Opinions on comeback if travel deal not honoured?

peckerhead

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone here has an opinion on the following?

Just before Christmas a getaway deal came up on one of the leading deal sites (which I don't want to name just yet) for a week's accommodation for 4 in a resort in Tenerife, for only €149; the catch was that you were required to sit through a 90 minute sales pitch from this timeshare crowd. The dates included the Easter school holiday period and I thought, fair enough, a good deal for that time of year. I rang the merchant to check that peak periods weren't excluded and the resort in question to make sure that there was availability for the dates we wanted. Once that was confirmed, I bought the deal and then went ahead and booked four Ryanair return flights, at a cost of €750 (steep, I know, but it's Easter week and all the airlines jack up their prices then).

Since then I have tried emailing and phoning the company dozens of times. Emails are unanswered, the phone rings out, and the (generic) answering machine doesn't let you leave any messages because "the inbox is full". The resort have confirmed that they received my booking, back in December, but say that nothing is confirmed until they get the "reservation letter" from the company. We're now 8 working days away from the supposed departure date, and I have been unable to get any resolution, or even an acknowledgement, from either the company providing the accommodation package or the deal site I paid my money to, although they've been CC'd on all correspondence. Today, I again tried ringing the company in the UK, to no avail, and then the deal site, who said (again) that the coupon was "showing up as redeemed" on their system (as I knew in December last), so there "should be no problem", but weren't inclined to do anything more. I pointed out to them that my contract was with them, in the first instance, and explained politely that there is no way I can put myself, my wife and young kids on a plane to Tenerife, in high season, with no guarantee of actually getting the accommodation I paid for (or any at all). They said they'd look into it and get straight back to me, but didn't.

The crowd offering the accommodation package have a cheap, GoDaddy-hosted website that doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Their emails bounce, their phone in the UK (the only number provided) is unattended, and I suspect that, like many of these timeshare set-ups, they're as bogey as hell. If it was as simple as cancelling and demanding a refund from the deal site, I would. But I've bought €750 worth of unrefundable Ryanair flights, and I really don't want to have to tell my wife and kids that their Easter holiday — the family's Christmas present — is cancelled.

I wrote again to the deal site to say that if the timeshare company will not or cannot fulfil the contract, then we would be prepared to accept alternative accommodation (as it happens, they are currently flogging a similar deal through a different crowd). Hopefully this will work out.

If it doesn't, what do you reckon is my legal position? I paid for the accommodation and then, in perfectly good faith, booked flights. If it ends up that we can't travel, because either the deal site or the timeshare company continues to ignore my emails, have I a case for seeking compensation for the wasted flights?

TIA for any advice you can offer.

Del2005

Do you have travel insurance? Looks like a claim is on the way. If you've no insurance or it doesn't cover you may need to follow up with the deal site through the UK equivalent of the Small Claims Court for the Ryanair flight refund.

I definitely wouldn't be getting on a plane without confirmed accomidation

peckerhead

I have an annual multi-trip policy which will cover it, but (a) there's an excess, so I'll still be out of pocket, possibly to the tune of 8x the excess (if they take the view that each individual flight is a separate "loss"), and (b) the fault is entirely theirs, so why should I have to claim against an insurer and have that on my record?

I agree that the Small Claims Court might be the way to go, although I indicated in my last email that I'd be prepared to hire a lawyer and go after them for costs and compensation, too.

I'll keep ye posted, thanks...

killbillvol2

The problem as I see it is that you don't have any case against Ryanair, with whom you spent the bulk of the money. Going to the small claims court might get you the money back for the original deal but the flights are technically unconnected.

peckerhead

Oh no, I didn't mean to suggest I've any case against Ryanair, of course — it's nothing to do with them. But under the law of tort, it might be argued (by a good lawyer!) that as a consequence of the deal site and/or the timeshare company failing to fulfil their contractual obligations I am left with effectively unusable flights, and a hefty financial loss, unless (as suggested) they can offer me alternative accommodation that allows me reasonably to complete the trip.

As it happens, my last (fairly stiffly-worded) email finally elicited a response today from their manager of the timeshare company, apologising for the "misunderstanding" and explaining that they'd "had problems with their phone lines". Fingers crossed...

killbillvol2

Hopefully they'll get their act together and you can chill out next week in the sun.

Del2005

killbillvol2 wrote: »

The problem as I see it is that you don't have any case against Ryanair, with whom you spent the bulk of the money. Going to the small claims court might get you the money back for the original deal but the flights are technically unconnected.

peckerhead wrote: »

Oh no, I didn't mean to suggest I've any case against Ryanair, of course — it's nothing to do with them. But under the law of tort, it might be argued (by a good lawyer!) that as a consequence of the deal site and/or the timeshare company failing to fulfil their contractual obligations I am left with effectively unusable flights, and a hefty financial loss, unless (as suggested) they can offer me alternative accommodation that allows me reasonably to complete the trip.

Sorry may have been my post leading to the confusion. The SCC would be against the deal company for compensation for the Ryanair flights.

peckerhead wrote: »

As it happens, my last (fairly stiffly-worded) email finally elicited a response today from their manager of the timeshare company, apologising for the "misunderstanding" and explaining that they'd "had problems with their phone lines". Fingers crossed...

Good luck.