cancelling package holiday after paying €1 deposit

tornjeans

Last week I booked a package holiday for the family and put down deposit of €1 each. Low deposit has been widely advertised as something appealing to the consumer.I booked from the aer lingus website but the booking agent is clickandgo. Unfortunately there has been a change in circumstances and I know we will not to able to travel as hoped. The trip was booked for December. When I contacted clickandgo to cancel I met with a lot of hostility. The agent was difficult to say the least. He said I was still liable for the non-refundable cost of the flights. As I did not even fund the flights yet this makes no sense. He told me I could sell on the flights or reschedule them but when I looked on the aerlingus website it clearly states that you cannot make changes to a booking made by an agent. Why would I pay the balance of the flight cost?

slimjimmc

tornjeans wrote: »

Why would I pay the balance of the flight cost?

Because the terms of the €1 deposit deal are that the tickets and other elements of the holiday are non-refundable and you owe them the remainder. You entered into a legally binding contract when you paid the deposit and got written confirmation so the other party is entitled to get what you agreed to give.

Did you not read the T&Cs or click on "Find out more" on the big banner on the Aer Lingus website

What else do I need to know?

Once you book a holiday for €1 deposit, you are legally liable for the full cost of the holiday. We pay the airline and accommodation on your behalf, so we will always need the money back, even if you decide not to travel.
Unfortunately, we can't pay for luggage on your behalf when you book. So you have to pay for this upfront, on top of the deposit. Sorry! You'll still be able to book a holiday for under €100 though - and you can always add luggage later at no extra cost.

Unless you can somehow show the terms are unfair you are liable for the full cost of the tickets.

dashcamdanny

So what can they do. They cant affect your credit rating ..

davo10

dashcamdanny wrote: »

So what can they do. They cant affect your credit rating ..

Paid €1 by credit card?

homer911

Travel Insurance?

L1011

dashcamdanny wrote: »

So what can they do. They cant affect your credit rating ..

Take the entirety from your payment card for starters. Which will affect it if you attempt to bilk on it

dashcamdanny

L1011 wrote: »

Take the entirety from your payment card for starters. Which will affect it if you attempt to bilk on it

<SNIP>



Feck them after that. Im sure they can sell the holiday to someone else. Not like they are out the whole cost of it.

dudara

dashcamdanny - Please do not advocate debt evasion here on this forum. Please limit yourself to constructive advice that will not leave the OP open to potential legal action.

dudara

whomitconcerns

tornjeans wrote: »

Why would I pay the balance of the flight cost?

Because you told them so and gave them a legal guarantee that you would? Why should they be out of pocket in this case?

L1011

Having taken a guess what the bad advice was - that doesn't work anyway. Bank will provide the new card details.

OP has signed a contract, OP has to pay it. Its likely enough cash that its worth their while going to court if its a family of 4 or more too.

tornjeans

My understanding is that I have only put down deposit of €4 so that is all I can lose. If I had paid the next deposit of €600 of course I would be at a greater loss. As of yet I have not funded the flights so I'm arguing that they can't yet be non-refundable. The term non-refundable inherently states that something has been funded. That's clear to me.

Collie D

tornjeans wrote: »

My understanding is that I have only put down deposit of €4 so that is all I can lose. If I had paid the next deposit of €600 of course I would be at a greater loss. As of yet I have not funded the flights so I'm arguing that they can't yet be non-refundable. The term non-refundable inherently states that something has been funded. That's clear to me.

You entered an agreement to pay. Deposits aren't always the only thing you lose. In this case it was just a low cost first instalment with the promise to pay balance later.

salamanca22

tornjeans wrote: »

My understanding is that I have only put down deposit of €4 so that is all I can lose. If I had paid the next deposit of €600 of course I would be at a greater loss. As of yet I have not funded the flights so I'm arguing that they can't yet be non-refundable. The term non-refundable inherently states that something has been funded. That's clear to me.

Perhaps you should read the agreements you sign in the future. If you agreed to pay the balance at a future date then you have to pay it or face legal consequences. These smaller agents are way more likely to pursue smaller debts like this than the big airlines.

The likely result of not paying will end up in months of letters from the agent and their legal team and finally a court date.

paulheu

tornjeans wrote: »

My understanding is that I have only put down deposit of €4 so that is all I can lose.

lol.. Not only have you not read the T&C on the original booking, you also seem to not gove a feck about reading the responses here which quite clearly tell you that you entered into a binding contract with them to pay the full amount

hdowney

tornjeans wrote:

My understanding is that I have only put down deposit of €4 so that is all I can lose. If I had paid the next deposit of €600 of course I would be at a greater loss. As of yet I have not funded the flights so I'm arguing that they can't yet be non-refundable. The term non-refundable inherently states that something has been funded. That's clear to me.

Correct. The term non-refundable does mean that something has been funded. The problem you have here is you seem to think that as you personally have not yet funded it, it's not your problem.

Thing is you paid your deposit and then the company funded the flights on your behalf with the expectation of you funding them. If they didn't book your flights etc as soon as you paid deposit they'd be a pretty useless company and there would be no point for them being in business.

When YOU book flights etc yourself you have to pay upfront. When they book them on your behalf THEY have to pay upfront. If they didn't book the flights when you paid the deposit but instead waited for you to fund them for the flights first, they might find the flights have gone up in price/sold out etc. I am sure you would then be moaning at them about that like its their fault.

If you want flexibility of payment (instalment vs upfront) and knowledge your trip is booked use a travel agent. If you want to only have things booked when you have funded them book yourself.

ABajaninCork

Did you read and understand the T's & C's? Somewhere on there, I'm sure it will tell you you've entered into a binding contract when the deposit was paid. It's really not the agent's concern you can't go whatever the circumstances.

There's a website - Can't remember the name but people who've had to cancel their honeymoons and so on can list them and sell them on. Can't you sell on the holiday that way? Are there friends/family who might like to take the holiday?? Or even good old Done Deal/Adverts.ie/eBay - The possibilities are endless.

You need to be a bit creative here.

MrWalsh

Why don't you just reschedule to a more suitable time like the agent suggested?

delahuntv

A low deposit purely allows for better cashflow for the purchaser and allows you book ahead without having to pay upfront by weeks or months.

Whether a deposit is 1c or 99% of purchase price, once you click the "I agree to the terms and conditions" button, you have entered a legally binding contract.

That you did not read the terms or that you incorrectly thought something meant something it didn't, that is not the fault of the seller.

Hence if the seller is offering to move the dates, I'd jump at the offer and thank them profusely for being so generous.

Th3B1tcH

just throwing this in would the "cooling off" period not be valid ?

salamanca22

Th3B1tcH wrote: »

just throwing this in would the "cooling off" period not be valid ?

Package holidays are specifically excluded from the distance selling cooling off periods.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

L1011 wrote: »

Having taken a guess what the bad advice was - that doesn't work anyway. Bank will provide the new card details.

OP has signed a contract, OP has to pay it. Its likely enough cash that its worth their while going to court if its a family of 4 or more too.

Link to support this??

I find it hard to believe the bank would provide some random company with the OPs new card details. Doesn't make sense.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Techmaster wrote: »

Link to support this??

I find it hard to believe the bank would provide some random company with the OPs new card details. Doesn't make sense.

It's not a random company. It's a company who the OP committed a legitimate charge to. Huge difference.

L1011

Techmaster wrote: »

Link to support this??

I find it hard to believe the bank would provide some random company with the OPs new card details. Doesn't make sense.

The "random company" have a legal contract with the OP. Banks have to do this all the time when some whizkid thinks they can get away from a car hire damage charge by cancelling, etc. The charges were raised legitimately against the old number well before any attempt to report it stolen/lost so the bank ensures it gets charged.

whomitconcerns

It's just charged to the account. Standard practice

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Olivia Elegant Italic wrote: »

It's not a random company. It's a company who the OP committed a legitimate charge to. Huge difference.

How do the bank know this? A lot of €1 payments are just test charges.

If the OP cancels the card the bank should decline all charges made to that card after the cancellation is completed.

First I've heard of this practice. Makes card cancellations useless IMO. Any scammer could put a test on the card before the cancellation in that case.

L1011

Techmaster wrote: »

First I've heard of this practice. Makes card cancellations useless IMO. Any scammer could put a test on the card before the cancellation in that case.

A scammer doesn't have a contract. The holiday firm most certainly do. If the OP tried to claim it wasn't them when the holiday firm go looking for details they would be committing fraud.

The OP has two choices - pay and go, or pay and don't go.

ben.schlomo

Techmaster wrote: »

How do the bank know this? A lot of €1 payments are just test charges.

If the OP cancels the card the bank should decline all charges made to that card after the cancellation is completed.

First I've heard of this practice. Makes card cancellations useless IMO. Any scammer could put a test on the card before the cancellation in that case.

You dont seem to get the difference between a contract and a scam.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

ben.schlomo wrote: »

You dont seem to get the difference between a contract and a scam.

I do, but thanks for the observation.

OP has other ways of not paying, but I won't mention them here.

Maybe try to change the dates OP?

L1011

Techmaster wrote: »

OP has other ways of not paying, but I won't mention them here.

All fraudulent.

MrWalsh

ben.schlomo wrote: »

You dont seem to get the difference between a contract and a scam.

I wasn't aware that banks enforce contracts?