TUI refunds thread

Milo55

sir_shad said:

Does anyone have a phone number and the options to press to get through to someone at TUI? I keep on getting cut off when i call. We were due to travel on 30th March, booked through Love Holidays who tell me i must contact TUI for the flights part of the holiday. TUI last contacted me via email on the 25th March stating they will get in touch with us, but they haven't yet. Seeing as someone on here has now had a refund. I'm quite optimistic, but need to get through to them first. 

just asked my wife she rang the customer services number and pressed the choice for TUI altering your holiday hope this helps.

ChippyAft

Milo55 said: just asked my wife she rang the customer services number and pressed the choice for TUI altering your holiday hope this helps.

Thanks Milo55. It's encouraging to hear that you've received your refund.

My situation is as follows:
- My family were due to fly out to Orlando last Saturday (April 4th)
- Our holiday was cancelled by TUI on March 18th due to US travel ban
- TUI agreed to refund in full (I have email confirmation of this) within 5-7 working days from March 18th
- So far, no money has been received

I appreciate that they must be unbelievably busy at the moment (and working in sub optimal conditions - every person I speak to is working from home). But I'd appreciate any advice as to what your wife spoke about when she spoke to TUI.

Each time I call them, they're very nice and apologise for the delay but explain that they're very busy processing refunds. Is it just a question of being patient or is there a "magic" discussion that I should be having?

Cheers
Chippy

SevenOfNine

ChippyAft - Milo's info so far seems to be that he was advised (several phone calls made  by Mrs Milo) that the refund would take 14 days from the date of cancellation notice, which was 14 March.  The refund finally arrived on 2 April, some 19 days, not 14 as promised.  In the meantime Mrs Milo seems to have spent many hours on the telephone (while Mr Milo was having a cup of tea, not unlike Mr SevenOfNine will be no doubt), when retrospectively it's possible that the calls & long waits on hold were unnecessary, that as promised initially the refund was in the pipeline for processing.  It just took a bit longer than promised.

To be fair, we all acknowledge how busy TUI are, personally, & particularly as you have it in writing that a full refund has been agreed to, I'd give them 3 weeks for TUI to get it done.  For a lot of us who have not quite reached our departure date, as Milo pointed out in an early post, the worry is that TUI are dragging their feet in the hope that the UK will agree (as other EU members have done already), to amendments in the law allowing the issue of Refund Credit Notes (in my opinion effectively an IOU) instead of ££££ refunds.

ABTA have jumped the gun & advised their members to do exactly that, initially the IOU Refund Credit Note will last 'initially' until 31 July 2020 at which point if you haven't used it to book another holiday, you WILL be able to claim a ££££ refund.  No guidelines there on exactly how long said refund will take from that point of course. 

anticlaus105

SevenOfNine said:

 I'd give them 3 weeks for TUI to get it done.  

I'm at 3 weeks today since I was promised a refund within 5 days and still no refund. Having finally spoken to them on 3rd I did helpfully receive an email saying within 4 weeks from that date. I think i'm going to have to start calling them repeatedly, as it seems it does pay off.

wpmpt2

Has anyone received a refund from TUI since this problem really hit last month?  I've been waiting since 18 March for a refund which was actioned in my local store.  My bank details were taken and I received an email to confirm the refund amount (although it was a bit confusing, as it included a cancellation fee and a coronavirus cancellation fee overide).  I was told it would take 'a week or two'.  I realise thousands of people are in this position, but I don't see anyone on any forums mentioning that they have received a refund (but I guess if you've had it, you probably wouldn't be searching forums!). 
Its frustrating because we also have a holiday booked for the end of August and are due to pay the 'top up' deposit on Sunday, which I still have to pay. We booked in February, before TUI changed the T&Cs allowing bookings made after 17 March to pay top-up deposits and remaining balances 4 weeks before departure.         

bagand96

Here's a thought.... every unnecessary phone call that needs to be handled may actually be further delaying the processing of refunds as the reduced staff available are all being put on the phone lines....

Westin

bagand96 said:

Here's a thought.... every unnecessary phone call that needs to be handled may actually be further delaying the processing of refunds as the reduced staff available are all being put on the phone lines....

I suspect this is exactly what is happening.
I am amazed that people travelling September 2020 onwards, or even into 2021 are asking questions regarding "what if" my holiday is cancelled.  If these same people are also calling TUI/other travel firms, no wonder the creaking system can't cope.

ChippyAft

bagand96 said:

Here's a thought.... every unnecessary phone call that needs to be handled may actually be further delaying the processing of refunds as the reduced staff available are all being put on the phone lines....

Not sure that’s the case; the agents I’ve spoken to are all working from home and have told me that “in normal circumstances I could go and see the finance team for you to chase this up.”

In large companies, phone agents tend not to process refunds. I think it’s fairly clear that (despite a €1.8Bn loan from the German government and the regulations that they are governed by), TUI are simply choosing not to refund the vast majority of their customers.

ianskeltonphotography

To update my previous message on this thread, the timeline now stands at...
15th March - (sat in Gatwick lounge) TUI email to cancel holiday 2.5 hrs before take off
16th March - Went to shop where we booked the holiday. Lady in-store said that HO was taking over refunds rather than through the shop as normal. As she was on the phone at the time to HO they took my bank details & said it would be 7-14days.
2nd April - No refund come through. Rang their TUI help desk to be told the information I was given in-store was incorrect & that the shops will be processing refunds but the shops are closed for the foreseeable future.
7th April - Rang TUI help desk to be told the information on 2nd April was wrong & that refunds are taking 4 weeks from cancellation date (so that means in week commencing 13th for me) The lady also said that TUI were sending out laptops to shop staff so that they could then access bookings made in-store to assist processing. TUI would announce this on the website.
9th April - A formation of pigs has just flown over the garden with pink & blue smoke from their ar..... !!!

anticlaus105

I wasted another 1 hour 45 minutes calling them today. I asked how long my refund would take and was told 28 days. I pointed out next Monday would be 28 days from my initial refund email so would they be working bank holidays? I was then told sometime next week. I asked about the email I recieved following calling on 3rd saying 4 weeks and she said it would probably be from this email. She kept reiterating they are refunding and are working in date order. She tried to make out this email had nothing to do with my call despite it arriving within 10 minutes of it. I said I would not be happy to wait 4 weeks from 3rd April given I was promised a refund within 5 days on 16th March, and what would have happened if I'd waited until end April to call, would it be 4 weeks from then? Again she mumbled some garbage and kept contradicting herself and struggling to answer simple questions. They are either making it up or downright lying when you call them.