Was going to go to the bank today but thought Id wait untill all money back into account etc before I start with them. I have an account with another bank which has hardly anything at all but I spoke to a lady at the branch today and she said that in the banks defence they would have let a large phone transaction like that go through too!! Unbelievable. Dont think Ill be putting my savings into that account any time soon either!lol! Just fed up now, want it all done and finished with so hopefuly I can book something else for that time.

are you saying they wont be paying back the £7000? That is not a refund you are looking for- that is a mistake that they have to rectify immediately. Or do they mean the actual refund of the holiday money? If they are not refunding the £7000 you must contact Ros. This has gone on far enough.

Fiona - I think Micky is saying that in the first instance FC will only refund the £7000 back onto her current card as that's where the money was taken from - the holiday was paid for with her previous card which is now expired and therefore they can't refund the monies owed from holiday that has been cancelled onto that.

Micky - I honestly can't believe that you aren't taking the bank to task now, today when you still need the money to pay your bills and feed your kids and that you're going to wait until FC finally refund you before you tackle them.

You stated earlier that if everyone said "No, we're not accepting the poor level of service" then there wouldn't be so many complaints because the travel firms would have to get it right. Surely the same applies to banks and your bank in particular for happily allowing the sum of £7000 to be taken from your account KNOWING that it was going to drastically throw you into the red. A high amount like that could so easily have been a fraudulent transaction!

In your shoes I certainly wouldn't be waiting for FC to repay the money before taking action against the bank and if I'm honest I can't see why you'd be prepared to wait when they allowed the situation to arise in the first place.

There's no doubt FC made the mistake but your bank compounded matters by allowing the payment to go thru' surely knowing it would leave you in dire straits!

You are totaly right about the bank but I just want to get this sorted first before going to the bank and their head office. You were also right about the refunding the £7000 now, although it still takes day to clear and the holiday money will get done not as quick. Today I have just been too deflated to see anyone face to face because if I did go to the bank today I would have just burst into tears and would have come across as a mad woman! I need to have a level assertive head on my shoulders before I can look half sensible and if that means I have to wait a day or so before I calm my self down then thats what Ill have to do. Luckily my mum gave us a little money to get some shopping so we have eating (alhtough its not been like usual, although very grateful for it!). I just must have the worst luck in the world! Let me start from the begining, for the past year we have watched hubbies father dying from motor neurone disease poor soul, he died last month whilst we were at euro disney for our daughters birthday. Was told his death wasnt iminent so went ahead with the trip (although I was more then happy not to go) and he died the day beofre her birthday. We could not get back to the uk as there was huge backlogs from the ferry strikes. We were then given 6 days by the council to clear out his home... 2 of us! aswell as funeral arrangements, grieving etc. Then my car broke down. Took it to the garage to be repaired, then got it back from the garage and next day had a car accident (not my fault), then my hoover blows up and the dog is on he's way out!!! And now to top it all off, this happens!! I suppose Ill laugh at this misfortune one day and I know there are people a lot worse off. Just is a lot to deal with at present.

Perhaps she is worried that the bank might start getting difficult and would rather see the 7000 pounds returned there in black and white, before she threatens to take her business elsewhere ? I know I would, banks can be difficult as well, really both First Choice and the Bank have the upper hand.

It must be a very frustrating experience in view of the large amounts of monies involved and the disappointment of cancelling a holiday, to then take on your bank as well.

It's hard enough dealing with one large anonymous institution that isn't interested in customer service, let alone two.

Sorry Micky, I posted at the same time as you.

I would most definitely NOT let the Bank know that I was taking my business elsewhere until I'd got this money back into my account and an acceptable explanation from them as to why they allowed such a large amount to go through unchallenged.
So, micky, it's probably wise to give yourself a bit of time to compose yourself and decide what you're going to say and the questions you want answers to.

On the subject of banks allowing large amounts to be debited without checking, I once had a big credit on my current account as I'd paid in my retirement lump sum whilst I was opening a savings account (not with the same bank).
When I wanted to transfer the amount out to the saving account, my Bank refused the transaction - even though there was sufficient funds in to cover the debit. It was a lot more than £7k though.

Polly

have since had an email from FC, saying clearly they will not be giving us any compensation as, as a gesture of goodwill they already refunded the total holiday cost! No this was not a gesture of goodwill but an admission of guilt! I will be taking this to the top not for want of compensation but I would just like an apology in person from someone at the top. If the directors are not interested then they are very bad directors and she be reminded that it is customers like me and you that keep them in a job.

Good luck with that!!!
Can't see it happening myself!

HI Micky,
Sorry to hear that this still hasn't been resolved. Hopefully you'll get your money back from FC soon. As I stated in a much earlier post (and you agree) your bank are also definitely at fault. I wonder if you're willing to "name and shame" them. Would be important info for others using the same bank.

Hi micky
Whilst I am very sympathetic with the awful financial problems, distress and disappointment at no longer having a (probably) long anticipated holiday caused by this mistake by First Choice, I'm not sure that you're 'on firm-ground' about the refund.
Myself, AgentQ & fwh were surprised that they allowed you to cancel without having to pay a percentage of the holiday cost.

They could have insisted you pay (in accordance with their T&Cs) 70% of the holiday cost as you cancelled within 28 days.
So, I can sort-of see where they are coming from with their comment about 'a goodwill gesture'.

Please don't antagonise FC BEFORE they've given you the full refund, or you could perhaps find yourself out of pocket for the majority of the holiday cost unless you want to engage in legal action.
On the subject of legal advice, have you spoken to Ros at all?
I really think it may be a good idea if you're considering a demand for compensation on top of the full holiday cost refund.

Regards
Polly

I have been told that a full refund has been authorised due to "payment error". Goodwill??I dont believe so... Guilt?? I would recommend as I dont think they counted on me giving them such bad publicity. I know they have been monitoring another travel forum closely as I also posted on there. I can tell by some of the content of the email they sent me and the fact that they would only know certain things they remarked upon by looking at the forum (if that makes sence!). I wont name the bank exactly but I will tell you it begins with the letter "B", shouldnt be hard to guess. However I spoke to an advisor from another bank who told me that they would also have let the transaction go through! Glad to know our money is being kept safe!

Sorry.. I havent spoken to Ross as FC athough are very slow do seem to be giving me a refund and I dont think it would get me anywhere quicker at this stage. I still dont have any cleared funds but with a little bit of luck it would happen by the end of the week. I have decided after taking someones advice that I wont close my accounts with the bank but I will leave just £1 in so that they still have to go to the trouble of sending me a statement each month.

micky
the point I'm trying to make (with, it appears, limited success) is that I think (and anyone out there with more knowlege about this than me please put me right if I'm wrong) that First Choice could have, in accordance with their T&C's - which you would have agreed to when making your booking) only refunded 30% of the total holiday cost.
Their T&Cs state that you forfeit 70% if you cancel within the timeframe you've mentioned.

You would then have had to resort to some form of legal action against them to recover any more money.
I'm not saying this is right, moral or fair.
I'm not saying that FC would have taken this step under these specific circumstances.
I'm not saying that FC would have won if they had taken this step.
It's what the contract you agreed to says.

I think agreeing to this full refund (saving you a hell of a lot of hassle) is the one thing that FC have got right from a customer-first angle.

Polly

I do agree to some degree and do feel that they believe by giving me this without me following legal action is compensation in itself, and yes it has saved me a lot of agro etc etc ......however, I feel that they done this simply not as a "gesture of goodwill" but to get rid of the problem and hush over the bigger issue here. They didnt count on me not backing down about reaching the top. They did not count on me creating this sort of publicity for them. They thought I would just go away and sit quietly waiting for my money as Im sure alot of their customers do. Well they thought wrong. I will not stop untill I reach the top and recieve the apology we deserve. A sales advisor saying "oh well, im really sorry about that" simply isnt good enough. Today I did manage to find a direct email address to the TUI board and have contacted them regarding this. I will be interested what they have to say on the matter. If there is one decent person on that board they would investigate it themselves and contact me.

Good for you Micky!! The upset and hassle does at least deserve an official apology, it's the principle of the thing and somebody higher up the tree should acknowledge that. Measures should also be put in place to ensure that mistakes of this kind are picked up and rectified by them.

With the merger they are now a huge organisation, but that should not mean that they can treat customers how they like and get away with it. This is all about customer service and I do not think that refunding the holiday cost absolves them from blame or responsibility.

At the end of the day Micky is only asking for an apology and for someone in authority to recognise the impact that a customer service mistake has had on them- surely not too much to ask for???

Hi there, I've been following this thread with interest and agree that you have been put in an awful position by FC Micky and I'm sure I'd have reacted initially in a very similar way to you. Having said that though I really do think that you should have contacted your Bank as soon as you spotted this error. The Banks have set procedures in these matters with how to deal with disputed debit card transactions and chances are you'd have had your account recredited by now whilst they sort out the error for you with First Choice. As someone else has said they may have been able to offer some kind of overdraft falicity for you also to bail you out whilst you were waiting aswell. I know it's easy for me to say as it isn't me it happened to, but mistakes do happen and you need to give these companies a chance to rectify their mistakes and I think your Bank may have been able to help you, it would have at least been worth a try. I'm sorry that you feel that you can no longer take your holiday, but personally cancelling my much looked forward to holiday would feel a little like 'cutting of my nose to spite my face' if you know what a mean.

I really do hope it gets sorted for you soon, it's not too late to get in touch with the Bank, not just for you to tell them how disgusted you are with them but for them to try to help you, which I'm sure if you give them chance they will do their best to do.

I do understand how angry you are with FC and I'd want an apology too as a matter of principle if nothing else BUT I still can't understand why your aiming everything at FC and being so much more relaxed about taking your bank to task?

As others have said I think I'd be a tad wary of getting FC's back-up BEFORE you get your money back - you accused them of stealing your money at the start of this thread which wasn't strictly true and they're not going to like that one bit. At the end of the day it was a human error - they made a mistake and your bank allowed the transaction to go thru'. They've agreed to refund the overpayment AND they have agreed to cancel your holiday with no penalty to you.

Personally and I've said it before, I'd have been onto the bank long before now! I hope you get it all sorted but until you've got your money in your hands or your bank I don't think I'd be pushing my luck!

i have to agree with last 2 posts, i also would have contacted the bank immediately i was aware this had happened, even if it was a phone call as you said you couldnt face them right now, as i previously said they might have given you a free temporary overdraft to help you out whilst the problem was rectified, this would have meant you could have carried on buying food, paying bills etc without relying on family to help you, as i do feel they are partly responsible by allowing you to go so far over your overdraft

its difficult for anyone to know what they would have done in this situation, but i certainly know i would have contacted the bank aswell as fc , not sure whether i would have cancelled my holiday or not, think that would depend if i could have found another 1 as good for same price as i love my holidays

lets hope you get this sorted quickly