3rd party holiday booking

Johndoran

Booked a Shearings holiday via a local TUI Branch in Nov last. Made the final payment in Feb2020 for a holiday leaving on 9th May. As we know Shearings have gone into administration. After weeks of trying to contact TUI finally got through today. When I explained that neither Shearings or TUI had been in touch to sat the holiday was cancelled the operative I spoke with was polite and apologetic. I informed her that I would like a cash refund rather than a credit or choosing an other holiday. She informed me that they couldn’t refund any monies yet until they had heard from Shearings. I assume she meant the administrator handling the Shearings affairs. She said it could take months as they would be seen as a creditor against Shearings and it would depend on how long it would take to sort their affairs out. Can they do this to us.

eskbanker

If you paid by credit or debit card then you have the option of pursuing a chargeback claim with your bank: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/visa-mastercard-chargeback/

Johndoran

Yes we did pay by credit card. They have indicated that we should pursue ATOL first as they are the insurance company and the credit card company is our last resource if all else fails.

Life__Goes__On

Johndoran said:

Yes we did pay by credit card. They have indicated that we should pursue ATOL first as they are the insurance company and the credit card company is our last resource if all else fails.

More wrong info from the bank.
As eskbanker stated you can do a Chargeback, if the bank refuses then complain.

harsh_but_fair

As above - the cc company are exactly the opposite of 'last resource'- they are jointly liable.

Alan_Bowen

It is much simpler than all this, if it was a coach holiday it was bonded, all the details you need are here, http://www.submitaclaim.co.uk/shearings. The advice you got from TUI is complete and utter nonsense!

Johndoran

Thanks Alan, but the link you have given me is for coach holidays only. Ours included a flight and over night stay in a hotel. The claim form also states not to complete this form if it includes a flight and if paid by CC.

Alan_Bowen

Sorry, I couldn't read your mind, 99% of Shearings Holidays were by coach,  you need to claim under the CAA ATOL scheme, details are here https://www.caa.co.uk/ATOL-Failures/Shearings-Holidays-Ltd/ It says the CAA will send out claim forms directly to customers or agent, your agent may have already received it, if not contact the CAA and ask them to send you a copy as it sounds from their comments that the actual agent didn't know what she  or he was talking about

Johndoran

Thanks Alan. I have been onto the  ATOL web page relating to travel companies that have gone into administration. On the 22nd  May, the day Shearings went into Administration ATOL instructed travel agents Not to pay out any monies at this stage to customers who booked through them for a Shearings holiday, ie us.
They also state that they are in the process of collecting data from Shearings. They go on to say claim forms will be sent either direct to the customer, which we haven’t received or to the agents. From my call to TUI of the other day, their operative said they were waiting to hear from Shearings no mention of ATOL claim form. 

I emailed ATOL yesterday requesting a claim form. So let’s see how long it takes to get a reply. Also filled in my credit card company dispute claim. Another case of waiting I suppose. I wonder how many more hoops I will have to jump through before someone responds. Communication lessons need to be learnt by all concerned.