Villa owner not refunding deposit - despite it being in T&Cs

scaredm

Ok, a brief timeline before I get to the nitty gritty...

September 2019 (pre pandemic): I booked a villa in Orlando for the Summer of 2021.  Paid a deposit.
September 2020 (mid pandemic): the villa owner got in touch to say she was selling her villa, so cancelled our booking and refunded our deposit.
September 2020: I used the refunded deposit to book ANOTHER villa, direct with the owner.  Deposit paid by bank transfer (for goods/services).

Now, this is where it gets interesting.  Before booking the second villa, and being mid-pandemic, I cautiously asked the villa owner what his T&Cs were in regards to refunding deposits if the USA borders don't reopen and flights don't depart.  He agreed (and I have this in writing in more than one email) that if the FCO advised against travel to the USA at the time of my booking and flights weren't departing, as was the case last September, he would refund my deposit.  He put a small paragraph on the booking form that I returned when paying the deposit to confirm this.

Last week, our flights got cancelled for our holiday that was due to start in three weeks time.  There are still flying restrictions and the USA borders remain closed.  Basically ticking every box that he and I agreed on.  I have emailed him politely asking if he could refund my deposit and he hasn't replied.  At what point do I take further action - AND what further action can I take other than TRY to make an insurance claim?  Hardly seems fair that I will have to pay an excess to claim on insurance (if they'll even pay out!) and he keeps a hefty sum of money that he agreed to refund if we found ourselves under the current circumstances.

onashoestring

It would be not be unreasonable for the villa owner to wait until the actual date of the holiday to confirm that the restrictions on entry from UK are still in place. ( although unlikely to be any change in the current restrictions on travel to USA ; because the international travel situation is fluid- this is is how most travel companies operate their refund policies )

What was the agreed timeframe in the T&Cs for him to refund you ? 

You will not be able to make a successful claim on insurance until both these deadlines has passed. 

scaredm

I did wonder that too (if he was waiting until the day of travel) - but a courtesy email to say as much wouldn't go amiss.  There was no timescale in the T&Cs.  Apart from the emails between us and a very vague paragraph on the booking form, there was no other mention of it.

macman

Bank transfer, so no chance of a chargeback or S75 claim.
Is the villa owner resident in the US, UK, or elsewhere? 

Upsidedownandaround

Duplicate thread.

But as stated on your other thread your only reasonable course of action is to use your travel insurance.

scaredm

macman said:

Bank transfer, so no chance of a chargeback or S75 claim.
Is the villa owner resident in the US, UK, or elsewhere? 

They’re a resident in the UK.

marbsp

This happened to me and I wasn't able to recover any funds I spent on the villa it seems down to the owner 

scaredm

marbsp said:

This happened to me and I wasn't able to recover any funds I spent on the villa it seems down to the owner 

And had they agreed to refund you? I know, pre-covid, most villa owners probably weren’t obliged to refund any deposits but since it started some have as a gesture of good will. I’m just infuriated as the main reason I booked this particular villa was because, in my eyes, it was a safe bet; we’d either be going on holiday there or I’d get every penny back if we couldn’t go for reasons beyond our control.  

onashoestring

OP you still may get a refund - your flights were only cancelled last week and the date you are due to travel is in 3 weeks time . 

Just because you haven’t had an immediate response from villa owner , doesn’t mean that they won’t honour their agreement with you. Even the best of larger package companies take a couple of weeks to refund. 

eskbanker

onashoestring said:

Just because you haven’t had an immediate response from villa owner , doesn’t mean that they won’t honour their agreement with you.

This - the thread title should actually be 'Villa owner hasn't replied to my email yet'....

isplumm

if the villa owner is in the UK & had agreed to a refund via T&Cs can you not take them to small claims in UK? Or do chargeback via bank - assuming paid on card?