Extreme sport trip booked; never completed; no refund?!

guyguy

My friend and I paid for two tickets to do an extreme sport outing with a UK based independent practitioner. This was two years ago. He insisted we pay 100% upfront and seemed legit. The process was that we would book a date and check the weather the day before, to check that it was safe to fly. We have now done this about 14 times and the weather has never been up to it, according to him.

At points we almost gave up, and he claimed there would be no refund available.

We persevered anyway because we really want to do it.

Now he is not really replying to us, and we feel as though we might just have been taken for a ride given the number of times it’s been cancelled, how little information he ever gave us, and that he has now gone quiet.

What are our rights? What should we do?

This was a life’s dream, we are so disappointed!

I'd appreciate any advice, thanks!

Aylesbury_Duck

Who exactly did you pay?  An individual, or a business?  
How did you pay?
When did you pay?
How much did you each pay, and did you pay for both of you, or were there two separate transactions?

Alderbank

There are two possible routes to getting a refund:
1. The IP has breached the contract
2. You and your friend breach the contract.

If you share any contract terms you have with us here, we can advise you on whether he has breached the contract or whether the contract is unfair in law. If so then you might be able to claim a full refund, using the courts if necessary.

Even if the contract appears sound, you and your friend can simply breach it. You can say, 'We don't want to wait any longer. We want our money back.'
Since this is a consumer contract, he can only retain his genuine costs incurred and must refund the rest. He will have some admin costs of course but since no definite date has been arranged the actual costs which he can't recover should be quite modest.

Okell

See s52 of Consumer Rights Act 2015

"52 Service to be performed within a reasonable time

(1)This section applies to a contract to supply a service, if—

(a) the contract does not expressly fix the time for the service to be performed, and does not say how it is to be fixed, and

(b) information that is to be treated under section 50 as included in the contract does not fix the time either.

(2) In that case the contract is to be treated as including a term that the trader must perform the service within a reasonable time.

(3) What is a reasonable time is a question of fact.

(4) See section 54 for a consumer's rights if the trader is in breach of a term that this section requires to be treated as included in a contract."

If the service provider is in breach you are entitled to a price reduction up to 100% of the price paid.

Of course, unless you paid by credit card and have a valid s75 claim (you need to answer all the questions asked by @Aylesbury_Duck) you may not get anything back.  He sounds a bit dodgy.  (I mean the service provider - not Aylesbury_Duck!)

Not sure if a chargeback would apply without further details

elsien

Did you get proper terms and conditions when you booked it?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Okell said:

Not sure if a chargeback would apply without further details

I think 540 days is the upper limit with something booked in the future like this @born_again to clarify  

Undervalued

guyguy said:

My friend and I paid for two tickets to do an extreme sport outing with a UK based independent practitioner. This was two years ago. He insisted we pay 100% upfront and seemed legit. The process was that we would book a date and check the weather the day before, to check that it was safe to fly. We have now done this about 14 times and the weather has never been up to it, according to him.

At points we almost gave up, and he claimed there would be no refund available.

We persevered anyway because we really want to do it.

Now he is not really replying to us, and we feel as though we might just have been taken for a ride given the number of times it’s been cancelled, how little information he ever gave us, and that he has now gone quiet.

What are our rights? What should we do?

This was a life’s dream, we are so disappointed!

I'd appreciate any advice, thanks!

Without knowing the exact activity and the actual weather conditions on the days that were booked it is hard to say.

Another factor with some flying related activities is what happens on days that are safe to fly but it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience?

This is certainly relevant for, say, mega expensive passenger rides in two seat Spitfires etc. It may well be safe for a vastly experienced pilot to fly the plane in miserable conditions but seriously disappointing for the punter who has maybe paid £4K for half an hour. The extremes are easy, the grey areas in between are far harder to call!