Lawn Tennis Association will not refund service fee charge when cancelling event due to Covid-19

ptwuk

I had bought tickets to a tennis event Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) event.The LTA cancelled the event cancelled due to the Covid-19 virus and I was advised a refund would be made. I received a partial refund only. When I contacted them about the shortfall, they said it was because a service fee was non-refundable and that I had agreed to that when I bought the tickets.

  I had several emails with them pointing out that because they had cancelled the event then a full refund should be made, but they refused to make a refund.

   I brought their attention to the important developments that has been raised by the Competition and Markets Authority and was reported on the Martin Lewis Money Show - A Coronavirus Special Episode 6 shown on ITV on Thursday 30 April 2020 at 8pm.

  On that show the Director of the Competition and Markets Authority stated you cannot enforce un-refundable terms in contracts when you have cancelled something. They also state on their website that you cannot enforce unfair terms in a consumer contract and that if a customer complains, you can be taken to court by the Competition and Markets Authority to stop you using unfair terms or notices.

However, their stance was to refer me to the small print that says a service fee is non-refundable. I would accept that if I had cancelled, but how can they possibly enforce this when they have cancelled the event. The email I received by their ticket vendors clearly stated a refund would be made with no mention that the service fee would not be refunded. I think this is very sharp practice and they have made thousands of pounds in service fees. The purchase price of the tickets was £58.50, I received a refund of only £50.50 the service fee which they retained as being non-refundable was £8. I cannot see how they can justify their stance as it was they who cancelled the event yet retained a service fee for a service that did not provide.

 They gave me their final answer today was that they had considered everything but were unprepared to give the refund of the service fee. Therefore, I gave them notice that I would be making a claim against them in the Small Claims County Court without further reference to themselves.

  I will let you know how I get on - I will also post this as a separate topics because their will tens of thousands of people around the country who have had their events cancelled by the LTA who will have raked in hundreds of thousands of pounds for doing nothing.

  Put it this way it would be a great scam to sell tickets to a non-existing event with a non-refundable fee and then when you have a few thousand sales cancel it due to unforeseen circumstances - a quick way to make money and you would be well and truly cheesed off if you were caught that way, which in effect is what the Lawn Tannins Association has done here, but they are getting away with it by using the virus as an excuse and hiding behind their small print

 Please join in if you have been conned this way.

JReacher1

They’ve not done nothing though have they?

The event has been cancelled but the people who have dealt with selling and refunding your ticket have still done something. For one thing they have had to reply to your complaints. This money covers the wages and infrastructure that is needed to sell tickets. This won’t have stopped because the event was cancelled. 

I don’t believe a service charge will be seen as an unfair term in a contract so you could well lose at the small claims court. As the amount you are after appears to be £8 It seems a waste of time and could end up costing you more money. 

I look forward to the further posts as this case progresses!

JReacher1

In fact resolver which is linked to moneysavingexpert 

https://www.resolver.co.uk/consumer-rights/ticket-sales-event-cancelled-complaints

Does say...

If the event that you were going to attend is cancelled, you are entitled to a full refund of the face value of the ticket. This does not necessarily include any booking fees that you might have incurred. 

JGB1955

I've 'lost' the transaction fee for a Forestry England event.  I think it was in their T & C, but even if it wasn't it seems totally reasonable.  I've got the face price for the ticket back - more than happy with that considering the £thousands that some people are chasing from holiday companies.

Socajam

Fancy taking up the courts valuable time for £8, as if they don' have enough nonsensical cases to deal with.

waamo

Try a chargeback from your card provider 

Galloglass

If you think it through, there have been two transaction (i.e. contracts). The first was the booking which was completed satisfactorily and the second was the event which was not. So doubt you'll get any change out of the bank with a chargeback for the booking fee as you got (the service) you paid for.

Jeremy535897

The CMA statement is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic
It includes the following:

"Non-refundable payments and fees

In the CMA’s view, the above rights to a refund will usually apply even where the consumer has paid what the business says is a non-refundable deposit or advance payment.

The CMA also considers that businesses should not charge an admin fee (or equivalent) for processing refunds in the above circumstances."

That is not the same as a service fee charged at the start. Fees at the start:

"Limited exceptions to full refunds

Sometimes, a consumer will already have received some of the services they have paid for in advance. In those cases, the CMA considers that the consumer would normally be entitled to at least a refund for the services that are not provided. However, where they have already received something of value, consumers should generally be expected to pay for it and they will not usually be entitled to get all their money back.

In some cases, where Government public health measures prevent a business from providing a service or the consumer from receiving it, the business may be able to deduct a contribution to the costs it has already incurred in relation to the specific contract in question (where it cannot recover them elsewhere). In the CMA’s view, these cases are likely to be relatively rare, however, and the costs that may be deducted from refunds will usually be limited."

I suspect they are relying on the second paragraph. They will have incurred costs, as pointed out in earlier posts.

Before you proceed, I suggest you read:

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part03/pd_part03a

Dr_Crypto

Are you really going to take them to court for £8? What a waste of time. 
If you are that bothered write to their Chairman and point out why you think it is unfair to charge the fee. The LTA are meant to be a membership organisation rather than a profit-driven concern after all. 

barbarawright

How much could you have earned in the time you've spent faffing around over this? 

diggingdude

It really isn't worth taking them to court, but what people can do about this and many other businesses etc is post what happened so people can make an informed decision whether to support that business in the future