So what is a reasonable amount for a cancellation fee? This complaint is no different to those we have had in the past. People booking a holiday on the low deposit schemes complain on a regular basis that they are being asked for more money even though they have cancelled.

I note what you said.

I have given them 6 months notice. I suggested that keeping 10% of the deposit was reasonable as an act of goodwill on both parts.

Does £9.99 sound reasonable? Not in my opinion - if it worked that way then prices would rise as everybody would be booking and cancelling.

Joining someones FB page means nothing. It is a a business transaction and until such time as it is completed how can joining FB achieve anything but make the other party look good?

This complaint once again highlights the often quoted mantra on HT that you should read the T&Cs with care. Just because it does not appear to mention something does not mean it may not become a problem in the future.

fwh

fwh.
What TandC's. You have obviously not read what I said, have you?

What do you mean 'low deposit schemes'?? 50% was the deposit- is taht low? I actually paid more than 50%. You are trivialising the amount and missing the point completely.

Please get back to me where the TandC's are-- as that is EXACTLY what I have been asking the owner.

I mentioned the facebook stuff to pint out how nice they had been up to the point i cancelled. Do you think i cancelled for the hell of it?

http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/india/in403.htm
This is what they have on now.

I might be misunderstanding this, but it says on there

Booking notes
Email or text bookings taken. 50 % Non-Refundable Deposit required, balance on arrival.
To comply with regulations, please bring 2 passport size photographs each with you, if possible.

so is it that you have paid more than 50% and are trying to get the extra back that you have psid on top back ?

That's what it says now chris but we believe it has been amended over this last couple of days .

However I think 50% is a bit steep for a cancellation fee.

Just thank your lucky stars pedrogooner that the accommodation wasn't any dearer

Exactly what I'm thinking Glynis . Can't see many people being happy to part with 50% non refundable if the accomodation element was likely to be a lot more . £99 may not be a lot to us but Im assuming this accomodation is in goa where that sort of money would be a small fortune. Nice little earner if they get a few cancellations each year. They have probably blocked you on FB to ensure you didn't get the opportunity to warn others that in the event they needed to cancel they might not get such a professional response. This topic is now showing fairly high on a google search !!! Having said that I would probably expect to pay 20-25% non refundable and I have also been known to book and pay in full 6 months plus in advance for a non-refundable rate to secure a better deal ,although that is clearly something you are made aware of at the time.

A deposit, no matter whether it's 10% or 50% of the total cost, is usually non refundable. If I cancelled a booking, and the deposit wasn't recoverable from my insurance, I would not expect the owner/travel agent/tour operator to refund me.
In most cases deposits are set as to make people think twice about cancelling. As fwh says, if the loss was only £10 or £20 there would be people booking, just to hold the accommodation in case they wanted it, and then cancelling it when they didn't. That sort of arrangement is no good to an owner or tour operator, as they run the risk or having held it off for months, and still end up with it empty. Long term it's no good to the holidaymaker either, as the overall price will just rise to make up for any unsold weeks!

Hi pedrogooner, I can understand you being peeved about the way you feel you have been treated , I was skanked by a villa owner who wanted a £100 cheque deposit against damages , they cashed the cheque and then refused to accept that they had done this even though I had the proof from my bank at which bank location and time/ day they did it , after much to ing and fro ing I just couldn't be bothered anymore , on different occasions mainly while in a local bar in Lanzarote near that villa on future holidays I've let people know he c o n n e d me out of £100 , it's his problem now , I'm not the one who is lying and I just think what goes around comes around .
Anyway I find myself agreeing with some of the advice you have given , like Pete B said don't waste too much time about it , like Fiona said , it's a learning curve and we all make mistakes and hopefully become wiser !!!
As lynwestie has said this topic is high up on google , perhaps the owners might now be thinking I wish we'd just given the money/ deposit back as no one like adverse publicity , ok not everyone is going to be sympathetic to your problem but we can only guess how many people might avoid booking the place because people see problems like this and read between the lines .

Personally I don't think that they are under any obligation to give you a refund ( in a legal, factual way) but by taking the stand they have made they now have negative publicity and you are £100 down but they could stand to lose more than you , I think it will be more their problem than yours in time to come.

andy66,

Many thanks for that and , of course, you are right. I just got very hurt by the principle really. I thought I acted throughout with them in good faith and integrity but it was not reciprocated. Just the aggressive nature of their respons to me cancelling 6 months in advance.
Yes, I do agree that not everyone is of like mind etc. However, I guess it is good to have someone being the devil's advocate, so to speak.

regards

sunaddict.

Yes I totally agree with you and I fully understand. It is just the way they have handled it all that has provoked me. Just ignoring me and maintaining radio silence. Not nice.

Lynwestie.
No, this is a nice place and is in Kovalam, Kerala. Owned and run by English people. They have a side line of offering rooms on a bed and breakfast basis. So very nice to me etc until the cancellation.
They could easily have penned a polite email outlining their thoughts etc but they chose not to do that. I was shocked by their attitude. There is much I could say but I wont.

Doe.
I cannot prove it but that was not their before. The only time I visited the site was to find out how to contact them. Everything after that was done by personal emails and phone calls.
I looked at it again yesterday and was surprised to read that. Could have been added when I asked about their cancellation policy etc. But that is not fact sadly - it is just I dont remember seeing that. Also in their personal confirmation emails of my booking no mention was made of that or even a referral to it. Read into it what you like and form your own opinion.

Hi Ped
It's definately a bit of an awkward one if you are saying they have quickly amended their T&C's but I am not sure what you can really do. I don't suppose you thought to take a screen shot of it before they changed it, if you did that might help if you want to take it forward. I'm sure we have had queries on here about owners direct and I don't think they will help as they seem to have some sort of stock phrase about just acting as a listings site.

Doe

Doe.
No. No photo of screen.
They did not mention their T&Cs or refer me to the link in their reply when I cancelled.

I did ask for them in my reply to them but they refuse to reply to me.
A person more cynical than me may suspect they changed them.

The deadline for a reply from them has now passed.
I now have to decide what to do. It is not matter of the money now.

All you can now do to get your money back would be to raise a court action so unless you want to do that then I suggest you let it go, take it as a lesson learned, make sure to request T and C's before hand and pay things on a credit card for extra protection. The company do not need to respond to you nor do I imagine they wish to get into protacted correspondance with you.

while this isn't what you want to hear, getting worked up about it wont help. You have your reasons for cancelling and the company do not wish to refund your deposit. That would be the end of matters unless you wish to litigate against them which i dont imagine you wish to do.

I do hope you still get away on holiday and have a great time regardless

Greenshoes.
Thanks for that and I know you are exactly right. I did email them today again but I know full well that the owner of Pammae Palace in Kovalam will not reply.

Thankfully it is not an enormous amount of money. Let's hope they can sleep well and live with their consciences. Water off a ducks back to them probably.

Many thanks though.

I do feel for you. i recall years ago the same thing happened to my aunty with a villa. She now always pays by credit card. The amount was about £70 for her and while it is not mega bucks it is still a sum of money you are out of pocket and it isn't nice. The people doing this know that it would cost you more to try to get it back! I recall it was more the principle that got my aunty too. She just did all she could to warn others of the company and next time she just made sure she was extra cautious.

Hi,
I have finally had a satisfactory conclusion and thanks for everyone's input- even though fwh seemed to be critical of me.
They started by ignoring all my emails etc until I put a timescale on a reply and suggested to them possible action I may take. To cut a long story short I kept my cool in all correspondence to them and was polite yet assertive. They have agreed that they did make no mention of a non refundable deposit and have accepted my offer of accepting 10% cancellation , which I suggested in good faith. Fwh apparently did not agree with me on that. I could have demanded the whole refund but accepted that they had also been inconvenienced despite a 6 month advance notice.
I did have my reasons for the cancellation. Anyway, there is more I could add about all this but I will leave it all where it is as it has all been resolved to my satisfaction.
I will post again when the funds have been deposited into my account.

Fwh was right about reading the T&C's properly but they had no T&C's to read! Hopefully this will have helped them. This is part of their reply. I have no idea why they put in "without prejudice".

Without prejudice.
Having reviewed and giving a great deal of thought to this dilemma, we have decided to make a refund on the basis you suggested, taking a 10 % cancellation fee.
We do not consider that a "change of travel plans" constitute any sort of refund. However, we did not make it clear that a deposit was not refundable, so on this basis we accede to your request.

Without prejudice - means that they are not legally admitting they are in the wrong, it also means that by accepting that offer you cannot come back at a later date to complain again. If the offer they have made is acceptable to you and you have given them details to deposit this amount in your bank that will be the end of the matter.

Maybe in future you will check this sort of thing out before committing to the booking