Fuck fuck fuck just lost £600 due to our own stupidity

[Changedname1468]

Help. DH just booked a ferry crossing. It came to £600. Which was already steep. As he booked it, I had a look on my phone and realised it was only £400 if booked through a benefit scheme I am member of. He had just verified payment but said no worries and cancelled it straight away within 5 min of booking and paying (not that it mattered) and I booked it at the cheaper price. I asked him to print the cancellation off and saw that the cancellation fee was £600. It doesn't look like the ticket was refundable. I feel absolutely sick that we have basically just lost £600 (and paid basically £1000 for the ferry crossing). I'm not sure what I'm expecting anyone to do. One of us will ring them tomorrow but I'm not having any hope. Any words of advice or stupid fuck ups you did and how long it took you to recover from it?

There are exemptions and travel and entertainment tickets are two of them.

@eqpi4t2hbsnktd
If they say no... complain loudly on social media... bad press sometimes gives people a kick up the backside to do the right thing.
Wow!!
The company haven't done anything wrong. It's Op that's made the mistake by trying to ger a cheaper deal after they had already paid. The terms and conditions should be read before paying.
What mistake have the company made?

Of course i hope things get sorted for OP but the company doesnt need bad publicity or' need a kick up the backside to do the right thing'

Op rather then explain you knowingly booked twice. Just explain it was a booking error. You're not sure why you've been charged twice because the online booking wasn't accepting your card sounds like a tech error. I think its disgusting companies are allowed to do this. I realise its a business and they need to have polices, but there should be a few hours cooling off period to allow for these types of issues. They should not be allowed to keep £600 for a service they didnt provide when you tried to cancel within minutes of booking.

I once found an incredibly cheap flight from Manchester to San Francisco, we decided to book but noticed at the last minute that it was Manchester, New Hampshire which is why it was so much cheaper.

I managed it with some tickets I accidentally booked for the wrong time through Fever. It said they were strictly non-refundable but there was no way I could get to London for 9am 😢 After a bit of back and forth, they agreed to a credit note and I’m now able to use the credit note for a trip we’re taking in January. Don’t lose hope, be polite, know what you’re hoping for and hopefully you’ll get someone sympathetic.

If we are going for idiot tax stories I once threw a diamond in the bin. It had fallen out of my engagement ring but I didn't realise and thought it was glittery shit from one of DS's nursery creations.

I didn't realise until a week or so later when I noticed my ring and by that time the bin men had been.

Hope you get a refund, I made a booking with a restaurant once and chose that day’s date instead of a month away which I’d intended to book; the cancellation terms were very clear, can’t refund if less than 24 hours notice, but I emailed (no phone number!!) and was refunded in full (over £100 deposit). I just said I’d made a mistake and did then book for the month later. I would be appalled if they don’t refund you, tbh.

I booked the wrong way round ferries with DfDS last year - booked Holland - Newcastle and return...I phoned them next day, they were lovely and just swapped the booking round. The call handler admitted even she had booked wrong dates with them one day.
Hope it goes well OP

I would still contact them yo refund. I think the non refundable clause might be illegal as there should be a 14 day cooling period. Not aure if a company can opt out but google should tell you.
Weve just lost the same amount on flights we booked a year ago for a trip we can no longer take if that helps ease the pain :(

I'm in work next Thursday after four months of fully WFH.

I've booked three sets of tickets for this trip to the office 🤔

FML.

Sorry to hear that Op, but it’s so easily done. We foolishly let a traveller into our house to buy a mobile generator that we were selling. He used a fake banking app and walked away with a £650 Honda mobile generator, an expensive but massive lesson
learnt.

I once accidentally booked Easy Jet tickets under the wrong name because it auto-filled the details. I called them and they said it happens all the time and instantly refunded me and let me rebook. It might be less unusual than you think.

Yes, BA are good about this. I recently booked a holiday with them for eight of us and the person on the phone made a point of telling me that I could cancel within 24 hours.

How did you get on phoning them?

My husband accidentally booked a hotel for a weekend away for the wrong bloody month. It was over £1000 and he had booked non refundable/ non- amendable as it was slightly cheaper. I called booking.com and they were having none of it...called the hotel (big corporation hotel) and they were lovely. Changed the booking with no fuss and no fees. It can happen!!!!

I think within 24 hours when people have made a genuine error companies can be quite understanding about these things. I think Ryanair has a 24 hour policy for example.

doesn't help but imm not sure why you booked the £400ones before being absolutely sure you could get the £600 back

It was quite a few years ago but a similar situation happened with my sister and I.

We both booked the ferry for the pair of us to Ireland the same evening and the next day upon discovering what we had she phoned to cancel and they said no. If I recall correctly it was with Stena Line and I called immediately after and was told ok I could cancel!

Rather bizarre but now we always let each other know before we book anything!

doesn't help but imm not sure why you booked the £400ones before being absolutely sure you could get the £600 back
I'll put my neck out and take a guess,he rushed and made a mistake. I could be wrong.

Good luck op

I'm always scared of booking plane tickets the wrong way. I check about 6 times before I push buy, then I check the receipt.

It really makes sense for most companies correcting mistakes. They will probably sell the room anyway and you are more likely to come back if you're a happy customer. Non-refundable is only really important to them for short notice cancellations but that makes sense other the CFers would have a field day.

I hope you got a refund

I had cause to seek a refund for theatre tickets this week as my mum is not able to go. It states clearly that the tickets are not refundable. I phoned anyway. I was given the option of crediting my account, valid for 2 years or the theatre trying to sell them and I would get a cash refund if sold. I only lost the booking fee.