Direct Ferries refused to refund my booking.

Meridian59

My wife and I were planning to go to Poland on 24/07/2022 and we booked a ferry through Directferriess.com. This booking was made on 20/06/2022 and the amount we paid was £282.99. On 25/06/22 we got a call from a relative stating that one of our family members passed away, and therefore we decided to go the funeral (in Poland). I’ve emailed Direct Ferries, because you can’t call them, to ask if they can cancel my booking because due to the death in our family we need to go earlier then planned. They responded stating:

We are happy to assist you with your cancellation request however, the ticket conditions for the ticket that you have purchased are non-refundable which means that we are not able to cancel this booking for you. The ticket type you have does allow you to make changes to your booking so we would recommend taking advantage of this and amending your booking. Please be aware fees may apply.

I thought, ok I can pay a small fee and get dates changed. It turned out that when I tried to change my booking dates the additional charge was £282.99 which was the same amount as my original ticket, which was absolutely ridiculous. I had no choice other than booking a new ticket directly through StenaLine website and paid £200. So, I’ve booked a new ticket and went to the funeral. After the funeral I’ve sent to Direct Ferries a copy of death certificate to show them that I had to go to the funeral and this was the reason why I needed to cancel my booking. After multiple emails and requests with multiple direct ferries customer service agents they’ve all had one response for me “you have booked non-refundable ticket so no refund will be issued”. This is absolutely disgusting! I could understand if I wanted to cancel my booking because I’ve changed my mind, then of course non-refundable ticket cannot be change, but we are talking about death of our close relative. I’ve actually sent them a copy of death certificate which is an official document but they still referred to non-refundable ticket.

Could you please advise where I can complain or what can I do to get my money back? This company is not a member of ABTA.

 

Thank you

elsien

You chose a non-refundable booking, so there is no obligation on them regardless of the cancellation reason; That is down to their goodwill. If you’d booked directly with the ferry operator they might have shown more flexibility, but you went through a third party operator and that always adds an extra layer of complication. 

This is the type of situation where insurance may be more relevant, depending on your level of cover and the relationship with the person who died. Have you checked with your insurer? 

sheramber

Non refundable tickets are normally the cheaper option. If you wanted flexibility you need to pay more for a flexible ticket.

I don't know if insurance would cover you as the death of your relative may not necessarily mean you could not travel on the original. date. It was a case of no loner necessary.

You would need to check what cover you had.

Meridian59

Thank you both for the advice. By saying check with your insurance what insurance do you mean? 

Thanks

bagand96

Meridian59 said:

Thank you both for the advice. By saying check with your insurance what insurance do you mean? 

Thanks

Travel insurance. 

elsien

Travel insurance. 

Alan_Bowen

From the question, I suspect there is no insurance. Alas checking the conditions of a ticket you plan to buy, whether by air sea or rail, needs to be done before purchase and the words ' non-refundable' normally mean exactly what they say.

Meridian59

I don’t have travel insurance. I do know what non-refundable mean. I just thought that under this kind of circumstances they can be more human and there are some exemptions. But like you said it’s up to their good will. 

Thank you guys for all your help. I really appreciate it.

onashoestring

Sorry to hear of the death of your family member. 

Non refundable means No refund if you cancel.
( whatever the circumstances) . 

If you had paid for a flexi fare it would have allowed you to cancel up to 24 hours before departure and get a refund.

MSE recommends that as soon as you book a trip you also buy a travel insurance policy that  covers you for unexpected events like the death of a close relative . If you had travel insurance , then you would have been able to claim back for the unused ferry booking from the travel insurance company.

Regrettably this advice is too late to help with your current situation . Going forward, if you buy suitable travel insurance  for future trips , you will be covered for similar events in the future.

sheramber

You are dealing with a company , not a human. I am afraid being human doesn't come into it.

Meridian59

Thank you all for your responses. I will have take in on the chin and be smarter next time.