Destination 2 - Cancellation policy 70% payment due after 43 days

BrightonNick

After taking out a Ba American Express card to save miles from our wedding costs in 2019  we spent £400 on Amex card subscriptions and eventually saved air miles and got a partner ticket to go to Dubai - Business class for the first time ever. So we booked in November 2019 to go the following year. Followed by booking the Hotel: Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort with Destination 2. We were completely unaware that booking just the hotel element of the holiday would not be covered as in a flight and hotel package even tho we book through a established holiday company (sadly we did not at the same time look at the many bad reviews about destination 2). 
I suffer from reduced lung function and take steroid medication and asthmatic steroid pumps to contain and help my condition so when covid 19 hit us we had to think differently as to where we could go and how we would cope/enjoy our holiday at our booked destination with their containment regulations, such as masks to be worn in all areas even the beach, apart from hotel room and when putting food into our mouths. (as confirmed by hotel Anantara (Aug 2020). 
Following the face mask and restrictions confirmed by the hotel and the fact that I cannot wear a mask for prolong periods over 5 minutes because of my condition we took the difficult decision to regrettably cancel with BA and Destination 2. We lost £400 on seat reservations with BA but were refunded our points and tax and our partner ticket extended to May 2021.
Destination 2 however turned round and said we would be liable for 70% of our £4000 hotel booking cost and it would increase the closer we got the to the day of departure. We have been offered the opportunity to rebook with them but our partner ticket with ba runs out May 2021 and it would be crazy and fool hardy to book before the expiry date as we know nothing about what restrictions lie in place for us at the beginning of 2021.
It now looks like we will loose our hard earned partner ticket in may 2021 costing £800 !! (£400 card membership and £400 cancelation) and Destination 2 are after us for their so called cancelation charge. Im pretty sure The Anantara Hotel Dubai will think this pretty disgusting of Destination 2, Who at the time of writing this I have contacted twice to see if their is anything else they can offer holiday wise and they have not rung me back !!!
I have sent to all directors and senior members of Destination 2 letters and emails without any reply.
Does anyone have any advice or previous dealings with cancellation and Destination 2? or any advice on how to deal with them and my situation. I am insured with top notch world wide cover who have told me anything to do with covid 19 is not covered !! at present I have paid Destination 2 a £100 deposit but think I must eventually take legal advice and if needed go to court and take the matter further. We certainly did not want to cancel this holiday but cannot go and run the risks with my medical conditon or spend the whole time in our hotel room. (that's surely not the product we booked for). 

bagand96

Seeing as you have taken the choice to cancel then it is disclination to travel and both BA and Destination2 will treat the cancellation as such. 

The Terms & Conditions would have been available at the time of booking and you will have agreed to them. As the hotel is open and available, then it's unlikely you have rights to a refund.

You may have a travel insurance claim due to your medical condition. But it will depend on your level of cover and policy details. Worth checking though. 

sheramber

Will your doctor confirm you are not  medically fit to fly?  If so, you might be able to claim on your insurance on medical grounds.
Otherwise sadly, your top notch insurance has turned out to be not such a top notch insurance.

Alan_Bowen

Their booking conditions are clear, an outrageous 70% if cancelled more than 42 days before departure. After that date, the fee is even more but as they probably haven't paid a penny to the supplier, I would argue that the charge is an unreasonable term of the contract and refuse to pay more than the deposit you have already paid. I suspect the £100 is only a low deposit, which is mentioned in the booking conditions, which means there may be more, but not 70% more, to pay. Sorry to say you really need to check booking conditions before booking, sometimes agreeing a higher price gives much more reasonable terms, I presume this agent offered the lowest price and for that, they will argue a higher cancellation charge may be justified. Don't give in without a fight but be aware the terms are quite clear and available before you book

boris30

This is the same company that cancelled our holiday in June / refused refund and told us to apply for a refund after 30/11/2020.
Paid the holiday in January!!!

Bunch of absolute crooks

Butts

boris30 said:

This is the same company that cancelled our holiday in June / refused refund and told us to apply for a refund after 30/11/2020.
Paid the holiday in January!!!

Bunch of absolute crooks

Why don't you do something about it then ?

avdb

Hi,
I’d be interested to hear how this works out for you.  I have a hotel booked with Destination 2 for a destination not permitted by the FCO currently. Have only paid deposit so far but I know if I pay the full amount & the country is still
on the ‘banned’ list I’m unlikely ever to see my money again. I wonder if they can just ‘take’ the outstanding amount if I decide to cancel?

eskbanker

avdb said:

Hi,
I’d be interested to hear how this works out for you.  I have a hotel booked with Destination 2 for a destination not permitted by the FCO currently. Have only paid deposit so far but I know if I pay the full amount & the country is still
on the ‘banned’ list I’m unlikely ever to see my money again. I wonder if they can just ‘take’ the outstanding amount if I decide to cancel?

If you decide to cancel then you're subject to their cancellation policy, so if you owe them more money than you've paid then they have the right to pursue you for the debt, although whether they'd actually do so is another story, but check their booking terms to see if your provision of a card number for the deposit entitles them to take further payments from it.  Alternatively, as Alan_Bowen suggests above, you could try arguing that their cancellation policy is an unfair contract term, but it's much easier to do so if you haven't already parted with the money!

And at the risk of being pedantic, there aren't destinations 'banned' or 'not permitted' by the FCO at the moment, although non-essential travel to many isn't advised....

mattyprice4004

avdb said:

Hi,
I’d be interested to hear how this works out for you.  I have a hotel booked with Destination 2 for a destination not permitted by the FCO currently. Have only paid deposit so far but I know if I pay the full amount & the country is still
on the ‘banned’ list I’m unlikely ever to see my money again. I wonder if they can just ‘take’ the outstanding amount if I decide to cancel?

As above, there's no 'banned' list and travel IS permitted. It's advice only and if you choose not to travel, that's your loss to absorb (or an insurance claim).