Hen Party House refusing refund

TWMax90

Hi all, 

Grateful for any advice you can offer. I booked a large house for a hen party (18 people from different households) for mid-July.  I confirmed the booking in February before lockdown, paying a 50% deposit. The remaining 50% was due shortly after lockdown began, at which point I asked if it was possible to delay payment until we knew whether it would be able to go ahead. The company refused any change to their usual T &C's and I had to pay to keep the booking. 

It is now apparent we can't go under the current guidelines. In their T&Cs (which I now realise are heavily weighted in their favour!) the only option we have is to request a date move 'for a fee'. 
The have now confirmed this fee is £139pp , on top of the £175 per person we've already paid. We simply can't afford this - but am loathed to wave goodbye to over £2000 by cancelling our booking completely. 

Does anyone know if there is any way to recoup some of the costs? Would trading standards or small claims court be a route I could take? 

Thanks for reading, just feel totally ripped off right now. 

Browntoa

Depends what their terms and conditions say. 

Who did you book with ? 

Nick_C

TWMax90 said:

Would trading standards or small claims court be a route I could take? 

Not unless there has been some breach of contract which you haven't mentioned.
You've booked a large house.  The house is available for you to use.  If you are now unable to use it, that is not the fault of the provider.  Did you have insurance?

You could of course still use the house and share it with one other household.  Not ideal, but at least you would be getting something for your money.

I'm also a bit confused about the extent of your loss.  18 people @ £175 = £3150, but you say you will lose over £2000.  Are they offering a partial refund as a goodwill gesture?

TWMax90

Browntoa said:

Depends what their terms and conditions say. 

Who did you book with ? 

Thanks for replying - its Bath Boutique Stays. 

TWMax90

Nick_C said:

TWMax90 said:

Would trading standards or small claims court be a route I could take? 

Not unless there has been some breach of contract which you haven't mentioned.
You've booked a large house.  The house is available for you to use.  If you are now unable to use it, that is not the fault of the provider.  Did you have insurance?

You could of course still use the house and share it with one other household.  Not ideal, but at least you would be getting something for your money.

I'm also a bit confused about the extent of your loss.  18 people @ £175 = £3150, but you say you will lose over £2000.  Are they offering a partial refund as a goodwill gesture?

Sorry - some of the party are only staying for one night so its just under £2500.

[Deleted User]

Seems you are in between a rock and hard place.   Seems to be hugely unfair that they will not look at the situation of so many different households and offer you a rebook.   We have got a family holiday coming up on 8 August to a farm in Yorkshire, 21 people but there are only 5 families and 3 different buildings.  We had to supply names and addresses to them to make sure we weren't going against Government advice i.e. who was bubbling with who etc.  We managed to sort it o.k.    I am surprised Bath Boutique don't ask this and then realise there is no way you can all go and follow advice either.    We were told it was compulsory for cottage owners to comply with Covid track and trace system?   (not sure how accurate that is but assuming it is then surely all property owners/agents would be obliged to do same?)

OK might not be their fault but it isn't yours either.   As some people continue to say it is just advice?   Maybe just all go and if the accommodation owners are at fault for allowing it, then it is their problem?  Maybe drop them an email telling them just who will be going and ask if it would be a good idea to re-arrange it in view of Government advice?   Not sure what effect it will have on them but you can only try?

Sorry not suggesting you break anything you don't feel comfortable with am just trying to think of ways you can get Bath Boutiques to realise the impossible situation you are in.

Just wondering if, they don't give way,  you can maybe jiggle a bit so some of you can go?   Hardly be the purposeful hen party but would be better than losing all the money.   Good luck.

tkean

We booked a house for our daughters hen party for the 2 and 3 august. The party  was for 16 people from numerous households including NHS, Teachers and over 70s. The house offered a hot tub, spa treatment and afternoon tea and chef to cook meal at night. We paid a deposit of £1031 in January by bank faster payment, I e-mailed them to ask if they could give us a guarantee that due to covid that it would still go ahead before we paid any more monies. They couldn,t so we refused to pay any more. £500 of the deposit was to cover breakages etc but they refuse to pay anything back still. They added Covid 19 cancelation clause into their terms and conditions in June this year. Due to their inability to give a guarantee and also due to covid not able to supply all the services where can we try to get a refund

eskbanker

tkean said:

We booked a house for our daughters hen party for the 2 and 3 august. The party  was for 16 people from numerous households including NHS, Teachers and over 70s. The house offered a hot tub, spa treatment and afternoon tea and chef to cook meal at night. We paid a deposit of £1031 in January by bank faster payment, I e-mailed them to ask if they could give us a guarantee that due to covid that it would still go ahead before we paid any more monies. They couldn,t so we refused to pay any more. £500 of the deposit was to cover breakages etc but they refuse to pay anything back still. They added Covid 19 cancelation clause into their terms and conditions in June this year. Due to their inability to give a guarantee and also due to covid not able to supply all the services where can we try to get a refund

What is the cancellation policy stated in either the original or amended terms?  It is a bit one-sided that they can add a new clause  (although arguable that this was to clarify unprecedented circumstances) but you have no rights to unilaterally attempt to impose an additional term to introduce a new constraint about them committing that it would go ahead (how could they guarantee that anyway when the government advice/rules have changed frequently?), so if the property was available to occupy then you'll only be due whatever refund the cancellation terms offer if you chose not to proceed....

Was there any discussion about a price reduction to reflect the loss of some services or were you looking to use this as a reason not to go ahead?