TUI offered refund on 16th March. Still not received.

anticlaus105

Our package holiday with TUI was cancelled on 16th March. I phoned and was offered a full refund, which was confirmed in an email. I was told I would have it in 5 days. So far I haven't received the refund and now I cannot get hold of TUI.

I paid £200 deposit on a tandem mastercard. To complicate matters this card will be closing sometime in April. The rest of the balance was via paypal from my Amex card. I have a travel insurance policy taken out last August and this holiday was booked April 2019.

I've read travel firms are trying to wiggle out of refunds. I also read a refund has to be within 14 days. Where do I stand if I haven't received it after 14 days? Should I be contacting Tandem for section 75?  I understand they are liable for full amount as I paid over £100. Or would I go to atol? My travel insurance covers up to £2000 with an excess of £99. The holiday was around £2800 so this way I would be out of pocket.

anticlaus105

Tui are impossible to contact. They have also altered their online contact form to lock future departure dates, so you can't raise a query. I'll give them the 14 days and then go my credit card.

bagand96

You're being impatient.
Maybe, for some reason, their call centres are operating at reduced capacity? They probably have a lot of staff at home isolating etc, and for the staff at work they as an employer have a responsibility to them for social distancing etc.

No company is ever geared up for these circumstances. They are having to deal with every single booking for the next 2 months... On top of that they'll be thousands with bookings further into the future will also be trying to get in touch.

The 14 day refund law was never designed with the current scenario in mind. I appreciate it may be difficult to accept, but you're just going to have to be patient. You've got email confirmation you'll get a refund... So you have some recourse in the future if needed. 

anticlaus105

I get that but an email from them saying so would be nice. I've had multiple emails per company from pretty much every other company I have ever used, so TUI have no excuse whatsoever for keeping me in the dark. They have also made it impossible to contact them.

Westin

I've been bombarded by emails from multiple CEO's and companies over recent days.  One from Hollisters telling me about what they are doing since the covid19 outbreak, and I can't recall being in their stores or buying from them for over 10 years,  another pointless one from our local bus operator telling me that air circulates through their buses when the doors open and how passengers can open windows to increase air flow. Is that the magical cure for this virus I wonder that scientists have been looking for?  Metrobus have the answer. Perhaps be grateful TUI have not taken that same approach of BS overload from corporate businesses. 

That said and with an upcoming TUI holiday in May, I have already had three emails from them.  Just updates in general rather than individual and specific to a question.   I would respectfully say you are wrong to say  "so TUI have no excuse whatsoever for keeping me in the dark."  If you need further explanation then you need to turn on the news.    Like all business they will have reduced staffing, have closed call centres possibly and now reliance on home workers with the right tools and access to keep going.   Patience is something we all need to now  show more than ever.

anticlaus105

Tbf I've had enough of coronavirus emails esp from sainsbury's. I was wrong and have had a generic email from tui since my refund request. I can wait and will give them some time. I get they must be getting hit pretty hard. I do however suspect they are being slightly disingenuous. The complete breakdown of any ability to contact them cannot just be down to what's going on. Other organisations are facing challenges yet I can still contact them. I believe tui are in hiding and trying to take as long as possible to refund while they try persuade the government to let them refuse. I'm sorry but I don't share your faith they will do the right thing, as I doubt they will be able to even if they wanted. I just hope all this consumer protection we are supposed to have cannot be removed with stroke of a pen.

Edit: some messages on twitter suggest refunds taking up to 6 weeks. Will be interesting to see how that pans out.