I want to cancel a group booking, but my group doesn't want to

adbacus

Hi, 

I would really like your advise and thoughts about my situation .

I secured Glastonbury 2020 tickets for me and my mates. We decided at the time to get a pre-erect tent, which was big enough for 6 people for 4 of us - worked out at £250 each.

When Glastonbury cancelled 2020 and then again this year, they allowed us to roll-over our festival ticket and tent booking, or cancel either/both for a full refund.

At the end of September Glastonbury announced that the festival would be taking place next year, in the announcement they once again advised that our tickets would be valid, or we could cancel either/both for a full refund, until the end of December.

In light of this, I decided to tell my mates that I no longer wished to be a part of their Glastonbury experience (even though my reasons were because we had fallen out/no longer close, I kept the detail to a minimum). I suggested that they have the option to keep the big tent for themselves, in which case they should reimburse my share. Alternatively, if the tent is too expensive between the 3 of them now, they can cancel the tent booking completely for the full refund and try to book a smaller tent in the resales.

They are refusing to pay me back my money, claiming that I had made a commitment. They don't want to give up the tent, as they may not be able to get a cheaper one (even though they were not guarenteed a smaller one to begin with).

I do appreciate we were lucky to secure a tent at the time, just as we were lucky to get hold of the festival tickets to begin with. However, I know that even if we didn't manage to book the tent, they would have still gone to Glastonbury. 

I'm angry about the situation as I feel it's 3 against 1, and even though Glastonbury are offering a full refund, I have lost my consumer rights.

What can I do?

adbacus

They *were* my friends. I certainly didn't treat them as enemies when I advised on the options, but this really has taken a sour turn.

So you agree, if they can't afford the tent as 3 (which seems to be more about pride, then actual cost), they should cancel.

Diamandis

They agreed to the costs as 4 people, you're the one who has changed your mind so it would be unfair for them to have to foot the cost for you cancelling. They should try and find someone else who is willing to buy your ticket (if you still have your ticket) and take your spot in the tent but if they can't find anyone you should just suck it up imo.

photome

you are the one backing out. I think you should bear the cost of your share or find someone else to take your place and pay your share.

I don’t think you should cancel the whole thing as someone else suggested

pinkshoes

Is it you that booked and paid?

If yes and you are no longer friends, then I'd tell them that you no longer want to go, but if they want the booking transferred into their names then they need to pay the £1000 by <date> otherwise you will cancel, and they can then find someone else to take your place if they pay.

TELLIT01

On the basis that the OP is no longer friends with the others, the OP can cancel the entire thing if they booked it.  If they didn't book it, they are in a much weaker position if the others still intend to go ahead.  The best solution would be for the other 3 to find somebody else to go with them, but the bottom line here would seem to be it's a majority vote to go and therefore the OP is likely to lose out.  If they were still friends, with one needing to drop out, I'm sure an amicable agreement would have been reached.

Aylesbury_Duck

I'm assuming OP didn't book and pay, because if they did, why would the friends have OP's money?  Therefore, OP is at the mercy of their friends and OP has no consumer rights.

OP, it's therefore down to you to find a solution that works for your friends, or accept the fact that you pulled out and have to wear the cost of doing so.

Ergates

adbacus said:

I'm angry about the situation as I feel it's 3 against 1, and even though Glastonbury are offering a full refund, I have lost my consumer rights.

What can I do?

Your ex-friends *should* either agree to cancel or pay you your share, and the way they're behaving is selfish.  However, unless you are the one who made the booking (and thus are the one who "owns" it) it's unlikely you can force the issue.

If you did make the original booking, just cancel it - though I suspect if that was the case you'd not be asking here.

You could concoct some story about how it's not that you don't *want* to go, it's that you can't make it on the dates of the festival.  You'll have to think up a reason why you originally said it was because you didn't want - maybe some embarrassing medical procedure you didn't want to talk about.   They might be more willing to be flexible if they think that you dropping out isn't a choice.  Or they still might not care.

TELLIT01

Ergates said:

Your ex-friends *should* either agree to cancel or pay you your share, and the way they're behaving is selfish.

What we don't know is why the OP is no longer friends with the people he/she was to go with.  If the OP is at fault for the breakdown in the relationship the others may be using this as an opportunity for payback.

It also shows the importance of having formalised arrangements, even between friends, for what will happen if one or more members of the group booking can't go or no longer wish to go.

Manxman_in_exile

If you "secured" - whatever that means - the tickets etc and Glastonbury have told you that they can be cancelled, this has got nothing to do with consumer rights, has it?  You can either cancel or not.

If you want advice as to how to treat your friends - or want to complain about how they are treating you - you might as well post this on the Marriage, Relationships and Families board.

(Personally though, even with "former friends", I think I'd be far too embarrassed to even consider the possibility of causing them problems by letting them down and cancelling the whole thing.  If I couldn't find somebody who they were happy with to replace me - and I'd consider that to be primarily my responsibility although if the others  found a replacement for me it would be a bonus - then I'd either write the money off as a loss or just bite the bullet and go to the festival.)

emmajones1976

Find 3 new mates to go with you, and pay your old friends their money back.