Friend has cancelled me for a holiday that's already booked and paid for.

[Snowyxmastree]

I don't know how to handle this situation.

9 friends 4 couples and 1 single have booked to go on a holiday. I have paid for the flights outright and the hotels get paid for on check in. Everyone has paid for the flights bar the single friend.

I have had to rearrange the booking once already as we have booked non refundable rooms and 4 in the party got invited to a family members wedding.

I have just received a message from single friend to say that she is embarrassed to say that she can no longer go due to the cost. She's owes me for the flight and I have been chasing her for a couple of weeks now. Plus the hotel needs to be paid for nearer the time.

Everybody knows this all non refundable but she hasn't mentioned reimbursing me.

How do I go about doing this?

I will not be doing this again despite this being a annual thing for 5 years now with no issues.

I am so pissed off with friend as the hotel was booked mainly as she was unhappy with a lot of hotels as they didn't do single rooms.

Please help me ask her for this money I am owed. It's £550.

[MooseTrap]

Have you proof she was told the flights were non refundable too?

[OTheHugeManatee]

She's not planning to pay you back, is she

[knobblyknee]

She can find someone to take over her share, or she can pay for it. Especially as she has already made a fuss.
Was that her non assertive way of trying to back out? She should have just said! I'd be fuming.
YADNBU.

[AnchorDownDeepBreath]

Oh dear. Right, so it looks like she's not planning to pay - or potentially not able.

If it comes to a legal claim, you will need to prove that there was an intent to create legal relations. Essentially, you'll need evidence that a) she knew how much she needed to pay and by when, b) she knew that it was non-refundable, and c) she agreed to pay.

The most common defence in cases like this are; a misunderstanding of the costs involved and whether they could be recovered; no proof of the person agreeing to pay, or it being a gift.

If you've got a WhatsApp conversation showing that it's non-refundable, does she reply in that and agree to pay? Does she explicitly agree to pay flights anywhere? Make sure you screenshot these, because they will be important. Has she paid anything to you so far? If so, what? That could help (or hinder, depending).

The small claims court usually takes a few months, depending on your location, to get a judgement. If she's actually got no money, she'll likely be allowed to set up a payment plan with you. If she has assets, you could ask the court to consider that as an alternative, but it'd need to be something she could viably release.

[razmataz]

Hopefully now OP has confirmed with her that it is non refundable she will decide to come after all, or is at least resigned to paying up either way.

Keep us posted! She'd have to have a real brass neck to refuse to pay at this point, and would be throwing away a whole group of friends by the sounds of it.

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

"I sceen shotted the room conformation to eveyone that lists the rooms who's in them and prices listed with non refundable next to them"

But did she actually know BEFORE the booking confirmation that the rooms were non-refundable? Sounds like you just sent her a what's app AFTER you'd booked the rooms. I think to have some argument in a small claims court you would have to have evidence that everyone agreed to booking a non-refundable room before the booking was actually done. Ie "hi everyone. Just letting you know the price for a non-refundable room is £X. Or £X more for a cancellable room - which option does everyone want me to book?"

[rollonthesummer]

Have you discussed it with the others in the group?

[MackerelOfFact]

It's always a nightmare being the person that organises and pays upfront for group holidays. I did it once and I swore never again. We had to reschedule dates and change hotels only for the two couples being fussy to pull out anyway and try and get away with not paying us back for the non-refundable deposit, claiming they didn't know it had already been paid. Now we just tell people when and where we're going, and if people want to come along at the same time they can sort out their own travel and accommodation. Much easier. Turns out that when people have to do it themselves, they're not as fussed (or as fussy) about coming.

Anyway you'll have to get the money back from the friend. Flights are always non-refundable so there's no way she didn't know she wouldn't be able to cancel those.

[CheesyWeez]

Giddy's right, the airport tax will be refundable and it may be a fair part of the flight price, maybe around half... (that's the case on flights from London to Paris)
Could she get a friend to take her place? Or one of the couples bring someone to take her place?

[QOD]

Wow she's going to be a fuckwit

[Letseatgrandma]

I'd be fuming if I was you!

[rollonthesummer]

How much more is the hotel going to cost? I presume if you're paying £550 for the flights, you're not just going for one night!

[Hissy]

I'd fire up the what's app chat and advise them of the situation.

[LastAnni]

Is she close to anyone in particular in the group? Can you find out if she's spoken to anyone else about her predicament?

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Oh OP

I think you have to accept you are either going to lose your friend or lose the money, you need to decide what matters most to you.

[Jibberjabberjooo]

Or both.

[AnchorDownDeepBreath]

Curlyhaired is correct, you are going to need proof that she knew about and accepted both the cost of the room/flight, and that the cost was non-refundable, BEFORE you booked it.

If your room confirmation is from after you booked, you'll need whatever you sent before.

Try to get evidence from before today.

[ElinorRochdale]

But did she actually know BEFORE the booking confirmation that the rooms were non-refundable?

As I said above, it was her responsibility to find out what the terms and conditions were before the booking went ahead. You don't just agree to commit hundreds of pounds to something without being clear what you 're signing up to. Do you?

[DinosaursRoar]

OK - you need a "worse case sinario" if she just refuses to pay up. She might just bare face lie she didn't know it was non-refundable, many people IME don't really believe they have committed their money to something until they have handed over the money, even if you tell them. (If you wanted to do this next year rather than break the tradition, I would both not include her and also say you don't book anything until the money is already in your hand).

I can see that you can't afford £550, but could between the other 8 of you, afford £68.75 each? Shit you have to do this, but might be the only solution if she doesn't pay up. (there is little you can do to force her if she's not prepared to pay or admit she knew it was non-refundable).

Another option, ask her to pay up to you, but say you'll give her all the details of the hotel and airline to see if she can get any/part of her money back.

[MiniCooperLover]

Did the screen shot show confirmation the flights were also non-refundable, or just the hotel? I'm sure she was perfectly aware, cheap flights generally are non-refundable but if she can argue she wasn't aware then it's very tricky for you to prove

[lanbro]

This happened to me. 2 friends dropped out after £90 non-refundable deposit paid. Another friend and I paid £90 each then when we actually went away the other 4 put £90 each in a kitty for drinks and other friend and I didn't put ant money in the kitty until that was all spent. Ruined the friendship though and never really spoke again.

[BifsWif]

I'd be quite prepared to lose a friend over a
situation like this. I don't think she has any intention of repaying you and I'd never see her in the same light again.

Have you had a reply back since the screenshot was sent?

[Didiusfalco]

I dont think its a case of lose the money or lose a friend - anyone prepared to let you sacrifice that amount for them is no friend - it really is a dealbreaker.

[LavenderDoll]

Have you informed the rest of the holiday group so you can all present a united front.

I think as someone up thread said - it may be a case of saying goodbye to friend or money