First Choice Holiday Cancellation
Discussion
In September we booked a holiday for our family (ourselves and our 2 children), to go to Turkey in May, due to unforseen circumstances, we are having to cancel the holiday. We paid a deposit of £30 per person at the time of booking and were advised by a confirmation email that the remaining balance would be due on 24th March.
When we notified them that we wish to cancel the holiday, they informed us that we would need to pay a top up deposit of £100 per person as we only paid a low deposit at the time of booking.
I understand that we paid a low deposit as suggested at the time, but at no point was I told we would need to pay a 'top up deposit' of a further £400, we were simply given two figures - the amount of deposit paid, and the outstanding balance.
Given the amount of notice we have given First Choice, and that we have incurred them no admin costs at all, I think it is unfair to have to pay this amount.
Who do I seek advice from??
Mrs Ted
When we notified them that we wish to cancel the holiday, they informed us that we would need to pay a top up deposit of £100 per person as we only paid a low deposit at the time of booking.
I understand that we paid a low deposit as suggested at the time, but at no point was I told we would need to pay a 'top up deposit' of a further £400, we were simply given two figures - the amount of deposit paid, and the outstanding balance.
Given the amount of notice we have given First Choice, and that we have incurred them no admin costs at all, I think it is unfair to have to pay this amount.
Who do I seek advice from??
Mrs Ted
You could try ABTA, if First Choice are regulated by them.
http://www.abta.com/about
Just found this from the First Choice website.
Doesn't look good, sorry.
12. If you cancel your booking
If you want to cancel your booking or part of it, you or your travel agent must advise us. Once we receive your notice of cancellation you should expect to receive a Cancellation Invoice within 14 days. If you do not then please contact us. To cover the cost of processing your cancellation and to compensate us for the risk that we may not be able to resell your travel arrangements, we make a cancellation charge on the scale shown below. The person who made the booking is responsible for paying this charge. The size of the charge depends on when we receive your notification– the more notice you give, the less we will charge.
If you are travelling on a scheduled flight, we cannot give you any refund until we have received your old travel documents, including tickets. Please return them to us or your travel agent immediately.
Cancellation charges
These charges are based on how many days before your booked departure we receive your cancellation notice. These charges are a percentage of the total cost of your booking, not including your insurance premium.
Period before departure within notice of cancellation is received % of total booking price
56 days or more Loss of deposit*
55-36 days 50%
35-22 days 70%
21-11 days 90%
10-0 days 100%
http://www.abta.com/about
Just found this from the First Choice website.
Doesn't look good, sorry.
12. If you cancel your booking
If you want to cancel your booking or part of it, you or your travel agent must advise us. Once we receive your notice of cancellation you should expect to receive a Cancellation Invoice within 14 days. If you do not then please contact us. To cover the cost of processing your cancellation and to compensate us for the risk that we may not be able to resell your travel arrangements, we make a cancellation charge on the scale shown below. The person who made the booking is responsible for paying this charge. The size of the charge depends on when we receive your notification– the more notice you give, the less we will charge.
If you are travelling on a scheduled flight, we cannot give you any refund until we have received your old travel documents, including tickets. Please return them to us or your travel agent immediately.
Cancellation charges
These charges are based on how many days before your booked departure we receive your cancellation notice. These charges are a percentage of the total cost of your booking, not including your insurance premium.
Period before departure within notice of cancellation is received % of total booking price
56 days or more Loss of deposit*
55-36 days 50%
35-22 days 70%
21-11 days 90%
10-0 days 100%
- Where the standard deposit is increased to secure specific facilities or an additional payment has been made for transport tickets (see Section 10 and 11.3) and these are non-refundable in whole or in part, then the scale of charges shown will be calculated based on a % of the cost of all other arrangements and the non-refundable charges will be added to that cancellation charge to give the total charge. If a low deposit scheme was used for your booking, the full deposit as advised at time of booking or as stated on the confirmation invoice will need to be paid in full upon cancellation, if you have not already paid the full percentage of deposit due (standard deposit £130 per person short haul and £200 per person long haul).
Edited by Nitro... on Friday 30th January 22:58
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