Major Holiday Change

eskbanker

Sgg97 said:

Since booking TUI have re-negotiated their contract with the hotel and now our package only includes access to 8 bars, 3 restaurants, no beach waiter service and access to 1 less pool. If we would like to access any of the other facilities which was included in our original booking we have to pay £25pp per day to access these.

Personally I think that this is more significant than the subsequent reduction in the price offered to new customers - if they're effectively saying that you can have exactly the same holiday that you booked but for £700 more than you've already paid then that's beyond the 8% tolerance allowed for in the Package Travel Regulations, which therefore permits you to cancel for a full refund (after which you could then rebook at £500 less if you wished):

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)

photome

Have you asked for a refund

bagand96

Sgg97 said:

To clarify. 

The all inclusive package has reduced and since this change the price of the holiday if I where to book now has reduced by £500. Meaning I’m paying the original price with less of a service than agreed. My ts and cs say all inclusive however the all inclusive package is now not the same all inclusive offering as when we booked. I understand the point of if the holiday increases in price we wouldn’t want to pay it etc however the overall holiday offering has changed so of course I do not want to pay a higher cost. 

Basically it’s like if we where going to a lodge in the lakes with a hot tub but we have been notified the hot tub isn’t included anymore and if we want a hot tub (which was included in the first package which we booked) we would have to pay more even though if we booked it now it would be less to reflect lack of hot tub. 

TUI have not offered us any money off nor have they offered a work around so that we get access to what we are going to miss out on. 

Also I note it has been mentioned above about views of Mexico, myself and my partner have visited before and always had our heart set on returning so the location has a sentimental value, it was the first major holiday we went on when we could so we would not want to go somewhere else. 

There's no way to prove the reduction in price is due to the change in facilities. Holiday prices are not fixed, they're dynamic and change all the time based on supply/demand, sales etc.

The comparison to a lodge with a hot tub isn't quite the same. Advertising a hot tub is a particular facility and withdrawing it would be a loss of facility. You've booked "All Inclusive" which is a broad tem meaning full board and drinks included. Whilst there's been a change to particular restaurants available, you're still getting "All Inclusive"

I do understand your disappointment especially for a big trip you had your hearts set on. You should raise a complaint with TUI stating you consider this a major change to facilities available as it was different to what was advertised. Have a look at the Package Travel Regs linked above and TUI T&Cs to see if there's anything useful you can include (such as what @eskbanker quotes above). In particular sections about accurate information provided to customers, and anything about changes to a package.

You could mention the cost of the holiday today but I wouldn't hang everything on that as a 10% swing in holiday price is pretty normal over a period of months.

Sgg97

Thank you, this has been helpful. 

I am currently reading through TUIs policy’s. 

We have had a reduction in facilities as they have also given us access to less pools etc. 

Im really not bothered about if we get a reduction in price etc I really just want to go to the hotel and get the services and facilities we have booked and paid for.  

DullGreyGuy

eskbanker said:

Sgg97 said:

Since booking TUI have re-negotiated their contract with the hotel and now our package only includes access to 8 bars, 3 restaurants, no beach waiter service and access to 1 less pool. If we would like to access any of the other facilities which was included in our original booking we have to pay £25pp per day to access these.

Personally I think that this is more significant than the subsequent reduction in the price offered to new customers - if they're effectively saying that you can have exactly the same holiday that you booked but for £700 more than you've already paid then that's beyond the 8% tolerance allowed for in the Package Travel Regulations, which therefore permits you to cancel for a full refund (after which you could then rebook at £500 less if you wished):

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)

no, £200 more than they've paid and the link is to draft legislation not actual law. TUI however are not suggesting the price changes so not sure this section applies but the following section on changes to the contract.

It appears Schedule 1 items 1-10 are the main features but the language is particularly vague as to how you apply it. It doesn't explicitly talk about the number of places you can eat you food from, only which meals are included for example. 

eskbanker

DullGreyGuy said:

eskbanker said:

Sgg97 said:

Since booking TUI have re-negotiated their contract with the hotel and now our package only includes access to 8 bars, 3 restaurants, no beach waiter service and access to 1 less pool. If we would like to access any of the other facilities which was included in our original booking we have to pay £25pp per day to access these.

Personally I think that this is more significant than the subsequent reduction in the price offered to new customers - if they're effectively saying that you can have exactly the same holiday that you booked but for £700 more than you've already paid then that's beyond the 8% tolerance allowed for in the Package Travel Regulations, which therefore permits you to cancel for a full refund (after which you could then rebook at £500 less if you wished):

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)

no, £200 more than they've paid and the link is to draft legislation not actual law. TUI however are not suggesting the price changes so not sure this section applies but the following section on changes to the contract.

It appears Schedule 1 items 1-10 are the main features but the language is particularly vague as to how you apply it. It doesn't explicitly talk about the number of places you can eat you food from, only which meals are included for example. 

My logic is that OP says that there's an extra £25 per person per day in order to access the same facilities they'd already booked, so that £700 is a tangible cost increase for like-for-like features - the fact that the same holiday is currently on sale at £500 less is irrelevant.

It's obviously possible for OP to assert that the changes are significant but as you say that entails more subjectivity, so I'm suggesting that the price hike is a more quantifiable basis on which to seek a refund or to negotiate a more suitable outcome.

And yes, the link was to a draft for some reason, but the final version is identical:

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)

DullGreyGuy

Apologies, I had misremembered the £25pp to being £200 total. 

Its still a change in contract rather than a change in price as they aren't forcing the OP to pay the extra.

To be honest it would be useful to see the original definition of All Inclusive and the two new definitions. If the new "AI Plus" (made up name for simplicity) is equivalent to what the OP was originally getting then I think there is a stronger argument. When a friend has a similar situation the new "AI Plus" was actually more than their original AI, it included premium drinks not previously included. As such the original AI sat between the new AI and the new AI Plus making a direct mapping more difficult and arguable about mapping up or down.