Holidaylettings

[Gettingthereslow]

Hi

Hopefully correct forum .

I booked a Villa in April 2020 through the Holiday Lettings website travelling in December 2020. With the pandemic showing no signs of abating I asked and the owner agreed to move the bookings to April 2021 . I paid a deposit ( £900) and am due to pay the remainder shortly. Obviously I am reluctant to pay the remainder considering again it is highly likely that restrictions will still be in place. I contacted Holiday Lettings , who in turn contacted the owner who agreed to cancel the booking but refused to refund my deposit saying that the holiday was far enough away not to be an issue .

After much emailing to and fro . They offered to move the dates which having the choice of losing the deposit I reluctantly agreed to . However as the booking had been moved once before they (holidaylettings) were unable to adjust it again and instead I recieved a new booking where I had to pay a new deposit . This I did and recieved my old deposit back .

The terms of all the bookings were that you have 24 hours to cancel after which it is down to the owner as to whether a refund would be paid . My question is . Is this not a new booking and therefore I could cancel within 24 hours and recieve a refund . I know this is cheeky but I feel the no refund policy is unfair especially considering I am not giving late notice .

What do people think?

[islandgirl]

Have you received the old deposit and not yet paid the new? If so, just change your mind!

[Gettingthereslow]

I have recieved notifcation from paypal that the refund has been paid but it is not in my account yet. I had to pay the new deposit before they would release the old . I see on the website that all new bookings have 24 hours to cancel and will recieve full refund . I just wanted to check that my logic that this new booking is in effect a brand new booking and therefore I should have no problems cancelling within the 24 hours despite the lead up to this

[islandgirl]

Ok I am unsure but the problem will be getting them to pay you. If you cancel within the 24 hours they will probably not allow it and will refuse to return the deposit Then the decision is yours whether to argue it in small claims court. I suppose it will depend on whether the offer to move the date the second time allows it to be a "new booking" in law - I do not know. Certainly make sure you get the old deposit back before trying to cancel! Did you have travel insurance? Do you have legal help on your home insurance policy? I know that a cottage company (Skyes?) lost a case because they would not refund money. Perhaps have a look at that. The key will be whether to take the risk and keep the booking and try to get the money back when restrictions are in place in April (as is likely).

[Gettingthereslow]

Thanks . Yes I am fairly sure that they would try and withold the deposit and I would end up having to try and get it back via small claims. My issue is that the villa is in Malta and although I booked through Holiday lettings they are just simply middlemen and whilst I suspect I would win it would be loads of hassle . The old refund is unlikley to be in my account within 24 hours . So will go ahead and keep the booking as see what the year brings . Thanks for your help

[islandgirl]

As I say I do not know the answer from a legal point of view just thinking of how I would move forward in your situation so this is just points to consider from a layman. I have used that company before and seem to think they are American which adds another layer of complexity. Good luck - if you decide to try to cancel let us know what happens. You could always email and ask them if it would be possible??!!