Avoid Destination2- cancellation fiasco

[spinyffud]

I had booked a 10 night stay in a hotel in November 2019 with Destination2. I paid a £150 deposit in December 2018 with an Amex, which I no longer have. In March I realised that I would have to change dates due to a family wedding. I tried calling their after sales team numerous times and also emailed with no response. Eventually I got a reply to ask what dates I wanted to change to, despite my original email clearly stating this. I lost all confidence in them as an agent and advised that I wished to cancel my reservation. They immediately replied(despite all other emails taken several weeks to get a response) to advise that I would be charged 70% of cost (£2200).

I feel that this is ludicrous with nearly 6 months to go until travel. I also am unsure as to how they would charge me when the card I paid a deposit with is no longer valid.

[Heratnumber7]

What did the T&Cs say when you booked?

It may be ridiculous (I agree), but if that's what you signed up for....

[Thehop]

Check the T&C but surely you just lose your deposit.

[TwoBlueFish]

You need to check your contract with them and see what it says about cancellations. If it’s part of the terms and conditions that you agreed to and your original card is no longer active then they’ll send you a bill and probably pass to a debt collector of not paid.

Probably best to ring them and try and change dates.

[spinyffud]

I’ve went through all our correspondence and can’t see anything about cancellation costs, other than a vague ‘may be subject to cancellation costs’. I have to say I always thought you were only charged deposit up to the point final balance is due (14 weeks pre travel). I had emailed them on 2/2/19 to confirm this but didn’t receive any reply.

[TwoBlueFish]

Cancellation for accommodation only does say 70% unfortunately www.destination2.co.uk/non-package-bookings-terms-and-conditions

[spinyffud]

What is even more annoying is that the hotel is now cheaper than the cancellation fee. They are dreadful and utterly unhelpful. Phones don’t get answered (hours spent trying to get through) and have sent more than 10 emails to them. Absolutely a disaster

[TwoBlueFish]

Are they on Twitter? Or Facebook? Social media sometimes gets quicker response

[dementedpixie]

I'd rather change dates than lose all that money

[OutInTheCountry]

Would the hotel have had a better cancellation policy if you'd booked direct? A lot of online travel agents take up to 20% of the booking cost so it's often cheaper to approach the accommodation directly and see if it's cheaper or has better terms.
Also, do you have a bank account or anything that has travel insurance included, might you be able to claim?

[Alsohuman]

If you’ve actually closed the Amex account, how do they propose taking any more money from you?

[ThePants999]

If you’ve actually closed the Amex account, how do they propose taking any more money from you?

They don't have to "propose" anything. If someone owes you money, you just have to demand they pay you, and if they don't, you take them to court. Not having someone's card details doesn't mean you have to forget about money they owe you.

[Alsohuman]

Yes, I know that. What I meant was that they have no means of taking the money without OP actively handing it over. They’re not going to take you to court, OP, it’s peanuts to them and they’ll resell the accommodation.

[NoBaggyPants]

Looking at the booking process they ask you to tick to say you've read the terms and conditions. The cancellation fee is there.

£2200 is not peanuts. Given the low cost of a small claims action, I would expect them to pursue it.

[spinyffud]

Alsohuman do you think? Goodness I hope so.

I do have travel insurance but not sure it would cover us cancelling for a family event? I have an Amex platinum which has insurance.

I hope others here read this and recognise how dreadful Destination2 are. Their sales were excellent and I now can't get any real response from them. Phones unanswered and emails ignored.

[Stopyourhavering64]

I'm afraid you've formed a contract by ticking the t's and c's box
Irrespective if you still have original Amex card they will still come after you for the remainder of amount owed and take you to court in need be...£2200 is NOT an insubstantial amount

[Alsohuman]

All you can do is wait and see but I’d be very surprised if they go any further when the attempt to take more on the Amex card fails.

[TapasForTwo]

"I do have travel insurance but not sure it would cover us cancelling for a family event?"

No it won't. My cousin sent us invitations to his wedding after we had booked our holiday. We went on holiday and missed the wedding. They understood.

[spinyffud]

I feel so stupid. I am a professional with a very good education, yet I believed when you paid a deposit that was all you lost if cancelled. What a stupid idiot I am. Terribly upset as we also really wanted to go on this holiday, but unfortunately family needs have to come first. Important life lesson. I also had read the terms and conditions, but thought it was between full balance being Pais (14 weeks) and 43 days that you lost 70%. I stupidly assumed that >14 weeks you only lost the deposit.

Stupidity aside they are the worst company ever for customer service. When I emailed in February to ask about cancellation charges and received no response, I again took this as it was just deposit, rather than they are a company who just don't care about after sales. It was only my OCD that made me continuously chase this up.

[Stopyourhavering64]

Alsohuman of course they'll come after her for the £2200....do you have a legal background?...My dh does and I'm afraid you're misguided

[TapasForTwo]

Would it be so terrible if you missed the wedding?

[spinyffud]

tapasfortwo I thought that. It is a wedding where I have been asked to be bridesmaid. The bride has been extremely unwell (probably won't survive more than 3-4 years), so I feel morally I just can't miss it. I won't be telling her about our travel plans as she has enough to worry about.
Its tough as this is a very large amount of money to us and we certainly won't be having any holidays for the foreseeable.

[Alsohuman]

What’s having a legal background got it do with it? Of course they could take her to court, I just don’t think they would.

[TapasForTwo]

Oh, that is completely different then. How sad. Is there any way you can move the dates instead?

[spinyffud]

With work we both struggle to get time off together. It would probably be the following autumn when we could get a long enough time to long haul and the hotel dates/ prices won't be released that far in advance. Disaster and a very significant steep learning curve!

[TapasForTwo]

Could you "sell" the holiday to someone else?