Credit card chargeback against Teletext holidays

[Guest]

Ok hope someone could provide some advice.
As all over the news people are struggling to get their money back from holiday companies despite the Package and travel regulations supposedly protecting them/us and entitling to
a full refund within 14 days (for package holidays)
We are due to fly in August, to date nobody has received a refund from teletext for current or past holidays due to Covid 19.
I want to try and use a credit card charge back under section 75 on the consumer credit act. But before I do i was hoping some of you lovely people could advise if i can and should.
I want to tackle it on the basis of the Teletext terms and conditions stated blow:

"11.2 Multi-Contract Packages Only: Cancellation by you due to Unavoidable & Extraordinary Circumstances Where you have booked a Multi-Contract Package, you have the right to cancel your confirmed Multi-Contract Package before departure without paying a cancellation charge in the event of “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” occurring at your holiday destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the holiday or significantly affecting the transport arrangements to the destination. In these circumstances, Truly Travel Ltd shall provide you with a full refund of the monies you have paid but we will not be liable to pay you any additional compensation. Please note that your right to cancel your Multi-Contract Package in these circumstances will only apply where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel to your destination or its immediate vicinity. For the purposes of this clause, “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” means warfare, acts of terrorism, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the travel destination.
Please note that this right to cancel only applies to customers who have booked a Multi-Contract Package."

I have contacted Teletexts and their reply was

"Thanks for your email.

Please be informed As you are aware we are operating in unprecedented times, as the Corona virus ( COVID-19 ) pandemic continues to disrupt global travel plans.At this time, there has been no advice against travelling for August departures.

As the situation is changing constantly, we would advise you to wait and see what the FCO advice is nearer the time – it could be that you’re still able to travel. For future reference, this is the FCO website: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. Therefore we do advise to continue with any payments due so there are no disruptions to your upcoming holiday. In the event the FCO advice is not to travel we would look to re-book your holiday for alternative dates.

Please feel free to contact us on LIVE CHAT on our website https://www.teletextholidays.co.uk/help for any other queries or if your query is unresolved."

Their reply in my opinion is wrong the World Health's organisations advise is no travel indefinitely.
Note how they also say they would look to rebook the holiday should it not go ahead. Despite I asked for a full refund in the email as per the section 11.2 clause.
This company is trying to palm all its cancelled holiday customers with vouchers, again totally illegal and they are getting away with it.
A voucher is no good to me as it is not for a lot of other people, we need the cash that we paid with.
Anyway enough of me blabbing on haha given the above information and teletext not honouring the contract would this suffice a successful charge back with my credit card company?

[R0b]

Their reply in my opinion is wrong the World Health's organisations advise is no travel indefinitely.

I assume you meant the FCO's advice was a ban on indefinite travel for the foreseeable. The problem is that the advice from the FCO means that there is no end date, which could be next month, 3 months or the end of the year before that advice may change. That in itself may present you with a problem in getting a refund because it may be possible that the advice could change before you travel in August. Slim chance, but still possible.

I absolutely get your view but I think you need to be cautious because if you are treating the contract as terminated, you could be in breach yourself for wrongful termination. Difficult to say whether a charge back would work, because Teletext might dispute it based on what I've said above. Equally, if you went down the route of legal proceedings the court might not agree with you and again, if Teletext so wished, could argue you are in breach yourself and seek compensation for any unpaid sums.

Personally, I would just wait closer to the time and let Teletext cancel the holiday but if you insist that you want a refund now, do a charge back and see where it takes you. You can always respond to them and clarify that if your flight is cancelled tyou do not want a rebooking but you will be seeking a refund.

[monty110884]

Thanks for your reply Rob, im the op and managed to log in. I am thinking the same as you. indefinite is very vague. I am still paying for the holiday and havent mentioned cancelling or terminating the contract. I just want to try and exercise my rights under the clause stated in the terms. My fustration is i will carry on paying not go and then get fobbed off with a voucher as they are doing to all their customers