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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to panic that I’ve just lost us £700 plus on a holiday booking

108 replies

Sleepsoon7 · 06/03/2020 00:13

I am a complete idiot. I always book flights and hotel rooms separately. I am used to price being per room as normally book direct with hotels or through third party websites that charge per room. Saw what I thought was a bargain on a major holiday company website and booked a number of nights in a hotel we’ve been to before for DH, DD and me as a treat. I realised afterwards as soon as I looked on my account on the website that the price was per person and not per room. I can’t afford £2000 plus pounds and if I cancel the website says they keep the deposit which was the £700 plus which I can’t afford to lose either. Office is shut when I tried to ring (not surprising) and MasterCard say they can’t do anything about it. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. DH is being very calm but has gone to bed as I’m pacing about panicking like crazy and he has to work tomorrow. I am not working tomorrow so will ring Office when they open but am so worried they won’t let me cancel without keeping the £700. Anyone any experience of similar situations and how did you deal with it / what happened. Am I totally screwed?! I am in Uk in case that makes any difference.
(No consent for any newspapers to use this in case any were interested)

OP posts:
MereDintofPandiculation · 06/03/2020 08:19

OP has cocked up and needs to sort out a problem but your first thought is that deception and fraud is the way forward? Wouldn't work, anyway. She's already talked to them about getting the holiday refunded and they'll have record of that. So her fraud will be detected when she tries to claim this payment was made by the person who stole her card.

ShootsFruitAndLeaves · 06/03/2020 08:32

if you've bought a package it kind of goes with the territory that there's no cancellation. also you need to deal with the holiday company not the hotel, the hotel don't necessarily know about your booking (yet).

Calamityy · 06/03/2020 08:37

Can you just cancel your credit card? Report it as stolen and get it blocked. I know it's shitty, but 700 pounds is just so much money to lose

Encouraging an easily identified fraud is not the best way to go. How can you think that would work? Coincidence that the same name is on the card and booking? Can't believe how stupid people can be.

Sally7645 · 06/03/2020 08:41

I recently forgot to cancel a Booking.com reservation and only realised when I got the 2 weeks reminder, by which time I was out of the free cancellation period and the cancellation fee was €1000

I nearly died - we had booked and paid for an air bnb already

I called the hotel directly and cried Blush and explained I couldn't afford to lose this money and basically begged them to cancel it given that I had only just gone outside the cancellation period and they agreed to only charge me €250 for the first night, which was still pretty galling but was a decent offer!

My advice... beg Wink

Shinycat · 06/03/2020 08:43

@Sleepsoon7 Can you not just go on the holiday anyway? You have paid a third towards it now!

Shinycat · 06/03/2020 08:45

@BlackCatSleeping

Can you just cancel your credit card? Report it as stolen and get it blocked. I know it's shitty, but 700 pounds is just so much money to lose.

Don't be so ridiculous. So you think the OP should commit fraud to get her money back?! I can't believe what I'm reading tbh! Hmm

Hobbesmanc · 06/03/2020 08:49

I booked an expensive hotel on a none refundable deal with Booking.com- then realised that the dates were wrong the next morning. Despite begging their customer help adviser- then ringing the hotel direct, I lost my money

OlaEliza · 06/03/2020 08:59

Confused why book a holiday if you cant afford to go? I understand not affording the 2k but if you thought it was £700, but can't afford to lose £700, then you can't afford to spend £700 on a holiday, can you. Anyway, I hope they let you cancel.

MakeLemonade · 06/03/2020 09:07

What about you stay in that hotel for however many nights £700 gets you and then somewhere cheaper for the remaining nights?

SoupDragon · 06/03/2020 09:10

if you thought it was £700, but can't afford to lose £700, then you can't afford to spend £700 on a holiday, can you

That's ridiculous logic. Very few people could effectively set fire £700 in used tenners or, in fact, a much smaller amount. Spending the money on something is different.

Herpesfreesince03 · 06/03/2020 09:14

Any luck op?

diddl · 06/03/2020 09:18

So if you've been to the hotel before-has it changed it's way of pricing?

AxisOfDick · 06/03/2020 09:20

Surely distance selling regulations apply here!

This is why you do get full refunds on air bnb until 14 days have passed since you made the booking x

spongejack · 06/03/2020 09:21

why book a holiday if you cant afford to go? I understand not affording the 2k but if you thought it was £700, but can't afford to lose £700, then you can't afford to spend £700 on a holiday, can you.

Helpful comment........not! Hmm

Sparklesocks · 06/03/2020 09:31

@OlaEliza surely OP can afford it in that she's budgeted that money for her holiday specifically, so she can't afford to lose it because that's the money she has for that reason?

GCAcademic · 06/03/2020 09:31

I understand not affording the 2k but if you thought it was £700, but can't afford to lose £700, then you can't afford to spend £700 on a holiday, can you.

This is some pretty ludicrous "logic".

Straycatstrut · 06/03/2020 09:34

I did this ages ago through booking.com. I thought it was a "book and pay on arrival" but it wasn't, and they took the full amount upfront, can't remember how much but well over a grand. I sent a loooong message to the hotel about how sorry I was and how we had a baby and needed the money to live. I got it back eventually. I understand your panic though! This is going back about 5 years and I can still remember it.

TheTiaraManager · 06/03/2020 09:34

Good luck

katkit · 06/03/2020 09:43

marking my place. I want to know that you got refunded! GOOD LUCK!

Fredastaireatemyjamsandwich · 06/03/2020 09:47

Hope you get refunded.

buttermilkwaffles · 06/03/2020 09:48

@AxisOfDick

"The Distance Selling Regulations no longer apply in UK law. The Consumer Contracts Regulations - which came into force in the UK in June 2014 - now apply when buying online."

In any case "there are some contracts you can’t cancel simply because you change your mind, including:

contracts for transport and some leisure services to be provided on a specific date, eg hotel bookings, flights, car hire, concert and other event tickets."

Your claim about Airbnb is also false, it depends on which Airbnb cancellation policy the host has chosen.

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations#what-isnt-covered

Dongdingdong · 06/03/2020 09:49

why book a holiday if you cant afford to go? I understand not affording the 2k but if you thought it was £700, but can't afford to lose £700, then you can't afford to spend £700 on a holiday, can you.

Strange logic, this. I could afford to spend £700 on a holiday, but couldn't afford to chuck £700 in the bin- as it'd then mean I wouldn't have a holiday!

LillianGish · 06/03/2020 09:50

I don’t understand this - surely when you were making the booking you were taken to a billing page, the total amount was shown, you entered all your credit card details and clicked to confirm. Did you not notice that the total figure was higher than expected? This.

thefemalelemur · 06/03/2020 09:50

Is is possible they will let you transfer the deposit to a cheaper holiday?
I also thought the distance selling rules applied to anything booked online.

adaline · 06/03/2020 09:52

why book a holiday if you cant afford to go? I understand not affording the 2k but if you thought it was £700, but can't afford to lose £700, then you can't afford to spend £700 on a holiday, can you. Anyway, I hope they let you cancel.

What are you talking about?!

I can't afford to throw £700 in the bin and get nothing for it, but I can afford to spend it ON something - like a holiday Confused

Most people couldn't afford to lose £700 like that.