holiday refund

SkiNY2021

We booked to go to France over New Year and were unable to travel due to travel ban on Brits to France and have paid a company nearly £10,000
We have since seen in their terms and conditions that they only offer 75% of our money back meaning we will lose nearly £2,000 
We booked our flights separately, which have been refunded. With them we booked a chalet and lift passes and some ski lessons. 
They are delaying paying the refund and I wanted to know if this should fall under the package travel and linked travel regulations 2018 ( which they state they don't come under in their terms?!!) 
Basically does anyone know if a/ we should be refunded in full for a holiday that couldn't happen and b/ if there is a time frame when they should have to refund us
Any advice greatly appreciated 

lisyloo

It doesn’t sound like a package if you booked flights independently.

its not their fault you couldn’t get there. The reason it couldn’t happen is because you couldn’t get there. Their service could be provided (presumably).
so I don’t think they are liable.

did you take out travel insurance?
is the inability to travel due to covid restrictions covered?

have you already cancelled?
did you book with a french company or UK company? This might affect the law governing refunds. Does it say in the terms and conditions which countries laws apply?

also would be useful to know how you paid.

in practice it’s not unreasonable to wait a few months for a refund under the circs were in.

NoodleDoodleMan

From my experience of seeking advice from ABTA on what constitues a package holiday.

They advised that at least two linked elements of the deal must be provided together through the holiday company.

The usual "normal" holiday package from TUI or Jet2 etc. is flights + transfers + accommodation included together...............so, if a customer has any two of these it equals a package.

TUI were unwilling to accept this in our case because I had to book the flights and 2 (twin centre) hotels from them as separate elements (their position) because they were unable to offer the same deal as a regular 3 part package. The flights had to be cancelled due to Covid, and the hotels had closed - so TUI gave a full refund - that saved me the need to chase any refund. 

Westin

SkiNY2021 said:

We booked to go to France over New Year and were unable to travel due to travel ban on Brits to France and have paid a company nearly £10,000
We have since seen in their terms and conditions that they only offer 75% of our money back meaning we will lose nearly £2,000 
We booked our flights separately, which have been refunded. With them we booked a chalet and lift passes and some ski lessons. 
They are delaying paying the refund and I wanted to know if this should fall under the package travel and linked travel regulations 2018 ( which they state they don't come under in their terms?!!) 
Basically does anyone know if a/ we should be refunded in full for a holiday that couldn't happen and b/ if there is a time frame when they should have to refund us
Any advice greatly appreciated 

From what is described I don't believe either a "package" or "linked-travel-arrangement" was booked. Sounds like flights booked with one company/airline and the accommodation through another.   The cancellation of a package holiday with the recent entry restrictions to France would have allowed for a full refund.  A DIY type holiday sadly does not. Refunds are down to the booking conditions of the various suppliers or goodwill.

onashoestring

I am reading it as “the chalet + lift passes + some ski lessons” were booked with one company and OP is asking if this qualifies as a package or linked travel arrangement. 

It does meet the definition of a linked travel arrangement -

“ combination of one travel service such as accommodation and another tourist service (guided tour or admission to a concert) can only be classed as a linked travel arrangement if the additional service accounts for 25% or more of the overall value of the trip, or is an essential feature of the trip.”

but in this case not linked to the flights as these were booked independently, so doesn’t entitle OP to a refund.

The company was able to provide all the services OP paid for , (that the  OP couldn’t get there is not the “fault/ responsibility of the company), so only the 75% refund due as per T&Cs.

With the linked travel arrangements - Had (for example )the company  cancelled the chalet booking they would have had also had to refund all elements of the package that was booked with them (the chalet + lift passes + ski lessons. ) 

OP with regard to the delay in getting the 75% refund what was the process for claiming this , do the T& C’s give a time frame ( e.g. you must cancel xx no of days before departure ) and did you cancel in time ? 

SkiNY2021

No time frame given in T&C's but we did cancel as soon as the advice was given re travel ban on Brits to France, they said on the phone we could expect payment the following week, ie/ last week. Have followed everything up with emails and have had a reply stating they are dealing with a backlog and to bear with them. 
Not sure what to do as am unsure whether this falls under linked travel arrangments and they made a point of stating they do not come under this.
Unfortunately in hindsight I have found some bad reviews regards them returning monies under covid problems. We made direct payments to them so no credit card cover and insurance will not cover anyone for country's government deciding to ban travel????

onashoestring

SkiNY2021 said:

No time frame given in T&C's but we did cancel as soon as the advice was given re travel ban on Brits to France, they said on the phone we could expect payment the following week, ie/ last week. Have followed everything up with emails and have had a reply stating they are dealing with a backlog and to bear with them. 
Not sure what to do as am unsure whether this falls under linked travel arrangments and they made a point of stating they do not come under this.
Unfortunately in hindsight I have found some bad reviews regards them returning monies under covid problems. We made direct payments to them so no credit card cover and insurance will not cover anyone for country's government deciding to ban travel????

The linked travel arrangements won’t help you in this case . As you booked the flights separately , the company you booked the chalet with aren’t  responsible for getting you to the country. So the only refund due is what their T&C’s state.

SkiNY2021

lisyloo said:

It doesn’t sound like a package if you booked flights independently.

its not their fault you couldn’t get there. The reason it couldn’t happen is because you couldn’t get there. Their service could be provided (presumably).
so I don’t think they are liable.

did you take out travel insurance?
is the inability to travel due to covid restrictions covered?

have you already cancelled?
did you book with a french company or UK company? This might affect the law governing refunds. Does it say in the terms and conditions which countries laws apply?

also would be useful to know how you paid.

in practice it’s not unreasonable to wait a few months for a refund under the circs were in.

Thanks for the reply, just looking at what you've put - we couldn't get there because the French government banned all but essential travel and our flights were then cancelled and refunded. I have travel insurance but all policies exclude government advice (FCDO) we would be covered if we had covid or had to isolate (close contact) etc.

They contacted us to advise the holiday could not go ahead and we could cancel or defer our booking. They have a covid guarantee which means they will refund 75% of our booking. We cancelled and sent bank details for refund as requested. It is a UK company. We paid on debit card and by bank transfer.

Whilst I believe that the company keeping £2,069 of my money is extremely unfair and unreasonable for a holiday we could not take through no fault of our own and at short notice, I understand that they have stated such in their T&C's but I do not think it is reasonable for it then to take a few months to refund the depleted money they agree to refund???

TELLIT01

They can retain enough to cover their potential losses.  If the cancellation was at short notice, and they were unable to let the chalet again, the entire cost would potentially be classed as 'reasonable'.

lisyloo

are you sure about the travel insurance?
companies do not normally insure if you travel against fco advice.
that’s different to cancelling because the advice changed after you booked.
i would suggest checking your policy.

there are multiple issues here.
you made independent arrangements (bad idea) when you didn’t like the ts and cs and then you wouldn’t transfer it and didn’t pay by credit card *even £1 will do for Section 75

given the high cost of cancellation is a transfer to a different date not at all possible?

SkiNY2021

Because I have since read reviews which are not good and I don't trust the company anymore and if you defer and then again can't go the refund goes down to 70%!!