Breach of contract advice needed.
Fairplay35
Forumite 5 Posts
Advice please in respect of the below. There are a number of follow up questions to come.
My wife and I had a cruise booked with Marella Cruises, part of TUI. The cruise was booked via one of the large cruise sale companies. This was at a time when Covid was impacting on cruises, and we had the opton to swap the cruise for a TUI holiday, and we chose a TUI TOUR from the TUI website. We booked the tour on the basis of the itinerary that was advertised and sold to us. Once on the tour, some 8 months later, it transpired that the itinerary that we, and others on the tour, had purchased was an old one, should not have been on sale and was no longer in use by the local tour company acting on behalf of TUI. What was sold as all entry fees to sites included was not, and we were made to pay. Also free afternoons and evenings in the itinerary did not happen. A number of other matters advertised in our itinerary also did not happen. People on the tour were told that TUI had accepted responsibility.
Firstly, I wish to check, if the matter of refund for breach of contract were to go down the legal route, would the defendent be TUI or the cruise sale company with whom we made the booking? Thanks.
My wife and I had a cruise booked with Marella Cruises, part of TUI. The cruise was booked via one of the large cruise sale companies. This was at a time when Covid was impacting on cruises, and we had the opton to swap the cruise for a TUI holiday, and we chose a TUI TOUR from the TUI website. We booked the tour on the basis of the itinerary that was advertised and sold to us. Once on the tour, some 8 months later, it transpired that the itinerary that we, and others on the tour, had purchased was an old one, should not have been on sale and was no longer in use by the local tour company acting on behalf of TUI. What was sold as all entry fees to sites included was not, and we were made to pay. Also free afternoons and evenings in the itinerary did not happen. A number of other matters advertised in our itinerary also did not happen. People on the tour were told that TUI had accepted responsibility.
Firstly, I wish to check, if the matter of refund for breach of contract were to go down the legal route, would the defendent be TUI or the cruise sale company with whom we made the booking? Thanks.
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What were your actual losses, i.e. what are you out of pocket by?
For example you say 'What was sold as all entry fees to sites included was not, and we were made to pay.' So how much did you pay in total for entry and do you still have receipts?
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/634/contents/made
Most tours are subject to reasonable change, when we went to Sri Lanka on a tour it was called out from the outset that the day to the more northerly part of the island would be at risk and dependent on local assessment of the current safety threat. In the end that bit didnt happen and they put something else on instead (I'd argue not of equivalent value/interest but didnt feel that unreasonable).
Fees moving from inclusive to exclusive doesnt feel a reasonable change and is easy to deal with from a refund perspective. The afternoon/evening items may be more difficult to value unless you paid locally for equivalent items and therefore have a financial loss.
The itinerary stated all entrance fees to sites would be included. Essential to us in choosing this tour were the periods of " free time" on a number of afternoons / evenings. Had these not been included, we would not have chosen the tour.
Once on the tour, it was ascertained that the local tour company providing the tour were operating an itinerary that was different to tje one sold. .... entry fees not included, no free time, together with a number of other matters.
We were informed that TUI had accepted responsibility for advertising and selling an itinerary that was not what the local tour company was provoding on behalf of TUI.
We are only out of pocket €84 for entrance tickets and yes we have reciepts. For personal reasons, the free time was an essentail element in us chosing this tour, and had it not been, we would not have booked it. I believe TUI has breached the contract that we made with them in selling us an itinerary that we were never going to get .
If you had to pay for stuff that should have been included then that’s a pretty straightforward claim.
With things that were not available to you that should have been, you can claim for loss of enjoyment. This is will be more tricky to put a figure to and will depend upon the specific circumstances.
Have you actually contacted either company to express your grievances?
Have you spoken to TUI/the cruise organiser yet? What did they say?
If "yes" to both those answers, I'd have thought you should be claiming a refund of your extra costs from cruise.co.uk as presumably those are the people you paid originally and are the people your contrcat is with?
If the holiday wasn't purchased direct from TUI I don't see the relevance of TUI knowing or not knowing that the tour could not go ahead as advertised. (Except that after you've claimed against cruise.co.uk, they can claim against TUI).
And if it gets as a far as issuing a court claim (if it's worth doing that - we don't know how much is involved) can't you issue a claim against both cruise.co.uk and TUI?
(Did you pay by credit card? You might have a s75 claim)