Issue with Love Holidays, not refunded as said they would (not COVID-19 related)

Peechey

I booked a hotel through Love Holidays for a holiday in Nov/Dec 2019.  We had to pay extra at the hotel to upgrade as we were not provided with the correct room.
When we returned I raised a complaint (10th December) with Love Holidays with evidence of the additional cost to us.  On 5th April they completed their investigation and stated a refund would be issued within 5 working days.  I still have not received a refund and there is no way to contact Love Holidays during this time.  On April 21st I made a complaint using Resolver (provided by MSE), this was referred to Love Holidays, on the same day they confirmed they had received this and will get back to me (with no timeframe provided).
I am not sure what to do next.  How long to I give Love Holidays to resolve this?  This has been ongoing since 10th December.  Do I know go for a chargeback through my bank?  Or is there a Travel Ombudsman I should get in touch with.  I am concerned I am running out of time to deal with this and during this time with COVID-19 it is very difficult to get hold of anyone.

lincroft1710

Did Love Holidays offer to refund the whole cost of the holiday or just reimburse you for the extra cost you incurred? In any case I think you are too late for a chargeback.

Jumblebumble

Peechey said:

I booked a hotel through Love Holidays for a holiday in Nov/Dec 2019.  We had to pay extra at the hotel to upgrade as we were not provided with the correct room.
When we returned I raised a complaint (10th December) with Love Holidays with evidence of the additional cost to us.  On 5th April they completed their investigation and stated a refund would be issued within 5 working days.  I still have not received a refund and there is no way to contact Love Holidays during this time.  On April 21st I made a complaint using Resolver (provided by MSE), this was referred to Love Holidays, on the same day they confirmed they had received this and will get back to me (with no timeframe provided).
I am not sure what to do next.  How long to I give Love Holidays to resolve this?  This has been ongoing since 10th December.  Do I know go for a chargeback through my bank?  Or is there a Travel Ombudsman I should get in touch with.  I am concerned I am running out of time to deal with this and during this time with COVID-19 it is very difficult to get hold of anyone.

I agree with lincroft that a chargeback is now not going to work
Your only option is small claims court

born_again

>>On 5th April they completed their investigation and stated a refund would be issued within 5 working days.<<

How did they advise you of the refund?
Hopefully via email/letter & that it says they will refund £xx to card end 1234 on 05/04.
If it does then you have a chargeback right for non receipt of refund (they have already passed the 15 days required to process) Contact your card provider to start the process.

Of course many refunds are being delayed at the moment due to Covid 19 and the lack of staff to process them. If the email you got does not have the required info.
Send them one with that info in asking them to confirm that they have processed the refund. You can use that email you sent to them

Peechey

born_again said:

>>On 5th April they completed their investigation and stated a refund would be issued within 5 working days.<<

How did they advise you of the refund?
Hopefully via email/letter & that it says they will refund £xx to card end 1234 on 05/04.
If it does then you have a chargeback right for non receipt of refund (they have already passed the 15 days required to process) Contact your card provider to start the process.

Of course many refunds are being delayed at the moment due to Covid 19 and the lack of staff to process them. If the email you got does not have the required info.
Send them one with that info in asking them to confirm that they have processed the refund. You can use that email you sent to them

Thank you for your response.  

There was a message/chat function on their online portal.  I am unable to contact them through this function anymore as they have closed my query down. I have taken a screenshot of the online conversation confirming the date they said the refund will be processed.  They even said they have received the refund from the hotel themselves.  The message trail does confirm the refund amount.  However it does not confirm the card number, although I still have the receipt as evidence which shows the card number.

I have messaged them again today through resolver.  I will also look into the charge back option.

Thanks again.

Peechey

lincroft1710 said:

Did Love Holidays offer to refund the whole cost of the holiday or just reimburse you for the extra cost you incurred? In any case I think you are too late for a chargeback.

Just the extra cost.

Peechey

Update: I have contacted Revolut and they said I cannot do a charge back because it is now over 120 days. 

I noticed the MSE guide on charge backs states she deadline can be extended to 540 days in some circumstances, I am not sure what these circumstances are.  It also states before contacting the bank I need to exhaust all options with the merchant first.

Due to this I have logged a complaint asking them, considering the circumstances whether they will extend the charge back deadline as it has taken Love Holidays so long to investigate.

I also emailed Love Holidays again.

I will keep you updated.

[Deleted User]

Peechey said:

Due to this I have logged a complaint asking them, considering the circumstances whether they will extend the charge back deadline as it has taken Love Holidays so long to investigate.

 Did you really "complain" to the Bank asking them to extend the Chargeback deadline? This communication should have taken the form of a simple polite request rather than using  Resolver in any way. The Bank have done no wrong and will doubtless reject your complaint and refuse to extend the deadline. 

You really need to be chasing Love Holidays for this refund, although I accept that any contact with them will be problematical at present.

But any "complaint" should be lodged with Love Holidays rather than your Bank.

born_again

Peechey said:

Update: I have contacted Revolut and they said I cannot do a charge back because it is now over 120 days. 

I noticed the MSE guide on charge backs states she deadline can be extended to 540 days in some circumstances, I am not sure what these circumstances are.  It also states before contacting the bank I need to exhaust all options with the merchant first.

Due to this I have logged a complaint asking them, considering the circumstances whether they will extend the charge back deadline as it has taken Love Holidays so long to investigate.

I also emailed Love Holidays again.

I will keep you updated.

You have 120 days to action a chargeback from either the date of debit or from the date the service (holiday in this case) was due. The 540 days is from the date of debit and only applies to future dated events, such as holidays, concerts etc.
This can not be extended. 120 & 540 days are set by Visa/Mastercard. No amount of complaining will get them extended. Remember these card chargebacks are over and above your legal consumer rights.
So  you would have to take Love Holidays to court. 
Perhaps have a word with  Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) who are looking at this issue and threatening court action for companies failures to refund.

Peechey

Moneyineptitude said:

Peechey said:

Due to this I have logged a complaint asking them, considering the circumstances whether they will extend the charge back deadline as it has taken Love Holidays so long to investigate.

 Did you really "complain" to the Bank asking them to extend the Chargeback deadline? This communication should have taken the form of a simple polite request rather than using  Resolver in any way. The Bank have done no wrong and will doubtless reject your complaint and refuse to extend the deadline. 

You really need to be chasing Love Holidays for this refund, although I accept that any contact with them will be problematical at present.

But any "complaint" should be lodged with Love Holidays rather than your Bank.

I requested politely first, the complaint was also written politely.  I did not use Resolver to complain against the bank.  The complaint was of desperation, i really did not know what to do next as I was not receiving a reply from Love Holidays.

Peechey

UPDATE:. It turns out Love Holidays refunded the money to an old credit card I had that I originally paid for part of the holiday on.  I assumed they would refund the card that I had paid for the upgrade on.  So issue has been resolved