We paid £500 of ours, through a friends credit card though, not our own, we're now going to have to ask him to go through all this claim process for us after he did us a favour! Feel bad about that too! Really don't feel like I can ask him to claim the whole amount back for us, I'd feel much too cheeky. Suppose we need to see what he / his credit card company says.

Oh Imogen, that's so sad. I'm so cross that they've done this to so many families, it's just heartbreaking. I hope you get your money back, was your holiday a package? If so I imagine you'll be fine. Hope so. Please keep us updated.

If you paid by credit card you should be able to claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. However I believe this only applies if you booked direct with the company that had gone into administration and not through a third party. As it is the travel agent that has gone bust then this should apply as far as I can see, but it's a grey area.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/mar/29/credit-cards-consumer-affairs

There is also information on those links about applying for a refund if you have paid by Visa debit card under Visa Chargeback.

luci

Thanks for the reply David and the FAQ link

well, it looks like we are all stuffed then. I dont even know what an ATOL receipt is?! If i could actually get hold of Viking they could at least confirm that they wont honour our booking and we wont be left hanging.

I feel terrible forever, this is such an unfair system, i dont see why tickets should be printed if the airline has not been paid...

i guess i am just moaning now but am just seriously fed up with trying to get someone to make some sense. The CAA have absolutely no idea... when i pointed out about their website saying that as i had booked flights by tickets were valid and i was not entitled to claim, they got a team leader who just said that it was a hastily set up call centre and did not always know all the answers! What good is that then?!

You know its realy frustrating that i want to have a go at someone but i cant because there is no one to blame really... funny that i'd feel a bit better if there was and i could take some anger out on someone!!

xx

The CAA were absolutely useless last night, they knew nothing!! I have spoken to someone there this morning who put me through to ATOL, who have said I can claim, even though I didn't have ATOL mentioned on my email from the rep. at Libra. Since then I have looked into the Visa Debit Chargeback scheme, I've already spoke to Barclays who seemed confident I'll get my money back, Halifax however knew nothing about it, the guy had to go away and find someone who did know about it, he said he was filling out the paperwork and starting the process, fingers crossed eh?!

Stewart is correct. As long as you have paid at least £100 on the credit card you can claim back the full amount up to £30,000. It's not being cheeky, it's your legal right.

luci

Thomson/First Choice step in after Allbury failure

TUI Travel brands Thomson and First Choice have pledged to help holidaymakers caught up in the failure of Allbury Travel Group.

The UK's leading operators are advising customers who booked through them to take their holiday booking confirmation to any of its branches nationwide.

Thomson and First Choice will seek to arrange an alternative holiday from its portfolio and assist with claiming the refund for their original holiday or flight.

Customers can rebook to go to their original destination or an alternative by paying the difference in the package price if the cost is higher.

A dedicated helpline has been set up at: 0800 009 3833.

Thomson/First Choice managing director Dermot Blastland said: "Further to the sad news regarding Allbury, I can only imagine what the thousands of holidaymakers that booked a holiday with them are feeling.

"Thomson and First Choice are committed to helping those Allbury group customers who booked through us, as we did those people that suffered further to previous holiday company failures, such as Globespan earlier this week and XL last year.

"In the absence of a sensible and consistent protection system, today's news reaffirms that there's strength in scale and safety in numbers when it comes to who customers choose to book their holidays with.

"Given the current economic uncertainty, we feel that more and more customers will realise that it makes sense to come to a financially secure company like us. We're the best choice for peace of mind."

He added: "We are in a fortunate position to be able to address any uncertainty there may be by doing all we can to assist those who today feel that their 2010 holiday is in doubt.

"The simple message is that we, as a business, are here to help."

With permission from Travelmole

I have just rang the Thomson "dedicated" helpline - it was their reservations line and they knew nothing about assisting people with their claims. As I paid by debit card I have applied for a refund throught atol, is there another way to try and get my money back or is atol the best way?
thanks Imogen

Thomson and First Choice will seek to arrange an alternative holiday from its portfolio and assist with claiming the refund for their original holiday or flight

Thomson and First Choice are committed to helping those Allbury group customers who booked through us

Hi Imogen ... my interpretation of the extracts above would be that Thomson / First Choice will provide assistance with booking an alternative holiday, and then also help those same customers with claiming a refund for their original holiday. I don't read it as an offer to help Allbury Travel customers with claims only, it does appear to be conditional on rebooking with Thomson.

If you have already submitted your claim, there is perhaps not much else you can do in that respect at the moment without possibly causing confusion or duplication with your claim.

David

thank you David
Yes I think I will just have to wait and see what happens - it is extremely frustrating!

Yes Imogen, I can fully appreciate that, it must be a terrible predicament to be in.

David

regarding the Thomson/First Choice statement nice as it maybe its been done for commercial reasons only
they ain't no charity they want your money....at the moment Thomson & Thomas Cook are 2 very large
tour operators who due to various business deals/companies going bust are now in the driving seat
as they see their competors one by one leave the industry.....
think back over the last few years of the list of companies no longer with us
Golden Sun/Freedom/Kosmar the list goes on and on
and the big 2 get bigger and bigger... us as consumers have less and less choice
unfortunately is a fact of financial business life and possibly if we want to have a hassle
free holiday we may all have to book with the big 2....probably pay more but get our holiday/flight as booked

hi imogen....you have my sympathy...I have a son with aspergers a form of autism and know how difficult things can be for you....Ive had the same problems as you for years and its frustrating and upsetting for your son to come to terms with things changing at the last minute....hope something can get sorted

hi vix....even if you only paid part of flight with your credit card it entitles you to the full cost of flight back....dodgy bit for you would be hotel as booking still there.....if you could get another flight and so still use hotel booking you could still go on hols

We were at the airport on Saturday morning, all set to fly to Egypt, only to be told at the Ace Travelling Desk (from where we were supposed to collect our tickets) that Libra had gone bust. I told them we had no connection with Libra - only to be explained by the lady at the counter that Fleetway travel (our travel agent) had booked flights with Libra! Then we start with all the phone calls etc and Fleetway asks us to pay £800 extra to board another flight on the 24th (no other flight available they tell us in the interim) - which is not true. Then they offer to refund in full. So far no sign of the money appearing in the account - have told credit card company to dispute and stop payment! Fleetway could have worked harder to book us on another flight but also I feel strongly they should reimburse us for all the cab fares we paid to get to the airport. Trying to find another holiday - last second!

happy 6,

Poor you! to have made it to the airport must have been so upsetting!

We too were being told that we needed to pay £800 more for tickets on 24th but managed to get them for £200 extra so fingers crossed are still going. Also our travel agent booked our flights through Libra without us knowing! I suppose our travel agents turned out alright but they were a pain to get hold of and i think they only helped because they did not want to loose their commission!

I did not thinky your travel agent could reimburse you for the flight? Mine told me they would refund the hotel costs and flights had to be claimed with ATOL - i just went straight for a credit card dispute though as they said it was much quicker.. aparantly ATOL takes 16 weeks.

This is such a shame, i know that i will probably never book with an independent travel agent again, meaning i'll end up paying more to go with Thomson/first choice or Thomas cook. Its such a shame as they will dominant the market, but with everything being so unreliable and the stupid system they have in place, there are not many other options apart from to take a risk every time we book a holiday!

Imogen,

I sympathsis, my oldest has aspergers, luckily he took the cancelation of the the holiday well, but now that we are going he has got himself in a state again! Fingers crossed for you xx

I received my refund from ATOL on Thursday. It has lifted a weight from my mind! Thank you for all the supportive comments and I hope everyone else has recieved their money back too.