TUI low deposit - August holiday

[holidayheadache]

Another holiday one - sorry!

I've got a long haul holiday booked for the end of August through TUI. So far I have only paid £250 but as this is part of the low deposit scheme, a second deposit payment is due at the end of the month of an additional £250.

I'm under no illusion that this holiday will go ahead unfortunately. Does anyone know what will happen if I don't pay this? I understand that they can go to small claims court but is this realistic under the circumstance?

It seems ridiculous for us to pay money for something we're highly unlikely to benefit from.

Thanks!

Another one here 🙋🏽‍♀️... so watching with interest... have paid the low deposit of GBP 200 by credit card and balance deposit of GBP 600 due by end of this month for a holiday end of July. If I don't do anything, can I claim the GBP 200 from my credit card company? I believe not or if yes under what circumstances? Thanks.

Just to double check something please. We also have Tui holiday booked in Aug. £200 deposit payed on credit card. Next payment due this month. I’m assuming they can’t take the money from your credit card, that you have to make and authorise the payment? Therefore if I do nothing no further payment will be made? Same as you @Rollergirl11 I was just going to do nothing.

@Jedstre well the remainder of my deposit of £600 was due today. I have had no reminders and no chasing for the money. I am still not able to access my booking online or via the app so I couldn’t pay it even if I wanted to. I was a little concerned that they may just take the payment automatically from the debit card used to pay the deposit but they haven’t. I will keep checking over the next few days to make sure the payment hasn’t been debited.

So I’m just going to continue to do nothing and write off the original £200. Then I’ll just book something else when things are back to normal. I’ll keep everyone posted!

Thanks @Rollergirl11 I’ll just do the same.

Thanks for the update @Rollergirl11 - I'll do the same!

Same here! Booked With TUI, paid deposit of £400 so far, due to fly mid July. Remaining balance of £1.4k due towards end April and I do not want to hand it over for fear if not getting it back if holiday cancelled, or it not being cancelled but I have no intentions of going this year now. Does anyone know where insurance companies stand on this, would they refund me the £400 paid so far either if it’s cancelled OR if I say I’m not going due to Coronavirus?

Just interested to know before I call insurers! X

Anyone? X

@Dontsayyouloveme I’d call your insurance company to check but I’d be very surprised if you’re covered in this instance.
I’m in the same position with another £1,300 to pay next week but we’ve already paid £1,200. If we cancel now it’s a £400 fee which I don’t want to lose so I think we will have to just pay and then ask for a refund or request a chargeback from our credit card.
It’s also worth being aware that Abta are lobbying to change legislation to give companies 4 months to provide refunds so it could be a very long wait!
It’s a very difficult situation and I’m a bit torn now as well as I’d rather not wait months and months to get the money back.

Also Martin Lewis seems to think the government may soon make an announcement that for package holidays companies can issue vouchers instead of refunds which you would have 2 years to use at which point if you hadn’t you could then claim a refund. I would assume this is why TUI has thousands of people complaining about not receiving a refund because they’re stalling in the hope legislation is passed in their favour

You won’t get any money back if you cancel, only if they cancel or if foreign office says it’s not safe to travel.

I cancelled my TUI holiday today for July, lost £400 which was 2 x deposit, they said they would refund the money I had already paid which was the full amount. It said on the website that the money would be refunded to my card within 4 weeks, if it isn’t I will claim it back from my credit card company.

@RingtheBells can you clarify, are you saying you’d paid the full amount already but you’re losing the deposit amount of £400?

I booked in January, it was total £1200, I had savings so I paid the full amount rather than just the deposit, for ease really. Due to go in July, cancelled today and the cancellation invoice said cost of cancellation £400, which was the 2 x deposit, refund due about £800, to be refunded within 4weeks to the card I paid on.

Hopefully I will get the £800 back ok but I paid on a credit card as I alway do because I get cashback as well being able to claim the money back more easily. I knew I would lose the deposits as that was in the T&C but we hadn’t got insurance as the annual one I had when we booked would have to be renewed in May and it didn’t have pandemic cancellation anyway. Fortunately the holiday was quite cheap anyway as some holidays cost thousands.

So our deposit was only £100 but when I click on cancel it’s showing the fee as £400 so may be £200pp. I’m not going to cancel, we’ll either get a refund or a credit note eventually and I’d rather not lose £400 just to have the money a bit quicker

My BIL was meant to go to cancun end of March just as it all kicked off and the holiday was cancelled, he was promised a refund which he is still waiting to get from TUI. It is An Eye watering £4000 that he has saved 2 years for.

@rhianna1980 he should go to his credit card company, they’ll be able to get his money back in a few days. I wouldn’t hang around waiting for TUI

There is a brilliant Facebook group Tui Horror stories and complaints
Lots of people in the same boat but quite a few have had refunds
Worth joining up to get more advice

I won’t be using these again. Robbing bastards. They know very well that nobody will be going on holiday in July but won’t let anyone booked in a July or Aug change their holiday.

I’ve just cancelled my booking. I had to forfeit the deposit (£150) but wasn’t prepared to hand over another £5,700 next Monday for a trip early July that most likely won’t be happening. Had to wait over an hour on the phone to get through.

I have looked at cancelling my booking - I can do this online but it tells me the cancellation fee is £500 (full deposit, not low deposit)
I've only paid £250 so far.
Does anyone know whether they'll actually request the remaining £250 if I press proceed?

I've clicked through and I have to pay £250 to cancel. I'll wait and see what happens when I don't pay.
I have looked at the Facebook forum and people have said they have had legal letters.

@IheartNiles do you mind me asking how you booked your holiday? Was the £150 you paid on the low deposit scheme? Did they not ask you to pay the remaining deposit?

@holidayheadache well let’s see if I get a legal letter! 😳😬 If I do I’ll just say I have no way of paying as I still can’t access my booking.

@Rollergirl11 it was a standard deposit, albeit a low amount. It was a one off deposit with the balance payment due next week. My t&c said if I cancelled >70 days in advance of travel I would lose the deposit. They’ve confirmed my cancellation with an email.

"legal letters"

Robbing hypocrities, they are not paying refunds AT ALL, never mind within the 14 days by law, what a cheek

We are booked for a holiday with Tui in July. Six of us so have already paid over 1k deposit and got another 4k to pay this month.

Theres no way I would accept a voucher refund. They arent covered by ATOL. Surely they have to offer cash refunds? I bet they go bust

I am waiting for my refund from mid-March, not had any contact from them at all, no mention of a voucher.

I have tried ringing and emailing countless times I just have my cancellation email stating I would have a cash refund in 3-5 days, hahaha