Last minute.com

Placidem

So booked a holiday on 24th august 2022 and cancelled it on the 30 august for a holiday to Malta. So 6 months until holiday. I cancelled as I tried to get later dates but they said they didn’t have that availability although upon checking their site the same holiday was available. I then decided to read about the company and felt very nervous after they’ had not been honest and were hard to get hold of. I had full assistance package. It was £1600 for holiday now they’re charging me £827 for the admin fees for cancelling and £1600 for the full holiday minus the £95 deposit. They’re threatening to take me court although based on Switzerland 
saying I must pay all of this within 10 days 

any advice gratefully appreciated 

Placidem

Based in**

elsien

What do their terms and conditions say about cancellation charges for change of mind? The amount of time between booking and cancelling is irrelevant, what counts is whether you booked anything refundable and if not the charges will depend on how close to travel you were. 

eskbanker

Placidem said:

It was £1600 for holiday now they’re charging me £827 for the admin fees for cancelling and £1600 for the full holiday minus the £95 deposit.

That doesn't sound right - if the total cost of the holiday was £1600 then it would be unreasonable for them to be seeking £827 plus £1505!  As above, you will undoubtedly have a bill to pay though, if you just unilaterally chose to cancel after making a confirmed booking, so don't be under the impression that your exposure is only the £95 deposit you paid....

elsien

Presuming it was a package, this is what they say:

Amendment/cancellation by you
1. City Break/Flight + Hotel bookings are non-changeable and non-refundable once your booking has been confirmed.
2. Any exceptions to this may be subject to administrations fees charged by lastminute.com and/or by one or more of the third party suppliers. If your booking needs to be cancelled (for whatever reason) and a new booking made, payment for the new booking and (if due) any refund on the cancelled booking will be processed separately.

What breakdown have they given you for the admin fees? 

mattyprice4004

If the terms say it’s non refundable then the rest is irrelevant - you’ll need to pay up. 

They’ll pass it over to a UK solicitor for action in court rather than pursue you themselves directly. 

Always check dates and reviews BEFORE booking, not after. 

onashoestring

This thread is for help with Covid travel issues so may be best moved by board guides to travel board.

In the meantime OP said they  had LM full assistance package . (This is something extra that you pay for )

LastMinute’s premium assistance package,  according to their website, gives consumers full flexibility to change or cancel flights as well as provide a service where no charges will be made by LastMinute. 

Not unreasonably OP having paid for this service they did not expect any charges for making a change .

However, in the T&Cs it does note the airline may charge fees.

https://secure.lastminute.com/insurance/terms-and-conditions/95/en_GB/DP_UK_T&C_Premium_Service_Package.pdf

So It would appear that OP is being charged by the airline ( possibly non- refundable flights ) of the first holiday. IMHO Lastminute should make customers aware of any charges when they made the changes . However this doesn’t seem to be what happens .

It’s been reported in the media that others have been caught out by this :

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/9144226/lastminute-charged-holidaymaker-882-to-cancel-trip-despite-paying-extra-to-avoid-cancellation-fees/

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/bills/your-saving-grace-last-minute-said-it-couldnt-tell-me-how-much-cancellation-fee-would-be-until-i-cancelled-1623997

OP as a starting point you need to request a full breakdown of the charges from LM. to be clear on what exactly you are being charged for.

Placidem

Thanks that helps and requested their breakdown