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Legal advice - Holiday booking


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Just wondering if anyone could shed some light on where my friend stands with a holiday booking.

A few months ago she booked a family holiday for 7 people. 5 of them ( my friend, her youngest son, her friend, her brother and her sister) are going to the hotel for 2 weeks.  The other 2 ( her husband and other son) are going for 1 week. She was told she had to make 2 bookings because they weren't all going for the same length of stay. 

With only 3 weeks to go to her holiday , the travel company have told her the hotel she has booked will not accept anyone under 18 and her youngest son is 17. 

They have offered her :

1. A lower standard of hotel and repayment of the cash difference between the 2 hotels  for the group of 5 people. And they can move the group of 2 to this hotel but no repayment for them . Plus both groups would have  a poorer standard of room . 

Or

2. Full refund for the group of 5 but no refund for the group of 2.

She is understandably furious. The travel company have  messed up by selling the holiday when the hotel does not take under 18s, but will not provide a refund for her husband and older son as they were on a separate booking, but which was booked and paid for on the same call as the group of 5.

Does anyone know where she stands legally on this ? Any help is much appreciated.       

 

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3 hours ago, TDYER63 said:

Just wondering if anyone could shed some light on where my friend stands with a holiday booking.

A few months ago she booked a family holiday for 7 people. 5 of them ( my friend, her youngest son, her friend, her brother and her sister) are going to the hotel for 2 weeks.  The other 2 ( her husband and other son) are going for 1 week. She was told she had to make 2 bookings because they weren't all going for the same length of stay. 

With only 3 weeks to go to her holiday , the travel company have told her the hotel she has booked will not accept anyone under 18 and her youngest son is 17. 

They have offered her :

1. A lower standard of hotel and repayment of the cash difference between the 2 hotels  for the group of 5 people. And they can move the group of 2 to this hotel but no repayment for them . Plus both groups would have  a poorer standard of room . 

Or

2. Full refund for the group of 5 but no refund for the group of 2.

She is understandably furious. The travel company have  messed up by selling the holiday when the hotel does not take under 18s, but will not provide a refund for her husband and older son as they were on a separate booking, but which was booked and paid for on the same call as the group of 5.

Does anyone know where she stands legally on this ? Any help is much appreciated.       

 

I am not legal expert but here's my take on it

1. Check the smal print of what the travel company said they had booked for them

2. You say the "hotel she had booked"but surely it was the travel company who booked the 2 into the hotel therefore it's the travel company who messed up?

3. Having said that, Option 1 seems reasonable, in sense everyone gets to stay in the same hotel, it's lower quality than what they originally wanted but also cheaper so there's a spare cash to spend on something else (nights out when you're not even using the hotel). 

4. I don't understand option 2. Why should there not be a full refund for the 2 - or all 7? I mean it's the booking for 2 that is being retrospectively annulled, why should that not attract a refund?

5. Defer the holiday for a year.

 

 

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11 hours ago, exile said:

I am not legal expert but here's my take on it

1. Check the smal print of what the travel company said they had booked for them

2. You say the "hotel she had booked"but surely it was the travel company who booked the 2 into the hotel therefore it's the travel company who messed up?

3. Having said that, Option 1 seems reasonable, in sense everyone gets to stay in the same hotel, it's lower quality than what they originally wanted but also cheaper so there's a spare cash to spend on something else (nights out when you're not even using the hotel). 

4. I don't understand option 2. Why should there not be a full refund for the 2 - or all 7? I mean it's the booking for 2 that is being retrospectively annulled, why should that not attract a refund?

5. Defer the holiday for a year.

 

 

They're treating it as 2 completely separate bookings.  If I'm reading the OP correctly it's the youngest son on the booking of 5 that's the "problem".  That being the case, as the booking for 2 pax is technically a separate booking and the original hotel are accepting their booking without question then they (both hotel and travel agent) will have no obligation to offer any recompense should they choose to move.  I work in travel and although I'm quite removed from this kind of thing I'd say that the agent is probably legally correct in what they're offering although I'd say they probably have a moral obligation to do the right thing.  For what it's worth, making them do it as 2 bookings is the way it would be done in the vast majority of places due to them going for different durations so there's nothing sinister there.

Tdyer, I'd also get your friend to check how the hotel was booked.  If your friend walked in and said "we want to stay at this hotel" then the agent can probably pass the blame and responsibility to them.  If they went in and said "we want to stay in Benidorm" and the agent suggested and booked this hotel then that would change things significantly and put the burden of responsibility back on the agent.  Like a lot of these things it probably depends how much noise your friend wants to make about it.  If she's prepared to dig her heels in and fight it out for a while she'll likely get what she wants, or close to it.

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14 hours ago, Pocketrocketman1888 said:

Check abta / atol mebbes ?

Yes, she will have to check this.  I was perhaps hoping someone may have been in a similar position or have some legal consumer  knowledge so she has some basic info.

11 hours ago, exile said:

I am not legal expert but here's my take on it

1. Check the smal print of what the travel company said they had booked for them

2. You say the "hotel she had booked"but surely it was the travel company who booked the 2 into the hotel therefore it's the travel company who messed up?

3. Having said that, Option 1 seems reasonable, in sense everyone gets to stay in the same hotel, it's lower quality than what they originally wanted but also cheaper so there's a spare cash to spend on something else (nights out when you're not even using the hotel). 

4. I don't understand option 2. Why should there not be a full refund for the 2 - or all 7? I mean it's the booking for 2 that is being retrospectively annulled, why should that not attract a refund?

5. Defer the holiday for a year.

 

 

Thanks Exile. It was the travel company who booked everything. She wanted a booking for 7 people for the first week and 5 for the second. Her husband and older son were only there for the first week. Travel company said could not put this through on the same booking so split it. 

She had booked a brand new hotel in Bulgaria, she would not have originally booked the alternative hotel they are proposing and is reluctant to take it. Particularly when only 5 of them are getting compensation. This wasn't a cheap holiday, its all inclusive, she doesn't want stay in a hotel she didn't choose for 2 weeks. 

Its the booking for 5 thats being annulled as that is the group the 17 yr old is in. 

Her argument is the travel company made the mistake by advertising an over 18s hotel as an over 16’s.

28 minutes ago, Fairbairn said:

They're treating it as 2 completely separate bookings.  If I'm reading the OP correctly it's the youngest son on the booking of 5 that's the "problem".  That being the case, as the booking for 2 pax is technically a separate booking and the original hotel are accepting their booking without question then they (both hotel and travel agent) will have no obligation to offer any recompense should they choose to move.  I work in travel and although I'm quite removed from this kind of thing I'd say that the agent is probably legally correct in what they're offering although I'd say they probably have a moral obligation to do the right thing.  For what it's worth, making them do it as 2 bookings is the way it would be done in the vast majority of places due to them going for different durations so there's nothing sinister there.

Tdyer, I'd also get your friend to check how the hotel was booked.  If your friend walked in and said "we want to stay at this hotel" then the agent can probably pass the blame and responsibility to them.  If they went in and said "we want to stay in Benidorm" and the agent suggested and booked this hotel then that would change things significantly and put the burden of responsibility back on the agent.  Like a lot of these things it probably depends how much noise your friend wants to make about it.  If she's prepared to dig her heels in and fight it out for a while she'll likely get what she wants, or close to it.

Thanks Fairbairn, yes you are correct its the group of 5 that is the problem. 

My friend chose the hotel as the travel company advertised  it as over 16’s, they have admitted this was an error.  

Not only are they offering a lower rated hotel my friend and her son were supposed to be in a junior suite and they are only offering a double room in the alternative hotel . What 17 yr old boy  wants to share a room with his maw for 2 weeks. Its probably bad enough having to go on holiday with her 🙂 There are suites in the alternative hotel but they are refusing to give her this as they take up to 6 people. 

Her preference would be to take the money and look for something else but the travel company are refusing to refund the booking for 2 plus there is very little time to book anything else. As you say , technically the booking for 2 is separate but it would never have been made if the group of 5 was not being booked so morally there is an obligation. 

I know it is difficult as you work in travel and there may be a bit of a conflict of interest here but what threat  is  most likely to get a response? Newspapers/ social media ? 

 

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I’m no lawyer either but I’d think you’d have a reasonable legal case if it comes to it. 

What might be more practical though could be to find someone senior in the company & go direct to them. LinkedIn is often good for finding them. Some big companies even have dedicated departments to monitor social media & might intervene simply through good will as a way of avoiding bad publicity or a legal case that will cost them more than simply refunding or re-booking. 

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9 hours ago, Huddersfield said:

I’m no lawyer either but I’d think you’d have a reasonable legal case if it comes to it. 

What might be more practical though could be to find someone senior in the company & go direct to them. LinkedIn is often good for finding them. Some big companies even have dedicated departments to monitor social media & might intervene simply through good will as a way of avoiding bad publicity or a legal case that will cost them more than simply refunding or re-booking. 

👍 she had a look at Linkedin today.  Thanks, for once it has had a greater use than to see what people look like . 

They have come back with better compensation and a small recompense for her husband and son. Think she may accept this but tell them the matter isn’t finished with.

They have chosen the wrong woman to mess with 🙂

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18 hours ago, euan2020 said:

cancel the 17 year old - give him the spandoolies to go on vacation with his mates - or to sponsor a Scotland trip

🙂 that would seem the best thing to do. But he has Aspergers.   

 

 

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