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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Holiday cancellation (I think), booked to go with a friend

129 replies

Mumsfriend · 23/05/2019 10:26

Hey,
Would really appreciate some help.
I agreed to go on holiday with a friend. We agreed that I would book and she would pay. It was a package deal via TUI.
I booked it and paid for it, and she transferred the money.
The deposit has been paid the rest due by 1st June, almost 500.00 still to be paid.
The friend has sent me a letter to say please let me have my money back Re holiday. If I don’t receive within 5 working days I will process through small claims court - letter came out of the blue.
I have tried to phone, text from different numbers (for if any issues), emailed and even knocked on her door (she was home), she didn’t answer the phone, texts or emails.
I don’t even know if she wants the holiday cancelled the letter states nothing but give me back my money.
The cancellation fee is 400.00, which has already been paid. She has paid me nearly 500.00 for the holiday and asking for it back. I haven’t cancelled and although she hasn’t confirmed cancel, it does sound like she no longer wants to go.
I have said to her in texts/emails/hand posted letter I will pay half of the cancellation fee of 200.00 and she should pay the Other 200.00 and will then give her back the rest, however she has ignored me.
What do I do?

OP posts:

Gobblebox · 23/05/2019 16:55

Great opportunity to come out of your comfort zone an go by yourself. You might be pleasantly surprised how fulfilling that it. Just a suggestion. Btw I’d cut all ties after this stunt

flowergrrl77 · 24/05/2019 18:52

Blimey! No, don’t be out of pocket and pay half the cancellation fee. Cancellation is entirely led by her and should entirely be paid by her!

ThanosSavedMe · 24/05/2019 18:58

Agree with pp. she should be paying the cancellation fee as she's cancelling not you

Sara107 · 24/05/2019 19:01

Let her take you to small claims - I would imagine any judge would give her short shrift. I would guess that, at most, you would have to pay half the cancellation fee, but her unreasonable behaviour might lose her that as well.

regmover · 24/05/2019 19:02

Ring Citizen's Advice. Meanwhile do nothing about the small claims court rubbish. That's not going to happen overnight, if at all.

TheTrollFairy · 24/05/2019 19:07

She won’t get anywhere in small claims if you have kept texts etc to say she was happy to go on the holiday originally and that she paid you the £500 for that holiday.
Don’t cancel anything yet until you have confirmation from her that it’s what she wants because otherwise she could say she didn’t want you to cancel and you’ll have no proof either way

nuxe1984 · 24/05/2019 19:15

I would send a letter, recorded delivery so she has to sign for it and therefore you know she's got it, and also type the envelope/letter so she doesn't recognise your handwriting and refuse it. (And if you type it you can email yourself a copy as evidence of the date, etc.)

State that you are disappointed that she has decided to cancel the holiday without no reason given. That this is her prerogative but that there is a cancellation charge of £400 which you will be taking from the monies she has already paid (I'm assuming you get a refund minus the cancellation charge?). You can state that as it is not your decision to cancel you should not be liable for any costs or monies lost.

Send her the letter with a cheque for £100.

Take control of the situation.

Small claims courts are for claiming against people who owe you money. You don't owe her anything. Anyone who looks at the details of this case will laugh her out of court!

Pinkyyy · 24/05/2019 19:22

Wow what a crap situation. I definitely think you should still go OP, and as others have said, don't give her a penny of your own money.

mummmy2017 · 24/05/2019 19:25

To cover yourself, write her a letter, saying that as she wishes to no longer go on holiday with you, and the cancellation fee is £400, your willing to transfer the holiday into her name, check TU will do this,. Otherwise if you don't hear from her by 29th May you will cancel the holiday and return her excess...£100...
Get a friend to witness it make 3 copies.
One recorded delivery, one hand deliver and one you keep...
This way you gave her a chance to not lose money.

Jaxhog · 24/05/2019 19:41

If she doesn't contact you before the cancellation deadline, I would cancel the holiday and give her back the difference between what she paid and the cancellation fee. That is the only reasonable course of action for you really.

Did you agree any circumstance under which you would return her deposit? If not, she will get short shrift in a small claims court unless you deceived her in some way, which I assume you didn't.

Poppi89 · 24/05/2019 19:48

I would just send a text saying sorry can't cancel so can't give you your money back and then I bet she will start replying again!
And then when she does, explain that you won't be paying the cancellation fee so she won't end up with much back anyway.

Gth1234 · 24/05/2019 19:50

you can counterclaim against small claims action. I would

if she is going through the no claims court, you need to

a) get legal advice
b) keep all paperwork, etc
c) go no contact - or be careful. You don't want to inadvertently harm your position. Offering to stand half the cancellation may already have done that.
d) cancel the holiday, or pay and go with someone else. Depends how soon you need to do this. You need to cancel to mitigate your loss, I think.
e) counterclaim for your loss of the deposit. I don't think you can just ignore the small claims paperwork.

llangennith · 24/05/2019 20:14

She won't go to small claims court and if she does she'll lose. Ignore her threats and do not pay any part of her cancellation fee.

BumbleBeee69 · 24/05/2019 20:14

no way would I make paying HER half the cancellation.

SnipSnapSnip · 24/05/2019 20:53

I would go ahead on the holiday on my own (sounds like bliss), but as she’s cancelled her half then the cancellation fee would be 100% hers to incur. Would it still be £400 if it was only one person cancelled?

At first I thought it sounded like some sort of mental health crisis but it must be a new man in the go. How annoying but you deserve better OP xx

Vivianebrezilletbrooks · 25/05/2019 02:47

I would just refund her the £100 and send it to her. She can pay all of the cancellation fee from her money.
She'll get nowhere with small claims anyways.
Ditch her after this she's a crap friend. If the reason she'd do something like this is just over a man she's the last person I'd want to go on holiday with.

Morningcoffeelover · 25/05/2019 14:57

What did the legal advice advise you?

Densol999 · 25/05/2019 15:01

By saying she wants her money back "implies" she wants to cancel
Send recorded delivery letter Monday to arrive Tues asking her to confirm if this is correct. If not heard by 5pm on 29th May, say you will take her silence as confirmation of her desire to cancel and to mitigate any further expense, you will cancel holiday on 30th May at a cost of £400 which you will deduct from what she paid you, and then send her the balance by cheque and have nothing more to do with the lunatic

I had exactly this with my so called ex friend. Met a bloke and decided she wasnt going on holiday. Thing is she also had form for it too

Hope you book a nice solo holiday for you somewhere. I love travelling on my own

Xmas2020 · 25/05/2019 15:03

Tell her to proceed with the small claims court then and let the court discuss how holiday cancellations work.

MLMsuperfan · 26/05/2019 04:12

You could safely ignore her letter and do nothing at all because she will get nowhere in any legal action. It's an empty threat and a fantasy.

If you do want to communicate do as a friend to understand her bizarre behaviour and to recover some part of the friendship.

namechangedasscared · 27/05/2019 02:23

Why does everyone keep saying send her £100? Surely it should only be nothing (in fact the OP is owed money)..... they have paid a deposit of £500 (I.e. £250 each). The cancellation charge is £400, meaning £100 would be refunded by the holiday company. OP should not lose any money at all for this - she isn’t choosing to cancel! Therefore, OP should RECEIVE a cheque for £150, thereby ensuring that she isn’t out of pocket at all. Her ‘friend’ would then actually be paying the full £400 cancellation fee (the £250 she already paid for her deposit and then the additional £150 to cover what the OP is losing). If the OP sends her the £100 she gets back from the travel agents, the OP would be £250 out of pocket and the shitty friend only £150 out of pocket. At best if feeling generous you’d only send her £50 to split the cost 50/50! I don’t think you should do that though - your friend has treated you badly and it’s not as if this request has come from a genuine emergency!

Put it like that to your friend and she might suddenly shit herself about this when she realises that the only person who actually has a valid claim is YOU!

I can’t believe she’s treated you in this way - it’s awful.

BruceAndNosh · 27/05/2019 02:46

People are odd.

soarin · 27/05/2019 03:59

Oh my gosh, what an awful cow she is. What was the professional advice.

Personally I would be going on the holiday, I have no issue at all with my own company. As far as she's concerned she can speak to the holiday company and sort all the shit out.

What a shit thing to do to you

WonderWorm · 27/05/2019 04:48

Where do people find friends like this.

MolyHolyGuacamole · 27/05/2019 09:29

@namechangedasscared OP says 'she has paid me nearly £500'.

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