Advice - Cancellation fee taken from cc out side of terms of agreement

[foodiefloozie]

Hello

I need some advice on what will happen next:

I made a hotel booking over the phone and gave my cc card details to secure it. I was told the cancellation policy was 7 days notice. I received an email with no details of the cancellation policy.

10 days before we were due to go, I cancelled the booking.

The hotel (its a restaurant with rooms) owner went ballistic and told me that my reason for cancelling was ridiculous (bad weather (my partner is asthmatic and cant spend long in the cold)) and therefore they were taking the 50% cancellation from my cc.

I pointed out that the terms are 7 days and the reason for cancellation is actually none of their business.

I have contacted my cc card company, they have taken the money and the cc card company have said they will issue a form so I can say that the payment was fraudulent.

Do you think I will get the money back through my cc company?
Or will I have to go to small claims court?

Its not the money, its the principle of the fact that he has abused having my credit card to take payment when he is not lawfully allowed to...

Here are the emails:


My cancellation email:
Hi A*** & D**,

We are going to cancel our reservation I am afraid. The weather is too
poor at the moment for us to really enjoy the area so we will look to come
later in the season. I wanted to cancel with plenty of time.

Apologies

N***

Their response:

"Please do not try to re-book as we do not find that acceptable reason to cancel at this late stage"

Followed two minutes later by:

And we shall debit your card for 50 per cent of the room rate for the 2 nights

My response:

At the time of booking I asked your cancellation policy and was told that
1 week was considered late. I am giving you a 10 day notice period. It is
therefore unacceptable that you take 50% from my card and I will alert my
card company.

Shocked by your reaction. Certainly would not look to come and stay with
such an attitude. Such a shame as I had heard such positive words about
you.

Their response:

Looks like we will be seeing you in small claims court then

________________________________

 

[nattie]

Do you have the terms and conditions or can you view them now, for example?

What is the cancellation period on those terms?

 

[foodiefloozie]

The cancellation period stated on the phone was 7 days, I cancelled with 10 days notice period... No cancellation mentioned on the confirmation email, so purely verbal.

 

[ALewis]

Verbal terms are just as binding as terms in writing (as per the Law of Contract).
I'm not saying that you're lying, however we must be impartial and advise on the legal matters - therefore if the cancellation policy has been verbally made, and you have abided to the policy, then the contract should be cancelled.
Therefore the hoteliers have no right to take payment from yourself.
You could request a chargeback from the cc company, though I'm guessing that filling out this form should get you your refund.

It's also worth noting that the messages sent from the hotelier could be in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations due to their aggressive / unproffessional / bullying nature.

Adam