Booking a Holiday and Cancelling / Distance Selling

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

Quickie.

Mrs zcacogp and I have just booked a holiday. Details are immaterial, but seconds after we had booked it we found that we could have saved £80 by booking the same holiday by a different route. It was booked on-line, paying with a credit card.

The obvious answer is to cancel the booking we have made and re-make it through the cheaper route. However the offices of the company have closed for the evening and hence we can't talk to them. We called the Credit Card company and they said the payment had been made and hence couldn't be stopped. They advised us to talk to the holiday company and, if they wouldn't cancel, we could 'raise a dispute' with the credit card people.

So, before I call the holiday company at 8.00am tomorrow, what can I (and can't I) claim? I think I have a 7-day cooling-off period under the distance selling regulations, during which I can cancel. Is this the case? If so, can they claim a 'handling fee' or 'cancellation fee'?

If I do cancel and then re-book via another means, what are the odds of them spotting what I am doing and declining the second booking?

All help welcomed - thanks.


Oli.

[Sarnie]

Why not just ask them to honour the price found elsewhere?

[zcacogp]

Sarnie said:

Why not just ask them to honour the price found elsewhere?

That's what I'll do first. (Nicely, natch!) I'm wondering what my position is if they say "No".


Oli.

[Centurion07]

Don't quote me on it but I'd be surprised if the DSR apply to something like a holiday booking where things are fairly tailored to your requirements i.e. flight times, hotel etc etc.

[zcacogp]

Thanks Centurion. It's just the hotel, actually. "Holiday" is over-stating it a little; we'd be buying the flights and transfers separately.


Oli.

[Centurion07]

I guess that makes it a bit simpler but they could theoretically say they suffered a loss in taking your booking as they then had to turn down other people. Like I said, I think the rules are slightly different with hotel/holiday bookings but I'm not sure where to point you to to confirm.

[russ_a]

DSR does not apply to holidays.

I booked a group ski trip last year and got emailed the same holiday the next day from the company I had brought it from for £££ cheaper, a lot more than £80!

Called them up but the agreement details I had signed up to was watertight. I could cancel and re-book but it was 50% charge!

[skahigh]

The cancellation charge applied will most likely depend on how close you are to the travelling date, clearly if you're not travelling for a year the company has more opportunity to resell the hotel room than if you are travelling in a few days and the cancellation charge reflects this.

As others have said, I'm almost certain distance selling regulations don't apply.

[zcacogp]

Thanks for your comments. As it was, they were happy to cancel it without a charge - which was kind of them.


Oli.