Cancelled UK holiday.

the whistler

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I have a UK cottage holiday booked in July, 14 weeks from now. However as my wife and I are over 70 and have medical conditions we are following government advice and self isolating at home for at least twelve weeks or however long it takes. We felt that because of this, it would be wise to cancel the holiday sooner rather than later. This would give the holiday agency more time to re let the cottage.

The terms and conditions (which I agreed to) are that in the event of the customer cancelling the holiday, they would be liable for full payment unless the property could be re let in which case a refund of any money paid would be made.

It seems at the moment that various holiday companies and hotels are modifying their cancellation policies, but this company seem at the moment unwilling to do that and are insisting on full payment from me if the property isn't re let.

I have argued that exceptional unprecedented circumstances have necessitated the cancellation and it is no fault of my own that I need to cancel.

I have paid the deposit and the balance is due in May. I think the company are being very unreasonable in insisting on full payment. The question is, should I pay the balance in May, or just make it clear to them that I wont be paying?
 
I have a UK cottage holiday booked in July, 14 weeks from now. However as my wife and I are over 70 and have medical conditions we are following government advice and self isolating at home for at least twelve weeks or however long it takes. We felt that because of this, it would be wise to cancel the holiday sooner rather than later. This would give the holiday agency more time to re let the cottage.

The terms and conditions (which I agreed to) are that in the event of the customer cancelling the holiday, they would be liable for full payment unless the property could be re let in which case a refund of any money paid would be made.

It seems at the moment that various holiday companies and hotels are modifying their cancellation policies, but this company seem at the moment unwilling to do that and are insisting on full payment from me if the property isn't re let.

I have argued that exceptional unprecedented circumstances have necessitated the cancellation and it is no fault of my own that I need to cancel.

I have paid the deposit and the balance is due in May. I think the company are being very unreasonable in insisting on full payment. The question is, should I pay the balance in May, or just make it clear to them that I wont be paying?
Don't pay the balance.
At the end of the day the only way they could make you pay the money would be to take you to court over it. I very much doubt the courts would find for them under the circumstances. You will have been advised by the government to self isolate. To do that you would have to cancel the holiday. That seems to me to be sufficient mitigating circumstances to breach the contract you have with them. A fairly clearcut Force Majeure situation.

Having said that it may be prudent to not cancel until the government has actually issued their advice though this is expected within the next couple of weeks. And for peace of mind rather than relying on the word of some random on the internet you may want to check elsewhere. If you have household legal protection insurance ask them. Or perhaps Citizens Advice.

However, if you have already cancelled, you have been very reasonable to have given them as long as possible to rebook the cottage. I think that would be in your favour if they did try to take you to court over the matter. They would be highly stupid to do so though as the bad publicity would do wonders for their future bookings.

How many people would be put off using them in the future with a Daily Mail headline of "Over 70s with medical conditions advised by government to self isolate are sued by heartless company when they follow the government advice :eek:
The comments in the paper and trip advisor reviews would certainly be interesting to read...
 
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Try serching this on facebook , many people having problems getting cash refunds from one company

Sykes Cottages Unhappy Customers Page
 
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I wouldn't suggest naming and shaming just yet , however , I would quite happily have it in my pocket cocked and ready to go good luck and please let us know the outcome , it could be useful for other forum members :thumbsup:
 
I have a UK cottage holiday booked in July, 14 weeks from now. However as my wife and I are over 70 and have medical conditions we are following government advice and self isolating at home for at least twelve weeks or however long it takes. We felt that because of this, it would be wise to cancel the holiday sooner rather than later. This would give the holiday agency more time to re let the cottage.

The terms and conditions (which I agreed to) are that in the event of the customer cancelling the holiday, they would be liable for full payment unless the property could be re let in which case a refund of any money paid would be made.

It seems at the moment that various holiday companies and hotels are modifying their cancellation policies, but this company seem at the moment unwilling to do that and are insisting on full payment from me if the property isn't re let.

I have argued that exceptional unprecedented circumstances have necessitated the cancellation and it is no fault of my own that I need to cancel.

I have paid the deposit and the balance is due in May. I think the company are being very unreasonable in insisting on full payment. The question is, should I pay the balance in May, or just make it clear to them that I wont be paying?

We have a a similar issue. July holiday, Final payment due in May.

They have ~£700 of our money as a deposit, the final payment is ~£500. We don't have to make the final payment, but would lose our deposit.

We have asked to move the booking to next year, they won't budge. Really?
 
We're in the same boat, balance of deposit and final payment to be made 16th May. We have 2 choices.
1, is to cancel and pay the rest of the deposit and lose £500 or 2, cotinue paying in full , with the hope that the company does start giving cash refunds ( which they are not currently doing ) if the travel ban continues.There could then be a chance that we would lose £1400.

There is a Barrister, Dean Dunham, who is fighting the cause of customers who have booked Uk holidays, those who have been refused cash refunds for holidays that cannot be taken due to the travel restrictions.
He has started two groups where you can register with him. One is for a specific company and the other is for all other companies. Just click on the appropriate picture in the link and sign up.
He is doing what he can to bring pressure to bear on these companies and for free. Have a look and read to see if it includes you. It may just be of help.

 
We have a a similar issue. July holiday, Final payment due in May.

They have ~£700 of our money as a deposit, the final payment is ~£500. We don't have to make the final payment, but would lose our deposit.

We have asked to move the booking to next year, they won't budge. Really?

Yesterday, we had an email from the holiday brokers web site that our final payment was due next week, so sent a final email to the owner to ask if we could put that back a month until we knew whether we could travel. Bearing in mind we'd already accepted that we were unlikely to be able to go and would lose the deposit.

So we were surprised to get this:

Message from the property manager
Hello
So sorry but due to the current Covid 19 situation in the UK your booking has been cancelled and a full refund issued
These circumstances are beyond our control and hope you understand
 
If you have only paid a deposit then surely you can cancel and say goodbye to the deposit then walk away away from the holiday.
 
Deposit of ~£700 came back into our account today :clap:
 

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