So Eurostar hasn’t cancelled my journey but the event I was travelling to is cancelled in August. Eurostar are only offering an evoucher to book by end of Sept (for dates up til March 2021).
Now I used my Monzo card to pay for it. (In retrospect this is why credit cards exist I get it) but is there any recourse to getting a refund via monzo that a credit card would normally offer?
Would a credit card offer a refund in this situation? If your journey hasn’t been cancelled I wouldn’t have thought you would have a claim.
Unless the whole trip was bought as a package.
Unless Eurostar cancel the train I do not believe you are entitled to a refund and this maybe why offering vouchers.
I am still expected to pay £800 for my holiday that is in July, I have pushed the date back to pay but until it’s cancelled i am a bit stuck even with holiday insurance.
That makes sense. Suppose I’ll just leave it there and hope I can travel or it’s officially cancelled … I highly doubt Europe will be open to foreign travel before Sept/Oct
Tbf to Eurostar that’s not an unreasonable offer, it’s not their fault the event is cancelled.
I can see the train being cancelled nearer to the time as it is unlikely they’ll be running a full service any time soon. At which point they should give you the cash back.
Slightly off topic, but somewhat related too
If I booked a hotel with the first night being non-refundable, but hotels aren’t allowed to reopen by the time of my booking, can I claim under S75? The hotel wouldn’t be able to uphold their end of the contract, if they can’t open and accommodate me
I tried contacting them but it’s radio silence for two weeks now
I would’ve preferred a full refund too, but as my tickets were purchased as part of a rail staff concession, I had to take the evoucher option. They took about two days to process the request via the online form, but they have not responded to any requests with regards to whether or not I can actually use the evouchers to book the same concession ticket (I have to book our tickets via a different site, run by Eurostar, and where their own staff are also able to purchase tickets), and this is partly why I wanted the refund.
Just an aside (in relation to other transport tickets I have been trying to get refunds on): As the Eurostar journey was supposed to take place on the 18th April, I had to give up waiting and just filled out the evoucher request form. The Eurostar leg of my journey was the first leg of an actual Interrail trip to Italy.
I was able to get a full refund from the UK/ATOC distributor of Interrail passes with zero issues, though they are now starting to offer vouchers instead and whether or not you get a full refund depends on when you actually ordered your Interrail pass and the planned start date.
Using Monzo, I had also booked mandatory seat reservations through ItaliaRail, and they were initially offering 80% refunds as well as coupons but told us not to contact them and it would be sorted/we would be contacted directly. This hasn’t happened, so I’m not sure what to do next. Still also trying to claw a refund or something out of Alitalia for flights from Rome back to London (also booked with Monzo), but I’'m on the verge of giving up.
I was due to be stopping in the Steel House Copenhagen, Monday to Friday next week, however, while they were open for business, Denmark itself was closed to non Danish visitors.
I had a non refundable bed booked, but Steel House Copenhagen were happy to refund me due to “force majure”.
The clear difference between our cases, is my hostel was excellent in communication.
Now if only Ryanair could learn from them!!!
I have two forthcoming Eurostar package breaks coming up, to Amsterdam in June, and Paris in July. Will be interesting to see what happens, and what I’m offered.
I would consider vouchers if they allowed me to rebook for June and July next year.
Why would anyone suddenly wish to book to go away before March 2021. Weather???
I think as they’re a small mom and pop hotel they’re just not bothering checking emails while closed. Or they went bust.
As soon as it’s clear the hotels can’t reopen for the May Bank Holiday, I’ll be making a S75 claim with Amex as they can’t deliver the services I paid for
You might want to sense check what terms you agreed when booking the Advance Rate - there may be a force majeur clause, or other clause explaining your and their rights in an event like this.
Such a clause could allow them to offer you rebooking at a different date. Not sure how that sits with S75 generally.
Good luck!
Booking.com have applied Force Majeure circumstances on all bookings until 8 May I believe, allowing refunds and/or date changes
But the hotel simply isn’t responding so not sure what I can do…
Try talking to booking.com themselves and try and get them to sort it, if no luck then
call up amex and explain, they may be willing to file a chargeback or do a S75 claim
good luck
Booking.com have been awful dealing with a non-COVID related disruption for me. If only I’d used my Amex credit card instead of my Halifax credit card; the latter are awful and don’t recognise S75 disputes.
Section 75 is the law, you could go to the ombudsman if you have a genuine claim and they wont let you make a S75 claim.
Unclear if the Halifax card is also credit or if it’s a debit card instead. If latter, that would explain their resistance.
Wait for them to cancel the train. Then call to get refund. Very quick.
If they don’t cancel, take vouchers.
Do you have travel insurance? They might cover trip cancellation and pay out.
It is a credit card.
They should absolutely recognise Section 75 disputes then, they’re legally required to. If they’re dragging their feet, that’s another thing.
There’s no set timeframe for resolving a claim, but if they’re taking too long - or refusing to recognise you as initiating one - then you can make a formal complaint. They have eight weeks to deal with the complaint.
If at the end of eight weeks they still haven’t resolved the claim, or are refusing to pay up, then you can ask for a letter of deadlock and go to the ombudsman.
There’s an article on this on MSE (I can’t find it, but it was in this weeks Wednesday email)
The issue here, is that Credit Card companies try to avoid S75 if they can do a chargeback instead, because it means that it doesn’t cost them as much money, so he recommends trying a chargeback first, then doing S75 if you don’t get anywhere with that