TUI refunds thread

SevenOfNine

bradders1983 said:

jakbek said:

Had a holiday booked with Tui , should have flown to Mexico today. The holiday was cancelled due to coronavirus.  Had email from them saying it was cancelled and to wait for credit voucher. Nothing heard from them so phoned today and automated message said ,' due to the volume of call please phone back later which I did immediately  and heard the same message so phoned again straight away and got through. Selected  option to speak to someone and waited approx 45minutes  then was answered.  We told them we wanted a refund not credit voucher and she said ok , asked the relevant questions about our holiday  and said she would just put us on hold while she verified it  but said if we were cut off she would try and ring us back .then there was silence but then I had an incoming call from Thompsonfly which I didn't answer because it would have cut me off. After a couple of minutes she came back on and asked for details and said it was fine the money would be put back in our bank. I then phoned the Thompson fly number and it was just the same automated message as before. I think this was a deliberate way to make me answer thus cutting me off from speaking to someone  and hopefully not phoning them back !!

Heaven forbid it was just a coincidence 🙄🙄

I think the 'conspiracy' theory is a bit far fetched!  On my own call with TUI I was also put on hold by the operative once I got through to a human, though I was listening to canned music not "silence" while she processed my refund request.  She came back on a few minutes later, "all done, refund processed".  36 hours later it was back on my card.  In full, just as she said it would be, so far WITHIN the timescale she'd mentioned (think it was 5-7 days), even I was shocked at the speed.  Check your method of payment regularly.

louby40

For people who have accepted a refund credit and rebooked for next year did you manage to do it online? We have a holiday booked to Turkey on 31st July which no doubt will be cancelled. We want to book it again next year and are happy to take the 20% sweetener. But just don't want the hassle of ringing TUI.

daveybuk

bradders1983 said:

Crystalline said:

bradders1983 said:

Crystalline said:

bradders1983 said:

Browntoa said:

Charge back

Section 75 claim via your credit card company

Travel insurance.

Small claims court

ABTA will do nothing

They have the refund credit in their possession. All they have to do is ring up and get the cash refund. Why over complicate it?

I have tried calling and they are hanging up immediately. They aren't even putting me on hold. 

I will keep trying, but I will have to draw a line somewhere and need to put a plan in place for what to do if I cannot get through. 

I was promised a cash refund verbally over the phone weeks ago but received no written confirmation and now have received a credit refund which, I understand, they should not be sending out if a cash refund has already been agreed. 

You are best off just keeping trying and trying. You will get it.

Chargebacks can be reversed back and thats even assuming your CC company will allow it given you have a voucher in your hand that needs a phone call to convert to cash. Small claims court will take over 6 months.  Travel insurers wont be interested as you have a credit in your hands/inbox. 

There are posts on here of people getting through and getting refunds of the credit. 

Called multiple times today and haven't even been able to get in a queue. 

I will keep trying but need a backup plan as there is nothing stopping TUI from stonewalling everyone. 

They arent stonewalling everyone. The most people in their history are trying to ring them at a time they will have the least staff. There are posts in this thread of people getting through.

That's a very benevolent view of TUI's approach. How difficult would it be to put a form online that their customers can fill in, submit and have auto-acknowledged? I received a £200 refund from a theatre company in this way, having been made aware that they were dealing with the paperwork in date order and so it could take some time.  The use of a phone line on reduced hours that simply cuts off most people, most of the time is clearly a deliberate tactic. Not stonewalling, but certainly stalling as long as possible. This shouldn't be a lottery for customers who are owed money, having to waste hours in the hope of randomly getting through. I believe the majority would accept their refund may takes weeks or months but currently most are being denied the opportunity to even start that process. 

Ryan1994

Thought I would give an update also. Holiday to Greece booked for 16th of May.. hadn't received a refund credit yet, but decided to call yesterday and waited approx 45 minutes to speak to someone.. money back on the credit card this evening! I am impressed to say the least

timjim

TUI are being deliberately obstructive in the issuing of refunds. According to their instructions you have to phone between 9 and 7 Monday to Friday, when you do you answer 3 questions then get told that they are very busy and get cut off. For anyone with only evening and weekend call packages this has cost money, luckily doesn't affect me as I have already phoned at least 40 times, but many will have large bills. Obviously they hope people will give up.

As I always book all my holidays online why do I need to speak to anyone, they could very easily have an online form to request a refund, their staff could then process these requests instead of having to speak to frustrated customers.

They should not be allowed to make it so difficult for us to recover what they owe us. I am surprised that Martin Lewis and other "consumer champions" haven't taken them to task.

Life__Goes__On

timjim said:

TUI are being deliberately obstructive in the issuing of refunds. According to their instructions you have to phone between 9 and 7 Monday to Friday, when you do you answer 3 questions then get told that they are very busy and get cut off. For anyone with only evening and weekend call packages this has cost money, luckily doesn't affect me as I have already phoned at least 40 times, but many will have large bills. Obviously they hope people will give up.

As I always book all my holidays online why do I need to speak to anyone, they could very easily have an online form to request a refund, their staff could then process these requests instead of having to speak to frustrated customers.

They should not be allowed to make it so difficult for us to recover what they owe us. I am surprised that Martin Lewis and other "consumer champions" haven't taken them to task.

It does seem a very slow way of doing it in this day and age, rather than process it via online forms, without interruptions.

Browntoa

Online form still needs to be verified before payment to stop fraudsters , they are never going to automate. Same lack of staff that are answering calls would need to deal with the forms.

You would need to split your limited resources to do both .

And you still wouldn't stop idiots ringing about their holiday in September " as they want to know what's happening " 

Life__Goes__On

Browntoa said:

Online form still needs to be verified before payment to stop fraudsters , they are never going to automate.

  Premier Inn  did, back to method of payment.
Hard to see where the fraud would be if payment is just refunded where it came from.

bradders1983

Life__Goes__On said:

Browntoa said:

Online form still needs to be verified before payment to stop fraudsters , they are never going to automate.

  Premier Inn  did, back to method of payment.
Hard to see where the fraud would be if payment is just refunded where it came from.

I would assume store bookings seeningly being totally seperate from online ones (you cant even make payments online for store bookings) adds an extra layer of complexity. 

Life__Goes__On

bradders1983 said:

I would assume store bookings seeningly being totally seperate from online ones (you cant even make payments online for store bookings) adds an extra layer of complexity. 

I agree that it no doubt has to be handled differently
I can understand if a person has been making cash payments then there needs a different method of refund.
But if you paid with a card is store,  then they must have the details matched with the booking.
I have requested refunds for a few different outlets  via e-mail and all returned to CC  without further info.