Mis-sold All Inclusive Package - Section 75?

Jlawson118

I'm basically wondering if I would be covered for this under section 75? Paid in full on my AMEX Gold.

Basically last August myself and my girlfriend booked to go all inclusive to Jamaica through TUI, for just after new years this year for her birthday. Paid the deposit in August and then paid the remaining balance in September just to get it paid and out of the way. Altogether, about £4,000
In November it was advised against all but essential travel to Jamaica, and switched this to all inclusive in Dubai due to it being open and our local covid restrictions were low. The price remained the same.

The original listing said it was 'All Inclusive' but meal times were set times in any of the available restaurants. It also stated we could get unlimited drinks from the buffet bar between 12:30-22:30 everyday. Though as we got to the hotel, we were given a letter stating our all inclusive benefits. This limited us to 3 out of 13 on-site restaurants, the 'unlimited drink' bar was closed all throughout the day, we were charged for any food we ate by the pool. We were treat more like Half Board than we were All Inclusive. I was given a £200 invoice upon departure of the hotel. How many all inclusive hotels give you an invoice at the end? It's supposed to be all paid for! Certain restaurants we'd visit as part of our package were also giving us a smaller and more limited menu compared to the paying customers too!

There was about a £2,000 difference between going half board and all inclusive, and I'd like to claim this back. I feel like this all inclusive package has been mis-sold. I have contacted TUI and they've offered me £210 in vouchers to travel with them again. Which I politely rejected. TUI claim to have investigated and have brushed it straight off, whereas I have provided them with what they claimed all inclusive was on the website at the time of booking, and what the letter upon arrival said we were entitled to.

We were happy with the overall hotel and trip, but ended up spending more money eating and drinking out of the hotel due to this lack of a package we'd paid for. I feel quite ungrateful considering we managed to get away given the current circumstances around the world, so I wasn't going to complain. But £2,000 is a lot of money for something we didn't receive. 

Sandtree

Presumably it was an AmEx Gold Credit Card? Up until not too long ago the AmEx Gold was a Charge Card which has no S75 rights.

At the end of the day there is no harm in attempting a S75 claim, worst case scenario is they reject it and you either take the £210 in vouchers or leave it.

Not all all inclusives are equal and several of the things you mention are not that uncommon in a hotel that is predominately not all inclusive. You clearly need to focus on the elements that were not as stated and ideally you still have the advert so can see all the small print about some restaurants being excluded etc. Having a different menu or portion sizes again not uncommon, its the same if you go to a restaurant in the UK (back in the days when you could) who have a daily fixed price lunch menu or such - its always a significantly cut down version of  the al la carte menu and sometimes removes some of the more expensive elements of dishes as well.

Given you did get an all inclusive experience and you only ran up £200 of extras (I assume these were all food and drink?) its going to be hard to justify that its worth £2,000 compensation but you clearly need to try and call out that, for example the bar that was supposed to be 12:30 to 22:30 was actually only 17:00 to 22:30  and you had to change your behaviours because you couldnt afford the bill for the missing 4.5hrs of cocktails every day or such.

£2,000 being the difference between full board and all inclusive seems exceptionally high on a total holiday cost of £4k for all inclusive given the likely cost of flights to Dubai (though obviously in these days pricing can be all over the shop).

As to who gets a bill when they checkout from an all inclusive? We certainly have each time and often more than £200 too, but then the Mrs likes the spa and often there is some premium spirit, wine or dish thats not included and is worth paying the extra to try. 

Westin

Whilst a few hotels in Dubai and the neighbouring Emirate of Ras al Khaimah do offer All-Inclusive plans in addition to regular BB/HB plans, these really can not be compared with the AI concept and offering found in the Caribbean or some European resorts.  F&B costs are way way more for a start and culturally the concept of all you can drink is understandably quite alien. Those I have seen are always quite clear on offerings and limiting numbers of restaurants available and/or menu selection normal. People should not go to Dubai expecting the same AI experience as a Caribbean or Mexico hotel.

I suspect given sudden operational changes TUI had to come up with quick solutions to offer booked Caribbean and Mexico AI customers an alternative.  They probably approached a few hotels to ask for a quasi ‘AI’ plan for a set extra $ amount so some ex Jamaica customers would not be disappointed and go without a holiday. I am guessing you also had the option to cancel and get a full refund?

Should you be compensated? - Possibly, if the new AI plan was not made clear.  Should this be £2000 against your calculations, No - not in my opinion.  I don’t think their offer is necessarily unreasonable against the information you have provided.

Is there a Section 75 claim? - In my opinion, No.

Jlawson118

Sandtree said:

Presumably it was an AmEx Gold Credit Card? Up until not too long ago the AmEx Gold was a Charge Card which has no S75 rights.

At the end of the day there is no harm in attempting a S75 claim, worst case scenario is they reject it and you either take the £210 in vouchers or leave it.

Not all all inclusives are equal and several of the things you mention are not that uncommon in a hotel that is predominately not all inclusive. You clearly need to focus on the elements that were not as stated and ideally you still have the advert so can see all the small print about some restaurants being excluded etc. Having a different menu or portion sizes again not uncommon, its the same if you go to a restaurant in the UK (back in the days when you could) who have a daily fixed price lunch menu or such - its always a significantly cut down version of  the al la carte menu and sometimes removes some of the more expensive elements of dishes as well.

Given you did get an all inclusive experience and you only ran up £200 of extras (I assume these were all food and drink?) its going to be hard to justify that its worth £2,000 compensation but you clearly need to try and call out that, for example the bar that was supposed to be 12:30 to 22:30 was actually only 17:00 to 22:30  and you had to change your behaviours because you couldnt afford the bill for the missing 4.5hrs of cocktails every day or such.

£2,000 being the difference between full board and all inclusive seems exceptionally high on a total holiday cost of £4k for all inclusive given the likely cost of flights to Dubai (though obviously in these days pricing can be all over the shop).

As to who gets a bill when they checkout from an all inclusive? We certainly have each time and often more than £200 too, but then the Mrs likes the spa and often there is some premium spirit, wine or dish thats not included and is worth paying the extra to try. 

Unfortunately I'm on the charge card! Had it since late 2017 so it was before the change!

The actual bar mentioned was open between 18:00 - 20:00 for food and soft drinks only, and the overall £200 bill was mainly food, understandably some city tax. I can understand more the spa and other amenities, but the original listing we had promised use of so much that we didn't have access to

Sandtree

Charge cards dont fall under the Consumer Credit Act as the debt has to be repaid in full each month. As such you have no protection from Section 75 of the CCA.

TELLIT01

"All Inclusive" means very different things in different hotels and different locations.  I have seen some where it really does do what it says on the tin, and others where there are severe restrictions on the times food and alcoholic drinks are available.  Similarly, developments with many restaurants may limit which restaurants can be used on a daily basis and have supplements for the use of the others, or limits on how many times the higher end restaurants can be used without being hit with a supplement.

Given the apparent discrepancies between the description provided by TUI and the reality when you arrived in resort, along with the amount of money involved, you may want to consider trying to recover the additional costs via the small claims court.

Did you raise your concerns about the limitations of the AI offering with the TUI rep, or local management, when you were there?