David
Flyglobespan's administrators are now taking legal action against E-Clear ... click here for more.
David
David
Is anyone else having any problems getting a credit card refund for Globespan flights because the company is "in administration" rather than "in liquidation"??
Our flights were booked in August on a Virgin Mastercard. Claim was submitted to Virgin just after the company's collapse, and today they(Virgin) have said that they will not be making a refund at present. First reason given was that we had to wait until the date of the flights had passed - we challenged this as we were aware from Consumer Direct that this is not the case and they backed down and changed tack..(our flights were booked for September 2010)
Then we were told that Virgin would not be able to refund as Mastercard were not allowing them to do so. Reason? The company is in adminstration and not in liquidation. We would have to wait initially 120 days from the date of the company going into administration until it goes into liquidation if a buyer is not found. Should a buyer be found, we were told they would be expected to provide us with flights!!!
All sounds like nonsense to me -my understanding would be simply this: we booked with a company which has failed to provide us with what we paid for, and we are therefore protected under the Consumer credit act, and the credit company's joint liability. Consumer Direct said the refund should be immediate, but Virgin today are not budging. They have said that Visa have authorised refunds to their customers but not Mastercard at present and they will be putting our claim as "pending" for another 2 weeks.
I wasn't aware that there would be any difference in a credit card being visa or mastercard in terms of protection under the consumer credit act.
I have now spoken to the office of the Financial Ombudsman and registered the details, so will have to wait and see. I can't do anymore at present as the booking was made on my friend's credit card and they will need to speak to her direct.
Bit annoyed to say the least - I have had to shell out for more expensive flights to ensure we could go, and it would appear that there will be no refund in the near future although I believe we are entitled to an immediate refund.
Anyone else got any experience of this situation re administration/liquidation and visa/mastercard refunds. Would appreciate any advice on anything else I can do now.
Our flights were booked in August on a Virgin Mastercard. Claim was submitted to Virgin just after the company's collapse, and today they(Virgin) have said that they will not be making a refund at present. First reason given was that we had to wait until the date of the flights had passed - we challenged this as we were aware from Consumer Direct that this is not the case and they backed down and changed tack..(our flights were booked for September 2010)
Then we were told that Virgin would not be able to refund as Mastercard were not allowing them to do so. Reason? The company is in adminstration and not in liquidation. We would have to wait initially 120 days from the date of the company going into administration until it goes into liquidation if a buyer is not found. Should a buyer be found, we were told they would be expected to provide us with flights!!!
All sounds like nonsense to me -my understanding would be simply this: we booked with a company which has failed to provide us with what we paid for, and we are therefore protected under the Consumer credit act, and the credit company's joint liability. Consumer Direct said the refund should be immediate, but Virgin today are not budging. They have said that Visa have authorised refunds to their customers but not Mastercard at present and they will be putting our claim as "pending" for another 2 weeks.
I wasn't aware that there would be any difference in a credit card being visa or mastercard in terms of protection under the consumer credit act.
I have now spoken to the office of the Financial Ombudsman and registered the details, so will have to wait and see. I can't do anymore at present as the booking was made on my friend's credit card and they will need to speak to her direct.
Bit annoyed to say the least - I have had to shell out for more expensive flights to ensure we could go, and it would appear that there will be no refund in the near future although I believe we are entitled to an immediate refund.
Anyone else got any experience of this situation re administration/liquidation and visa/mastercard refunds. Would appreciate any advice on anything else I can do now.
E-Clear has now been placed in administration, following legal action by Flyglobespan's administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers ... click here for more details.
David
David
Interesting to see that it says those who have paid by credit card continue to be protected by the consumer credit act and should contact their card provider.
Virgin Money are still refusing to refund us on the basis that Mastercard are refusing to authorise refunds, and yet another friend who booked on a Mastercard was refunded with no quibble.
We remain out of pocket through no fault of our own, thinking that booking by credit card offered us protection in this type of situation. This has made me very wary of the whole system....
Virgin Money are still refusing to refund us on the basis that Mastercard are refusing to authorise refunds, and yet another friend who booked on a Mastercard was refunded with no quibble.
We remain out of pocket through no fault of our own, thinking that booking by credit card offered us protection in this type of situation. This has made me very wary of the whole system....
Capital One, which is a Mastercard, have refunded me the full cost of the original flights as well as the difference in cost of the replacement flights.
luci
luci
Thanks for that Luci -will speak to my friend again tomorrow to chase up. I wish it had been booked on my card, as she is taking a more laid back attitude to pursuing Virgin Money than I would! My replacement flights cost me an extra £130 per person so I am not best pleased about that either!
Remember to state in your letter that you would like to claim for consequential losses and provide back up of the replacement flights. They are under no legal obligation to refund these, but as you can see some companies do.
luci
luci
Cheers for the advice Luci- didn't realise we could do that. 
Excellent information there Luci - I have passed on the link to my friend to read (and hopefully act on !) Haven't used that site before, but will save it for furture reference - thank you.
our credit card company have refunded the money we lost on flights but it cost us an extra £500 to book with a different company,never thought we may have been able to get the difference aswell. good luck merrekat,hope you get it sorted. excellent information luci
sue
sue
Thanks Sue - battling with Virgin and the Financial Ombudsman today! Glad you got your money back - what a shame you had to pay so much more.
I recieved a full refund on my credit card on january 5th for my booking 
.
.
I seem to be the only one stuck here. 
I am confused by all of this!
I paid deposit of £105 with my Visa debit card, bank told me to claim through Globespan. I have submitted claim form but how likely am I to get refund for package holiday and when?
Should I try to claim through bank?
I paid deposit of £105 with my Visa debit card, bank told me to claim through Globespan. I have submitted claim form but how likely am I to get refund for package holiday and when?
Should I try to claim through bank?
Joolz - have a look at the link provided in Luci's recent post above -there is lots of information there.
£1m FlyGlobespan refunds by Travel Republic
Travel Republic has completed all refunds or re-bookings to a value of around £1 million for customers hit by the collapse of FlyGlobespan in December.
Managing director Kane Pirie said: "The value of the bookings involved was circa £1 million but we are delighted to have sorted out the refunds promptly.
"There is no excuse for customers having to wait for extended periods of time in these circumstances. They are distressed enough as it is and want to sort their new arrangements out without delay."
Passengers who booked directly with FlyGlobespan or through other agents generally had no financial protection and may well lose the cost of their flight.
Pirie added: "We offer all customers a simple money back promise in our Total Financial Protection scheme. There is no charge for this."
He said customers were "over the moon".
"Many thought they had lost the money and were delighted to swiftly receive a full refund," he said.
With permission from Travelmole
Travel Republic has completed all refunds or re-bookings to a value of around £1 million for customers hit by the collapse of FlyGlobespan in December.
Managing director Kane Pirie said: "The value of the bookings involved was circa £1 million but we are delighted to have sorted out the refunds promptly.
"There is no excuse for customers having to wait for extended periods of time in these circumstances. They are distressed enough as it is and want to sort their new arrangements out without delay."
Passengers who booked directly with FlyGlobespan or through other agents generally had no financial protection and may well lose the cost of their flight.
Pirie added: "We offer all customers a simple money back promise in our Total Financial Protection scheme. There is no charge for this."
He said customers were "over the moon".
"Many thought they had lost the money and were delighted to swiftly receive a full refund," he said.
With permission from Travelmole
Globespan creditors face disappointing payout
Holidaymakers and staff who lost out when Globespan collapsed last December look like facing a disappointing payout unless money can be salvaged from E-Clear.
Globespan's administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which reported to creditors this weekend, has said they could receive just five per cent of what they lost unless money can be recovered from failed credit card processing firm E-Clear.
Creditors, including around 8,000 customers and 650 former staff, are collectively owed £40 million. Due to the complexity of processing the claims they could wait up to two years for a final settlement.
E-Clear owed £35 million to Globespan and an estimated £65 million to other travel companies.
PwC has been selling Globespan's assets. Those still to be sold include offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, an aircraft and hotels in Majorca.
With permission from Travelmole
Holidaymakers and staff who lost out when Globespan collapsed last December look like facing a disappointing payout unless money can be salvaged from E-Clear.
Globespan's administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which reported to creditors this weekend, has said they could receive just five per cent of what they lost unless money can be recovered from failed credit card processing firm E-Clear.
Creditors, including around 8,000 customers and 650 former staff, are collectively owed £40 million. Due to the complexity of processing the claims they could wait up to two years for a final settlement.
E-Clear owed £35 million to Globespan and an estimated £65 million to other travel companies.
PwC has been selling Globespan's assets. Those still to be sold include offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, an aircraft and hotels in Majorca.
With permission from Travelmole
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