Is this legal??

[thomaskennedy]

Hello everyone...

I'll start from the beginning...

My brother and his friend booked a holiday at the local travel agents, they booked a holiday in tenerife and got ripped off, just short of £1000 for 2, self catering, no fancy hotel eother..

But aside from that they thought it was a good deal :roll: so they asked my dad (who lives away from home) to pay the deposit on his credit card, as no-one else we know has one..

So a few weeks later the balence of £700 still needed paying, and as usual my brother had spent all his holiday money :shock: :x and asked my mum if she could pay it, she couldn't pay it until she got paid
(which is today), she said..

And today a letter dropped on the mat from the travel agents, saying that there was only a balance of £200 to pay, and stapled to this letter were 2 receipts, one for £300 and the other for £200

They had managed to track down the credit card number my dad used, and decided to use that to pay £500 off the balance..

Without asking anyone at all...

now is that legal, surely not :shock: and if it is not, what do we do now??

Thanks in advance

Ta, Tom

 

[Argee]

First thing to do is to trawl through the fine print of the trading terms and conditions of the agent concerned. Often, when paying by credit card over the phone/online, you are subject to conditions whether you realise it/like it or not.

I think that it's unlikely a travel agent would do anything that is not covered by their terms of trading - however, these can be weird and sometimes outrageous.

Good luck!

Ray.

 

[Noel]

More immoral than illegal, although I guess it would only become a legal issue if your father decided to complain to the travel agent and requested that the last payment be refunded to his account. Then it's possible the travel agent could takes matters further. But since it's all concerns members of one family it'll most likely not end up in court.....
Personally, I think your brother's being a bit stupid. Bad enough agreeing to pay for a fortnight in the Canaries for a grand when I'm sure 500 (or less) would get a similar, if not better holiday, alot worse effectively stealing the money from your father.
Personally I'd tell your father and make sure your mother doesn't help out either. Your brother and friend don't deserve to go anywhere and something should be set in place to repay the original deposit.
Where trust and generosity is being abused, the pair don't deserve to go anywhere.

Noel

 

[Anonymous]

They had managed to track down the credit card number . . .

Who is 'they'? Your brother and his friend or the travel agents?

 

[Argee]

Who is 'they'? Your brother and his friend or the travel agents?

Good point, John! I'd assumed that it was the travel agents. As said, depends on their terms.

Ray.

 

[Noel]

If it was the travel agents, why didn't they take the whole balance? I'd assumed it was your brother and co. Better clarify the situation before I totally ruin your brother's character.

Noel

 

[thomaskennedy]

no no it was the travel agents who took the money,

God knows why they didn't take it all, all i know is they won't refund the money paid if the holiday was cancelled, so we don't have much choice about paying it :shock:

I'll get them to look at the fine print..

Even worse my dad is in Crete and doesn't know anything about this because he didn't take his mobile with him :x

I was also talking to my mum about this earlier and she has decided to put her foot down, she said that my brother and his friend could find a better deal holiday to pay for themselves, and she would pay for, and go on the original holiday...

It all seems to be getting very expensive for what started to be a holiday for 2 :shock:

Ta

Tom

 

[woodshavings]

Hi Tom,
it sounds complicated! You might like to have a word with your local CAB. They are very good at advising of your rights and responsibilities on these type of issues, particularly those involving consumer credit laws etc.

John

 

[Noel]

OK, say sorry to your brother for thinking that it was him who used the CC. Best to ask the travel agents why they took the additional 500. Just make sure the small print doesn't indicate an option for automatic additional payment at a certain time before the holiday. There's often a tick box to opt out (rather than opt in, much easier for the agents that way....). If there hasn't been any mention of that, go see the CAB etc.

Noel