holiday deposit payment dispute.

[cascade]

I booked a holiday 8 weeks ago, on a low deposit. I rang today to cancel my holiday, due to financial constraints. Holiday company are now saying I owe them more money as I have to pay full deposit if I want to cancel. Nobody told me on the phone when I booked the holiday, I thought I was paying in 2 more installments, apparantly 1 of the installments is the full deposit. On the website it does say full deposit is required, but I didnt book through this, so didnt read their website. No where on my contract does it state about deposits, just to pay in full by 30th march. What do I do, I cannot afford this money. They wont let me cancel until full deposit is paid. I could end up owing the whole holiday if they wont let me cancel.

Put your cancellation in writing. State clearly that you were asked to pay a deposit of £x, which you did. That you were never informed that a larger deposit would be required and therefore do not accept that you owe any more.

Did you recieve Terms and conditions with your confirmation?

Point is, if terms and conditions were received after the contract was formed, i.e. after holiday agreed and deposit paid, the company cannot rely on them as OP was unaware when she committed to the contract.

Cascade- ask them if they have taped the call that you made when you booked the holiday.

exactly Freckle, post contractually! In any event, how do they think they would get the OP to pay the extra deposit before cancelling and losing it all? Assume OP realises she will lose the deposit paid so far? How can they say she can't cancel? Just write and cancel at loss of initial deposit!

yes i have terms and conditions it states full deposit required, but i was under the impression from reading it that it was the deposit I had paid. It mentions nothing about low cost deposit

Maybe someone boobed and didn't take the deposit they were supposed to and they are now trying to cover their backs. A letter of cancellation is just that, a cancellation. They can't say you can't do it. They may feel that they are entitled to more money, but, if you refuse to pay, they are left with court action as the only way to get it. And they would probably struggle with that as they cannot prove that they advised you that more money would be required by way of deposit.

They should have advised you when booking- ask them if they have the call taped.

What on earth is a "full deposit"? Does it state clearly what that is, e.g. a certain percentage of the overall cost?

yes I will ask them for tape recording, what happens if they say they havent got a tape of the conversation?

It is not for you to prove that they didn't tell you about a larger deposit; it is for them to prove that they did. So, in the absence of any tape recording, they are stuffed.

When I went on the website to day, it says low cost deposit, you have to click on that to get full terms and conditions. It states full deposit is required in the event of cancellation.

God knows- we used to have our convos taped precisely for this type of reason.

Most travel agents have this system now.

which company is it?

Yes, but you didn't use the website, so those terms and conditions would not apply to you. If you booked and paid over the telephone, they should have pointed out their terms and conditions to you before you paid.

direct holidays

part of mytravel group- they will have a tape recording. Ask them to listen to it to prove that you were not informed.

thank you, I will ring them.

What im worrying about is what if they still say im liable for the full deposit and wont let me cancel until it is paid. Then 30 march comes along and then im liable for the whole holiday cost.

Rang the company they have told me that im liable for the money of £360 and if I dont pay by 30march the percentage of the cost will increase until I owe the whole amount. They have said that they will not cancel my holiday until £360 is paid. They said their full terms and conditions are in their brochure and I was advised of this over the phone, and it is up to the customer to read it. but I was not advised about the policy for cancellation over the phone. what can I do, I dont have the money to pay the remainder of the deposit and they wont let me cancel the holiday until I pay up.

I think the onus is on them to prove that you have recieved the terms and conditions and understood about the deposit. I would go and see the CAB and get them to look over what paperwork you have. You should have free legal advice under your household insurance so you could also contact them. They can't change the terms and conditions after you have signed up and paid a deposit as this is making a new contract.

Did you have a copy of the brochure? Was your attention brought to the fact that the deposit you paid would not entitle you to cancel the contract but that you would have to pay extra?

Have a look at your paperwork. They need to be able to prove that you were aware of the terms and conditions before you entered into the contract. You say it was a low deposit. What did you understand this to mean? Did they explain what it meant?

The women on the phone was just really rude, just said well if you dont pay it will go to our legal department. I kept trying to tell her if you wont let me cancel then ill end up owing the whole amount. and she said yes, i asked where it says that in the t&c and she just pointed me to the cancellation charges. I asked her where it says in the contract that if i dont pay full deposit i will not be allowed to cancel, she just referred me back to cancellation charges. Arggg! this is making me really worried and stressed.

Have they sent confirmation of the booking by email or post - that should have the t and c's on .

No i thought that was the deposit, then I would have to pay next installment in 8 weeks then another installment by 30 march. Havent been abroad for 6 years, so not exactly clued up in these things. No i was never told that i wouldnt be allowed to cancel if next payment wasnt received.