It sounds like a case for the small claims court to me, or at least a solicitors letter.

wizard

Unfortunately this is between your daughter and her friend (or ex friend should I say, what a despicable thing to do!). All the TO are concerned about is that they have the booking and they have the money and the lead has been in to them and changed one of the names.

Your daughter should find out who this new person is and pursue her for the money. Does she have a copy of any of the original booking paperwork? If not proof of the money paid out can be traced on bank statements if necessary - for instance if she gave her friend cash then at the very least there will be a debit for a similar amount at just about the right time. Cheque will obviously be proper proof.

She could probably choose to claim from small claims court, I suggest she rings or visits the citizens advice bureau over how best to pursue this.

thanks for replies my daughter has a copy of booking forms payment was made direct to thomson travel agent in person and not through lead name.I still find it unbelievable that the lead name can do this without so much as a signature from my daughter.Does anybody know if my daughters money can be transferred to another holiday through the same travel agent i just wondered if that was another option if we could persuade lead name to agree.Otherwise i think it might have to be small claims court.

I'm really not sure, it makes it complicated that it's not far away and also that holidays are booked as a whole total even though it's quoted per person - so easy enough to change the whole holiday for all parties but not so for one of the parties. Added on to that is if that isn't possible to do the only other option is another girl going in her place because at this late stage I would think it's non refundable.

I think she needs to talk to this lead name again.

Dont mess about on this Solicitors letter tomorrow (Recorded delivery) and also claim for the upset caused. Forgot to add make sure the claim is against the lead name.

apparently the lead name is trying to get another girl to go however this is not confirmed as they will not give us any info(none of our business they have said)Annoyed with travel agent as they wont say if my daughters name has been changed on booking and lead name wont say.Unfortunately to cancel with thomson and get fifty per cent of cost back the lead name has to put it in writing which at this stage she is not being helpful . Have decided we need to seek legal advice asap wil keep you informed.

I am the lead name on our holiday booking for 11 of us and i have to say that i think that the "friend" has done a completely dispicable thing and i would see it virtually amounting to theft if she doesn't get her money back immediately. Anyway... back to my intended statement...luckily, our 11 person holiday is a big family holiday but when i inquired about other members of the family being able to pay their shares off etc, i was told by Thomsons that as i was the lead, they would only accept/deal with me. What i was also told was that the others could send cheques etc to pay off holiday but they would not be told how much they owed as the whole bill for all of us ( approx £7000) was lumped together and any payment made by anybody just comes off the lump total. I have the job of keeping tabs on who has paid what, who owes what etc..and it can be uncomfortable saying even to family members.. you owe this much and you need to pay by such a date. I also rely on the other family members telling me if and when they make a payment and them being honest about how much. This is easy if it is family i would guess but not so easy if it is a bunch of friends travelling together. I am really sorry that your daughter has had such a bad experience, and i really hope that it can be sorted out.

Perhaps the rules need changing so that this type of thing does not happen again.. i am sure there would be ways other people in the party booking could prove their identity.

The problem with this is if they don't get another person to go in your daughter's place then the money your daughter paid is as good as lost - to the TO that's just one of the party not turning up. If the place is actually cancelled then the lead would get back whatever is owed at this point, no more than 50% I would imagine. Then it's down to her to pay it back. It's basically her word against your daughters that she just 'decided not to go'.

If she gets another person in her place this is the best scenario because that money is then owed by this person and you can take legal action to get the money.

I hope your daughter gets things sorted and then cuts this horrible biatch right out of her life.

I feel really angry for her!

unfortunately have been unable to find a solicitor that would help us without charges becoming close to cost of holiday(£500).Did speak to thomson head office although no info was forth coming they agreed that the system in a case like this was unfair (all to do with data protection)although the have themselves well covered.We did get a lot of help from the citizen advice bureau on going to small claims court they even tried to get info from thomson to no avail. However i did manage to speak to parent of lead name who has told me that my daughters namehas been cancelled off booking and we should be getting a letter from thomson apparently she will be getting fifty per cent back.
We look forward to seeing the wording on the letter and if the refund will come direct to us or the lead name then we go to small claims court for the rest.

only 50% back? I feel that your daughter should get all her money back, especially as it is not her fault her name has been cancelled. The mother of the lead girl should hopefully feel ashamed that her daughter has done such a despicable thing.. i know i would be mortified if it was mine..

If the refund is sent to the lead person, how will you know if she has recieved it or not? Will Thomsons at least be forthcoming with that much information? I really hope you get this sorted and that your daughter finds a new set of friends to go on holiday with.

Unfortunately + legally refunds have to be made to the person who paid initially. If the group all paid the tour operator/agent individually, she should get the money back herself (but may be sent to the lead name as that will be the address they have on file - unless separate receipts were issued).

If paid by credit card, the refund will be made back to that card. If paid by cheque, the refund will be made by cheque etc etc

The 50% is what the TO will refund at this stage. I too hope she gets another holiday sorted and when they get another girl to take her place get yourselves straight onto the small claims to get the full 100% back from her or the lead name girl.

I'm glad you spoke to this girl's mother, good call! I hope she's had a severe talking to from her.

Brodi

I would be tempted to send a letter to the `Lead name` and her parents,by registered post asking for all the monies your daughter has paid to be returned within say 10 days and inform them that failing to do so will result in you issuing process via the County Court against them.

You might also wish to point out that if their daughter receives a CCJ (County court judgement) against her it may cause her problems with getting credit in the future.

If you dont get your money back,go to your local county court,they are very helpful and will assist you to prepare a claim in the small claims court which is cheap and easy to do.You dont need a solicitor.

Best of luck this is a horrible situation to be in.You have my sympathies.

I agree with Paully.
The sooner the better give 7days.

Yes get the letter off as soon as possible. At least if she goes away with the threat of being taken to court hanging over her head then it may ruin the holiday for her. It will certainly be on her mind.

Is it worth contacting the parents of the other girls in the party. I know i would not be too happy if my daughter was going away with people who conducted themselves in this manner. The more pressure you can put on her and her family the better. Shame her into doing the right thing. Tell everyone who knows them.

Tell your daughter that she may have had a lucky escape, with nasty friend like this, they could have ganged up on her abroad. Far from home and her family which would have been a nightmare...Good Luck.

Hello Brodi

I'm sorry to hear about the problems your daughter has encountered.

I read the situation as this. The lead name has cancelled your daughters name from the booking and the TO will now be refunding 50% of the cost of the holiday to your daughter.

If this is the case then your daughter has a perfectly valid civil claim against the lead name.

I suggest writing immediately to the lead name laying out the situation as succinctly as possible and asking for the other 50% to be refunded by lead because it was her actions that have caused the problem. Make it plain that the money should be paid in full within 14 days. (14 days is a reasonable amount of time. Advise the lead that if you do not receive the money within the specified time limit you will have no alternative but to start proceedings under the special provisions for small claims at the County Court. Send the letter by guaranteed next day delivery.

Visit this web site: http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm

It is not difficult to make a claim in the county court. I have done it a couple of times over the years and one time it got as far as requesting a bailiff's services! The whole procedure is easy and informal. Plus if you win (and to be honest it looks as though your daughter has a good a claim as any) you get an order for all your costs too.

This is a terrible situation and I really feel for you and your daughter. Hopefully you can get this sorted without the need of going to get Court Orders etc. as this does not always work and can end up costing you more money, as happened to me.

A few years ago I used to have holiday accommodation which I let out. Over the winter time I did longer term lets usually to people working in the area I lived as there was lack of housing accommodation. Anyway to cut a very long story short, I had been receiving the weekly rent regularly when one weekend, the people staying in my accom had a bit too much to drink and ended up getting arrested in the nearest big town. Their company, embarrassed at what had happened told 2 of them they would not be coming back to work on this job. I was advised of this after the event. One of the 2 owed me £220 in rent. I had his phone number and despite promises to pay, the money was not forthcoming. He then became rather nasty and threatening. This is when I realised how foolish I had been. I had been far too good to these people feeling sorry for them working long hours in cold and wet so I used to frequently have food ready for them, in the evenings etc. Anyway I decided to get a court order to try and get my money back. Everytime I needed to go to the next step ie a letter, or a visit, it cost me more money. After shelling out £120 in extra costs I gave up and ended up being £340 out of pocket. To this day I have never received this money back and thinking about it now makes me very angry!

Good luck with your case.

The fun we have because of the kids.

My daughter agreed to go on holiday with a female cousin and a couple of lads she worked with. We allowed them to go because it was two double rooms. A job change later, there was the usual falling out and bickering over the holiday. Then we heard that the TA had informed them the accomodation was changed to one room with 4 beds, giving us the final justification to cancel, but one of the lads was the lead name so my daughter got the runaround from the TA even though she had a TA receipt with her name on for her deposit for the holiday..

My daughter and the cousin thought that they might get another couple of girls to go on the trip (4 girls) but when they went to find out the options at the TA, they were told the holiday had already been cancelled with a complete loss of deposit.

I later went in and queried as to why I could see that the lead name had had a substantial refund (equivalent to 4 deposits) and was told he had paid over his deposit and the refund was the excess.

I pointed out that the accomodation had been severely changed and therefore the holiday could be cancelled without loss of deposit and was told that the lead name was the only one they could deal with and he had agreed the course of action etc., we had no documentation supporting our claim (it had all gone to the lead), as the holiday had already been cancelled there was no holiday to complain about etc. ie get out of our shop and don't come back.

As it was only about £100 we decided to cut our losses, but you get absolutely no help from anyone.

I later learnt that all of the shops staff had been replaced. A touch of Karma as Earl would say.

Also one of ours once pursued 2 weeks unpaid wages through the small claims court system, which was then awarded to him with costs against his ex-employer, a major local hairdressers. They just ignored the judgement and all the court correspondence, meaning that he would have had to throw even more money into the legal system to "action" his award. The hairdresser would then have said that everything in the shop was necessary tools of the trade and so out of the bailiffs reach. As he was out of work and two weeks money plus costs already down, he also had to give up.

So basically you are on your own as the TA won't even provide you with supporting documentation for a legal claim.

Meanwhile if the friend and her mum can do this to your daughter they are not likely to pay any attention to threats to involve the legal system.

From the sound of it there would be a problem with the TA even if they "kissed and made up" as a name change is only an admin fee, so if 50% is mentioned the lead name has either already cancelled the "person" with the TA and is one down on the booking or they are looking for a replacement and on their own are "offering" the TA cancellation equivalent in the hope that they get a cheap holiday.

Good Luck with your pursuit, but unfortunately it looks as though your daughter is the loser whatever happens.

Sorry Stevebell001,
Bailiffs can remove anything from the residence,car,doesnt have to be tools used for the employment. Armed with a court order belive me they can and will get at anyones belongings to cover the claim.