2 Hotels we booked in Wales are now in Lockdown Zones but they are refusing to refund us

jerrydan

It's will be good advice to go and rebook for next year

glittershell

To those that are saying re book for next year as Ive said before we cant as have no holiday left from work until April 2022, the reason being we already have a long holiday booked for Feb 2021  (this we booked in 2019) to Celebrate our Wedding Anniversary and  2 holidays cancelled from this year have been moved to 2021 also. The reason for the post is that I believe we Are entitled to a refund, even on non refundable bookings because the hotels can not fulfil the contract. The CMA covid Guidance on the law  backs this up and even the Welsh MPs are lobbying for the travel sector to refund for lockdown bookings. Its not alot of money but if its money we are legally entitled to then I think we should be refunded, sometimes its the principle of treating consumers fairly that is important  too  . Had the area we lived in been in lockdown and WE were unable to leave our area then fine we would not be pursuing this as legally we would not be entitled to a refund as the hotels would still be able to provide the service however this is not the case the hotels simply cant provide the service. We will not legally pursue this it would cost too much and cause too much stress we will just inform the local authority in Wales  and MP's of our circumstance inform the CMA and trading standards etc its all we can do and know we tried, sadly we are not the only ones who are being refunded when they should be and we wont be the last. 

silvercar

If you are going to lose your money by cancelling, you may as well rebook for next year, just in case one of your 3 holidays for next year is cancelled.

teflontinker

They can't honour their half of the contract, if they did they would be breaking the law. Write to them, recorded delivery,  explaining the situation and the fact that their response is not acceptable and if they refuse to refund take them to small claims court. I have had this exact situation this year and a refund was given after I made my position clear.
Loads of travel businesses are trying this strong arm tactic arm, just use the law , it's on your side.

glittershell

teflontinker said:

They can't honour their half of the contract, if they did they would be breaking the law. Write to them, recorded delivery,  explaining the situation and the fact that their response is not acceptable and if they refuse to refund take them to small claims court. I have had this exact situation this year and a refund was given after I made my position clear.
Loads of travel businesses are trying this strong arm tactic arm, just use the law , it's on your side.

We have been in written Communication with  one of them  (the other has yet to reply)  back and forth,  they will not budge they absolutely refuse to refund  we have pointed out the areas of law but they still wont budge in fact they will no longer communicate with us . The small amount of money involved means its not worth the stress time and effort to take this to the small claims . We will be passing on the information to the local council and MP for the area the hotel is in plus the CMA and the citizens advice consumer help have already passed it on to trading standards and obviously leaving our views about the hotel treatment of this on review sites and  other social media . We among many more are being treated unfairly by all sorts of businesses at the moment I just hope it comes back to bite these businesses in the future . Fingers crossed we get to have a break away because boy do we need it 

sheramber

If service is not being provided- you have proof that they have said they will refuse you- it would be worth trying a chargeback if you used  a credit ir debit card to pay.

bradders1983

I suspect a chargeback would be pointless, they have 45 days to dispute it and it sounds like they probably would.

sgun

glittershell said:

We have been in written Communication with  one of them  (the other has yet to reply)  back and forth,  they will not budge they absolutely refuse to refund  we have pointed out the areas of law but they still wont budge in fact they will no longer communicate with us . The small amount of money involved means its not worth the stress time and effort to take this to the small claims . We will be passing on the information to the local council and MP for the area the hotel is in plus the CMA and the citizens advice consumer help have already passed it on to trading standards and obviously leaving our views about the hotel treatment of this on review sites and  other social media . 

Well if it isn't worth the effort then just give up. I can tell you now that the local authority and MP have got more important things to deal with than your hotel booking. You are entitled to a refund. You can quote the law to them, follow the legal process and go to small claims. Or not bother. It's your choice. 

Tim11111000111

I would interpret the CMA advice in exactly the same way you do - you should be entitled to a full refund. Being a "non-refundable" booking is irrelevant, as that applies to you choosing not to travel ("disinclination to travel"), not laws preventing you from travelling and/or the hotel refusing to provide accommodation.
I would try a chargeback and hope your card issuer sees it the same way you do. Failing that, you could try LBA and small claims court.

teflontinker

You have let them bully you into letting go, I would rather lose money than have this hanging over me. It's.not expensive and reasonable costs would be covered , it can all be done online. I doubt they will even contest it stop posting on here and fill the form in , you have to have proof you have attempted to communicate with them .