Eurodisney, Eurotunnel & Center Parcs only offering vouchers not full refund :-(

Foz12345

Hi All, we had planned a family holiday to Eurodisney followed by some time at a French Center Parcs site in May, whilst our 4yr old was still in Nursery (Sept 2020 school starter). We had optimistically kept the booking in thinking either the restrictions could relax or that we would get a refund. We've now checked and for all the named key elements of our holiday the websites are saying we can only reschedule or get vouchers up to the amount of our booking. The issue for us is that it is unlikely we will now be able to go until our 4yr old is in school which will limit us to school holidays when the prices will likely double. So we are trapped! Either we wave goodbye to the ~£3k we've spent or have to spend probably double that to go when its really busy! Anyone been able to get full refunds from these operators? Thanks, Foz

bc1975

I’m also trying to get a refund from EuroTunnel but they don’t make it easy.

The “Conditions of Carriage”, section 3.3 deals with the situation where carriage is not possible within a reasonable time frame. Clause 3.3.3 states customers can reject an offer of rebooking and should be able get a refund in accordance with 3.3.2 (cancel & refund).

Clause 9.2.5 (limit of EuroTunnel liability where access to tunnel is suspended in whole or in part) also acknowledges that 3.3 still applies, ie you should still get a refund even if you aren’t covered for any additional damages you might have suffered. 

So my view is that a refund should be offered, but in reality I’ve had to call them, submit an online form, wait a week, and I just now received an impersonal reply saying the matter would be “escalated” to the customer relations department which would take a further three weeks.

My next step will be to show these terms to my credit card provider and ask them to do a chargeback - automatically debit EuroTunnel and refund the full amount, on the basis that they are in breach of their own terms and are not responding in a timely manner. 

It’s unfortunate that Eurotunnel have chosen to handle the situation in this way but, regardless, I believe customers should be legally entitled to a refund.