After waiting 7 months, I have now received a duplicate refund for my holiday! What should I do?

DanceSingLove

I booked a holiday through LastMinute and was due to travel in July 2020, but it was, of course, cancelled.
I received an email from LastMinute in January to advise that they would refund some of the money, but that I needed to claim the rest from RyanAir. I went through the rigmarole of submitting my ID, etc. to RyanAir and was told I would receive a cheque in 'due course'.
Following theCMA had announcement that LastMinute were in breach of package holiday rules by informing customers to go directly to Ryan Air to claim the cost of their flight back, I received an email from LastMinute which asked me to confirm if I had received my refund from RyanAir. Since I had not technically received my cheque yet, I clicked 'NO'. I looked on Twitter and saw that people had been waiting months for their cheques to arrive, so decided that was the best option.
A couple of days later, I received my refund from LastMinute; however, a few days after that, I also received a cheque from RyanAir (oddly, there was a discrepancy of £1.38).
So, now I am in a predicament... Do I cash the cheque from RyanAir?
If I don't cash the cheque, I am worried that when LastMinute eventually try to claim their money back from RyanAir that RyanAir will say 'No, we've already sent a cheque' and LastMinute will then chase me for the money. If they start chasing me after 6 months when the cheque has expired, I won't be able to cash the cheque to pay them back.
If I do cash the cheque, I don't want to be worrying for the next couple of years that I am going to be chased for the money and for them to try and charge me admin fees to process it.
I will email LastMinute for advice, but I don't want to do that yet, because I am currently emailing them about another refund they promised I would receive within 10-15 day, yet I am now on day 25 and the refund still hasn't been processed.
Thank you in advance for any advice.

Michael_Bear

Id cash the cheque and then email last minute to tell then whats happened. I recon you'll never get a reply as they seem to ignore most of their emails but at least you've got evidence that your tried to contact them regarding arranging a refund/finding a resolution.

ratechaser

Michael_Bear said:

Id cash the cheque and then email last minute to tell then whats happened. I recon you'll never get a reply as they seem to ignore most of their emails but at least you've got evidence that your tried to contact them regarding arranging a refund/finding a resolution.

Agreed. Morally and legally, paying it back is the right thing to do, but there would be an aspect of karma here if LM ignored your offer to do so.

Just make sure you don't spend the money and keep it in an instant access account.

Ganga

ratechaser said:

Michael_Bear said:

Id cash the cheque and then email last minute to tell then whats happened. I recon you'll never get a reply as they seem to ignore most of their emails but at least you've got evidence that your tried to contact them regarding arranging a refund/finding a resolution.

Agreed. Morally and legally, paying it back is the right thing to do, but there would be an aspect of karma here if LM ignored your offer to do so.

Just make sure you don't spend the money and keep it in an instant access account.

Of course its the right thing to dur ,keeping it technically theft and as there are loads of people " screaming fraud /theft /etc " when they have not received their refund to get it back twice and not returning it makes them just as bad. 

superbigal

Make sure you charge them a substantial Admin fee  

DW190

superbigal said:

Make sure you charge them a substantial Admin fee  

 :   and tell them they only apply for it after three months have passed. 

bagand96

I'd agree with the posts above.  Cash the Ryanair cheque.  When it's cleared, email Lastminute.com advising them you've received a refund from Ryanair, so are willing to return those funds to LM.  They have 6 years to chase debts.

But definitely cash that Ryanair cheque, as you say Ryanair will refuse a refund to LM stating they've paid you.  If you haven't chased that cheque it might leave you exposed.

CKhalvashi

Cash it, once it's cleared pop an e-mail to LM advising that you are holding money on their behalf (briefly explaining what you've explained here), and that you will forward this to them on their request.

Make sure the money is in a separate account (I'd open a savings account just for this payment) so it doesn't get spent, and wait for them to get in touch.