TUI - The hidden costs of moving
Discussion
I suspect that wouldn’t be the case as they wouldn’t be providing the holiday I originally booked. It’s a moot point anyway as I don’t intend to pay them any more. They’ve never come after me for the balance of the deposit which was due more than a month ago, and their invitation to pay the full balance only talks about how easy it is to rebook and how there is no danger of losing my money because of ATOL etc.
Timeline to help others as mine is now resolved.
29th April TUI cancelled my holiday.
After trying several times to call them I lodge a chargeback with my bank, First Direct.
27th May I get my credit note from TUI with instructions on how to turn it into a refund.
My bank beat them to it and refunded me on 1st June
Holiday Extras refunded half my insurance premium which I was surprised at as not expecting anything.
APH (Car parking) are closed. There is no way to contact them as they've shut up shop. Just started a chargeback.
Now. Hopefully my next holiday will be cancelled also as I really don't want to get on a plane yet
29th April TUI cancelled my holiday.
After trying several times to call them I lodge a chargeback with my bank, First Direct.
27th May I get my credit note from TUI with instructions on how to turn it into a refund.
My bank beat them to it and refunded me on 1st June
Holiday Extras refunded half my insurance premium which I was surprised at as not expecting anything.
APH (Car parking) are closed. There is no way to contact them as they've shut up shop. Just started a chargeback.
Now. Hopefully my next holiday will be cancelled also as I really don't want to get on a plane yet
2 months since my holiday was cancelled and still not been refunded for the flight extras which I made as a separate purchase to the holiday itself.
Time to go to the bank methinks, they’ve had ample opportunity to sort this. Shouldn’t have to spend hours on the phone to get £35 back, an absolute farce.
Time to go to the bank methinks, they’ve had ample opportunity to sort this. Shouldn’t have to spend hours on the phone to get £35 back, an absolute farce.
I've just seen a message from the Hotel we were staying at in Rhodes that they aren't opening this year at all now
My mate spoke to the owner (we've been a few times) and he said about 20% of the island is open the rest not at all
Will have to see what TUI say, hoping for a refund, shame but don't want another hotel on the island
My mate spoke to the owner (we've been a few times) and he said about 20% of the island is open the rest not at all
Will have to see what TUI say, hoping for a refund, shame but don't want another hotel on the island
Just spotted this thread because we’re all paid up for a second-half August family holiday to Cape Verde. The authorities there haven’t been allowing incoming flights since March, so it’s no go at the moment. TUI haven’t bothered to keep us updated, so I had to find this out myself. They just keep sending their automated e-mails as if everything is fine and dandy. If Cape Verde is not on the imminent “no quarantine on return to UK” list, then we’ll be stuffed with school and work.
As it stands, cancellation would today cost me £4000 rising to the full £5700 as the departure date approaches, so I looked at potentially re-booking for the same slot next year. Lo-and-behold the exact same holiday is 25% more expensive in 2021, so I would be paying another £1413 just to have the privilege of having our holiday postponed by a year, whilst TUI will have been sitting on our money for the best part of two years by then. Had it been the same price, I wouldn’t have grumbled. The deadline for making any amendment is 10 July. After that god knows what will happen.
As it stands, cancellation would today cost me £4000 rising to the full £5700 as the departure date approaches, so I looked at potentially re-booking for the same slot next year. Lo-and-behold the exact same holiday is 25% more expensive in 2021, so I would be paying another £1413 just to have the privilege of having our holiday postponed by a year, whilst TUI will have been sitting on our money for the best part of two years by then. Had it been the same price, I wouldn’t have grumbled. The deadline for making any amendment is 10 July. After that god knows what will happen.
Gazzas86 said:
So seems TUI have got better on the refund's, as i was due to fly on Saturday just gone (meant to be there now), and i was refunded the full amount £2500 2 days ago.
We got an email yesterday with a link to either move it of full refund, apparently it'll be with us in next couple days, no cancellation feeLotusOmega375D said:
Just spotted this thread because we’re all paid up for a second-half August family holiday to Cape Verde. The authorities there haven’t been allowing incoming flights since March, so it’s no go at the moment. TUI haven’t bothered to keep us updated, so I had to find this out myself. They just keep sending their automated e-mails as if everything is fine and dandy. If Cape Verde is not on the imminent “no quarantine on return to UK” list, then we’ll be stuffed with school and work.
As it stands, cancellation would today cost me £4000 rising to the full £5700 as the departure date approaches, so I looked at potentially re-booking for the same slot next year. Lo-and-behold the exact same holiday is 25% more expensive in 2021, so I would be paying another £1413 just to have the privilege of having our holiday postponed by a year, whilst TUI will have been sitting on our money for the best part of two years by then. Had it been the same price, I wouldn’t have grumbled. The deadline for making any amendment is 10 July. After that god knows what will happen.
OK here we go. Barely a day after getting the above e-mail from TUI confirming the holiday, I have just got a new one from them saying the holiday is cancelled. At least we now know where we stand. As stated above re-booking for next year is not an option: their 25% price hike is far in excess of any “booking incentive” they are offering. As it stands, cancellation would today cost me £4000 rising to the full £5700 as the departure date approaches, so I looked at potentially re-booking for the same slot next year. Lo-and-behold the exact same holiday is 25% more expensive in 2021, so I would be paying another £1413 just to have the privilege of having our holiday postponed by a year, whilst TUI will have been sitting on our money for the best part of two years by then. Had it been the same price, I wouldn’t have grumbled. The deadline for making any amendment is 10 July. After that god knows what will happen.
So I’ve gone straight for the full refund which they are now offering. Apparently this can all now be done via Manage my Booking. Not so as I have already discovered. I get right through to the final button “Yes, cancel my booking” whereupon it redirects to “Technical difficulties” and asks you to try again. Of course it happens every time.
Is this a blanket response, or just for me? I’ve now tried using the phone line, but 35 minutes in and just that gruesome hold music and corporate chuntering for company so far. Any advice? I don’t want to spend hours on hold.
LotusOmega375D said:
OK here we go. Barely a day after getting the above e-mail from TUI confirming the holiday, I have just got a new one from them saying the holiday is cancelled. At least we now know where we stand. As stated above re-booking for next year is not an option: their 25% price hike is far in excess of any “booking incentive” they are offering.
So I’ve gone straight for the full refund which they are now offering. Apparently this can all now be done via Manage my Booking. Not so as I have already discovered. I get right through to the final button “Yes, cancel my booking” whereupon it redirects to “Technical difficulties” and asks you to try again. Of course it happens every time.
Is this a blanket response, or just for me? I’ve now tried using the phone line, but 35 minutes in and just that gruesome hold music and corporate chuntering for company so far. Any advice? I don’t want to spend hours on hold.
No we got the email yesterday, wife hit the link and done, we haven't had the money yet but the process seemed to work wellSo I’ve gone straight for the full refund which they are now offering. Apparently this can all now be done via Manage my Booking. Not so as I have already discovered. I get right through to the final button “Yes, cancel my booking” whereupon it redirects to “Technical difficulties” and asks you to try again. Of course it happens every time.
Is this a blanket response, or just for me? I’ve now tried using the phone line, but 35 minutes in and just that gruesome hold music and corporate chuntering for company so far. Any advice? I don’t want to spend hours on hold.
Glad it works for you. I persevered with the phone line and eventually an Indian call-centre answered. It was a very bad line and I am sure he was whispering! Anyway he took my details and said he’d put me on hold for “2 - 3 minutes”. 15 minutes later he finally returned. He said he could repay the £200 deposit to my credit card straightaway, but the £5508 balance would take up to 14 working days, since this had been paid by direct debit instalments and would need to be handled by their Finance Dept who has access to my bank account details. I asked him to confirm the cancellation and refund by e-mail, so at least I have something on paper.
I then asked him for a refund on my £180 TUI travel insurance, which I purchased separately. He couldn’t do this so put me on hold for “2 - 3 minutes” to be transferred to the relevant department (I.e. AXA). 15 minutes later, an English lady answered and transferred me to a colleague. She said that they wouldn’t refund me until TUI had actually deposited the repayment for the holiday. So if anyone else is in the same boat, just lie and you will get dealt with. I was too honest. Anyway she checked the policy number and informed that I would be eligible for a 65% refund. They are not paying back any more to TUI customers, despite sitting on thousands of holidaymakers’ cash for 9 months in my case and not having the risk of starting the policy and getting any claim.
All in all, I was on the phone for the best part of 2 hours.
Funnily enough the airport car park cancellation and instant refund was the work of two clicks of the mouse.
I then asked him for a refund on my £180 TUI travel insurance, which I purchased separately. He couldn’t do this so put me on hold for “2 - 3 minutes” to be transferred to the relevant department (I.e. AXA). 15 minutes later, an English lady answered and transferred me to a colleague. She said that they wouldn’t refund me until TUI had actually deposited the repayment for the holiday. So if anyone else is in the same boat, just lie and you will get dealt with. I was too honest. Anyway she checked the policy number and informed that I would be eligible for a 65% refund. They are not paying back any more to TUI customers, despite sitting on thousands of holidaymakers’ cash for 9 months in my case and not having the risk of starting the policy and getting any claim.
All in all, I was on the phone for the best part of 2 hours.
Funnily enough the airport car park cancellation and instant refund was the work of two clicks of the mouse.
Our holiday is still 7 weeks away so I was surprised to get an email from Tui today with them throwing in the towel on it.
I originally booked it over the phone with one of their branches which means that none of the online booking management stuff works anymore so they will allegedly phone me in the next 7 days to try and talk me into rebooking.
I originally booked it over the phone with one of their branches which means that none of the online booking management stuff works anymore so they will allegedly phone me in the next 7 days to try and talk me into rebooking.
LotusOmega375D said:
LotusOmega375D said:
Just spotted this thread because we’re all paid up for a second-half August family holiday to Cape Verde. The authorities there haven’t been allowing incoming flights since March, so it’s no go at the moment. TUI haven’t bothered to keep us updated, so I had to find this out myself. They just keep sending their automated e-mails as if everything is fine and dandy. If Cape Verde is not on the imminent “no quarantine on return to UK” list, then we’ll be stuffed with school and work.
As it stands, cancellation would today cost me £4000 rising to the full £5700 as the departure date approaches, so I looked at potentially re-booking for the same slot next year. Lo-and-behold the exact same holiday is 25% more expensive in 2021, so I would be paying another £1413 just to have the privilege of having our holiday postponed by a year, whilst TUI will have been sitting on our money for the best part of two years by then. Had it been the same price, I wouldn’t have grumbled. The deadline for making any amendment is 10 July. After that god knows what will happen.
OK here we go. Barely a day after getting the above e-mail from TUI confirming the holiday, I have just got a new one from them saying the holiday is cancelled. At least we now know where we stand. As stated above re-booking for next year is not an option: their 25% price hike is far in excess of any “booking incentive” they are offering. As it stands, cancellation would today cost me £4000 rising to the full £5700 as the departure date approaches, so I looked at potentially re-booking for the same slot next year. Lo-and-behold the exact same holiday is 25% more expensive in 2021, so I would be paying another £1413 just to have the privilege of having our holiday postponed by a year, whilst TUI will have been sitting on our money for the best part of two years by then. Had it been the same price, I wouldn’t have grumbled. The deadline for making any amendment is 10 July. After that god knows what will happen.
So I’ve gone straight for the full refund which they are now offering. Apparently this can all now be done via Manage my Booking. Not so as I have already discovered. I get right through to the final button “Yes, cancel my booking” whereupon it redirects to “Technical difficulties” and asks you to try again. Of course it happens every time.
Is this a blanket response, or just for me? I’ve now tried using the phone line, but 35 minutes in and just that gruesome hold music and corporate chuntering for company so far. Any advice? I don’t want to spend hours on hold.
Tui did in fact call me yesterday to try and persuade me to rebook rather than take a refund.
Even though I’ve only paid £200 so far, they were still prepared to offer me a 10% rebooking incentive based upon the full price of the holiday I originally booked, so £500.
The woman asked if we would still like to go away this year and said that the holiday we had booked was still running, but it had been brought forward two days. I had visions of being able to spend my incentive on better legroom on the flight or maybe better rooms at the hotel until she told me the cost of the holiday would be £500 more than we originally agreed and that was after the £500 incentive had been gobbled up too. So the same holiday at the same hotel flying on the same plane to the same airports was going to cost £1000 more after they dragged it all forward two days.
I respectfully declined her offer and I will await the refund of my £200.
Even though I’ve only paid £200 so far, they were still prepared to offer me a 10% rebooking incentive based upon the full price of the holiday I originally booked, so £500.
The woman asked if we would still like to go away this year and said that the holiday we had booked was still running, but it had been brought forward two days. I had visions of being able to spend my incentive on better legroom on the flight or maybe better rooms at the hotel until she told me the cost of the holiday would be £500 more than we originally agreed and that was after the £500 incentive had been gobbled up too. So the same holiday at the same hotel flying on the same plane to the same airports was going to cost £1000 more after they dragged it all forward two days.
I respectfully declined her offer and I will await the refund of my £200.
LotusOmega375D said:
Glad it works for you. I persevered with the phone line and eventually an Indian call-centre answered. It was a very bad line and I am sure he was whispering! Anyway he took my details and said he’d put me on hold for “2 - 3 minutes”. 15 minutes later he finally returned. He said he could repay the £200 deposit to my credit card straightaway, but the £5508 balance would take up to 14 working days, since this had been paid by direct debit instalments and would need to be handled by their Finance Dept who has access to my bank account details. I asked him to confirm the cancellation and refund by e-mail, so at least I have something on paper.
I then asked him for a refund on my £180 TUI travel insurance, which I purchased separately. He couldn’t do this so put me on hold for “2 - 3 minutes” to be transferred to the relevant department (I.e. AXA). 15 minutes later, an English lady answered and transferred me to a colleague. She said that they wouldn’t refund me until TUI had actually deposited the repayment for the holiday. So if anyone else is in the same boat, just lie and you will get dealt with. I was too honest. Anyway she checked the policy number and informed that I would be eligible for a 65% refund. They are not paying back any more to TUI customers, despite sitting on thousands of holidaymakers’ cash for 9 months in my case and not having the risk of starting the policy and getting any claim.
All in all, I was on the phone for the best part of 2 hours.
Funnily enough the airport car park cancellation and instant refund was the work of two clicks of the mouse.
OK. I finally have a resolution. I then asked him for a refund on my £180 TUI travel insurance, which I purchased separately. He couldn’t do this so put me on hold for “2 - 3 minutes” to be transferred to the relevant department (I.e. AXA). 15 minutes later, an English lady answered and transferred me to a colleague. She said that they wouldn’t refund me until TUI had actually deposited the repayment for the holiday. So if anyone else is in the same boat, just lie and you will get dealt with. I was too honest. Anyway she checked the policy number and informed that I would be eligible for a 65% refund. They are not paying back any more to TUI customers, despite sitting on thousands of holidaymakers’ cash for 9 months in my case and not having the risk of starting the policy and getting any claim.
All in all, I was on the phone for the best part of 2 hours.
Funnily enough the airport car park cancellation and instant refund was the work of two clicks of the mouse.
The £200 deposit was refunded to my credit card the same day (02.07.20). Then, nothing. The £5508 balance paid by monthly direct debit should have legally been re-paid by 16.07.20. On 23.07.20, I sent TUI a reminder e-mail to an known Customer Services e-mail address. A day and a half later, I got an e-mail “undeliverable” message. I then found another Customer Services e-mail address and forwarded the same message to that one. Another day and a half later, another “undeliverable” message.
On Monday 27.07.20, I saw the TUI CEO on BBC Breakfast. This prompted me to fire off an e-mail to his address. I don’t know if he (or his office) received it, but I never got an “undeliverable” message. Later that day I received another automated Cancellation e-mail, but no word on a repayment date.
Consequently I ventured back to the Call Centre phone line on 28.07.20 and got through to a lady in a India. As previously it was a very bad line. I got more and more animated and to cut a long story short, she promised full repayment within 10 working days.
Today 30.07.20, I received a third automated Cancellation e-mail but this one was worded “Total paid to date £0.00”. That’s odd, I thought. Hoping against hope that this was their clumsy way of informing me that they had sent the refund, I checked my bank account. Lo-and-behold, the money was there! Cue much whoopin’ and a hollerin’.
That just left me with the TUI Travel Insurance to sort out via AXA, whom I phoned. My 65% refund was approved and should be back on my credit card within 14 working days.
So that hopefully is that. Cape Verde’s loss, will be Wales’ and England’s gain. As a long-standing customer, the behaviour and communication at TUI has left a pretty sour taste in my mouth, however.
I got my cancellation email on 2 July. Yesterday I got the refund credit email.
I’d already decided I wanted a refund so I followed the link to the online form to claim it. “Technical difficulties” each time till I hit upon trying in on Chrome (my default browser is Safari but it has all sorts of ad blocking software running that may have been upsetting things) and then it went through OK. They now say allow up to 4 weeks for the refund to come through.
I no longer have the credit card I originally paid on (I ditched it when they introduced a fee for having it), so assuming the refund will go back there, that could be a whole new carry on.
I’d already decided I wanted a refund so I followed the link to the online form to claim it. “Technical difficulties” each time till I hit upon trying in on Chrome (my default browser is Safari but it has all sorts of ad blocking software running that may have been upsetting things) and then it went through OK. They now say allow up to 4 weeks for the refund to come through.
I no longer have the credit card I originally paid on (I ditched it when they introduced a fee for having it), so assuming the refund will go back there, that could be a whole new carry on.
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