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!

Pay the reminder? Crazy. Even if it goes ahead, do you really want to be on a sealed viral tube for hours which means high chances of getting infected and spending time isolated when you drive.

I have just advised a relative to cancel, lose the deposit and take the hit as you can be guaranteed that the minute the lockdown is lifted these companies will be flying as their survival depends on it, despite the high risk to the passengers.

Also,ABTA have collided with companies in saying it is acceptable to issue vouchers, despite this being completely illegal if someone wants a refund (why wouldn't you.)

My relative that cancelled was immediately telephoned by the company really pressurising them to pay the deposit and continue promising all sorts etc. Utter bollocks. I get their desperation but equally travelling by plane this year is crazy. I'm looking at loosing £2k in flights

My relative that cancelled was immediately telephoned by the company really pressurising them to pay the deposit and continue promising all sorts etc. Utter bollocks. I get their desperation but equally travelling by plane this year is crazy. I'm looking at loosing £2k in flights

That's up to the individual as to whether they want to take the risk though, surely? Understand that's your view but others might choose to travel.

@chocolatesaltyballs22

The op has already Meade clear she doesn't want to go...so taking the hit and losing the deposit seems the better.

The issue is companies doing all they can to stop refunds such as removing the refund option when cancelling and then ringing and harassing people when they do cancel.

But yes, I am a civil libertarian so peoples choice whether to fly if the government is allowing it. Personally it seems crazy in the next few months. NZ locked it's boarders and appears to be one reason why they are now nearly virus free as opposed to us with 15000 people arriving a day from places including some of the works virus hotspots

Yep I totally agree that the tour operators are not being particularly helpful. As evidenced by my 90 mins on the phone yesterday to get £365 back!

Thanks chocolatesaltyballs22 (great name by the way 😁)

This is the number I have been phoning and the message is always we are busy

I will persevere although not planning on going this Summer I will see if I can move until next year 🤷‍♀️

Good luck all 🍀

* The op has already Meade clear she doesn't want to go...so taking the hit and losing the deposit seems the better.*

The OP has put the holiday back to next year now so it’s irrelevant now.

In all fairness to Tui I think it has always been part of their T&C’s that the full deposit becomes payable if the customer cancels the holiday if you have only paid the low deposit. But in these mitigating circumstances they shouldn’t be surprised or obstructive when people DO want to cancel. Especially seeing as they are also holding on to people’s money for holidays that they have cancelled. It seems they want it all their way, which is not on!

So I’ve had another “Balance reminder” email from Tui today. There is no threat of court action yet. I am 2 weeks late paying the deposit balance and the full balance is due in 2 weeks time. Still can’t get in to my booking online or on the Tui app. Still planning to sit tight. I’ll see what happens when I don’t make full payment in 2 weeks time. 😳

It states this:

We fully appreciate that you may be feeling uncertain about paying your balance so to give you additional peace of mind, we’d like to remind you that all of our package holidays are ATOL protected, so you can pay your balance with confidence and full financial security.

Of course there is no mention of the fact that they are only giving credit refunds in the first instance, that you have to accept before you can request a cash refund.

TUI are definitely taking the piss. If it's any consolation I was able to get my refund before they had offered me vouchers, by calling them. But that was just a part refund for a cheaper holiday so I don't know if that makes a difference. It appeared in my account today after calling on Monday.

We’ve had an email reminder today asking for the rest of deposit. We’re not going to pay. I’m considering phoning them and quoting the FCO advice that non essential travel is cancelled indefinitely, therefore we’re not cancelling it, the FCO is and as such don’t see why we should pay the balance of deposit as per t and cs. I’ll report back if we do this.

You pay your balance with atol protection in case something happens after you’ve paid but before the holiday. I don’t want to pay knowing full well something has already happened that means my holiday will not go ahead before I’ve even made the payments.

@SunshineOutdoors yep exactly. It makes no sense to me when people say “you have to pay it all to protect your money therefore ensuring you get your money back”. How about I protect my money by not paying for the holiday that everyone knows won’t be happening? I am prepared to lose my £200 but I won’t be pressured in to parting with more of my money in order that I don’t breach T&C’s that Tui are breaching themselves by holding on to everyone’s money!

@SunshineOutdoors and @Rollergirl11 - we’re in exactly the same boat. I received our 2nd part of the deposit email reminder this morning wanting another £375 due 6th May.
Our whole holiday is £2600 due to fly to America 24/08. I would amend it to next year but the identical holiday is coming in at just over £4000. A couple hundred more then maybe but £1400!!! There’s no way I want to commit to that in the current circumstances and would choose a different holiday if I was spending that. I would happily forgo my original £375 but I’m buggered if I’m paying the same again for them to have £750 of my money.
If you do ring them let us know how you get on Sunshine.

We have had a second demand for the rest of the deposit. We have paid £200 and they are chasing us for £600 then the balance is due next month for an August holiday. There is no way in a million years they are getting another penny. The low deposit scheme is an unfair term. See www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-calls-on-holiday-industry-to-give-customers-clearer-ts-cs

I have gone through a mock booking process for the same holiday with Tui and taken screenshots of the hidden terms for the low deposit scheme, and the T&Cs themselves, with the low deposit conditions buried deep. Think very carefully before giving Tui any more of your hard earned cash.

@J4key that’s really interesting. Would you mind sharing your screenshots? I’m planning on getting as much info as I can before I ring them and that low deposit thing is useful. It was only when we went to cancel that we realised we wouldn’t just lose £200, which we were prepared to do, but would actually have to pay another £600. We thought it was a low deposit, not a quarter of the deposit. I’d argue they should advertise it as ‘only pay part of the deposit now’ rather than ‘this holiday has a low deposit’.

Suggest you go through a mock booking process for the exact same holiday, take screenshots along the way and screenshots/web addresses for their T and C’s. You don’t have to give payment details to get this information. I have tried to phone them but not prepared to wait on hold for > 1 hour. Suggest you sit tight, do not give them any money and see what if anything happens.

If necessary we will go to the small claims court to avoid paying the rest of the deposit but I doubt they would go that far. Even if they did, they would never win the judgement as it is an unfair term and why would anybody in their right mind throw good money after bad in the current climate - mitigation of loss is a legal principal.

If anyone hasn’t seen the news today TUI has now cancelled all holidays up to 11th June and extended free amendments up until 11th July. Not sure if that helps anyone

Thank you @J4key - I’ll also have a look at that. It was until 2-3 weeks when I looked at ours that I realised it wasn’t just £125 pp low deposit and there was more deposit to follow. I like yourselves just assumed ‘the deposit was low’ . It is very underhand and sneaky and hopefully will come back to bite TUI on the backside.

It’s good to follow this thread. Same as many others, we’ve paid low deposit of £200 and I’m sitting tight and haven’t paid the remaining £600 they’ve asked for. The remaining balance due next month.

Still havent got my refund since 13 March, they said it was processed that day. Liars. No good chasing, they are not refunding. I will never use Tui again after all this.

@sociallydistantheadcase I was in the same boat - told start of April that my refund would be processed within 4 weeks and still nothing. Then I called them (had to wait ages to get through) and they processed the refund there and then. Appeared in my account a couple of days later. I think back in late March/early April they were sitting on money til they figured out what to do. But if you call them now and demand a refund they will process it. That's what happened in my case anyway. Mine was a part refund as I rebooked a cheaper holiday, but I think they're doing the same for full refunds.

WE were due to go on holiday at the beginning of July, we paid our first part of the low deposit in January, thr 2nd part of the low deposit was due on the 14th April but because the FCO said all non essential travel was cancelled indefinitely we cancelled our holiday, we haven’t heard anything back from TUI. Should I try to contact them to get my deposit back or have I lost it?

Just checked my account with TUI and it says my cancellation fee is £750 but I only paid them £375 in January, will they automatically try to take the balance from my credit card? I haven’t heard anything from them at all.

@snowymascot I would wait until nearer the time and see if they cancel. They can't take money from your card, you have to log on/call them to pay. I asked them this question earlier this week as my new holiday was showing a balance owing (which was incorrect).

@Snowymascot I don’t think you’ll get the deposit you’ve paid back but hopefully they won’t chase you for the remaining £375. Where did you cancel the holiday, online? Did it not ask for the remainder in order for you to cancel?