Wowcher Travel Deal - CANCELLED - Refund Options?

Sandtree

Alan_Bowen said:

Viva Holidays, of Ballards Lane in north London, is the registered company behind weekender breaks and the only company authorised by the CAA to operate your tour. They don't have their own ATOL but use that of Hays Travel, the largest chain of agents in the UK so if Viva mess you around contact the HQ of Hays. The reviews I am afraid are shocking, with multiple stories of refusing to offer refunds but just vouchers, say no. It seems it takes around 10 weeks to extract the money!

But how much should they refund @Alan_bowen? They haven't received a penny from the OP

They inevitably have wholesaled vouchers to Wowcher who have sold them at a price they deemed appropriate and the voucher typically has a nil nominal value

lisyloo

Sandtree said:

Alan_Bowen said:

Viva Holidays, of Ballards Lane in north London, is the registered company behind weekender breaks and the only company authorised by the CAA to operate your tour. They don't have their own ATOL but use that of Hays Travel, the largest chain of agents in the UK so if Viva mess you around contact the HQ of Hays. The reviews I am afraid are shocking, with multiple stories of refusing to offer refunds but just vouchers, say no. It seems it takes around 10 weeks to extract the money!

But how much should they refund @Alan_bowen? They haven't received a penny from the OP

They inevitably have wholesaled vouchers to Wowcher who have sold them at a price they deemed appropriate and the voucher typically has a nil nominal value

Wowcher have agreed to give a credit of £538.
the contract between wowcher and viva is nothing to do with the OP.

Sandtree

lisyloo said:

Sandtree said:

Alan_Bowen said:

Viva Holidays, of Ballards Lane in north London, is the registered company behind weekender breaks and the only company authorised by the CAA to operate your tour. They don't have their own ATOL but use that of Hays Travel, the largest chain of agents in the UK so if Viva mess you around contact the HQ of Hays. The reviews I am afraid are shocking, with multiple stories of refusing to offer refunds but just vouchers, say no. It seems it takes around 10 weeks to extract the money!

But how much should they refund @Alan_bowen? They haven't received a penny from the OP

They inevitably have wholesaled vouchers to Wowcher who have sold them at a price they deemed appropriate and the voucher typically has a nil nominal value

Wowcher have agreed to give a credit of £538.
the contract between wowcher and viva is nothing to do with the OP.

But @Alan_bowen advises that Viva Holidays have a legal obligation to give the OP a cash refund as a package holiday if the OP doesn't want a Wowcher credit

lisyloo

Sandtree said:

lisyloo said:

Sandtree said:

Alan_Bowen said:

Viva Holidays, of Ballards Lane in north London, is the registered company behind weekender breaks and the only company authorised by the CAA to operate your tour. They don't have their own ATOL but use that of Hays Travel, the largest chain of agents in the UK so if Viva mess you around contact the HQ of Hays. The reviews I am afraid are shocking, with multiple stories of refusing to offer refunds but just vouchers, say no. It seems it takes around 10 weeks to extract the money!

But how much should they refund @Alan_bowen? They haven't received a penny from the OP

They inevitably have wholesaled vouchers to Wowcher who have sold them at a price they deemed appropriate and the voucher typically has a nil nominal value

Wowcher have agreed to give a credit of £538.
the contract between wowcher and viva is nothing to do with the OP.

But @Alan_bowen advises that Viva Holidays have a legal obligation to give the OP a cash refund as a package holiday if the OP doesn't want a Wowcher credit

Alan May have been referring to vouchers from viva in-lieu of a cash refund (had the holiday been purchased for £s).
are you sure it’s correct where the original form of payment was a wowcher voucher?
The OP did not purchase a package holiday, they purchased a voucher which was then exchanged for a package holiday.

Peanutter1972

Thanks everyone,
As expected, quite confusing given the multiple parties involved. 
Interestingly, friends booked the exact same trip via Wowcher also, and have been dealing with the same issues/questions.  Today though, they received this communication from Wowcher...

charley13

Peanutter1972 said:

Thanks everyone,
As expected, quite confusing given the multiple parties involved. 
Interestingly, friends booked the exact same trip via Wowcher also, and have been dealing with the same issues/questions.  Today though, they received this communication from Wowcher...

Did you get this resolved? I am in a very similar situation and only being offered Wowcher credits.

BecaRay

How long did it take in total for you to get this resolved?
I booked a night stay in Whiby, hotel accepted the booking back in July but have gone out of business this week. No way to contact the hotel ("merchant" in Wowcher terms) as the telephone number is no longer in service, website has been closed down and emails bounce back. 
Wowcher are saying unless the merchant confirms a refund, I can't have one but as I have tried to explain multiple times the merchant no longer exists so they can't authorise the refund.