Missed payment date by 6 hours....

[sharond101]

We changed our family holiday from this year to next year after paying the full balance. After rescheduling I added an extra week to the holiday as a surprise for dh birthday so we were leaving a week earlier. The payment date moved a week earlier and although it was on the invoice I was never made aware of it and woulnt have ever thought about it. Fast forward to now and I see the payment date approaching and ask for an updated invoice (part of our payment had been refunded to us as they were holding a large sum of our money and I didnt receive any updated invoice from that.) The reply was my holiday was cancelled as payment was due the previous day and that I would lose my deposit and admin fees. I sent the enquiry email at 6am, 6 hours passed the deadline and the holiday is apparantly automatically cancelled.
We have used the company before and have recommended them to lots of people on and offline. We have always felt valued (they aren't one of the big companies like Virgin or Tui). The Managee has been really abrupt and heartless with no compassion. I feel cheated and although they have proposed to retain part of our deposit (£450) to use on another holiday in the future we will lose £550.

I am so angry with myself for not realising the date would change and with them for being so cold. They are entirely within their terms and conditions so nothing is illegal but it just seems so insensitive.

6 hours is after the time you had to pay though. I appreciate it was a mistake but you were still late. Would you go to a shop to pick something up 6 hours after it closed and kick off?

Take it to Twitter. I bet they backtrack then.

Balance is always due x weeks prior to departure though. If they have not relet the accommodation can you rebook with the credit or are there flights etc involved.

I would be gutted, sharond101. You were given the information but I can imagine that you didn't read it thoroughly because you 'knew' when the deadline was.

I don’t think it really matters who is technically right or wrong, the fact is it was a mistake and they’re being purposely obtuse.

Wouldn’t these kind of payments normally be set up to be automated, I’d expect some kind of reminder by email if they expected a manual payment

That is terrible! No reminder or anything! I would definitely go to social media; you have nothing to lose surely. I can’t imagine business is booming for travel companies right now, surely they won’t want bad press.

Totally harsh on the part of the company. I would never use them again. Not just for not waiving the cancellation but also not giving you an updated invoice. They don't sound very professionally run.

Is there anyone higher up than the manager you can write a letter to explaning your circumstances. I would give them a chance to rectify the situation before posting a negative review for their site.

I mean, they should be pleased anyone is happy to pay for a holiday right now!! I wouldn’t let this drop

I wonder if they are going bust and grabbing every penny they can before they go under.

Why didnt they tske the extra payment when you booked the extra week? Bit silly to expect payment at completely different time. Many people would forget.

@blueshoes

Totally harsh on the part of the company. I would never use them again. Not just for not waiving the cancellation but also not giving you an updated invoice. They don't sound very professionally run.

Is there anyone higher up than the manager you can write a letter to explaning your circumstances. I would give them a chance to rectify the situation before posting a negative review for their site.

No it was the Managing Director.

@LawnFever

Wouldn’t these kind of payments normally be set up to be automated, I’d expect some kind of reminder by email if they expected a manual payment

It's also in the terms and conditions that you won't be sent a reminder.

@Fourstonesmash

It sounds like an unreasonable term given the date had moved since the original contract and they hadn’t updated their invoice

They updated it with the new date after the change but not after money was paid back to me as I had paid the full balance previously so I wasn't sure how much was outstanding hence why I emailed them.

But surely the original week is still booked and paid for.

@DisorganisedOrganiser

That is terrible! No reminder or anything! I would definitely go to social media; you have nothing to lose surely. I can’t imagine business is booming for travel companies right now, surely they won’t want bad press.

I feel the retained £450 would be at stake which they are holding to put towards another holiday as this has been classed a "goodwill gesture."

Everything was in writing and as you said yourself they have kept to the terms and conditions. It is then your responsibility to keep to the terms, you didn’t. It’s disappointing for you but you could have asked for an amended invoice and didn’t do that either.

@LIZS

But surely the original week is still booked and paid for.

Yes very good point! Surely they could only try and be sneaky about the additional week anyway, not what you’d already confirmed!

I’m going to get flamed for this but they are a business, not a charity. There is a deadline for a reason. Payment is due x number of weeks before the holiday and you moved the holiday forward a week so of course the payment deadline has also moved forward a week. You should be cross with yourself, not with them

I for see (other than rudeness) they are at fault, you changed the booking which changed the balance date, you had an invoice with the date on and you already said they state they don't send reminders so all the onus is on you to pay on time, you didn't raise any queries about another invoice until after payment date. I don't think they are in the wrong legally

I agree with above- take it to Twitter!

I think that is absolutely dreadful. A reminder should have been sent at least.

I think YABU, they put the date on the invoice. Of course the pay by date moved forward a week because you moved the departure date forward a week.
If you were unsure of the outstanding amount you should have enquired at the time of the change. I've never understood why people leave these things until the last minute. You still only left yourself 6 days to enquire about the outstanding amount, receive a reply and arrange payment.
They told you the payment deadline. You missed it. Not their problem.

@Hesma

I’m going to get flamed for this but they are a business, not a charity. There is a deadline for a reason. Payment is due x number of weeks before the holiday and you moved the holiday forward a week so of course the payment deadline has also moved forward a week. You should be cross with yourself, not with them

You are right and I am cross with myself. It was a mistake and not one I'd make again but I thought my loyalty would have counted for something and given the extraordinary times we are in compassion shown. They are a business and not a charity but have gained from the sale of a holiday which hasn't been taken. The final carrier for the holiday is offering free cancellations until 1 week before arrival so the business have lost any money. It's most likely the holiday will be unable to go ahead due to the virus so would be cancelled anyway and then a refund would be due so then they would make no profit, so this is obviously a good outcome for them.