Advice please on refund delays when cancelling flexi tickets

South_coast_flyer

I'm looking for some advice please. Last year we booked a trip to France for this summer; knowing full-well there may be COVID related disruption or other barriers to the holidays we made sure we booked flexi tickets with the ferry operator and the hotel operator.

Due to the ongoing uncertainties we decided to cancel the trip a couple of weeks ago so simply found our bookings/reservations on the relevant company website/app and cancelled easily and quickly at the click of a button. 

I received emails to confirm the cancellation but now, two weeks later the amounts have still not been refunded to my credit card. I feel very frustrated because they were so quick to take the money but getting it back seems very long-winded. I've tried calling both companies and my credit card company but just stay on hold indefinitely (with frequent reminders that COVID is to blame for their poor service levels). 

Anything I can do to take this further and speed up the refund process? I assumed a refund would be an automated process that was started when cancelled the bookings, which is concerning me that I've not had anything back yet. 

Thanks for any replies. 

Westin

Which companies did you use to book your travel arrangements?

South_coast_flyer

@Westin P&O ferries and Accor hotels.

Westin

P&O:  Unclear if there is a difference on time scale or process on their Standard Flexi and Fully Flexi fare types.  One would hope a refund could be processed back to your credit card in 14-21 days.

Accor: I did not think that their Flexible Rate included a prepayment.  Were you definitely charged the full room rate for your Flexible rate booking?

South_coast_flyer

@Westin I've managed to get an email from P&O now (funnily enough only after threatening to take it further in a direct Facebook message to them) with confirmation that my cancellation on their website caused an error and they say they have manually applied the refund - fingers crossed. 

With Accor I seem to have chosen their 'Book with confidence' tariff which requires payment up front; this worked for me because it helps with budgeting. Their terms on their website for this tariff type are:

Cancellation Policy

No cancellation charge applies prior to 18:00 (local time), up to 3 days prior to arrival. Beyond that time, the amount due is not refundable, even if the booking is cancelled or modified.

I have now managed to get through to Accor central reservations who tell me that I'll need to call the hotel in France and that it's at the management's discretion whether they give me a refund. This situation is really showing the true colours of some organisations!

Westin

@South_coast_flyer

It would seem a slightly strange policy from Accor.  Why would anyone book and pay for the more expensive Flexible Rate if all room rate plans had the same flexibility for a refund?

I found this on the Accor website -
https://all.accor.com/event/information.en.shtml

Hope you get it sorted.