Lastminute.com help!!

Powapa

Evening all, so me and my partner were due to fly out to Berlin on the 6th June just gone. We booked through lastminute.com, on the 19th May we received an e-mail from LM.com stating our Ryanair flight had been cancelled but there is an alternate EasyJet flight for the same day. We accepted the flight change but heard nothing back from LM, we chased a few days before flying out to be told they are working through flight changes on a day to day priority basis and not to worry. The night before we were due to fly out we got a phone call from LM saying they have been unable to book us on a new flight and they will cancel and refund the trip.

1) they’ve had since the 19th May to book that flight which they hadn’t bothered doing.
2) we had parking booked and paid, things to do in Berlin booked and paid which is all non-refundable.
3) LM won’t even refund us the full amount as they are stating there is a £35 handling fee per person for refund. (I understand admin work isn’t free but this was there massive !!!!!! up).

Where do I stand with this and being compensated, I had travel insurance but feel like this is LM responsibility to hold their hands up.

Any help much appreciated!

eskbanker

If it was a flight-only booking rather than a package then yes, they can charge an admin fee, it'll be detailed in the Ts & Cs.

If notification of the cancelled flight was more than two weeks in advance then no compensation would be payable for that.

You'd need to claim your ancillary expenses via insurance.

Understandable that you'd be unhappy with LM and their performance here but from what you've posted it doesn't appear that they'd be legally obliged to offer any more than they have....

Powapa

Morning, thanks for that @eskbanker it was flights and hotel booked as a package through them not just flights. Does this make any difference?

onashoestring

If it was a package holiday their T&Cs (Section 5 ) state  : 

If we need to cancel your arrangements,…. 

 .iv) cancelling your holiday with a full refund of all monies paid.

 We will also pay appropriate compensation for ….cancellation of travel arrangements

Time before your holiday begins when we tell you :

15-28 days  £30 per person

Where compensation is due, we will pay you the following amounts, unless you can prove a greater loss (where a greater compensation payment may be due):

* unless the change to or cancellation of your arrangements occurs by reason of unusual and unforeseeable

 circumstances beyond our control or that of our suppliers, the consequences of which could not have been

 avoided even if all due care had been exercised such as war, a state of war, riot, fire, civil strife, industrial action,

 terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions or other conditions amounting to force

 majeure. In these circumstances we will also not pay any resulting expenses or additional costs.

https://www.lastminute.com/content/dam/site_gb/terms/lmn-terms-and-conditions.pdf

  

Powapa

Thanks so much @onashoestring

[Deleted User]

eskbanker said:

If it was a flight-only booking rather than a package then yes, they can charge an admin fee, it'll be detailed in the Ts & Cs.

If notification of the cancelled flight was more than two weeks in advance then no compensation would be payable for that.

You'd need to claim your ancillary expenses via insurance.

Understandable that you'd be unhappy with LM and their performance here but from what you've posted it doesn't appear that they'd be legally obliged to offer any more than they have....

Ignore this nonsense.

If they cancelled the flight then they owe you a full refund.

For the other stuff you will have to rely on travel insurance.

Next time book with the airline directly as you have stronger rights.

elsien

Booking with the airline directly doesn’t offer package holiday protection though. There are pros and cons either way. 

eskbanker

[Deleted User] said:

eskbanker said:

If it was a flight-only booking rather than a package then yes, they can charge an admin fee, it'll be detailed in the Ts & Cs.

If notification of the cancelled flight was more than two weeks in advance then no compensation would be payable for that.

You'd need to claim your ancillary expenses via insurance.

Understandable that you'd be unhappy with LM and their performance here but from what you've posted it doesn't appear that they'd be legally obliged to offer any more than they have....

Ignore this nonsense.

If they cancelled the flight then they owe you a full refund.

For the other stuff you will have to rely on travel insurance.

Next time book with the airline directly as you have stronger rights.

What are you asserting to be 'nonsense'?

Airlines cancelling flights are obliged to refund their customer in full but if the airline's customer is an intermediary agent then they can levy a charge to pass that refund on to the traveller, whereas if LM are acting as a package organiser then they don't have that right (so this is moot for OP anyway).

There is no compensation (as opposed to a refund) payable under the UK/EU flight regulations if cancellation is notified over two weeks in advance, although, as above, LM do offer modest compensation for package cancellations.

Powapa

Hi all, okay so I’m not getting anywhere with Lastminute.com they are refusing to refund me in full or offer any compensation for my cancelled packages holiday booked through them. Below is all they come back with; 
“As we can see in our system we have provided you the refund minus the £35pp handling fee, the changes were made by the airline so we kindly ask you to contact the airline for compensation” 
I then go on to say that I booked my flight and hotel as a package through LM and they came back with this;
”We kindly inform you that we are the mediator between you and the airline we do not have control over the changes”

Westin

Can you double check if you bought a package or multi contract arrangement? Probably the easiest way being to look back on your booking paperwork. Did you receive an ATOL certificate shortly after booking (perhaps mentioning BravoNext SA instead of lastminute.com)? If you have that certificate what does it say in the bottom right corner?

ATOL can't help with your current issue but having this ATOL certificate will help determine if you have a holiday which includes flights and accommodation booked together as a flight + hotel package (i.e. a city break or a holiday) - or if your booking is being treated as just a flight only arrangement.

Powapa

@Westin just checked and yes we did receive at ATOL certificate, it says on the bottom right “Package (Single-Contract)”