Thomas Cook/ATOL refunds

[It's Your Round]

We booked a two week holiday to Goa for my wife’s 40th, travelling out on New Year’s Day. We’ve just been refunded the direct debit payments after a stress inducing 15 days of waiting  

Her mum and best friend also booked but paid by credit card, which they say might take 60 days to refund. That will leave us two weeks to find a new holiday for the same dates and could jeopardise us going at all, if it’s longer than that. 
 

Has anyone here had a TC holiday refunded yet? I’m keen to know if they’re paying out on credit card bookings yet. 
 

UTV

[Seat68]

My flights were purchased on a credit card. Halifax have temporarily refunded the amount and Mastercard have 45 days to dispute this. 

[It's Your Round]

Just now, Seat68 said:

My flights were purchased on a credit card. Halifax have temporarily refunded the amount and Mastercard have 45 days to dispute this. 

Cool, how was this instigated? Did you call your bank or was it done automatically? 

[Seat68]

I called Halifax, then 11 working days later they called me asking for a few details that weren't initially taken. 3 days later the money has been paid into my Credit card account. 

[AJ]

I made bookings through Thomas Cook, and unfortunately my insurance refuses to cover it. ( Bastards).

My next option is to go through my bank and try to get a chargeback, but they are asking for something in writing from the UK FAA that they could do that. Understandably, the FAA are more preoccupied with getting the thousands of stranded Britons home, so they are not responding. My next option is to send the page on the FAA website that claims we could apply for the chargeback to the bank, and I am hoping that will suffice.

[Genie]

8 minutes ago, AJ said:

I made bookings through Thomas Cook, and unfortunately my insurance refuses to cover it. ( Bastards).

My next option is to go through my bank and try to get a chargeback, but they are asking for something in writing from the UK FAA that they could do that. Understandably, the FAA are more preoccupied with getting the thousands of stranded Britons home, so they are not responding. My next option is to send the page on the FAA website that claims we could apply for the chargeback to the bank, and I am hoping that will suffice.

Was it not a package holiday then?

[It's Your Round]

13 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I called Halifax, then 11 working days later they called me asking for a few details that weren't initially taken. 3 days later the money has been paid into my Credit card account. 

Can I ask, was your credit card with Halifax too? Glad you got it back anyway, it’s not been fun waiting for it. 

[Seat68]

3 minutes ago, It's Your Round said:

Can I ask, was your credit card with Halifax too? Glad you got it back anyway, it’s not been fun waiting for it. 

Yes my cc is Halifax clarity. Always make large purchases on a credit card just in case. Called up and asked for a section 75 refund. All being well Mastercard won't quibble. 

[AJ]

17 minutes ago, Genie said:

Was it not a package holiday then?

It wasn't. It was an accommodation/football tickets package.

[snowychap]

1 hour ago, It's Your Round said:

31 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

Yes my cc is Halifax clarity. Always make large purchases on a credit card just in case. Called up and asked for a section 75 refund. All being well Mastercard won't quibble. 

Cool, how was this instigated? Did you call your bank or was it done automatically? 

MSE link:

Quote

Your secret financial super-hero: Section 75 laws mean your credit card must protect purchases over £100 for free, so if there's a problem you could get your money back.

This detailed guide shows you how to maximise your protection, when Section 75 covers you and when it doesn't, and includes free template letters for making Section 75 claims to your credit provider.

Affected by Thomas Cook's collapse? See full info below on how to make a Section 75 claim. For other need-to-knows, see our Thomas Cook guide.

...more

From the Thomas Cook link:

Quote

Paid by credit or debit card? You may be able to claim from your card provider

Even if your trip isn't covered by ATOL or ABTA, you could still have some protection if you paid for your booking using a debit or credit card:

• If you paid by credit card for a holiday or a flight costing £100+, you should have Section 75 protection if you paid Thomas Cook – but if you paid a travel agent you may not. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act means if you pay for something costing £100-£30,000 on a credit card, the card company's equally liable if something goes wrong – so you may be able to claim your money back from it. For more info on how this works, see our Section 75 guide.
  
  However, if you booked via a travel agent it's more complicated. Technically for Section 75 to work, there must be a direct link between the debtor (that's you, the customer), the creditor (the credit card company) and the supplier (in this case, Thomas Cook). If you booked via a travel agent, it's likely that relationship could be deemed to be broken, which would mean you wouldn't be able to claim, though the Financial Ombudsman Service told us it would come down to the exact nature of your contract with the travel agent.
  
  You can use Section 75 to reclaim the entire cost of your purchase even if you only paid for part of it on your credit card. However, the total cost of the single ticket or holiday you bought must be £100+.
   
• For a flight or booking costing less than £100, or if you paid by debit card, you might be able to claim money back from your card provider through the chargeback scheme instead.
  
  Unlike Section 75, the chargeback scheme isn't a legal requirement, it's just a customer service promise. But we're already seeing successful claims from people using it to claim for Thomas Cook flights, and crucially there doesn't need to be the direct link between the product paid for and the debt as with Section 75. See our Chargeback guide for full details.

 

[AJ]

2 hours ago, snowychap said:

MSE link:

From the Thomas Cook link:

 

This is awesome and a great help. Thanks @snowychap

[snowychap]

1 hour ago, AJ said:

This is awesome and a great help. Thanks @snowychap

No probs. I don't know whether being in another area, i.e. outside of the UK/EU,  limits your rights.

If you follow those links through they might/should give clearer info.

Good luck.

[It's Your Round]

Thanks for the info @snowychap 
 

We put an online claim in for the credit card payment on 7th October, but I think I’ll ring the card provider and push for a section 75 refund later today. Can’t do any harm.