Excursion cancellation Budapest

katiew18

My partner organised a stag do for his friend for this weekend (2-4th May). They were going to Budapest but obviously cancelled because of Covid-19. They were planning on going to an event called a sparty but when they asked to cancel their policy is no refunds or exchanges but you can sell your tickets on a different site. They have however been closed since the 7th of March. He contacted his credit card company but they said they cannot do anything, is there anyway he will be able to get the money back for it? They are saying they will be able to rebook for free but they will not be travelling to Budapest anymore. 

Life__Goes__On

"He contacted his credit card company but they said they cannot do anything"

Did they give a reason?

katiew18

They completed the investigation and they said because it was not cancelled by the merchant they could not help, they requested to contact them to discuss this which he did prior to contacting the credit card company 

epm-84

If he purchased from the Sparty website then he made a purchase from a Hungarian company for a service in Hungary, so Hungarian law will apply rather than British law.  Although, any EU directives will still apply.

The T&Cs on their website say no refunds or exchanges but you appear to have to book for a specific date and their home page says "We are closed due to safety reasons from March 7, 2020 to an uncertain period."  So if they are offering an exchange due to being closed I would say the condition about 'no refunds or exchanges' is void (but I'm not a legal expert.)

Life__Goes__On

When did you contact the credit card company?

katiew18

I think it was around 3/4 weeks ago 

Life__Goes__On

I believe it failed then because the event hadn't been cancelled, as  it might have gone ahead.
But Hungry is still in a tight lockdown,  so the event would have to had been cancelled, even if  " sparty"  never cancelled it.
Go back to your credit card company, explain that you were not supplied what you paid for as the event was cancelled due to the lockdown in Hungry.

katiew18

Brilliant thank you. He said he sent the emails saying it’s postponed to the credit card company so they are yet to reply. I’ve told him to do it again as it is now passed the event and it hasn’t gone ahead, thank you for the advice!

Life__Goes__On

Tell the credit card company that you will not accept a postponement as you want a full cash refund for the breach of contract