Does section 75 cover a dodgy holiday booking?

Adviceseeker2025

Hello,

We are looking to book a villa in Sri Lanka. We have researched the place and checked out reviews/Google maps etc and it looks legit. It's much cheaper if booked through their website rather than Airb&b (we found the website separately, not through them telling us about it) but we then lose the protection of Airb&b refunding us if it's dodgy...If we book through the website and in the end they turn out to be dodgy/don't exist/villa not as described, would we be covered by Section 75?

We have heard of people being scammed and it's a lot of money so just want to be sure we are protected!

Many thanks in advance for any advice!

eskbanker

From the perspective of s75 coverage, it'll only apply if you book directly with the supplier rather than via an agent such as Airbnb, but it's not a comprehensive insurance policy against anything going wrong, it simply grants you the same rights against the card company as you have against the supplier, in the event of breach of contract or misrepresentation.

Voyager2002

Does the website allow you to pay by credit card? If so then yes, you do enjoy a certain amount of protection.

Emmia

Would you be paying by credit card?

Hopefully you also have travel insurance already in place too.

DullGreyGuy

S75 makes the bank jointly liable with the merchant for breach of contract and misrepresentation. So yes if the villa doesnt exist then that is a breach of contract. 

"Not as described" would be a misrepresentation but we are talking about fundamentals here like them saying it has 4 bedrooms and a pool when actually it's a studio flat. Them describing it as "luxurious" but you thinking its "basic" would be much more challenging. 

For S75 to apply there must be a three way relationship between the Debtor (you), Creditor (card issuer) and Supplier without any other parties involved. Where lots of S75 fall down when it comes to holidays is because there is a 4th party in the middle and so you buy from a Merchant who is not the Supplier and so the three way relationship is broken because the creditor paid the money to the Merchant not the Supplier. 

So you would have to make sure the website is owned and operated by the villa owner and isnt some intermediary who runs websites for villa owners. 

Also, make sure you get paperwork (physical or electronic) as you have to substantiate your claim and remember it'll be bound by the local jurisdiction... that doesnt stop S75 from applying but means breach of contract is as defined in Sri Lanka not the UK (this has more impact with consumer rights on physical goods than room bookings)

Adviceseeker2025

Yes we will be paying by credit card if that means we get the protection!

Not all travel insurance covers this situation but yes we will all have travel insurance of course

Adviceseeker2025

The question is if Section 75 covers this type of scam/situation?

DullGreyGuy

Adviceseeker2025 said:

The question is if Section 75 covers this type of scam/situation?

Posts have already answered this for you... as long as you have paid the owner directly then yes it would cover the villa not existing etc - though would call it a breach of contract rather than "scam" as that can push things down a different path. 

Adviceseeker2025

DullGreyGuy said:

Adviceseeker2025 said:

The question is if Section 75 covers this type of scam/situation?

Posts have already answered this for you... as long as you have paid the owner directly then yes it would cover the villa not existing etc - though would call it a breach of contract rather than "scam" as that can push things down a different path. 

Yes saw your post just after I posted this! Exactly what I needed, thanks for your help

Grumpy_chap

Adviceseeker2025 said:

If we book through the website and in the end they turn out to be dodgy/don't exist/villa not as described, would we be covered by Section 75?

What do you mean by "dodgy"?

If the villa does not exist, that is a clear breach of contract. 
However, the CC under S75 is only made jointly liable as per the provider for any remedy.  If you book direct with a villa in Sri Lanka, that may be under Sri-Lankan laws and the consumer rights may be different that you are familiar with in the UK.
From a practical perspective, you would need travel insurance to cover extra-over costs of resolving the situation in Sri-Lanka immediately and / or your own means of finance.  CC S75 claims are not quick to process and any remedy will be after the event.

"Not as described" could include many factors that are subjective, as DGG has referenced.  Subjective matters are very difficult to establish breach of contract.  Even factual matters, for example "has a pool" can be open to interpretation of the pool is there but closed for maintenance during the week of your stay.  It is quite common that booking conditions have a cover-all exclusion for such events.

One has to wonder why, given the lack of trust in this accommodation provider, why you still wish to book with them rather than find an alternative.  Turning up in Sri-Lanka only to find the accommodation is not as expected (S75 or not) (and all the worry before hand) is a lot more stressful than simply selecting an accommodation provider with whom you have greater confidence.

RedImp_2

Jumping on to this thread, I’m in the process of switching cards but I’m likely to make a couple of expensive payments on the card that I ideally would want to cancel in future.  Both cards with Santander.  Hopefully won’t be needed of course, but is there any loss of protection making a claim against a non current card?