyone to follow this action, especially those with holidays including flights with the SGR cover due to the claims they are making abour removing financial protection.  the solicitors will try to push the refund payment date out but you can negotiate this back to 2 weeks as I did.  Good luck to everyone! 

desklamp

I have my money back, but no thanks to Sunweb. The total time it taken has been 4 months.

The route I have pursued has been via my credit card company. Initially I claimed the money under Section 75. I heard nothing from the credit card company, and then after about 8 weeks they requested a lot of information that I had previously submitted. I was concerned that they were deliberately delaying, so I made a formal complaint against the credit card company, via the CEO. From then on, and to their credit, they responded quickly, first by apologising and then admitting to an administrative error. What benefited me was that they gave me a named contact to deal with the case. Almost straight away a chargeback against Sunweb was agreed to.

Initially I was slightly annoyed as I had wanted to take action under Section 75, however as recommended by this site, it seems that a chargeback is probably the best way forward as it is more palatable for the credit card company business wise; as it does not cost them anything and they are not then held jointly liable. I agreed that I would proceed with the chargeback on the understanding that if it was subsequently challenged by Sunweb, I would reissue the Section 75 claim. This they agreed to, however I could see no legitimate way that Sunweb could claim that the chargeback was unjustified. The only problem was I then had to wait 45 days to see if Sunweb appealed. Sensibly they did not, so the money is now back with me.

For those who paid by credit card or bank card I would recommend the chargeback route, especially if you can provide a good deal of information on the communications you have had with Sunweb and their responses or lack thereof. Remember the money you paid them is rightfully yours.

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I feel Sunweb have scored a massive own goal. We have used them before and found their service good. However the truly arrogant way that they have steamrollered their customers is a disgrace. From refusing refunds, to finally admitting refunds needed to be paid, but resolutely refusing to give any timescale to those refunds. I would be interested to know if anyone has directly received money back from them.

I understand that in the beginning refunding may have been tough, the PTR 14 day refund window, undoubtedly, is difficult to meet; but at the very least Sunweb should have been open about when refunds would have been processed and paid, and that fact a refund was rightfully due from the outset. Instead their policy seems to be refuse then admit and then avoid.

I am sure that some customers would have happily hung onto their “Corona Vouchers”, but with the general air of mistrust that Sunweb generated, those customers probably began seeking refunds. Why would you trust a company that continues to move the goalposts and not abide by their very own terms and conditions?

I have also contact ABTA about Sunweb. ABTA tried to hide behind prepared letters and seemed rather disinterested about their members avoidance of refunding customers. However I have persevered with ABTA. They clearly are disinterested in the pace of refunds, but they did produce guidance on the terms of Refund Credit Notes. Sunweb continually and retrospectively changed their “Corona Virus” RCN terms. This was only ever posted on their website and they never informed customers directly of these changes. Therefore it is on these grounds I have formally complained to ABTA, and I am pleased to report that their legal department are now investigating Sunweb of the breach of the ABTA code of conduct, although I do not hold out much hope, due to ABTA’s rather collusive stance towards its members.

I will never deal with Sunweb again, and I have little respect for the ABTA logo when I see it attached to a travel company.

I hope this information might be useful.

El_Gordo_2

I’ve managed to get a partial refund from Sunweb via a chargeback against my credit card. The credit card company were good and supported my claim for the non-delivery of goods. Sunweb “rejected” the chargeback, after which the credit card company contacted me showing me all the information that Sunweb had used to contest the chargeback. I provided lots more info, including copies of some e-mails clearly showing Sunweb’s Ts & Cs and the credit card company supported my claim. I’ve just been informed that Sunweb is no longer contesting the chargeback; now all I need is the rest of my money back and that is being pursued through the small claims court. Fingers crossed. 

gegenmike

The issue still I have is that Subweb are not offering a any choice in flights, only if you got to Austria.  So use your RCN for accommodation only and risk purchasing independent flights is not ideal and another risk to the customer. 
After logging a complaint with ABTA sometime ago, I have now received a reply (via ABTA) from SunWeb.  It reads..

Dear Sir/Madam,

With regard to your request to give some indication as to when the refunds will be actioned I hereby inform you as follows.
First of all I want to thank ABTA for understanding that we are not able to refund inline with the regulations. Obviously we want to comply with the requests from our customers, but under the current circumstances it is impossible to do so within the usual time-lines. At the moment we are doing all we can to answers the questions of our customers, suppliers and partners while at the same time we are adjusting ourselves to the changing circumstances. This a huge challenge which causes delayed responses. Although we are not happy with this situation, we have to accept that there is only so much we can do. This is also because we are dependent on external parties, for example payment of refunds to Sunweb by our suppliers. That is why we are glad to see that so many customers have accepted vouchers/Refund Credit Notes.
Our goal is to make sure that are customers are satisfied with a RCN or a refund. We are striving for executing the refunds as fast as possible and are hopeful that this will be possible within 3 months. We hope this will help to manage the customers expectations about when they can expect to receive the refunds.
We trust that this information is sufficient for your purposes
Sunweb

So money back in due course if you refuse the (protected) RCN, which then leaves you vulnerable if they go bust before you get your refund.

bennwood85

For anyone who has not received a refund from Sunweb yet, I too can confirm that I have been successful with the small claims approach.
Today i received their consent order courtesy of their instructed solicitors, confirming that they will refund my holiday, pay interest and my court fees, no later than the 3rd of September - which is the deadline for their [extended] time to respond to the claim.

desklamp

Unsurprisingly my complaint against Sunweb was not upheld by ABTA. I am not sure that they considered it at it was written; as they continued to say that they had suspended their code of conduct and they did not expect their members to fulfil their (legal) obligation to refund within 14 days or indeed specify any timescale. 
The crux of the complaint that Sunweb retrospectively, and on multiple occasions, changed their "corona voucher" terms and that Sunweb stated that the SGR financial guarantee of customer's money would be forfeited if the option of a cash refund was requested instead of a credit note was never addressed by ABTA.
I have no confidence in ABTA and will never use Sunweb again. 
Anyway, enjoy the Tour de France, watch out for Sunweb's multi million euro sponsorship of a professional cycling team, because that seems to be what they've spend YOUR money on!
Keep the court actions and the changebacks coming. Leave honest feedback on Trustpilot. 

gegenmike

I heard form a friend today he had a successful credit card chargeback case for over £4k.  I have now requested a refund for final time before legal action.  I would prefer to go skiing, but think that's very, very unlikely this season now ;-( 

gegenmike

SunWeb now refunded in full.  9 months in total, but money back in my bank.