Hotel taken £500 from my account for Volcano ruined holiday

[Dayman]

Hi

 

I paid a £50 deposit for 4 nights in an Amsterdam apartment this weekend and the volcanic ash meant I could not get there

 

The agency have basically said 'tough' and gone in to my account and taken £500

 

Surely they can't do this? I mean, keep the deposit by all means, but helping themselves to an unauthorised £500?

 

I don't have insurance or anything, but found this site via Google. Please help

[Bookworm]

They can. Your T&Cs will have something which states how much you'll have to pay in case of cancellation, and if you cancelled less than 24 hrs before the booking or even not cancelled at all, they have every right to expect you to meet the cost, as it means they couldn't re-rent the place.

 

If you booked the apartment at the same time as the flight through a travel agent/holiday comapny, you may be covered by ATOL protection, but not if you had booked them separately, or booked directly.

[Dayman]

So even though I never authorised any more than the £50 deposit, they can keep my bank details, access my account and take £500?

 

I didn't know holiday letting agencies had that kind of power

[Dayman]

Also, is there any way I could get the bank to stop this? I'm pretty sure this is going to send me overdrawn and make me unable to meet direct debit payments next week. I wasn't even going to pay for the hotel by Debit Card, but with cash

[sailor sam]

As far as I know, you can get a re-fund on the fight tickets but not for 'consiquential losses' such as accomodation, hire cars ect.

 

As far as the balance of the holiday is concerned; try contacting your bank and tell them that you did not authorize this transaction. Having said that, is there a clause in the booking that states when the balance has to be paid? It's unusual to be able to pay cash on arrival.

 

__________________

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my scales at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice usefull.

[Bookworm]

So even though I never authorised any more than the £50 deposit, they can keep my bank details, access my account and take £500?

 

I didn't know holiday letting agencies had that kind of power

I'm pretty sure you will have given them that power when you made the booking, check the T&Cs. If you're not sure where to look, pls name the agency and I'll check it out (as long as they're online, that is!)