I am new here, and am having problems getting my refund too, heres my story;

Booked to go to Gran Canaria the day after XL went bust with Travel Republic.
Flight with XL. Hotel with Med Hotels and Transfer with Resorthoppa.
Couldnt get another flight with just 24 hours notice so no flight no holiday.
Claimed to the CAA for the flight and contacted Visa to try to claim the cost of the rest of the holiday which of course was there for taking but we could'nt get there. :cry. Visa after a few letters and phone calls refunded us the full amount......flight, hotel, and transfer.
Then in January they wrote to us saying they were taking it back off us (in 12 weeks) as they had been informed we need to claim to the CAA! Been there done that! I hadnt even been given a reference number off them. So I rang the CAA and retreived my ref num, and was assured the claim was being dealt with and I should hear within a few weeks and that if I hadnt heard from them to ring them back in 4 weeks. I didnt hear from them so rang them again in the middle of February, I thought I had better ask them what exactly they are paying us back for and of course its only the flight.
Does anyone know exactly whether I can claim the remainder of the cost of the holiday from or indeed if I actually can??! I was when i booked it assuming naively I was booking a package holiday.

hi Mary B, does this mean that CAA aren't even going to attempt refunds for freedom flights/travel republic customers until after the april court session?
thanks

no tanya

I spoke to the CAA yesterday, they are sending out letters to TR customers which need us to sign then we will receive the refund. The CAA are then going to begin legal proceedings on our behalf against TR. All very long winded-it will probably be April by the time we get the letter anyway!!

Just talking about the obvious DIY risks in the current climate on another thread . I really should have checked all this at the time but when I get a good price I'm a little on the impulsive side .

We have thomas cook flights booked for next easter (2010) booked via Travel republic for which we have paid deposit only . Now whilst I have a Thomas cook confirmation clearly showing breakdown of monies paid and balance to be paid on a date next year this invoice is addressed to TR .

Now my concern unlike the XL collapse is not for Thomas cook but in light in impending court cases etc what would happen to my booking if TR were to go under .

I suppose the answer is staring me in the face and we would have to claim via ATOL . I'm just hoping for a more reassuring answer from Steve.

lyn

Lynwestie,

You should be able to carry on as normal. Basically, deposit you gave to travel republic should then be passed on to thomas cook via the automatic direct debit payment system most agencies have with them. So from that aspect, providing TR have paid the deposit to TC then either you would deal direct with TC regards the flights or ABTA would pass the bookings over to another agency for them to look after.
Accommodation wise should not pose a problem either.

With the size of TR i think you would be ok, even if they went bust as ABTA would step in with failures, they would be foolish not to as why else would agencies put up a bond to become members.

Hope this helps

Thanks Leisurelad, I agree with what will happen to the flight booking, so you are ok whatever Lynwestie. We pay our ATOL suppliers weekly, (well they actually just take the money from our bank as part of the scheme Leisurelad mentioned).

We do however anticipate being able to post you your tickets in 2010 regardless of outcome (which I cant really discuss) of any court procedings.

Thank you both thats very reassuring and thank you Steve for being kind enough to answer members questions here .

lyn

No answers for my post then

Hi janannbad,

Not sure if the same applies to travel republic as not 100% sure how their rules work with abta etc. But here is what happened with our customers as we are bonded through the Travel Trust Association.

Flight part is claimed through ATOL and the CAA or from your credit card providor, some card companies were a little easier than some.
Accommodation, most of the bed banks we used charged a small fee meaning that most of the accommodation cost was refunded by us and i think half of the transfer cost was refunded too.

All our clients have been dealt with quite a while ago, just the flight part from the CAA which is still ongoing.

Hope this helps in some way.

Thanks for that Leisurelad,

I don't know about Travel Republic either, but they have been no help whatsoever in advising us whether we can claim the Hotel and Transfer cost from anyone! I just wish we had booked through your company instead.

jannanbad . We have another topic running in the complaints section in case you havnt seen it http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=127513

Jannanbad, please PM me your booking ref and I will look at youir accommodation and transfer bookings. I will either be able to refund you if we havent been charged by the supplier (though not sure why this wouldnt have happened already) or send you a cancellation invoice that you could claim through your credit card or travel insurance.

The flights are in the hands of the CAA (I'm afraid).

Steved1

Thanks for the reply, for some reason it wont let me pm you can you message me then I can hit reply to you.

janannbad That's because you don't have enough posts to pm (sorry but it's a rule we have to prevent spamming by pm) if it's ok with steved1 then I will send you his email address and you could correspond that way?

It is ok, I have sent PM now. Steve

Thanks for the help Steve.
Janet

Steve. any news on these letters from the CAA please. I'm still waiting. I know it's in their hands but since the info regarding the letters came from TR I would hope that you are in contact with them, finding out more for your customers.

Shirley H, I have just had a chat with the person here, who the CAA contact to ask questions. She has your name/ref to hand, so as soon as they next call her, she will ask what is going on. I cant be more precise, but she expects to speak to CAA this week, a few times, so it shouldnt be too long to get the update.

Steve

Cheers Steve,
it's just that my dad is getting very impatient and is telephoning me about it all the time.