Love Holidays Refund - NO PROBLEM!

RudolphHucker

I had accommodation booked in Portugal from 14 May this year.

Due to COVID travel restrictions, Loveholidays emailed me to tell me they have had to cancel my booking.

Love Holidays guidance tells me I have to request a refund by selecting "Holiday Options" from Manage My Booking.

• Unfortunately, "Holiday Options" is not shown on Manage My Booking, and I therefore cannot request a refund using their system.

• I have tried calling Love Holidays, but get a message saying they are not answering calls at this time.
  

• There is no “Live Chat” on their web site at this time.
  

• There is no option to raise a complaint on their website (there used to be).
  

• There is no email address on their web site.

In short, it appears that Loveholidays have removed the means to contact them/request a refund.

I payed the deposit & first stage payment using a Barclaycard, so I asked Barclaycard for a Chargeback via my online account.

I completed the claim on 5 March, attaching copies of relevant correspondance (booking confirmation; credit card statements showing payments made; cancellation email; screen shots of Loveholiday website (with no option to request a refund). Last night I got a text message from Barclaycard saying the have refunded the payments I made, and today I got a letter from Barclaycard confirming this.

Claim submitted Friday & settled by Monday (by Barclaycard).

* My flight was booked seperately and I received a refund within hours from Wizz Air (their refund system gives a credit first, which can be instantly changed to a refund).

Simiilarly, I had car hire booked through discovercars.com and got a refund within a day (after rejecting their offer of a 125% credit against future bookings).

eskbanker

Seems a strange choice of thread title when you clearly have had a problem getting a refund from Loveholidays and have had to resort to pursuing your card company instead....

Chargeback is a useful facility in these circumstances, but hopefully Barclaycard will have advised you that the provisional refund they've applied can be reversed if the merchant disputes it, although it sounds unlikely that LH would do this in the circumstances.

RudolphHucker

The title shows that getting a refund for the holiday I booked through Love Holidays was not a problem - chargeback works perfectly.

I looked at the Love Holiday website when they cancelled my holiday to see how to get a refund. When I couldn't see a way to pursue a refund via their website, and got no answer on their phone line (a total of 20 minutes max), I went on the Barclaycard site and started a chargeback request.

The following day, Barclaycard emailed me a link where I was able to complete a chargeback request, and upload supporting documents.

I completed the claim on Friday evening, and got a full refund the following Monday.

As you state, Barclaycard have advised me that:  "...we might have to remove the credit in the future if the retailer can prove the transaction was valid, or if they refund you directly.". Again, this isn't a problem - I shouldn't get a refund for a false claim, and I shouldn't get the same refund twice.

I have had a full refund for my Love Holidays booking with minimal effort, and no stress.

I'm not concerned about the failings of Love Holidays, I just wanted my money back, and I've got it.

Hopefully, others will be able to follow this route.

bagand96

Just be advised if it's a chargeback the merchant has 45 days to dispute it. If they dispute it and win then the money would again be charged to the card. 

I think it's unlikely they would dispute it, and even more unlikely they'd win a dispute, but worth remembering to keep an eye on your statements. 

RudolphHucker

• If you don't have a valid claim for a refund then don't use chargeback.
• If you do have a valid claim for a refund, then chargeback is a simple & quick way to get it.
  

[Deleted User]

RudolphHucker said:

• If you don't have a valid claim for a refund then don't use chargeback.
• If you do have a valid claim for a refund, then chargeback is a simple & quick way to get it.
  

Not always quite as simple as that.  As you have found out, banks will expect you to provide evidence that you have tried to get a refund and been either ignored or refused.   Some banks won't instigate a chargeback if you have been promised a refund.     Just pointing out in case anyone mis understands what you are saying.

bagand96

RudolphHucker said:

• If you don't have a valid claim for a refund then don't use chargeback.
• If you do have a valid claim for a refund, then chargeback is a simple & quick way to get it.
  

As Tedber says, it's not always that straightforward.  Even though you may have a valid claim, the retailer can dispute the chargeback and the bank may initially uphold that, resulting in you being charged again.  

Butts

RudolphHucker said:

• If you don't have a valid claim for a refund then don't use chargeback.
• If you do have a valid claim for a refund, then chargeback is a simple & quick way to get it.
  

Blimey what a revelation !!

RudolphHucker

Butts said:

RudolphHucker said:

• If you don't have a valid claim for a refund then don't use chargeback.
• If you do have a valid claim for a refund, then chargeback is a simple & quick way to get it.
  

Blimey what a revelation !!

Always pleased to help the hard of thinking.

ratechaser

RudolphHucker said:

Butts said:

RudolphHucker said:

• If you don't have a valid claim for a refund then don't use chargeback.
• If you do have a valid claim for a refund, then chargeback is a simple & quick way to get it.
  

Blimey what a revelation !!

Always pleased to help the hard of thinking.

Well that was a riposte worth waiting 2 months for 

RudolphHucker

ratechaser said:

RudolphHucker said:

Butts said:

RudolphHucker said:

• If you don't have a valid claim for a refund then don't use chargeback.
• If you do have a valid claim for a refund, then chargeback is a simple & quick way to get it.
  

Blimey what a revelation !!

Always pleased to help the hard of thinking.

Well that was a riposte worth waiting 2 months for 

Some of us have jobs!