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Original poster

HELP!, need to cancel holiday and company are hiding behind 'policies' which they didnt inform us about!

32 replies

PinkChick · 03/01/2009 09:58

holiday is over 6 months away, rang them today to ask about cancelling.
Apparently we paid a low deposit so we would have to pay full deposit for each person (almost £500) to cancel...NO WHERE on our paperwork/contract/agreement from them does it say we paid a low deposit, it was JUST a deposit and even on the rbeakdown of payment to be paid, it ONLY says *deposit paid x amount, balance due y amount= the total cost of the holiday, it doesnt say a=remainder of deposit and must be paid on x date, then b= rest of ho.liday???HELP

no way were we aware of this, we booked oevr the phone but have now been told we should have these t&c or have read them online...but we didnt book online!....any advice appreciated!

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scrooged · 03/01/2009 10:01

Under contract law, they have to inform you of the terms and conditions before you enter into a contract for them to be valid. Lawyers use a case of someone parking in a car park and seeing the contract after he entered the car part, this was deemed as too late. They can't direct you to their web site after you have made the contract as not everyone has access to the site, you had also made the contract.

Have you contacted consumer direct? They are very helpful. You can also get legal advice through your household insurance company.

bellavita · 03/01/2009 10:32

We had paid a low deposit on a holiday a few years back for the following year, then decided to buy a timeshare.

I rang the holiday company as the balance of the deposit was going to be due and explained the circumstances. She said to put it in writing that we were unable to take the holiday up and they would cancel it, but may receive a letter asking for the full balance but to ignore it.

The letter did arrive, but I just sent a copy of our cancellation letter back with it and we heard nothing more.

Stick to your guns.

Original poster
PinkChick · 03/01/2009 11:38

thankyou. We intend to take it through as we do not want to go on this holiday now, obv at the time we did but things have changed.
ill have a look on that consumer credit place and get the number out for home insurance, thankyou so much!
the company is direct holidays so its either ring them or go online..even their online site nays >>.blah blah..any bookings made AFTER 18th dec 08...blah blah..we made our booking in the summer!
thanks again

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Original poster
PinkChick · 03/01/2009 17:07

hmm...after 6 phone calls to them and several other numbers given meaning we were passed frmo pilalr to post..we STILL have nothing confirmed! theys ay their computers are down and that ALL the supervisors were BUSY trying to get the computers back up and running..er?.by doing what exactly???...their customer realtions dept said we were definalty right but we'd HAVE to go abck to them and sort it out, consumer irect agreed with us and told us the next steps to take and theyre also passing it onto trading standards as they cant carry on doing this!!..thanks for your help!, will let you know how it goes

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bellavita · 03/01/2009 17:10

good luck PinkChick

dizzydixies · 03/01/2009 17:14

oh god I had this last year with Direct holidays and ended up having to pay them a huge deposit for a holiday which they had 6 months to sell on to someone else

we ended up having to claim back on the insurance so we still only got 50% of that deposit back

I hope you have better luck than we did

cascade · 03/01/2009 17:24

i had this 2 months ago with same company, exactly same as you (look at the thread I posted)

this is what you do

tell them you didint read website so those terms and conditions do not apply to you, tell them you didnt read the brochure either

They will then say, we told you over the phone, I then asked for them to look up the telephone conversation and prove they said this to me as i was positive they did not.

They then got back to me and said they didnt have a recording of the conversation so would cancel the holiday without the other charge.

make sure you ring and ask for the cancellation email, then email this to cancel your holiday immediately, write a letter as well.

I ask them to email me to prove that I had cancelled the holiday.

For the contract to stand, it must have been verbally accepted by you over the phone, if they did not do this then contract is void.

Original poster
PinkChick · 03/01/2009 20:21

thanks guys

DD, thats awful, did it say in your paperwork about low deposit?..its pathetic..i dont want to pay/go on a £3600 hol, ive paid deposit which is bad ebough to lse, but NOW they want £360 MORE off me!..shocking..absolute daylight robery!..they guy at consumer direct was fab..he said he totally agreed, they always have it stacked in their favour as if they cancel my hol..the day we go we would ONLY get £40 compensation!!!!

and...he also had the details of them on his data base..he's set trading standards onto them as well!
So glad you got yours sorted Cascade!..i also said that about phonecall..it wasa home worker??..dont know if theyd have the recording tech to do thata t hoe?..probably?..but guy from consumer direct said that as our actual paperwork showed NO detail of low deposit and as i had not been told when booking although they could say we were in breach of contract we can then say look at your paperwork, we've accepted we WILL lose the £100 we've paid which THEY said WAS deposit but you CAN NOT now decide you want MORE without informming us of the fact there IS more to pay!..if we HAD had to pay the remainder of deposit, they say it was due in december?..so why had we not paid if we knew?..and why were we not invoiced for it??..bloody rip of merchants..no way im backing down on this, theyre totally in the wrong!..thanks so much for your advice, its really helped as we had info before we spoke to them

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Original poster
PinkChick · 03/01/2009 20:31

just read your thread cascade!!..so glad you got sorted what a bunch of money grabing gits they are...after all those wasted phone calls today i will also email(you dont still have their email address do you?) and send letter as advised by you lot and consumer direct recorded, not asking but TELLING them we WILL NOT pay another penny and to cancel due to their own cock up immediatly!..feel better although wish it was done!..thanks so mcuh

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cascade · 03/01/2009 21:03

no sorry i havnt set up email yet, im not sure how to do it. If you search my threads a really nice mner told me how to go about it.
They cannot enforce it if they failed to inform you over the phone. They were telling me if i didnt pay it, then they wouldnt be able to cancel and then i would be liable for the cost of the whole holiday. I rang every day and bugged them until they said no i dont have to pay.

Ring them back and ask for a copy of the telephone conversation and the email for cancellations.

What the lady did in my case was not tell me it was a second deposit and you would be liable for it if you cancelled, all she said to me when the next payment was due, nothing on my contract either stated a second deposit. I was bloody furious until it was resolved, so i know exactly how you feel.

Original poster
PinkChick · 03/01/2009 21:09

thanks cascade, will try again tomrrow, prob wont get anywere and will have to ring again monday..hate 'waiting' for things to be resolved!

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cascade · 03/01/2009 21:14

yeh the waiting is the worst, search my name for that thread, it was freckle who gave me the wonderful advice, it will help you with what to say on the phone. good luck.

dizzydixies · 03/01/2009 21:21

ah shite cascade why didn't I know you at the beginning of last year

tbh it was a holiday we were meant to be going on with PIL, SIL and her 3 so wasn't too broken hearted but still I hate being duped in that way and what a waste of money

Original poster
PinkChick · 03/01/2009 21:30

yeah, i found and read it cascade..so glad you got sorted and tok some good advice from it

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cascade · 03/01/2009 21:34

ive just realised youd already replied that you had read it !!!!!

Original poster
PinkChick · 04/01/2009 19:57

ha ha, i guessed you'd missed that ..am prob not going to bother trying to ring in morning, im guessing i will get the same as saturday! and will instead type up a letter explaining the probs we had saturday and stating that we ARE cancelling and paying no extra blah blah blah..will sent recorded too and was told to give them a 10 day response time!..thanks again for your advice

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Original poster
PinkChick · 05/01/2009 09:38

PATHETIC..spoke to 'senior member of staff' who informed me (without giving detail of how) that we were told of low deposit on booking and she would NOT cancel holiday WITHOUT receiving the remainder of deposit!
HAve got email and complaints address from her and have to mess about with letter now!..FFS do these people leave their humility at the door before they go into work!

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scrooged · 05/01/2009 09:42

I don't think some companies give a hoot about their customers. You are money to them at the end of the day. They are there to service themselves, not their customer. Maybe you should name and shame them, contact Watchdog to stop other people falling into this trap.

Did you contact trading standards?

Original poster
PinkChick · 05/01/2009 11:25

if i get no were with the letter i WILL cnotact watchdog as consumer direct AND their own staff said this has happend before and cascade and the other girls go to prove that very thing!

Consumer direct said they would now pass my info onto trading standards and they would take it up?..am assuming they will?
Am SO annoyed!

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scrooged · 05/01/2009 16:26

Well what's the worst that can happen if you don't pay? If they take you to court they havn't got a legal leg to stand on. It's not credit so can't affect your credit rating. Maybe the CAB can help?

Original poster
PinkChick · 05/01/2009 19:54

yes, you're right scrooged, another mnetter said yesterday they said they would not cancel if she didnt pay the remainder and at that time i thought, but by not paying we are in effect cancelling it ourselves and saying we will pay no more?..will ring citizens advice tomorrow see if they can offer any help as well, the email was received straight away as i attatched a read receipt, i will send the letter recroded delivery tomorrow..bloody jobworths and crap companies

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scrooged · 06/01/2009 14:13

It depends what's on the contract. If it says that she must pay X amount by X day and it is not done then this is a breach of the contract and they can sue under contract law. If there are no terms like this in the contract though they don't have any legal right to sue, it's as though the rule didn't exist.

Original poster
PinkChick · 06/01/2009 16:47

yeah in black and white it shows amount paid and balance due on x date..NOTHING else about remainder of any deposit or any earlier payment!..sent letter this afternoon, sent email yesterday..bet i have a bloody fight on my hands though

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scrooged · 06/01/2009 18:44

I don't think they will give in easily, they want money! You've got mn backing you up though so try not to worry. There are enough solicitors etc on here.

Original poster
PinkChick · 06/01/2009 20:12

thanks Scrooged..these things ALWAYS happen when you really jsut dont need it dont they ...thanks for all your help

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