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.

If you had to chase them down for an updated invoice then they are engaged in a pattern of shady practice.

The invoice contains the caveats/buyer beware language, and they might not have even sent it unless you were diligent about finding out what you owed.

Twitter, Tripadvisor and Facebook

When are you travelling? If you've changed it from this year (2021) to next year (2022) the balance due date will also change to next year and as long as you have covered the deposit it shouldn't have been cancelled?

I also can't believe a travel company doesn't send reminders out, some people book 2/3 holidays a year sometimes up to 18 months in advance and no on could be expected to remember all their balance due dates. It's really poor admin on their part.

If the end carrier is offering full refunds they won’t be out of pocket, so keeping your deposit is pure profiteering, and I’m not sure where they would stand if they hadn’t issued a final invoice. Might be worth a call to CAB to see where you stand.

@TheRaccoon

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.

Of course it matters.

They're being very short sighted and foolish. They'd rather keep £500 now than potentially years' worth of future business. It does make me wonder whether they're hitting the skids. £450 is a lot of money but they're trying to hold you to ransom here. Who would want to book a future holiday with a company like this? I'd be tempted to tell them to forget it and then give honest reviews online (not nasty, vengeful or untrue, but just honest about how they don't value customers or their loyalty or return custom).

find this really bizarre, the company are giving you some of YOUR money back as a Goodwill Gesture as long as you give them even more money to rebook with them, so would they keep the full £1000 if you found a holiday elsewhere or is cancelled again?
Social Media is your friend here.

@areyoumeop

find this really bizarre, the company are giving you some of YOUR money back as a Goodwill Gesture as long as you give them even more money to rebook with them, so would they keep the full £1000 if you found a holiday elsewhere or is cancelled again? Social Media is your friend here.

Yes we lose £1000 or they offer £450 towards a further holiday. By taking to social media I feel I am forfeiting that however feel very cheated albeit they are entirely within their legal rights.

Is it a package holiday? Or are there elements you could re-book directly?

They sent an updated invoice in July when I changed the dates.

Hang on, so they sent you an updated invoice with the new payment date back in July? So the problem is that you didn’t read that invoice?

As someone who worked in a travel before- everytime it goes on social media, we backed down- they won’t take the option away. You are in the wrong, but that hasn’t stopped people in the past. Feefo/ trust pilot/ Facebook all of them

@DiscoLightsOnAFridayNight

They sent an updated invoice in July when I changed the dates.

Hang on, so they sent you an updated invoice with the new payment date back in July? So the problem is that you didn’t read that invoice?

Yes I made the mistake I realise they are not doing anything wrong but I sent the enquiry email 6 hours after the deadline and it was a genuine lack of noticing small print detail at a stressful time when rebooking.

as others have said twitter and was it blue sea holidays?

avoid them like the plague

Go down the Twitter route
I’d that doesn’t work, contact the CEO/MD on LinkedIn.

Did they tell you why they weren't able to give you the allowance? I work in the industry and some times it can be due to flight ticketing deadlines etc so can be out of their hands but it seems a bit brutal to not send a reminder if this was the case. I work for a small (but brilliant) company and would always assume that our clients would need a reminder as many book quite far in advance but I don't know how that works logistically for larger companies

Has the non-reminder clause always been in their T&Cs when you've booked, or is it new this year?

I was unsure of the remaining balance.

Of they haven’t sent the correct invoice amount, they haven’t done what they were supposed to.

@eurochick

"Terms and conditions "Please note your balance due date will be shown on your invoice and no balance reminders will be sent."

Didn't you say that you had asked for an updated invoice as the balance had changed and they had not provided it? If that's right then that's your argument.

This.

As for having such a clause in their terms and conditions, that is a poor way to do business. Most customers expect to be reminded closer to the date when their balance payments are due. The company is setting themselves up for customer complaints when they forfeit deposits without payment reminders.

What did you like about them? They sound worse by the minute.

@HeyDemonsItsYaGirl

Has the non-reminder clause always been in their T&Cs when you've booked, or is it new this year?

This, have they changed the T&Cs from the original booking because surely your original holiday falls under the original terms, that can’t be changed later on

The non reminder clause has always been there and I asked for the invoice 6 hours after the deadline. The final balance hadn't changed just the amount outstanding as I had requested some money back when the holiday hadn't gone ahead initially last year and they had £7000 of my money I'd paid in full.

Yup, Social Media. Name and shame them. I’m surprised that any company thinks that they can be wankers to customers right now. I’d be properly miffed and I understand why you are too. I’d also never use them again and never recommend them (even after going on this holiday) In my book, bad customer service never works out well for a business. It’s very short sighted.

Get on to Winnifred Robinson on You and Yours, Radio 4.

Working in the Finance industry, our guidelines for payments due have been more flexible especially if someone has been directly affected by Coronavirus whether working or illness related. If this applies to you OP, might be worth a shot under these grounds?

I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if this is because they can sell the holiday for a higher price this year. I bet they would have been more flexible in previous years. We booked a holiday last April for this May, once it became obvious that May 2020 was going to happen, and I looked recently at the same place to book for next year - the prices are now nearly double what we paid for 2021, and are even higher for 2022.

7k on a holiday... wow