Stale mate with Travel Agent

Muttonchops_1943

Try and keep long story short.
Booked flights with Travel Agent, flights cancelled. TA have tried multiple ways to avoid paying me a refund. Tried to impose a £120 fee to be taken from my refund. I cannot find anywhere in the contract this amount. Exact contract wording below: 
Other travel arrangements
In the unlikely event that a booking has to be cancelled, for any reason other than non-payment by you, we will offer you alternative travel arrangements if these are available. Or, you can have a full and prompt refund of all monies paid to White Magic Travels Ltd less any insurance premiums and amendment fees. No compensation is payable.

TA now saying they will convert the fee into a credit note!! I’ve still refused and they are saying this is their final offer.  I’ve replied saying I will accept the £710 refund but do not consider it full and final settlement and will seek legal redress for the £120. 

TA won’t pay unless I accept their offer in full. Any thoughts on next steps? Does the contract wording and avoidance of how much their admin fee would be sound sufficient enough to start small claims  process? 

Thanks again,

Muttonchops_1943

For clarity, the total I paid out was £830. Travel Agent offering £710 cash refund and the remainder initially to be retained by them as a fee, now converted into a credit note to be spent with them. After this experience with them, they can whistle!! 

Caz3121

the section you have quoted is for package holidays - was this a package holiday or a flight only booking?
for flights they do state "Air tickets refunds are also subject to a per ticket administration charge, irrespective of the number of tickets for which refund is applied" but do not state how much that charge is
you will find that service/admin charges are common with third parties - they make such a tiny margin from flight bookings they rely on admin fees to be able to pay their staff to do the work involved in processing changes or getting your refund from the airline and processing it back to you.

Life__Goes__On

If that is from their T&Cs  then  no admin fees are due (I'm taking you never amended the booking)
What method of payment did you use?

Muttonchops_1943

Caz3121 said:

the section you have quoted is for package holidays - was this a package holiday or a flight only booking?
for flights they do state "Air tickets refunds are also subject to a per ticket administration charge, irrespective of the number of tickets for which refund is applied" but do not state how much that charge is
you will find that service/admin charges are common with third parties - they make such a tiny margin from flight bookings they rely on admin fees to be able to pay their staff to do the work involved in processing changes or getting your refund from the airline and processing it back to you.

No, the section I have quoted is for other Travel arrangements as mine was a flight only.   I wouldn’t have objected had they outlined the fees at the time of booking and I knew what it was but they didn’t. And they surely must know something is amiss as they are now saying they will transfer the fee to a credit note! 

So you can see, have copied below the entire section on cancellations :

8. Cancellation By White Magic Travels Ltd

Packages
We reserve the right to cancel your holiday in certain circumstances. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular holiday is not reached, we may have to cancel it. However we will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 8 weeks before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. If we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements, you have the choice of purchasing another arrangement from us, if available, with the price difference payable/refundable as appropriate, or of receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us (except insurance premium). In addition, unless the cancellation has been caused by "force majeure" (defined in Clause 7 above) compensation will be paid on the scale set out in Clause 7 above.

Other travel arrangements
In the unlikely event that a booking has to be cancelled, for any reason other than non-payment by you, we will offer you alternative travel arrangements if these are available. Or, you can have a full and prompt refund of all monies paid to White Magic Travels Ltd less any insurance premiums and amendment fees. No compensation is payable

Muttonchops_1943

Also, they waived the fees at the time I booked! See below:

 

Payment Details :
Booking  Amount Agreed	£.830.00
Booking Fee 1%  + Other Charges	WAIVED
Total to Pay	£. 830.00

 

Muttonchops_1943

Life__Goes__On said:

If that is from their T&Cs  then  no admin fees are due (I'm taking you never amended the booking)
What method of payment did you use?

I paid via credit card but seeing conflicting reports on this that I won’t be eligible for a Section 75 chargeback as the TA is considered a third party and I didn’t pay the airline directly. Also because the agent is offering a partial refund I wouldn’t qualify. 

Life__Goes__On

Muttonchops_1943 said:

Life__Goes__On said:

If that is from their T&Cs  then  no Cadmin fees are due (I'm taking you never amended the booking)
What method of payment did you use?

I paid via credit card but seeing conflicting reports on this that I won’t be eligible for a Section 75 chargeback as the TA is considered a third party and I didn’t pay the airline directly. Also because the agent is offering a partial refund I wouldn’t qualify. 

Unclear about s75 ( it's how the CCA 1974 is worded)  but you can issue a Chargeback for the full  amount.
Unless they pay you the full amount then a Chargeback is fine ( a promise to pay isn't payment)

I posted a link about a Chargeback , I will see if I can find it.

Life__Goes__On

Have a read of this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77197067/#Comment_77197067

Muttonchops_1943

Thank you - I get rather confused about chargeback and Section 75. I paid by credit card and as I understand, this is for credit card only and a chargeback is where a person has paid with a debit card? So if that’s correct, I can only use the Section 75 process?

Life__Goes__On

Chargeback is for both debit and credit cards,  S75 is for credit cards only.
Chargeback is quicker than a S75