Section 75 claim - which credit card company to lodge it with?

JethroPark

Hi, I am looking for advice on which credit card provider to approach. I booked a Vienna hotel for 7 night s via Speedybookers and paid with my Sainsbury's Mastercard. On arrival at hotel there was no reservation for me and no room, so I had to rebook the whole 7 nights in another hotel, this time via booking.com and using a Halifax credit card. Speedybookers agreed to reimburse the original booking fee, but  would not pay any associated costs, so I am out of pocket by £160. I am not sure which credit card company to claim a Section 75 with for associated costs caused by a booking foulup. Any ideas please? Thanks

CliveOfIndia

You would need to make a claim from Sainsbury's, as that's the card you used to pay for the room that was cancelled.  However, consequential losses can sometimes be tricky to get repaid, especially as the company have refunded the initial sum you paid, so you may end up having to claim from your travel insurance.  Also, the fact that you booked via a third-party may well mean that S75 isn't available to you anyway.

You can't make a claim against Halifax, as booking.com have not breached the terms of their contract with you.

born_again

JethroPark said:

Hi, I am looking for advice on which credit card provider to approach. I booked a Vienna hotel for 7 night s via Speedybookers and paid with my Sainsbury's Mastercard. On arrival at hotel there was no reservation for me and no room, so I had to rebook the whole 7 nights in another hotel, this time via booking.com and using a Halifax credit card. Speedybookers agreed to reimburse the original booking fee, but  would not pay any associated costs, so I am out of pocket by £160. I am not sure which credit card company to claim a Section 75 with for associated costs caused by a booking foulup. Any ideas please? Thanks

Forget S75 as no debtor creditor link as you have used 3rd party booking agent.
Also the mention of £160 down, tends to say to me the per night cost is under £100 anyway, thus no S75 claim anyway.

You best bet is a chargeback against Speedybookers debit, but even that may not succeed if they contest on the basis they did as requested & something has changed at hotel end, such as new owners.

eddddy

Section 75 provides cover for breach of contract (and misrepresentation).

You might have Section 75 cover with Sainsburys Bank for one of 2 reasons:


Reason 1 could be

You paid Speedybooker, you had a contract with Speedybooker, and Speedybooker breached the contract - for example, Speedybooker promised to make a booking with the hotel, but they didn't.  So your claim is against Speedybooker  - and there is a 'debtor creditor supplier' link.

(But the above wouldn't apply if it was the hotel that breached the contract, and not Speedybooker.)


Reason 2 could be

Speedybooker's t&c's say

1.2.1 We are acting as solely as the Vendor’s agent in respect of bookings made by You, and these bookings are made between You and the Vendor;

Link: https://www.speedybooker.com/en-GB/terms

Sainsbury's Bank are members of UK Finance. UK Finance say this about Section 75 cover:

What is I booked through a travel agent? [sic]

...However, the travel agent may have taken payments as an agent for the travel supplier, and therefore you may be covered.

Link: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/faqs-chargeback-rights-and-section-75

However...

A situation where Section 75 wouldn't apply is when it's the hotel that breaches the contract, and the travel agent is acting as your agent (not the hotel's agent), and books the hotel on your behalf.

Edit to add...

Did your booking/invoice from Speedybooker say something like "7 nights at hotel for £x.xx"

Or did it say something like:

• Night 1 : £a.aa
• Night 2 : £b.bb
• Night 3 : £c.cc
• Night 4 : £d.dd
• Night 5 : £e.ee
• Night 6 : £f.ff
• Night 7 : £g.gg

If it broke down the nightly cost as in the second example, and each night cost less than £100 - that might be a problem for section 75 cover.

saajan_12

There's no claim with Halifax, since that was used to pay for the replacement hotel, which had no issues or contract breaches. Otherwise anyone with no existing S75 protection could purchase a replacement and claim on that. 

So if anyone its Sainsburys, but the question remains if Speedy bookers actually breached the contract. If it was the hotel's breach then the link is broken so no S75 protection and if there's any argument over whether the consequential damages are due, then you may also struggle. 

DullGreyGuy

JethroPark said:

Hi, I am looking for advice on which credit card provider to approach. I booked a Vienna hotel for 7 night s via Speedybookers and paid with my Sainsbury's Mastercard. On arrival at hotel there was no reservation for me and no room, so I had to rebook the whole 7 nights in another hotel, this time via booking.com and using a Halifax credit card. Speedybookers agreed to reimburse the original booking fee, but  would not pay any associated costs, so I am out of pocket by £160. I am not sure which credit card company to claim a Section 75 with for associated costs caused by a booking foulup. Any ideas please? Thanks

So what did the hotel/speedy say that happened? Was the booking made and cancelled by the hotel? Did Speedy make a mistake and not actually book it? Is there a middleman in the transaction who made the mistake?

S75 claims are hard to make with an agent as often there are 4 parties involved in the deal which invalidates S75. If you want S75 protection you are much better booking directly with the supplier. Technically because how international businesses work that still legally involves 4 parties but most banks seem to turn a blind eye to the fact you booked with Hilton US and stayed with Hilton Hotel ABC 'ltd' and say its all Hilton Group so ok

JethroPark

Thanks for all the informative responses to my query. You have answered my question.

regards