On The Beach

Ballpiefun

Hi. We booked a holiday through On The Beach in December last year (pre COVID-19) to take our 3 and 5 year old grandchildren to Spain during the school Summer Holiday. We are due to depart on 5th August. We have paid 50% of the holiday cost and the balance is due today. OtB have our debit card details and an authority to auto collect the balance. We have sent several emails to OtB and have tried for several hours on several occasions to get through on the phone without success to discuss our options. Our flights booked through OtB are with BA. We have spoken to BA and they have confirmed that our flights have been cancelled. We do not therefore expect OtB to take the balance payment for the holiday. However, we think they will. We can get our bank to cancel the authority held by OtB to prevent them collecting it but would this still give them the right to say that the holiday was cancelled by us and not by them, even though we know they are not going to be able to deliver the holiday we signed up for? We would appreciate your thoughts.

mattyprice4004

The prevailing advice seems to be to speak to them - but another poster took over 5 hours to get through the other day. 

Ballpiefun

I would if I could but I can’t. I can’t even get through to a queue. They keep cutting me off. Is it illegal, as well as immoral, for them to withdraw money from my bank account today for a product that they know they are unable to provide?

Ganga

Would it not be better to pay for the holiday and then when they cancel it get all your money back 

Ballpiefun

Ganga said:

Would it not be better to pay for the holiday and then when they cancel it get all your money back 

Not sure why I should be giving them more money when I know the flights have already been cancelled and the holiday is not going to happen, especially if they then want to issue me with a credit note instead of giving me back my money. This is the first and last time that I will ever use this organisation. I know what has been happening is unprecedented but the customer service has been non existent.

jackieblack

Based on posts on here over the last several years, On The Beach were renowned for appalling customer service even before the Covid problems.

I hope you manage to resolve your problem but I think you’ll need persistence and patience in order to get any kind of satisfactory resolution.

Ganga

Are you sure the holiday is definitely going to be cancelled ? if not and you have paid for it why not go and enjoy some sunshine.

Ballpiefun

On 18/7 BA confirmed to me that the flights for 5/8 booked for us by On The Beach had been cancelled. I sent OtB a message on their website asking why they had not informed me of this and asking them to return our deposit. I chased them for a reply on 21/7 and informed them that they no longer had my authority to collect the balance payment due 22/7. I chased again on 25/7 and 29/7. No replies were ever received. On 30/7 at 1136 OtB took the Balance payment from our bank account. On the same day at 1442 (3 hours later) we received confirmation from OtB that the holiday had been cancelled and they would shortly be starting the process of returning funds to customers impacted by the cancellation. I have still had no reply from them to any of the messages I sent and they are not taking phone calls. Surely the taking of the balance payment has to be illegal. Does anybody have a view and can anybody offer any advice on what action I should be taking against OtB to recover our money?

Distressedcustomer

As what I have heard from Simon Calder on various channels and also consumer lawyers, you have done the right thing contractually (you paid in full and therefore they are now in breach).
Sounds like OtB are processing a lot of transactions but at least legally you have their confirmation of agreement to refund, their acceptance of breach) and therefore keep chasing, and push for refund, it is your right per Travel Regulation Act 2018, do not accept credit note and keep pushing for full refund, it is your right....worked for me when Jet2 changed my hotel.

Review OtB T&C and quote anything from it and the Act, in your communications. Log every call and communication pre and post travel date, and keep pushing for refund, you now hold all the cards!😄

Ballpiefun

How can it be anything other than fraud when they have extracted money from my bank account for a product/service that they know they are unable to provide?

Ganga

Ballpiefun said:

How can it be anything other than fraud when they have extracted money from my bank account for a product/service that they know they are unable to provide?

It is not fraud, the collection of funds from customers will be computer generated and as nearly every company has their staff layed off, working from home etc. there is very little human element in the process.