On The Beach refusing Refund Please help !!!

eskbanker

Chrisk1969 said:

Thanks ( but its on the beach )

Ah yes, you'll definitely have difficulty getting a refund from Loveholidays if you booked through On The Beach!  They both crop up so regularly on here that it's easy to muddle them up sometimes....

Chrisk1969 said:

even though in one of their messages they did actually state they could refund the hotel only

I'd assume that this was them making a discretionary offer to you that one option open to you was to deconstruct the package and proceed with the booked flights only and to make your own separate arrangements for accommodation if you didn't like theirs - I'd agree with zx81 that this didn't signify any liability to refund the entire package....

mattyprice4004

Right, where was the original resort and which is the one they're trying to put you in? 

Chrisk1969

The original hotel was Lanzarote Village Puerto del Carmen. They ( at the last minute ) wanted us to go to Relaxia Olivina. When were looking at hotels originally we discounted this one as there were a lot of reviews about lack of security, Thefts and strangers in rooms.
I dont feel its right to be forced to use a hotel without any discussions, alternatives etc. we were never given the chance to voice any opinions just bullied into it.

Their T & C's are very vague when it comes to the difference of minor and significant changes

I have raised a formal complaint with customers services but I just get an automatic reply stating that the customer services is for problems during or after the holiday. So we have now been hung out to dry for over £2.5K

eskbanker

Chrisk1969 said:

I dont feel its right to be forced to use a hotel without any discussions, alternatives etc. we were never given the chance to voice any opinions just bullied into it.

You'd said in your OP that when it became apparent that the original hotel was closed, they offered you an alternative and you rejected it, and that they then went away and found a third hotel for you.  You also said they offered to refund the hotel component if you just wanted to proceed with the flights, which they weren't obliged to offer, so to the outsider it doesn't seem that they've acted unreasonably here if they effectively offered two actual alternative hotels as well as the option of finding your own.  Did you suggest any preferred hotels to them?

Chrisk1969 said:

Their T & C's are very vague when it comes to the difference of minor and significant changes

To be honest, the Ts & Cs seem reasonably clear to me - in what sense would moving you to a nearby (and presumably similar) hotel not qualify as "change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard" that's quoted as an example of an insignificant change?  You said you contacted ABTA - based on their published guidance they'd presumably have endorsed OTB's stance, but they can get involved if you wish to pursue your complaint beyond OTB....

Chrisk1969

The only phone call we had mentioned another hotel . That hotel was further away and  only 500m from the runway. Even that was considered a different area.

eskbanker

Chrisk1969 said:

The only phone call we had mentioned another hotel . That hotel was further away and  only 500m from the runway. Even that was considered a different area.

If OTB proposed a hotel in a different resort then yes, that would be grounds to consider it a significant change, triggering refund rights, but it's still a moot point if that was a superseded option from part way through the process and they ultimately put you in the original resort.

barb135

I have booked through OTB & my flights which are BA flights have been cancelled but now rescheduled to run from Heathrow. This is not what I have booked so I would prefer a refund. OTB are stating as it’s a ‘minor’ change that I can only have a voucher. Surely if the flight I booked is cancelled I should be able to have a refund. I have contacted BA to see what their view is & whether a refund can be given.

eskbanker

barb135 said:

I have booked through OTB & my flights which are BA flights have been cancelled but now rescheduled to run from Heathrow. This is not what I have booked so I would prefer a refund. OTB are stating as it’s a ‘minor’ change that I can only have a voucher. Surely if the flight I booked is cancelled I should be able to have a refund. I have contacted BA to see what their view is & whether a refund can be given.

As I see it, if you'd booked flights directly with BA then they would have been obliged (to offer) to refund you under EC261/2004 if they cancelled them, but if it's a package you booked with OTB then they claim the right to move departure from one London airport to another and treat this as a minor change (under the Package Travel Regulations), thereby not triggering any refund rights.

barb135

OTB are stating contracts are with each individual supplier ie flight, hotel. So in that case it sounds like it’s BA the contract is with?

Caz3121

barb135 said:

OTB are stating contracts are with each individual supplier ie flight, hotel. So in that case it sounds like it’s BA the contract is with?

If it was booked as separate components (rather than a package) then, the flights being cancelled may well mean that they can be refunded however that would mean you still have the accommodation costs unless the accommodation is closed or you have a refundable rate.