Whos in the wrong? Problem with cancelling Thomson Holiday

[Duncan_Mon]

Well, booked a holiday about a month and a half ago and weve had to cancel it for a few reasons.

Me and 2 freinds booked it, £410 each in total, had to be payed by march 22nd, payed a 50pound deposit within first week.


Been in today to attempt to cancel it and theyre demanding we pay £350 to cancel the holiday. £500 in total minus the £150 weve payed with deposits. Also turns out that £50 wasnt even fully the deposit, £38 quid odd of it was insurance, with only £12 deposit, which we werent told about at all, just told it was the deposit money.

I basicly took none of it and told them to run and jump, they told me we (well, its under my freinds name)had agreed to it in the contract. Which noone signed at all, they gave us a copy of this contract, with blank signature feilds and all, and told us even though we signed nothing and were made aware of nothing its still a legally binding contract.

Are we in the right to pay nothing and take it furthur if needed?

Can provide more information if needed, exact contract wording or whatever. Just in a rush at the moment!

Thanks, Duncan

[Stringent]

Doesn't the exchange of money automatically make a contract?

Despite you not signing anything, you have agreed it. I'm not sure, but it is common practise if one has booked a holiday, if then cancelled a cancellation charge is then required.

[Lord Midas]

oo, don't know about this one. I would seek legal advice or at least visit the Citizens Advice Bureau.

[SmileyUK]

citizens advice will sort you out far better than we can i would imagine.

[Lucio]

AFAIK the signature is to show that you read and were aware of the terms and conditions. The contract was entered into when you paid for the holiday. You *might* get lucky in court and argue they didn't show you the contract before they took your money, but it'll be a pain.

IIRC there's some pretty specific clauses in the terms and conditions about cancellations that Thompson use, including stating that after a certain period, you are liable for 100% of the cost of the holiday whether you go or not. If for no other reason they've paid the other companies involved on your behalf.

[switchmode]

Take lots of advice, take your moves slowly, you may be ok. Good legal advice is important. Some advice may be wrong, check all advice even this. I cant spell so check.

[Blitzen]

Just tell them in the shop that it wasnt you that has booked it and the contact they made is the first you have heard of it.

Just tell them to RAM it!!!!

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by Stringent

Doesn't the exchange of money automatically make a contract?

No, not quite. There's a number of things required for a contract to be valid, and some kind of exchange of consideration (or promise thereof) is certainly one of them, but IIRC, so is the intention to be bound by a contract. And it would certainly be argued that paying a deposit is an indication of an intention to be bound by a contract.

But there may be wriggle room. Paying the deposit certainly suggests intention to be bound by contract, but what contract? It's also a general principle that neither party to a contract can unilaterally introduce conditions to a contract after it's formed, and certainly not if it fundamentally changes the contract. So, when paying the deposit, precisely what the OP and his mates thought they were agreeing to is relevant. After all, a contract can be formed and be binding without being in writing at all, so it could have been "reserve holiday number ABC1234 for four people on June 25th please", and the deposit was a refundable holding fee subject to confirmation.

But by and large, companies like Thompson have been doing this sort of thing for long enough, and have had this argument often enough, that I wouldn't put long odds on them being in the wrong.

As has been said, to challenge this, the best advice you'll get here is to get professional legal advice. But if you're going to refuse to pay, Duncan_Mon, think carefully about how you do it, and about potential consequences. Because ending up with a court judgement against you, and then paying considerably more, having bailiffs pestering you, etc is a distinct possibility, and it's VERY likely if you just walk away and ignore it.

So if you're going to refuse to pay, my advice would be :-

1) Do NOT just ignore them, or letters.

2) Get proper advice.

3) Dispute it properly, in writing.

4) Pray. Because I doubt your chances are good.

[Clunk]

Or arrange to go, and then your Asthma plays up a few days before you are due to fly. Bugger.