We booked a holiday and paid a deposit to villa plus for a villa in the Algarve this August. The balance for the holiday is due on Monday. Sadly one of the party was diagnosed with cancer very recently and will not know whether she will be able to travel for another 10 days. I called Villa plus to notify them of this and ask if they could wait one more week until we know what surgery and chemotherapy she will need and hence whether she will be able to travel in August. I was given a flat no and told I would need to pay villa plus £1200 for the privilege of waiting a week to pay the full balance. I accept that I will lose my £400 deposit if we cancel, and have no problem with that. What I would like to know is, where is the compassion and empathy in people? I'm appalled by their lack of understanding.