Getting my money back from a Greek hotel

jimjiber

Hello

On March 1st this year I booked a holiday for a group of 7 of us. I booked flights with Jet2 and the hotel separately. As a family we have stayed at the hotel 6 or 7 times in the past 10 years and have always had a great time. We booked for 4th to 14th August this year.

In the middle of May one of our group of 7 tragically and unexpectedly passed away. I contacted the hotel the following day to say we no longer wished to travel as it would be heartbreaking for us to go to her favourite place without her. They informed me that "as per our T&Cs" we would not receive a refund of the 1,000 EUR deposit I paid on March 1st but, given the terrible circumstances, they would let us carry this over to a future booking in 2026. I thought this was pretty harsh but it was better than nothing.

The following day I looked at the original email from the hotel where they gave me the bank details to the pay the deposit and noticed this at the bottom:

Cancellation Policy:

If cancelled one month prior to arrival, the deposit will be fully refunded.

If cancelled less than one month prior to arrival, the deposit will be retained to compensate the hotel.

I pointed this out to them and on June 6th they said they would refund the deposit and asked for my bank details. I promptly provided the international bank transfer details from my Starling app. 

A couple of weeks passed and no refund. They also stopped replying to my emails and WhatsApps. The only way I could get through to anyone was via Facebook Messenger, but this was just the lady on reception (who I have met many times over the years).

On Monday June 30th I got this message from them:

We would like to inform you that the initial refund transaction could not be processed due to an incorrect BIC number.

Kindly note that the refund has now been successfully processed from our end.

How convenient. Anyway, I have now waited more than a week and the refund is still not in my account. I read that a bank transfer from Greece to the UK usually takes between 1 and 5 working days. Is this true?

I am not sure what to do next but I get the feeling they have no intention of ever paying me back. I guess my options are limited post-Brexit...

la531983

Travel insurance?

BFBW

Ask them for printed confirmation/transfer slip.
I guess you decided to pay them in cash, rather than debit or credit card?
If you paid by card, raise a dispute and show them the evidence.

DullGreyGuy

jimjiber said:
On Monday June 30th I got this message from them:

We would like to inform you that the initial refund transaction could not be processed due to an incorrect BIC number.

Kindly note that the refund has now been successfully processed from our end.

How convenient. Anyway, I have now waited more than a week and the refund is still not in my account. I read that a bank transfer from Greece to the UK usually takes between 1 and 5 working days. Is this true?

I am not sure what to do next but I get the feeling they have no intention of ever paying me back. I guess my options are limited post-Brexit...

Did you give them a new BIC/SWIFT code? Or check what they used given the message it was wrong initially?

Having recently been paid from Portugal it took 3 working days for it to hit my Starling account. Wouldnt expect Greece to be materially slower. 

jimjiber

DullGreyGuy said:

jimjiber said:
On Monday June 30th I got this message from them:

We would like to inform you that the initial refund transaction could not be processed due to an incorrect BIC number.

Kindly note that the refund has now been successfully processed from our end.

How convenient. Anyway, I have now waited more than a week and the refund is still not in my account. I read that a bank transfer from Greece to the UK usually takes between 1 and 5 working days. Is this true?

I am not sure what to do next but I get the feeling they have no intention of ever paying me back. I guess my options are limited post-Brexit...

Did you give them a new BIC/SWIFT code? Or check what they used given the message it was wrong initially?

Having recently been paid from Portugal it took 3 working days for it to hit my Starling account. Wouldnt expect Greece to be materially slower. 

I didn't give them a new BIC/SWIFT code, so if they are telling the truth they obviously input it incorrectly first time. They just seem to keep fobbing me off with different people, which makes me think they have no intention of ever paying me back.

I will ask them to send me confirmation of the transfer but I doubt they will reply. I really don't know what to do next - I am sure threatening legal action will do nothing. Maybe leave some negative reviews on Tripadvisor and Google? Problem is that might reduce my small chance of a refund even further. 

It's really shocking given the awful circumstances and the fact that we have been regular guests.

jimjiber

la531983 said:

Travel insurance?

I didn't think they would get involved in this sort of thing but I guess it wouldn't do any harm to email them...

born_again

BFBW said:

Ask them for printed confirmation/transfer slip.
I guess you decided to pay them in cash, rather than debit or credit card?
If you paid by card, raise a dispute and show them the evidence.

The hotel was still available. The OP & group choose not to go. So no dispute rights.

Voyager2002

born_again said:

BFBW said:

Ask them for printed confirmation/transfer slip.
I guess you decided to pay them in cash, rather than debit or credit card?
If you paid by card, raise a dispute and show them the evidence.

The hotel was still available. The OP & group choose not to go. So no dispute rights.

No, because the contract said the deposit was refundable.

saajan_12

jimjiber said:

la531983 said:

Travel insurance?

I didn't think they would get involved in this sort of thing but I guess it wouldn't do any harm to email them...

They would, check your policy - it will usually cover cancellation due to a travel companion being unable to travel due to serious health reasons or death. 

born_again said:

BFBW said:

Ask them for printed confirmation/transfer slip.
I guess you decided to pay them in cash, rather than debit or credit card?
If you paid by card, raise a dispute and show them the evidence.

The hotel was still available. The OP & group choose not to go. So no dispute rights.

The OP purchased a refundable trip, and they are failing to abide by the refund portion. I think this would give rights under S75 if paid via credit card. 

bagand96

How was the initial deposit payment made? 

jimjiber

bagand96 said:

How was the initial deposit payment made? 

It was a bank transfer. That was the only option I was given as I contacted the hotel directly.