Fire, flood, explosion, a plague of frogs or pestilence are good enough unforseen reasons for CJ, the owner of The Walnut Tree, Kefalonia to cancel your holiday and leave ten of you with nowhere to stay. But when the owner had an undefined problem, Holiday Lettings (an arm of Trip Advisor) said it was OK to cancel because CJ could cancel for any reason. It really does not matter that you booked and paid, arranged flights, had an email confirmation from CJ. The binding contract is only really binding on the holidaymaker. All the three holiday documents, contract, conditions and terms and conditions protect the owner and Holiday lettings from you letting them down but not vice versa.
What sort of problem can easily be solved by paying the owner another £1750 or cancelling your flights? CJ boasts that she has been in business for several years and she hoped that we could solve our little problem, one entirely of her making.
Would any sane person book a holiday at The Walnut Tree through Holiday Lettings if the contract said the owner could cancel for any perceived problem they choose?
We had great expectations of a holiday, but it has been a sad lesson in how it can be felt acceptable to cancel a holiday for an undefined problem and realise that you have no rights under holiday letdowns terms and conditions.
Beware, it could be you next!