How long have ABTA given companies to refund?

cfw1994

Daughter had a Uni ski trip paid for - this was obviously cancelled by the company.
They are refusing to entertain requests for repayment, and the latest message from them says they will offer a credit note now for a future holiday with them, or she may have to wait until September 2021 for compensation!
I was aware ABTA had sanctioned delays to repayments because of the clear and obvious catastrophe, but to go from a requirement to refund within 14 days to over 14 months feels faintly illegal and VERY wrong!
Some detailed tweeted earlier today here (no replies from any of the people tagged!)
I am finding it hard to get to the bottom of this....have skimmed many posts, and reading the ABTA information here indicates that the company appears to have zero deadlines to refund the money, which at this stage astonishes me.    Booked before Christmas, cannot get her cash back until Sept 2021 just sounds appalling!    She is not under financial hardship, but I am sure there will be many on her trip who probably will be (a Uni ski holiday doesn't indicate people of untold wealth only taking part!)
She has now finished Uni which means she is extraordinarily unlikely to want to travel with them next year, so really just wants her money back!
Any sage advice here?
Thanks!

TELLIT01

ABTA can sanction anything they want, but it doesn't change the law which states full refund within 14 days if a holiday is cancelled.

cfw1994

I imagine that is correct.....but given how they (at least in the UK!) appear to be the regulator for travel things....I imagine the courts would be pretty disinterested in any action taken?    What would you do?

For £450, I guess it would be a small claims court action?   Maybe that could kick the company into realising they do have legal obligations to follow?
If they had said Sept 2020, I'd be completely at ease to ignore it, but putting it off for a further 16 months just feels utterly wrong to me.   
Would Small Claims Action be likely to succeed in this "black & white, open & shut" case.....during this global crisis?!

bradders1983

It would likely to be heavily delayed, small claim court system will also be heavily backed up.

Ganga

cfw1994 said:

Daughter had a Uni ski trip paid for - this was obviously cancelled by the company.
They are refusing to entertain requests for repayment, and the latest message from them says they will offer a credit note now for a future holiday with them, or she may have to wait until September 2021 for compensation!
I was aware ABTA had sanctioned delays to repayments because of the clear and obvious catastrophe, but to go from a requirement to refund within 14 days to over 14 months feels faintly illegal and VERY wrong!
Some detailed tweeted earlier today here (no replies from any of the people tagged!)
I am finding it hard to get to the bottom of this....have skimmed many posts, and reading the ABTA information here indicates that the company appears to have zero deadlines to refund the money, which at this stage astonishes me.    Booked before Christmas, cannot get her cash back until Sept 2021 just sounds appalling!    She is not under financial hardship, but I am sure there will be many on her trip who probably will be (a Uni ski holiday doesn't indicate people of untold wealth only taking part!)
She has now finished Uni which means she is extraordinarily unlikely to want to travel with them next year, so really just wants her money back!
Any sage advice here?
Thanks!

Sit down with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits and read through most of the covid related threads/posts on this site, it would seem that MOST of the people who booked holidays for this year and have had them cancelled are being given vouchers for future holidays or the opportunity to claim the cash back in the future.
Whilst this is not great news for the bulk of people some have accepted these terms, I would imagine that if someone forced the companies to reimburse everyone at the same time they would just declare themselves bankrupt, no body would get anything and they would re-start next year as xxxxx21, a new company and start again.

cfw1994

Ganga said:

cfw1994 said:

Daughter had a Uni ski trip paid for - this was obviously cancelled by the company.
They are refusing to entertain requests for repayment, and the latest message from them says they will offer a credit note now for a future holiday with them, or she may have to wait until September 2021 for compensation!
I was aware ABTA had sanctioned delays to repayments because of the clear and obvious catastrophe, but to go from a requirement to refund within 14 days to over 14 months feels faintly illegal and VERY wrong!
Some detailed tweeted earlier today here (no replies from any of the people tagged!)
I am finding it hard to get to the bottom of this....have skimmed many posts, and reading the ABTA information here indicates that the company appears to have zero deadlines to refund the money, which at this stage astonishes me.    Booked before Christmas, cannot get her cash back until Sept 2021 just sounds appalling!    She is not under financial hardship, but I am sure there will be many on her trip who probably will be (a Uni ski holiday doesn't indicate people of untold wealth only taking part!)
She has now finished Uni which means she is extraordinarily unlikely to want to travel with them next year, so really just wants her money back!
Any sage advice here?
Thanks!

Sit down with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits and read through most of the covid related threads/posts on this site, it would seem that MOST of the people who booked holidays for this year and have had them cancelled are being given vouchers for future holidays or the opportunity to claim the cash back in the future.
Whilst this is not great news for the bulk of people some have accepted these terms, I would imagine that if someone forced the companies to reimburse everyone at the same time they would just declare themselves bankrupt, no body would get anything and they would re-start next year as xxxxx21, a new company and start again.

If only I had endless hours to spare, I would!
So essentially you feel Sept 2021 is an absolutely fine time to allow refunds to not happen before?
Okay, got it, thanks.
FWIW, I feel the initial delay is absolutely understandable and acceptable....but spinning it out for a further 16 months, to me, feels rather more unreasonable, and makes a mockery of ABTA!

Ganga

cfw1994 said:

Ganga said:

cfw1994 said:

Daughter had a Uni ski trip paid for - this was obviously cancelled by the company.
They are refusing to entertain requests for repayment, and the latest message from them says they will offer a credit note now for a future holiday with them, or she may have to wait until September 2021 for compensation!
I was aware ABTA had sanctioned delays to repayments because of the clear and obvious catastrophe, but to go from a requirement to refund within 14 days to over 14 months feels faintly illegal and VERY wrong!
Some detailed tweeted earlier today here (no replies from any of the people tagged!)
I am finding it hard to get to the bottom of this....have skimmed many posts, and reading the ABTA information here indicates that the company appears to have zero deadlines to refund the money, which at this stage astonishes me.    Booked before Christmas, cannot get her cash back until Sept 2021 just sounds appalling!    She is not under financial hardship, but I am sure there will be many on her trip who probably will be (a Uni ski holiday doesn't indicate people of untold wealth only taking part!)
She has now finished Uni which means she is extraordinarily unlikely to want to travel with them next year, so really just wants her money back!
Any sage advice here?
Thanks!

Sit down with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits and read through most of the covid related threads/posts on this site, it would seem that MOST of the people who booked holidays for this year and have had them cancelled are being given vouchers for future holidays or the opportunity to claim the cash back in the future.
Whilst this is not great news for the bulk of people some have accepted these terms, I would imagine that if someone forced the companies to reimburse everyone at the same time they would just declare themselves bankrupt, no body would get anything and they would re-start next year as xxxxx21, a new company and start again.

If only I had endless hours to spare, I would!
So essentially you feel Sept 2021 is an absolutely fine time to allow refunds to not happen before?
Okay, got it, thanks.
FWIW, I feel the initial delay is absolutely understandable and acceptable....but spinning it out for a further 16 months, to me, feels rather more unreasonable, and makes a mockery of ABTA!

Where did I say it was fine to wait 16 months? I think you need to read my post again and calm down.

cfw1994

Ahhh, well, the implication of your post is to simply do nothing.   
I read that as being your acquiescence with that scenario.
Perhaps my bad - what WOULD you suggest, after having had a nice cup of tea?

(eta - if I read most of the covid-related posts, I suspect I might get to Sep 2021!)

Ganga

cfw1994 said:

Ahhh, well, the implication of your post is to simply do nothing.   
I read that as being your acquiescence with that scenario.
Perhaps my bad - what WOULD you suggest, after having had a nice cup of tea?

(eta - if I read most of the covid-related posts, I suspect I might get to Sep 2021!)

I do not know the answer to your question, you can request, demand etc to get your daughters money back and try the small claims court but they are closed for time being and when re-opened will probably have an awful lot of cases to deal with. Thank god she is not in financial hardship ( the bank of mam and dad would probably help if needed ) unfortunately she will probably have to wait like the rest and put it down to the curse of the covid virus AND hope that she and her family all get through this worrying time.

PS I only drink coffee 

Neil49

I understand that the EU are looking to change the law with regard to travel related refunds and legalising the provision of vouchers rather than cash. This could happen fairly quickly therefore the UK would be obliged to adopt this ruling. 

sheramber

 or she may have to wait until September 2021 for compensation!
But she may not have to wait until then. It will depend when they money available to pay out.