Cancelled hotel: refund never received

keletkezes

Hi everyone :)

I booked a hotel with free cancellation, cancelled it at a later date, and have never received a refund. Is it appropriate to do a Section 75 claim?

Further details: booked the hotel back in June 2025 (to travel August 2026), they took payment almost upfront. Read some reviews about the hotel being terrible (and perhaps shut?) so cancelled in July 2026 (well within the time) and heard nothing from then since. All done through Booking.com: hotel doesn't exist on Booking.com anymore but I have downloaded all the correspondence etc.

sammyjammy

Have you tried to contact booking.com?

keletkezes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82189118#Comment_82189118

I couldn't work out how to: I'd usually do it from the booking, but it's disappeared off My Bookings. Any pointers?

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82189134#Comment_82189134

This is the customer service number from their website

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6688953/cancelled-hotel-refund-never-received

You booked via an agent so S75 will fail. A chargeback would have been the more appropriate option but they may argue you are outside of the timescales

sheramber

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6688953/cancelled-hotel-refund-never-received

If you have not had any confirmation of your cancellation and the hotel is shut , as you suggest , then it would appear there was nobody dealing with the hotel business.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82189312#Comment_82189312

I'd have thought that it would still be within chargeback timescales, given the extension from 120 days to 540 days for future service provision, but am unclear if there's any actual basis for chargeback if choosing to cancel?

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82189344#Comment_82189344

There is a chargeback code explicitly for Credit Not Processed which is where a customer is supposed to get the funds back but doesnt. The question will be when the 110 day clock starts ticking from. I understand its supposed to be from when the refund was agreed to be processed or was due to be received, whichever is later.

So it will depend exactly when in July it was cancelled.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82189352#Comment_82189352

I was under the impression that that reason code only applied where the merchant had agreed to refund, rather than where the customer simply asserts that it should be done (which would make it very useful in a wide variety of disputes)?

keletkezes

Thanks for the input everyone :)

Booking.com customer service were, actually, really helpful! I did search for the number after it was posted and did eventually find it XD Now I have an email to respond to with all the docs I'd saved :)