Can I get my deposit back?

RavingMad

I get your dilemma; you didn't want another hotel as it wouldn't have ticked all your boxes and a refund would have left you without a holiday without stumping up extra as it's close to travel date.
I had a BA flight and hotel booked to NY, which the Manchester to London bit got changed. They offered me extra day and room upgrades as compense. You may have gotten something better?

Pollycat

RavingMad said:

I get your dilemma; you didn't want another hotel as it wouldn't have ticked all your boxes and a refund would have left you without a holiday without stumping up extra as it's close to travel date.
I had a BA flight and hotel booked to NY, which the Manchester to London bit got changed. They offered me extra day and room upgrades as compense. You may have gotten something better?

Maybe.
But it's too late now as the OP chose to cancel.

twopenny

It's what they do. Granted if they had been told it would be open then they couldn't cancel their own contract for that period.
But also they wait to the bitter end in the hope people will loose their nerve and cancel and it helps to cover their costs.
Same applies if a holiday is wrong and you ask for refund. They'll string it out with all sorts and indeed people do give up as real life interferes with their persuit.

CKhalvashi

NoodleDoodleMan said:

As said previously, cancellation results in loss of deposit at the very least.

It would be useful to know the travel operators involved.

You MIGHT (I'm no lawyer) make a legal case based on goods as described not being available at the time of travel, therefore the contract cannot be honoured and is rendered null and void ?

That would open a Pandora's Box of litigation issues of course.

The cost of doing that, bearing in mind I can see such a case going to the Supreme Court via vatious appeals, would be a lot more than the deposit. Much more than the average person would have available to them.

As far as I can see and hugely oversimplifying this, OP cancelled their part of the contract and therefore it's irrelevant whether the hotel was ready or not.

NoodleDoodleMan

CKhalvashi said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

As said previously, cancellation results in loss of deposit at the very least.

It would be useful to know the travel operators involved.

You MIGHT (I'm no lawyer) make a legal case based on goods as described not being available at the time of travel, therefore the contract cannot be honoured and is rendered null and void ?

That would open a Pandora's Box of litigation issues of course.

The cost of doing that, bearing in mind I can see such a case going to the Supreme Court via vatious appeals, would be a lot more than the deposit. Much more than the average person would have available to them.

As far as I can see and hugely oversimplifying this, OP cancelled their part of the contract and therefore it's irrelevant whether the hotel was ready or not.

Thinking aloud - if the hotel is not open for guests on the date the OP booked to arrive would that justify the decision to cancel and provide legal grounds for a refund of deposit ?

As I said, I'm no legal expert and what seems reasonable and logical in the "our" world doesn't necessarily apply in law.

That apart, I wouldn't want to get involved in formal legal litigation - unless one of the so called ambulance chaser outfits were prepared to do a no win no fee deal - and any compensation would be modest I suspect and diminished by the % taken by the them.

CKhalvashi

NoodleDoodleMan said:

CKhalvashi said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

As said previously, cancellation results in loss of deposit at the very least.

It would be useful to know the travel operators involved.

You MIGHT (I'm no lawyer) make a legal case based on goods as described not being available at the time of travel, therefore the contract cannot be honoured and is rendered null and void ?

That would open a Pandora's Box of litigation issues of course.

The cost of doing that, bearing in mind I can see such a case going to the Supreme Court via vatious appeals, would be a lot more than the deposit. Much more than the average person would have available to them.

As far as I can see and hugely oversimplifying this, OP cancelled their part of the contract and therefore it's irrelevant whether the hotel was ready or not.

Thinking aloud - if the hotel is not open for guests on the date the OP booked to arrive would that justify the decision to cancel and provide legal grounds for a refund of deposit ?

As I said, I'm no legal expert and what seems reasonable and logical in the "our" world doesn't necessarily apply in law.

That apart, I wouldn't want to get involved in formal legal litigation - unless one of the so called ambulance chaser outfits were prepared to do a no win no fee deal - and any compensation would be modest I suspect and diminished by the % taken by the them.

Looking at Covid-era cases, in the event of a premature cancelation, likely no.

It was deemed to be up to the hotel to cancel, however this hasn't come up in these circumstances (but has when the hotel legally had to close, I don't believe that set precedent.

RavingMad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6609649/hotel-opening-delayed

Looks like @emmaP86 did the right thing 

emmaP86

NoodleDoodleMan said:

As said previously, cancellation results in loss of deposit at the very least.

It would be useful to know the travel operators involved.

You MIGHT (I'm no lawyer) make a legal case based on goods as described not being available at the time of travel, therefore the contract cannot be honoured and is rendered null and void ?

That would open a Pandora's Box of litigation issues of course.

Thank you, this was the answer I was looking for. If our holiday valance had been paid and still running, they still wouldn’t have cancelled the holiday yet! They are cancelling people a week before they are due to travel even though there are multiple factors and evidence it will not open in time (not just me speculating!)

eskbanker

emmaP86 said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

As said previously, cancellation results in loss of deposit at the very least.

It would be useful to know the travel operators involved.

You MIGHT (I'm no lawyer) make a legal case based on goods as described not being available at the time of travel, therefore the contract cannot be honoured and is rendered null and void ?

That would open a Pandora's Box of litigation issues of course.

Thank you, this was the answer I was looking for. If our holiday valance had been paid and still running, they still wouldn’t have cancelled the holiday yet! They are cancelling people a week before they are due to travel even though there are multiple factors and evidence it will not open in time (not just me speculating!)

But the fact that it's the answer you were looking for doesn't make it the correct one!

emmaP86

sheramber said:

Did you ask your travel agent if you could switch to another hotel , as the current one being open in time was doubtful? 

That might  have been an alternative to cancelling and losing your deposit. 

Having cancelled you now have no booking so there would not be any claim for return of your deposit. 

We did yes but they wanted minimum of £500 more for similar standard and as the date was getting closer, the prices continued to creep up. It was a lose lose situation for us really and a totally dishonest and untrustworthy hotel. Hotel in question is the Royal Atlantis Icon. Have a look at the progress on Facebook and tell me how they thought that would be open 01 May 🤣