Any chance of a deposit refund?!

dadio77

Hi All,
Apologies if I'm going over old ground, i'll try and keep this brief:

• Booked a package holiday via on OTA for Oct 20 in Feb 20, with a £500 deposit;
• Balance due in Aug 20, at which point I was still waiting on three companies to refund a holiday booked for Mar 20 which was cancelled;
• I was therefore extremely reluctant to part with £,000's which had no chance of going ahead;
• Flights were subsequently cancelled last month;
• The OTA offered me a chance to move my dates, but any alternatives for next year were over double the price, which I just couldn't afford.

Doing a bit of research, the general consensus seems to be that to get my £500 back, I should have paid the full balance and waited for a refund, and not doing so results in me forfeiting the deposit. Just before I give up on it, I wanted to see if anyone thought different or had more success in the same position - the OTA has not confirmed the deposit has been lost, I booked before the pandemic via a credit card and have an annual travel insurance policy in place - any chance of redress through OTA, card company or insurers (or maybe even the airline?!), or do I wave my money goodbye?
Many thanks in advance!

Mrsn

I think the extreme likelihood is that by not paying the balance they were entitled to retain the deposit, This is the norm even without COVID. Have you checked your T’s and C’s?

Which company was it? 

dadio77

Thanks - no but I will do, and it was Destination2 - appreciate this is the norm without Covid, absolutely - however Covid is the reason I didn't pay the balance, which is why I'm thinking it may be 'out of the ordinary'

mattyprice4004

It might be, but deposit rules still apply so I’d say you’re going to struggle. 

CKhalvashi

dadio77 said:

Thanks - no but I will do, and it was Destination2 - appreciate this is the norm without Covid, absolutely - however Covid is the reason I didn't pay the balance, which is why I'm thinking it may be 'out of the ordinary'

Not necessarily the case.

I'm too tired to look through terms and conditions tonight, but in general, if you don't pay, you give up your intention of going and the agent will be able to keep the deposit for any work done.