S75 on Cancelled Villa Plus Booking

pedro3187

Hi all,

I booked a Villa in Spain for myself and 7 family members which we were meant to be at a couple of weeks ago.  Obviously due to COVID-19 we were unable to go and Villa Plus, the company we booked through, have cancelled the booking and said we are not entitled to a refund as the Villa was not booked as part of a package.  Myself and my wife are covered under our travel insurance, but other members in our party are not so lucky (they either took out the insurance too late or didn't get a comprehensive enough policy). 

My question is would we be entitled to claim back the money via S75 as the whole booking was paid for by me on my credit card?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.
P

eskbanker

pedro3187 said:

Obviously due to COVID-19 we were unable to go and Villa Plus, the company we booked through, have cancelled the booking and said we are not entitled to a refund as the Villa was not booked as part of a package.  Myself and my wife are covered under our travel insurance, but other members in our party are not so lucky (they either took out the insurance too late or didn't get a comprehensive enough policy). 

My question is would we be entitled to claim back the money via S75 as the whole booking was paid for by me on my credit card?

Just to be clear, did you tell Villa Plus that you'd be unable to travel or did they (first) tell you that the booking was cancelled?

If the latter then you'd be on strong ground for a chargeback, but if the former then it'll probably be more of a struggle, although there may be grounds to claim consequential losses....

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/

pedro3187

eskbanker said:

pedro3187 said:

Obviously due to COVID-19 we were unable to go and Villa Plus, the company we booked through, have cancelled the booking and said we are not entitled to a refund as the Villa was not booked as part of a package.  Myself and my wife are covered under our travel insurance, but other members in our party are not so lucky (they either took out the insurance too late or didn't get a comprehensive enough policy). 

My question is would we be entitled to claim back the money via S75 as the whole booking was paid for by me on my credit card?

Just to be clear, did you tell Villa Plus that you'd be unable to travel or did they (first) tell you that the booking was cancelled?

If the latter then you'd be on strong ground for a chargeback, but if the former then it'll probably be more of a struggle, although there may be grounds to claim consequential losses....

We never told them we were unable to travel, even though we obviously couldn't as Spain are not letting anybody enter the country.  As instructed by them on their website, we waited to be contacted by them and received an email two days ago saying 

"We write with regard to your villa only booking with us on 18 May 2020.

Coronavirus has been an unprecedented, fast moving, fluid and complex situation that has affected the world.

Under the terms of the 2018 Package and Travel Regulations, your booking with Villa Plus is classed as a non-ATOL, non-package holiday and therefore, regrettably, is not eligible for a refund. Further details are contained within Section C paragraph 30 (Our liability to you) of our booking conditions

We are sorry that you were unable to reach your villa and we can only recommend that you now contact your travel insurance provider to make a claim via the travel disruption element of your policy with them..

To make an insurance claim, you will need to ask us to cancel your booking down and issue a Villa Plus cancellation invoice, which you can obtain by e-mailing us at info@villaplus.com"

So you think on that basis we have strong grounds for a charge back?

eskbanker

Less convinced after seeing their Ts & Cs, which are heavily in their favour - on the face of it they claim no liability to you in a force majeure situation like this, which would compromise your ability to claim from your card company via s75 or chargeback if there isn't a demonstrable breach of contract, but I'm not sure those terms and conditions would be seen as fair if challenged....

pedro3187

Thank you very much for the information

chanz4

call your bank and ask for a charge back, forget section 75

Spyvii

Does anyone have any experience of using the ‘Marshall’ argument as mentioned on the MSE website? Under The s75 advice if people booked hotels through a travel agent, the website says:

‘If you stand your ground, it's possible to argue that the indirect relationship constitutes an arrangement to pay. The Court of Appeal decided this was acceptable in 2006, but it's unlikely to be an easy task’.

This is the case of Marshall v Retail Installations 2006 (I think) which said that despite there being no direct agreement between the credit card company and the supplier of the service, there was an ‘agreement to pay’ between the three parties. Has anyone tried to use this - I’m wondering why it wouldn’t be an easy task?

I booked a hotel in Florida for August this year using a credit card and using Spain’s Stayforlong travel agency. I’m trying to work out what my chances are of getting a s75 claim refund by using the Marshall case.

Thanks in advance!

Life__Goes__On

Spyvii said:

I booked a hotel in Florida for August this year using a credit card and using Spain’s Stayforlong travel agency. I’m trying to work out what my chances are of getting a s75 claim refund by using the Marshall case.

You need to supply more info as to why you should get a refund?

Spyvii

If this was a direct transaction between credit card company and supplier, there would be no question. However, I am anticipating the credit card company will say there is no relationship between them and the supplier if the travel agency sit between them. However, the Circuit Judge in Marshall said that if the third party responsibility was to simply pay for the service, there is an arrangement to pay so that s75 protection should exist.

”If a scheme with a third party supplier allows the merchant to argue there are no arrangements between the card issuer and supplier, then the card holder has no rights under s75 because there would be no debtor-creditor-supplier agreement. An important element of consumer protection would be at risk’.

Life__Goes__On

Spyvii said:

If this was a direct transaction between credit card company and supplier, there would be no question. However, I am anticipating the credit card company will say there is no relationship between them and the supplier if the travel agency sit between them. However, the Circuit Judge in Marshall said that if the third party responsibility was to simply pay for the service, there is an arrangement to pay so that s75 protection should exist.

”If a scheme with a third party supplier allows the merchant to argue there are no arrangements between the card issuer and supplier, then the card holder has no rights under s75 because there would be no debtor-creditor-supplier agreement. An important element of consumer protection would be at risk’.

You are putting the cart before the horse.
You are taking about how to get a refund,  but not explained why you would be entitled to  that refund in the first place.

Spyvii

I’m not sure I follow. I would be entitled, on that court case, on the basis of an arrangement between the credit card company and supplier of the hotel room.

I am researching this because I have to anticipate that I may not be able to fly in the US in August and if I am, it may not be safe to. On that basis, I need to work out whether, if the FCO says I can’t go, but the airline and travel agency say I have to or lose all my money, I have some coverage.