Refund after welsh covid test decrease. 7 September 2021 at 9:23PM in Coronavirus travel help & info 7 replies 211 views

Doizzy

Hi 👋🏼 I live in Wales so had to book the day 2 covid tests through welsh government. Booked two weeks before travel, charged £88 pp. two days later price was reduced to £68. Tests were not posted immediately but over two weeks after purchase. Has anyone managed to get a refund for the difference? 

eskbanker

What makes you think you're due a refund - if the price had gone up after you'd bought the tests, would you have been determined to pay them the difference?

Doizzy

Thanks… There was a lot of hype about the Welsh government overcharging us for the day 2 pcr by only allowing us to book through them, I kind of see them reducing the price as an acknowledgment of them ripping people off to be fair. 

onashoestring

As you have received the service that you paid for you are not entitled to a refund. 

According to their T&C’s you could have got a refund if you had cancelled the order before your tests were delivered as CTM are one of the few providers that do offer a refund if your travel plans change, but as the tests are not returnable any request for a refund has to be before they have been delivered.

You could have then have done a new transaction at the new lower price . 

There has been a lot of “hype” as you say about the cost, however there are several providers on England’s list that are more expensive and a lot ( not all ) of the cheaper providers have failed to deliver tests or results on time and do not offer refunds . Of course it’s nice to have that choice.

Whilst CTM are the only provider that the Wales and Scotland allow people to use, they can also be used in England and a lot of people have chosen to use them as in the main they have been reliable in providing the service.

Butts

onashoestring said:

As you have received the service that you paid for you are not entitled to a refund. 

According to their T&C’s you could have got a refund if you had cancelled the order before your tests were delivered as CTM are one of the few providers that do offer a refund if your travel plans change, but as the tests are not returnable any request for a refund has to be before they have been delivered.

You could have then have done a new transaction at the new lower price . 

There has been a lot of “hype” as you say about the cost, however there are several providers on England’s list that are more expensive and a lot ( not all ) of the cheaper providers have failed to deliver tests or results on time and do not offer refunds . Of course it’s nice to have that choice.

Whilst CTM are the only provider that the Wales and Scotland allow people to use, they can also be used in England and a lot of people have chosen to use them as in the main they have been reliable in providing the service.

In Scotland we can now use other providers either now or soon - recent change after accusations of profiteering by CTM.

gettingtheresometime

Doizzy said:

Thanks… There was a lot of hype about the Welsh government overcharging us for the day 2 pcr by only allowing us to book through them, I kind of see them reducing the price as an acknowledgment of them ripping people off to be fair. 

The Welsh Government didn't over charge you - they charged you the price that was applicable on the day of purchase. 

They also didn't reduce the price - the price was reduced, across the board, by Sajid Javid who is in charge of setting the prices.

You may also want to read the Which? report which commented on providers that offered cheaper tests but when you came to check out, the price dramatically jumped.

mattyprice4004

Doizzy said:

Thanks… There was a lot of hype about the Welsh government overcharging us for the day 2 pcr by only allowing us to book through them, I kind of see them reducing the price as an acknowledgment of them ripping people off to be fair. 

You may see it that way - but would you offer up the £20 if they put the price up instead? 
The price dropping isn't an acknowledgement of anything, they could have got a new batch of tests from their supplier which cost less (and your test could still be part of the previous, more expensive batch). 

onashoestring

Welsh Government has announced that travellers from Wales will have a choice of provider for PCR tests from 21 September : 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58532433