Daughter’s break-up and holiday nightmare

[LockdownBride]

Hello,
My daughter was 18 in February, had been with her BF for 18 mths and they booked a holiday together for after their A-level exams in Greece.
DD paid for the trip upfront and he was going to pay her back, she had £4K child trust fund on her birthday. The holiday was £1200.
He ended it two weeks ago, right before her first exam and we are just beginning to see the light and get angry.
He has said today that if she cancels the holiday, he’ll pay half, if she’s goes with someone else, he’ll pay nothing.
I think this is unreasonable as she will have to find someone to go with, pay transfer fees for a name change all at short notice.
If she cancels, she wouldn’t get a refund.
the holiday is booked with LoveHoliday.com

Any ideas or suggestions on her rights, if any, would be great 😬

When I was 18 I would have said I’m cancelling, get the money and go on the trip.

He cheated.

If it was just a simple break up I wouldn’t though & just think of it as a lesson.

He should really pay for the name transfer - it would be the decent thing to do.

She should never have paid upfront.

and what a shot for breaking up with her just before her exams!!

But again, this is a moral issue, not a legal one. Maybe you, and of course the OP, think he ‘owes’ her because he cheated - but if he cared that much about doing the right thing from a morality perspective, he wouldn’t have cheated in the first place.

In terms of what the OP’s daughter can realistically expect, it’s half the cost of the holiday and no more.

He’s being completely reasonable. Why would he pay for someone else to go on holiday? Why should he have to stay with your DD and be in a relationship he doesn’t want, on a holiday he doesn’t want?

Your DD will learn a lesson about booking non refundable things so far in advance, with a boyfriend when they are so young and likely to break up within that sort of time frame. Also, in future she should get the money upfront/immediately because she’s completely reliant on his goodwill not to lose the entire £1200

Tricky situation.

This happened to me. Cheating partner. £1800 Greek holiday that I’d paid upfront for…

I found out he was cheating 11 days before we were due to go away.

I didn’t ask for any money. My lovely mum came with me. I didn’t ask for money from her either (I know I was lucky to be in a position to not have to). We had an amazing holiday :)

But they will both be down £600 if he gives her half so she is no worse off than him
What did you expect him to pay it all

If you can be sure he’ll pay, I’d cancel, that way the cheating prick loses £600. What a bastard.

I’d also give her the money she’d lost, if you can afford to. I hope she’s ok and she does well in her exams.

She is the one getting the better deal. She may end up being down £600 if she doesn't go but she has the option to go and not be down £600. He will be down £600 and won't be going on the holiday.

If she cancels and will be down £600 anyway she should offer the holiday to him for his £600. He may also be able to get a friend to go with him and cover her £600 so she doesn't lose any money.

But if she doesn't cancel she'll be £1200 down unless she finds someone to go with her.

She should go by herself! Te him to pay is part and she goes alone. Still gets a nice holiday and doesn't lose any money.

Solo travelling can be fun.

Your dd should ask him for the £600 back as a starting point. If she finds someone to go with her, she can always return his money minus the transfer fees… If she goes alone, I imagine it would cost the majority of the full £1200 as she’d still be occupying a room and the holiday shouldn’t cost her more than her half. The main thing is she isn’t out a penny more than her £600. I agree with you, morally, he should pay for the full amount. Legally, not the case.

Is any of this over text btw? She can go to small claims if he doesn’t refund her.

Has she looked into changing the destination?

Yes I’d be worried about the same, I think decision needs to be based on worst case scenario of not getting any money back from him at all, would she go or cancel if that was the case? I think he’s using it as a stall not to pay anything yet and she’ll end up cancelling and still getting nothing

He should pay DD now and £600 should be his maximum loss. If the holiday is transferable and if DD can find someone to take his place then both the transfer fees and any incentive the friend needs to go on a holiday she had no say in should come out of his £600. He's being really vindictive if he thinks the best solution is losing £600 each and the holiday being cancelled.

Terrible timing for your DD - makes me even more grateful mine the same age doesn't have boyfriend. A possibly expensive lesson for DD to learn in not planning too far ahead with a boyfriend and when there is any money paid out for something joint be it a holiday or concert tickets both parties pay their share at the point of booking. That goes for friends too. Hope she dusts herself off and smashes her exams OP.

How about you going with your daughter to Greece?

Cancel. Get his £600, then consider giving your daughter some of her loss back if you can afford it. She didn’t deserve to be cheated on and lose some of her windfall.

What a prick. Make her feel loved.

Lie, claim to have cancelled but don't. take someone else.

First, get the £600. No question.

Any chance you or a family member can go with her? She will still get her holiday in Greece.

Alternately, she goes to Greece by herself. Is it all inclusive? She'll have a great time!

THIS

Then see if you can change the date/location, or what you can do with it.

Well it's a good lesson for your daughter with regards to booking holidays with decent cancellation policies or insurance.

Legally, as you've posted in legal matters, you could probably force him to pay his half if he offered that by text or something but you wouldn't be likely to get more than that.

Is there an actual text to say he’d repay? Otherwise why could he not just say she was gifting him the holiday.
I think it’s unlikely she’ll get £600 back regardless. She needs to find someone else to take.

Hopefully she’s learned the lesson of not to lend people money.

Even the really good travel companies aren't going to refund less than 30 days before departure because one person simply doesn't want to go any more.