Am I entitled to any refund from TUI??

eva_m

I am wondering if anyone can offer some advice on my holiday situation.  I had booked a ski holiday to France for the 14th to the 21st of March through Crystal Ski, owned by TUI.  Many European resorts shut on the 13th of March and it was inevitable France would follow shortly after.  The travel advice at the time was to cancel or postpone non-essential travel.  I got in contact with Crystal Ski who assured the holiday would go ahead as planned, they offered no option to cancel or postpone the trip.  I am severely asthmatic so decided it was not worth the risk of travelling when it was inevitable that the holiday would be cut short.  I have been in contact with Crystal Ski numerous times, they are refusing to take any responsibility for forcing customers to choose between losing a huge sum of money or risking their health.  They have not offered any type of refund but have provided me with a 'no-show' cancellation invoice to note the loss of the full cost of the holiday.  My insurance did not cover pandemics, I have tried my credit card company but have yet to hear back.  Under normal circumstances I understand the terms of the holiday but this scenario seems entirely unethical.  Do I have any other options here? 

Life__Goes__On

Edit
I see they were closed down
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/france-ski-resorts-close-coronavirus/

Life__Goes__On

I feel the bast way forward is though your credit card.
Seems Crystal Ski & your insurance company have come to their decision.
It might be a battle with the credit card,  but you can claim the  reason you didn't go was clear that you  wouldn't be able to complete your holiday. and the only reason it went ahead is to try and deny people refunds.

eva_m

Life__Goes__On said:

Edit
I see they were closed down

They were closed the evening after my flight left which as I say was inevitable.  It didn't seem worth the risk of flying to not even get a day on the slopes.  Crystal Ski don't seem to agree though so not sure what I can do.

eva_m

Life__Goes__On said:

I feel the bast way forward is though your credit card.
Seems Crystal Ski & your insurance company have come to their decision.
It might be a battle with the credit card,  but you can claim the  reason you didn't go was clear that you  wouldn't be able to complete your holiday. and the only reason it went ahead is to try and deny people refunds.

Thanks, I will see how my credit card company respond and keep pushing them on that basis

Life__Goes__On

File a Section 75  with your credit card, claim a breach as they would not have been able to fulfill the contract that you paid for.
That was the reason for not going.
They will certainly fight the claim, but you can take it to the Ombudsman, they look not only at the legal side, but also what is "fair"
So it's possible they would judge it in your favour
It no doubt will take ages and you might not get anything back,  but it's all free, so only time is the cost.

eva_m

Life__Goes__On said:

File a Section 75  with your credit card, claim a breach as they would not have been able to fulfill the contract that you paid for.
That was the reason for not going.
They will certainly fight the claim, but you can take it to the Ombudsman, they look not only at the legal side, but also what is "fair"
So it's possible they would judge it in your favour
It no doubt will take ages and you might not get anything back,  but it's all free, so only time is the cost.

Perfect I will try that and hopefully get somewhere eventually, thanks for the advice!

Life__Goes__On

You might  want to ask what your credit card company is doing about your claim and see how they are handling it.
Let us know what your credit card tells you.