Expedia Package - BA cancelled my flight

jaffabrown

Hi All,

My original post did not appear - so re-posting.

In Jan 4th, I booked a package with Expedia to Budapest.  By package, I meant that after selecting a flight and a hotel, I paid a single amount (that is what showed on the final payment screen, and what showed on the package receipt).   Since then, looking at my credit card (in case I could chargeback), I can see that Expedia actually charged one amount to themselves (for the hotel, and BA took a portion of it).

3 weeks ago, BA emailed to say the flight has now been cancelled - so I started to talk to Expedia regarding getting a refund.

BA say that I need to speak to Expedia as it was booked as part of a package.  Expedia says that the flight will need to be refunded by BA, and the hotel wont be refunded as it was booked as a non-cancellable transaction.

I am bouncing between BA and Expedia on the flights, and the last update from Expedia on the hotel was:
"Please be informed that we have received a response from the hotel stating that as the reservation is a non-refundable one, due to the terms and conditions and as of the cancellation policy they unfortunately cannot cancel the reservation for free of charge. However, regarding the hard situation the whole world is facing right now, they can offer the guest to postpone the reservation for a future date within one year and booking can be modified until 24 hours prior to the current arrival date."

Am I stuffed?    Can I section 75 for the package?
As far as I can tell, because I booked at the same time, I had one bill which I paid, and have one value on the invoice, its a package (Under the 2018 regulations) - the fact that EXpedia actually charged my card twice could screw that up - some web sites say under regulations 2018 that if its booked at the same time as the same visit then its a "package", and some web sites are unclear.

Life__Goes__On

What does your ATOL cert say in the bottom right (single or multi)

jaffabrown

It says Package
I have this morning, spoken to the Hotel.   The hotel says that they may or may not be open (I cant get there anyway) in July, but all their facilities (its a spa hotel, so the swimming pool, spa facilities, sauna, etc) would not be opened.  As it was also booked as a Spa hotel (room upgraded to include Spa treatments), its also a material change of contract (as far as I understand).   Hotel kept changing their story on the phone, trying to push me to change the dates to 2021, but in the end they said (recorded) that if they get a cancel request from Expedia, they will cancel.
Passed on the phone number and the hotel contact to Expedia, and threatened them (not that they will care) with a section 75 refund request, contact ABTOL, ATAL and TS for continually lying to me.

Life__Goes__On

I think yours  is the most confusing case I've seen.
ATOL only provides three certificates, Package single contract,  package multi contract & flight only.  There shouldn't be a certificate with just "package" on it.
The split payment makes no sense,  as it's saying you paid BA direct, so your contract is with them (multi contract)  but BA is claiming it's not with them  so you have a (single contract) with Expedia.

How much was the payment to BA,  did it cover any extras like extra legroom?

jaffabrown

Sorry - when I say package, it says "Package (single contract)"
The flight with BA was bog standard selection from the Expedia site - no specials or extras etc.   The invoice/confirmation I got from Expedia has the details listed (flight and hotel) with just one grand total figure (split into 3 parts - Total, Subtotal and "Taxes and Fees") which included both the flights and the hotel.
Its only when I went back to my Jan 2020 credit card statement did I spot it was split into 2 - 1 payment for the flights to BA and one payment to Expedia for the hotel.

Life__Goes__On

Expedia has processed the payment incorrectly all payments should have been billed by Expedia as that's where the only contract lays.(You pay Expedia,   Expedia  pay airline & hotel is the correct way it should have been done)

You have a "package holiday single contract" as your flights have been cancelled then you are entitled to a full refund of everything you paid.(flights & hotel)  even if the hotel is "non-refundable"  that is not your concern,  under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements 2018 you are due a full cash refund within 14 days.

As Expedia are a nightmare with refunds anyway,  and then adding the fact they have charged your holiday incorrectly the best way out of this mess in the first instance is still a Chargeback.

Normally this can be the way to go,  but you will be trying a Chargeback against a transaction that should have been made in the first place (to BA)
If this fails or partly fails you can then claim via a S75 if Expedia still refuses a refund.

You will get your money back at some point as with the ATOL cert  that proves you have a "package holiday"

Raise a "Chargeback" against each of the transactions stating non-supply of service, (using proof of cancellation) also state that you have rejected any vouchers that you are entitled to do under English law (even if you not been offered any). Also submit your ATOL cert to prove it's a package holiday are you are entitled to claim a full refund

Normally with a Chargeback the money is returned once it’s processed

Expedia / BA can dispute the Chargeback, but it must supply evidence to the card company.

If Expedia / BA is successful, then the Chargeback is reversed and the money taken back  from your account

jaffabrown

Thanks for the confirmation.   Thats what I thought.
Will have to go the S75 route - Chargeback has a limit of 120 since date of transaction to request for a chargeback, and in my situation, its been 154 days (hence why I was checking my credit card again).

Life__Goes__On

jaffabrown said:

Thanks for the confirmation.   Thats what I thought.
Will have to go the S75 route - Chargeback has a limit of 120 since date of transaction to request for a chargeback, and in my situation, its been 154 days (hence why I was checking my credit card again).

Chargeback  is either from the date purchased or the date you were due to receive the service (start of the holiday)
  http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/individual/chargeback-for-credit-and-debit-card-purchases.asp

Time limit

You should make a claim as soon as you identify the problem or are concerned about a transaction, as your card issuer usually needs to start the chargeback process within 120 days from when you made the transaction or when you were due to receive the goods or services.

manetti

Life__Goes__On said:

Expedia has processed the payment incorrectly all payments should have been billed by Expedia as that's where the only contract lays.(You pay Expedia,   Expedia  pay airline & hotel is the correct way it should have been done)

As it may be of interest, my package from Expedia was also declared 'Package (single contract)' on the ATOL certificate but two payments were taken from my card; one for the hotel paid to Expedia, and one for the flights paid directly to easyJet.

I cancelled the hotel via Expedia as it was fully refundable (funds received within two weeks) but the flights have proven trickier. As the easyJet hub specifically directed Expedia bookings to the refund application form I have applied to easyJet directly for a refund. However, a month has passed with no further communication so I also initiated a chargeback.

jaffabrown

Thanks all.   Chargeback started just now (Expedia are still chatting away, saying they are transferring to another department, speaking with hotel etc).    MBNA says it can take up to 45 working days.