Holiday firms demand cash for trips set to be cancelled

ANXIOUS holidaymakers are being ‘bullied’ into handing over thousands of pounds for trips that are unlikely to go ahead.

Countless holidays have been cancelled since the Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel in March. With no end date in sight, and the Government now looking to enforce a 14-day quarantine period for travellers returning to Britain by air, it is highly likely that many families will be unable to go abroad for the foreseeable future.

Despite this, scores of readers have told Money Mail they are still being asked to pay more money for trips they are certain they won’t be able to take.

Many travel firms take a deposit upfront and then ask for the remaining balance nearer departure dates.

If customers choose to cancel and not pay the balance, they stand to lose their deposit. It means that disappointed holidaymakers, including many who have lost their jobs or who are vulnerable to the virus, are now faced with a difficult decision.

They can refuse to pay and sacrifice their deposit, plus fork out to cover a cancellation fee. Or they can pay the balance and hope they can get a refund when the trip is cancelled.

However, as Money Mail exposed last month, customers are routinely being refused a cash refund and instead forced to accept vouchers or credit notes for cancelled holidays.

Pensioners Avril and Peter Brewer, from Chelmsford, Essex, had planned to treat their son, his wife and their two young children to a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Orlando, Florida, in August. They paid £1,075 for a package holiday with Virgin last April, which included flights, a hotel, car hire and tickets to Disney World.

The remaining £13,091 balance is due on May 20, but the family wants to rebook for August next year instead.

However, Avril, 71, a former office administrator, says she is unable to reach Virgin as the customer service helpline will deal only with customers travelling within the next 72 hours.

And, according to the firm’s terms and conditions, if the balance is not paid in full and on time, it reserves the right to treat the booking as cancelled, which means charges apply and the deposit will be withheld.

Avril says: ‘We just don’t know what to do. We do not want to pay the £13,091 balance as we don’t know what will happen to Virgin or our money. But we cannot get through to anyone. Virgin is letting its customers down and we are disgusted.’

Dianne McLaren and her partner Phil Hudson are also struggling to get hold of Virgin Holidays. The couple, from Harrogate, had paid a £985 deposit in November towards a coach trip around the U.S. and Canada, planned for August.

The remaining £4,037 is due on May 23. Dianne, 62, wants to postpone, but the firm will not answer her calls or emails

She says: ‘We are in a dilemma. We do not want to pay the balance because I am worried we stand to lose £5,000.

‘But if we do not pay, we lose the deposit plus cancellation fees. And we are not getting any help from Virgin.’

The Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation into unfair cancellation policies last month. As part of this it said it would be considering complaints about holiday providers which fail to give refunds to customers who are forced to cancel trips due to the restrictions that apply during lockdown.

However, this won’t help people who are being asked for money now.

Whether or not you are entitled to a refund of your deposit if you cancel will come down to the terms and conditions of your contract.

Martyn James, of online dispute service Resolver, says: ‘It’s clear that some holidaymakers are being bullied into paying in full for holidays that might not even go ahead. This is concerning in light of the statement from the Competition and Markets Authority about refunds and cancellations.’

He adds that the best thing holidaymakers can do is to ask for a delay to the date by which you need to make your final payment. Or find out if the firm will consider allowing you to rebook for later. If it says you will lose your deposit if you do not pay the balance in full, ask for this in writing.

Independent travel expert Frank Brehany says that if you have booked a package holiday you have additional rights under the UK Package Travel Regulations. You should be able to claim your money back if the holiday is cancelled due to unavoidable or extraordinary circumstances, including ‘significant risk to human health, such as the outbreak of a serious disease at the travel destination’, explains Mr Brehany. Virgin Holidays has confirmed that those travelling between June 1 and September 30 may now rebook holidays for free until December 31, deferring the balance payment due date. Those with upcoming balances to settle will be contacted directly.

A spokesman says Virgin is doing its best to support customers, but that it must work through requests in order of departure date.