Coach trip refund driving me up the wall

QIn October 2019, I booked a coach tour of the Dutch bulbfields with Shearings Holidays for myself and a friend. It cost £778, and I paid using my John Lewis Partnership credit card.

We were due to depart on April 12, 2020 but the holiday was cancelled due to the lockdown. Shearings notified us and said it was issuing vouchers.

On May 22, before we had a chance to make a decision, I received an email from Bonded Coach Holidays (BCH) to say that Shearings had ceased trading.

The letter said that I should submit my claim for the cost of the holiday to my credit card issuer. This is where my problems began.

I submitted my claim to John Lewis on May 26 using recorded delivery. In August I received an acknowledgement apologising for the delay and asking for evidence that my purchase was not protected by a bonding authority. I replied that I had already sent this in the form of a letter from Bonded Coach Holidays.

John Lewis said it had lost my paperwork and asked me to send it in again. I was compensated £50 for my trouble.

I have heard nothing since, other than a message in January saying my case was being passed to the chargebacks department. I feel I am being fobbed off. Can you help?

Christina Worth

A

When a tour operator ceases trading, the understanding is that if the customer has paid the tour operator directly with a credit card (as opposed to paying a third party such as a travel agent), any claim for a refund is covered by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This holds the credit provider (the bank or card issuer) jointly liable with the tour company for the provision of the holiday. If the tour operator goes bust, the bonding authority (Atol, BCH or Abta) provides a “negative response letter”, which essentially asks the bank to repay the customer under the terms of Section 75.

It has been a busy time for such claims, but it did seem that the John Lewis Partnership was all at sea over its liability. Another Telegraph reader got in touch with a similar complaint, and both claims seemed straightforward and should have been settled.

HSBC is the bank behind the John Lewis Partnership credit card, and its spokesman for John Lewis Financial Services has apologised to both customers for the delay. It says it is making improvements to streamline the claims process. An offer of settlement for the full amount has been sent to Mrs Worth.