LOVEHOLIDAYS is set to refund £18million to 44,000 customers who’ve had their holidays cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating the firm after receiving hundreds of complaints from holidaymakers.
LoveHolidays is set to refund £18million to 44,000 customers who’ve had their holidays cancelled
When customers contacted LoveHolidays to request a refund for a cancelled holiday, they were told they would only receive money back for their flights once the firm had received the cash from airlines.
However, online travel agents are legally bound to refund customers for Covid cancellations, regardless of whether it’s received the money from suppliers.
Following the CMA investigation, LoveHolidays has now promised to ensure these customers receive all their money back.
So far, the travel company has refunded £7million to 20,000 customers.
The majority of remaining refunds will be paid back in full by March 2021 the latest, the CMA said.
If LoveHolidays fails to repay customers by this date, the CMA said it’s prepared to take the company to court.
The investigation comes after HOAR reported LoveHolidays to the CMA in July after it wrongly delayed refunds.
In September, LoveHolidays then quit as a member of industry body ABTA, blaming conflicting views on cancellations and refunds.
It meant the holiday firm was no longer obliged to follow industry rules put in place to protect consumers during the pandemic.
Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said: Travel agents have a legal responsibility to make prompt refunds to customers whose holidays have been cancelled due to coronavirus.
“Our action today means that LoveHoliday’s customers now have certainty over when they will receive their money back and they will receive this without undue delay.
“We are continuing to investigate package travel firms and where we find evidence that businesses are breaching consumer law, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action to protect consumers.”
A spokesperson for LoveHolidays told HOAR: “We are pleased to have reached agreement with the CMA on undertakings to accelerate refund payments to our customers impacted by package holiday cancellations.
“The pandemic has brought unprecedented disruption to the entire tourism sector and we appreciate the CMA’s acknowledgement of the extraordinary pressures faced by package holiday companies this year.
“We sincerely thank our customers for their continued patience, and apologise that it has taken much longer than normal to process their refunds.”
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