Marella Cancellations

[howmuch!]

My impression is that all countries are doing a balancing act between limiting hospital admissions (through lockdown), but with an obvious eye on the economy.

 

With economic doom being predicted, lots of European countries are easing their lockdowns earlier than might be ideal from a health point of view, in order to limit economic damage, and I am convinced UK will be doing the same eventually.

 

As you say, this will not at first lift restrictions on foreign travel, but it will come eventually at some point, hopefully not too early from a pandemic viewpoint.

 

[rkingphoto]

[Brummijam]

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

Vitalsign said.......................They pay refunds if they have to cancel or people cannot travel due  to FCO advice - simples

 

 TUI said

If your holiday can no longer go ahead as planned, you will receive a refund credit for the full value of your holiday

.

Brummijam said....

looks like they are going to be giving out refund credits, There's a surprise 😳

If I try to put that back into my bank account it will be interesting.

 

 

 

 

[rkingphoto]

If you read the updated info on the website then you can get a refund if that's what you want.   TBH I think the 20% incentive to take it as a credit instead is decent.   Not sure which way we'll go.

[Brummijam]

6 minutes ago, rkingphoto said:

If you read the updated info on the website then you can get a refund if that's what you want.   TBH I think the 20% incentive to take it as a credit instead is decent.   Not sure which way we'll go.

Yes I can see that,  It also says you will have to ring their very busy call centre to reclaim your own money back. Have you tried ringing their call centre?  Don't you think that customers who paid in cash should be given the choice of cash or voucher.?

Also when they requested my final balance do you reckon they would have accepted some vouchers from me.?

TUI are not handling this very well at all.

[rkingphoto]

Don't shoot the messenger.

[Brummijam]

8 minutes ago, rkingphoto said:

Don't shoot the messenger.

Apologies sir no offence to you intended whatsoever.😉

Stay safe, keep well.👍

[rkingphoto]

Nae worries.  It's a difficult time for everyone.

[Jim The Scot]

You can only attempt to claim a cash refund once you receive refund credit which will be apparently emailed to customer 4 weeks prior to holiday/cruise

Edited April 17, 2020 by Jim The Scot

[solostar]

Am I right in thinking that if you claim a refund you wont get it until 12 months after your cruise date.

[Jim The Scot]

That I dont know

 

I,m not booked directly through Tui/Marella but an independant TA so will have a few questions for them when I manage to contact them

[rkingphoto]

2 hours ago, Jim The Scot said:

You can only attempt to claim a cash refund once you receive refund credit which will be apparently emailed to customer 4 weeks prior to holiday/cruise

I don't think it's prior, I think it's within 4 weeks so up to 4 weeks after your departure date you will get the email.

1 hour ago, solostar said:

Am I right in thinking that if you claim a refund you wont get it until 12 months after your cruise date.

You can claim a refund as soon as you get the email, it may take time to get to you but you can request one right away and reject the credit refund immediately.

 

I have though reread the offer and it does say UP to 20% incentive.  I really hope they're not at it.

[Jim The Scot]

Hi rkingphoto

 

Unless i,m interpreting it wrongly

 

Your refund credit will automatically be emailed to you within four weeks of your departure date. And, if for any reason you don’t book another holiday, we can change your refund credit to cash 12 months from your original departure date.

[solostar]

The latest Tui update , Friday afternoon, has different wording. 

[zap99]

57 minutes ago, solostar said:

The latest Tui update , Friday afternoon, has different wording. 

The TUI refund policy is fairly clear IMO. Don't give the suckers anything back. Make them wait a year and in the meantime find other excuses to hang on to their money. Phone for a refund. Yeah, right ,try that if you have a few spare days.

 

[howmuch!]

I've read the T&C a number of times. My interpretation is - 

 

If you are happy to receive a credit note, covered by ATOL for security, then the up to 20% booking incentive looks OK.

For example, if you paid £4000 for the cancelled cruise/holiday, you can re-book a holiday to the value of £4800, without additional cost.

 

You can't request a cash refund until you receive the 'credit note' email (up to 4 weeks after original departure date). This is can be requested by phoning 0203 451 2868, along with 2 million other people! Whats not clear is when you eventually get through, some days later, will someone say you have to wait 12 months (as other T&C say you can request a cash refund, if you haven't used the credit note within 12 months)

 

On Twitter, Tui staff are telling people who had already asked for a refund before yesterday, that it will be coming to them asap.

 

As Zap99 says -  make it as difficult as you can for customers to get a refund.

Edited April 18, 2020 by howmuch!

[howmuch!]

Simon Calder wrote this on Twitter -

Tui's new, tough refund policy:

Britain's biggest travel firm wants customers whose trips are cancelled to lend it money for a year or more.

To get an actual refund you must:

1 Accept a voucher (takes four weeks minimum)

2 Phone and ask for your money back

[rkingphoto]

• If you’re unable to accept a refund credit you can apply for a refund; however, we’re only able to process a refund for you once you have received your refund credit.

[solostar]

And then it takes 12 months from your holiday date to receive it ?

[rkingphoto]

That's not what they are saying.  If you accept the credit note then you will get a cash refund if you haven't used it within 12 months.  But if you contact them straight away and ask for a refund it will be processed.  They don't say how long the process takes, but I doubt it would be 12 months.   In the meantime ATOL will cover your money if Tui go out of business.  As I said, the extra 20% is tempting as long as it is 20% or very near it.  I have an eye on a holiday for next year anyway so as soon as I get my email I'm going to see how much incentive I get when I try to book it.  If Tui are taking the P and not offering anything near 20% then I'll phone for a cash refund.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, solostar said:

And then it takes 12 months from your holiday date to receive it ?

That gives them 12 months to come up with some other scams. Anyone care to bet how much next year's holidays will go up by once all these vouchers are issued. My bet, at least 20%.

[Pensioncruiser]

17 minutes ago, zap99 said:

My bet, at least 20%.

Checked my cancelled cruise this year against next year for comparison and it's plus 26% 🙄

[rkingphoto]

Holidays prices will certainly go up next year, but if you take the cash refund and book a holiday next year the price will still be up.  I suppose it depends if you are planning on taking a holiday next year.   Using the incentive (if it's really 20%) could offset some of that price rise.  But if you don't have any holiday plans, take the money.

[zap99]

27 minutes ago, rkingphoto said:

Holidays prices will certainly go up next year, but if you take the cash refund and book a holiday next year the price will still be up.  I suppose it depends if you are planning on taking a holiday next year.   Using the incentive (if it's really 20%) could offset some of that price rise.  But if you don't have any holiday plans, take the money.

That's a very good point. Is that just TUI?. We had an Alaska cruise cancelled by Celebrity for June. The price for next year is pretty much the same. There does seem to be a bit of variability at the moment. Perhaps too early to predict, but no doubt TUI will play fair.🤔

[Pensioncruiser]

Something on BBC at 1730 today in the news, questions from the public.