Cancelling Accommodation Booking - Refund?

Hosef

We recently booked a couple of nights in Self Catering / Holiday Home type accommodation for over new years.

The amount (close to 2K) was paid in full last week, but we now wish to cancel.

The owner has said that they cannot refund any of the payment. There are no T&Cs on the website and the owner says they are covered under Bord Failte's terms, but I have not been able to find these on the web.

Does anyone know what our rights are regarding a refund in this regard?

EDIT: the booking was paid for by credit card, if that makes a difference

boopolo

Most reputable hotels will allow cancelation and refund you unless cancel close to the date of stay. Seeing as it is a month they should refund imo.
But as it is self catering/holiday home they may not be so forthcoming. I would contact Bord Failte and see what they say. Is it just an individual or a company with several units?

Boo

Hosef

Thanks Boopolo, it is an individual, based in wexford.

They have no other properties

EKRIUQ

As you entered a contract with them, and your the one who is in breach of the contract they may be withinn their rights to deny the full refund.

If they were anyway reasonable they should try to rent the Self Catering / Holiday Home type accommodation again for New Years and take the expense they had and Board Failte's fee out of it and return you the rest of the fee you paid as there's ia month to go before New Years Eve, even though most people probably have already booked by now.:(

boopolo

I agree with Namesco. You could ask them to try to re-rent it.

Or you could try to sell it on.

Boo

Thoie

Hosef wrote: »

the owner says they are covered under Bord Failte's terms, but I have not been able to find these on the web.

Does anyone know what our rights are regarding a refund in this regard?

There are no such thing as Bord Failte terms, unless you have booked through the Bord Failte website (http://www.discoverireland.ie).

If you booked by phone or email, the proprietor should have made their cancellation policy clear to you at the time. They can set any cancellation policy they like (500 days notice or full price will be charged, or Cancellation with full refund permitted up to X days in advance) etc.

If they're Bord Failte registered, contact Bord Failte and say that you were not informed of any cancellation policy and ask if they can help.

Shelflife

hosef if its a case where they refuse to refund you (as is their entitlement) then tell them you have changed your mind and will be using it, otherwise they might rerent it and make on the double.

you could try to sell it to a friend or relation.

Random

The law says you're not entitled to a refund.

I guess general common feeling is that you should get something. Explore other options but remember that they're doing you a favour.

Thoie

Random wrote: »

The law says you're not entitled to a refund.

Hmm, I was under the impression though that you had to be made aware of the cancellation policy when booking though, even though, as I said, the cancellation policy can be "we keep all your money". If you were made aware of that at the time of booking then you have no comeback, but there's an argument if you weren't made aware of it.

Random

Thoie wrote: »

Hmm, I was under the impression though that you had to be made aware of the cancellation policy when booking though, even though, as I said, the cancellation policy can be "we keep all your money". If you were made aware of that at the time of booking then you have no comeback, but there's an argument if you weren't made aware of it.

By the same reasoning surely you're entitled to a refund then in a shop if they don't have a sign saying you can't change your mind about the can of coke a short while later? It just doesn't work. It would be different if they had a policy which said you could cancel and now they are telling you that you can't.

Unless your purchase fell under the distance selling regulations (which I don't think it does, but I stand corrected .. but it's outside the 7 days anyway) then you're not entitled to a refund if you simply change your mind.

mikemac

I'm also not sure if distance selling regulations apply. I doubt it but it's worth researching

Cooling period of 7 working days, are you in time?

Edit: Doesn't apply unfortunatly:

There is a category of agreement to which none of the provision of information, confirmation and the right to withdraw apply, the most important of which are as follows:

Agreements for the supply of “accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services where the supplier undertakes, when the contract is made, to provide those services on a specific date or within a specific period”. This latter exception is quite unfortunate when you consider that online travel and accommodation bookings are perhaps one of the most popular uses of the internet in Ireland.

Thoie

Random wrote: »

By the same reasoning surely you're entitled to a refund then in a shop if they don't have a sign saying you can't change your mind about the can of coke a short while later? It just doesn't work. It would be different if they had a policy which said you could cancel and now they are telling you that you can't.

Slightly different situation - in your analogy it's as if you had asked them to reserve a can of coke for you to buy next week. When you give them your money for the can of coke they might say "OK, we'll take your money, but if you decide not to come pick it up, you're not getting your money back" - which is fine, as long as you're aware of the fact.

A closer analogy would be ordering a sofa - in which case when you order the sofa you always get a sales receipt with T&Cs on the back. Some shops might say you won't get any money back if you change your mind, others might say we'll refund 50% of the cost - it's up to the shop to set the terms, but I'm pretty sure they have to make you aware of them. It's why, on so many websites, you have to tick a box saying "I've read the T&Cs".

Random

Sorry it was a rushed analogy but I think you got the point anyway. I would say your sofa point really isn't valid ... as you can't just get a refund if you change your mind. Please point me to something which proves you can though.

I really do not believe you have the right to a refund on cancelled accomadation but I cannot find anything specifically mentioning it to back this up (neither can I find the opposite). The only thing I can find is that "you are not entitled to a refund if you simply change your mind" from the Sale of Goods & support of services act which I believe covers it.

At this point I'm going to back out of the discussion and see what others have to say as I don't have anything but the Sale of goods / services Act to quote here and I'm not 100% sure it applies (but don't see why it wouldn't!).