The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 16th June

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John says:

16 Jun16 June 16:29

Having read many posts on here re MCOL – had three telephone calls – all refused to move flights greater than 12 month. I am happy that I have just cause to move as already have 4 other return flights with BA up to April 22.

Told to make complaint online. Did that and advised in writing today that Customer Relations don’t deal with rebooking and need to ring Customer Service Team – this is who referred me to Customer Relations.

Obviously so need the refusal in writing before sending pre action letter. What I can’t find in all the posts I have seen is an email address or postal address of who I contact to obtain refusal in writing.

Help please.
Thanks
- JDB says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 16:43
  
  It sounds like you are going to struggle to get it in writing from the usual teams, so you need to make a careful note of the dates/times/content of each call and reference those calls in your letter before action.
- ChrisC says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 17:02
  
  You don’t actually need a refusal from them in writing to issue a letter before action if you have made meaningful efforts and I would say 3 calls and a webform is more than meaningful efforts over a period of time.
  
  You have enough evidence already that they are messing you around
  
  In your letter to BA legal (based at Waterside addresson the web) list all of the contacts you have had and say something like ‘despite my repeated contacts your teams are refusing to meaningfully engage with me hence I now give you notice before action unless you change my booking as follows …’
  - Lady London says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 18:44
    
    after 8 weeks of trying, around 3 attempts is reasonable, without result, sent around the BA mulberry bush, or just ignored, is generally viewed as sufficient before taking formal action.
    
    Obvs can be less in case of exigent circumstances such as BA cancelling your return flight home from the Seychelles and simply abandoning you in a hotel costing £300 per night and £400 per day expenses
Reney says:

16 Jun16 June 16:41

I got the new T&C email from Creatiom yesterday and today. Did that happen to anyone else, maybe they are telling me something.
- Harry T says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 16:47
  
  They are telling you their IT is still rubbish, probably. The same happened to me!
  - Grant says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 16:50
    
    And their proof reading – “We’ve added new wording to explain that you must not pay us more than you owe on your account. See 3% for details.”
    - BuildBackBetter says:
      
      16 Jun16 June 18:46
      
      The % symbol stands out so easily I wonder how hard can it be to correct it!
- Andrew says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 17:07
  
  I only got today.
- NC says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 17:23
  
  And I didn’t get the email at all!
- Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 18:39
  
  Do you have a supplementary card? Could be why you’re getting two emails.
  - Reney says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 20:05
    
    nop
Keely says:

16 Jun16 June 17:28

Quick question..need to chase as bonus nectar points not appeared for Nectar Amex . It is Amex I call and not nectar isn’t it?
- Peter K says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 17:47
  
  Yes, Amex.
  You need to leave it a few days after hitting the spend for the bonus to show.
  Also, you can’t have had any personal Amex in the previous 24 months, of any kind, to be eligible for the bonus.
MiddleEngland says:

16 Jun16 June 17:31

I booked an avios redemption for someone else and it is now necessary to cancel. Will the FTV be in my name or the passengers?
- Mark says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 18:20
  
  Whoever’s name was on the tickets
bafan says:

16 Jun16 June 17:33

I suspect this won’t be of interest to many in here but just in case.

“Now through June 30, 2021, convert your hotel points to AAdvantage® miles and receive a 25% bonus on the miles you earn.

For example, convert your hotel points into 20,000 AAdvantage® miles and earn 5,000 bonus miles.

Participating hotel partners:
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts
IHG® Hotels & Resorts”.

Register through the website or app etc.
Freddy says:

16 Jun16 June 17:39

Telegraph reporting leaked documents “warning that stringent border controls and post-travel isolation will be needed for the long haul to prevent new variants from overseas taking hold”.

Looks like we’ll be getting reviews of all UK centre parcs!
- Yuff says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 18:03
  
  Meanwhile europe happily carries on whilst we fumble around in the dark like idiots.
  Strange that all the care homes with low vaccine take up are also the areas with the highest cases of the delta variant……..coincidence …..never
- Andrew says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 18:50
  
  And after Boris has spent the day with the Australian PM, maybe he’s taking advice from him on the right approach to get the country back to some form of normality domestically. I think most people here, particularly after the summer, will be in favour of this as they won’t be planning a holiday again until next summer and a family Christmas will be their top priority.
  - Pete M says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 21:24
    
    Well, let me be positive and note that, with a with a bit of luck, the above will apply to fewer and fewer countries as time goes by and vaccination rates increase. I would realistically expect Europe and the US/Canada to go quarantine-free in the coming months.
  - Blenz101 says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 21:48
    
    People don’t just travel for holidays and comparing the UK with Australia is futile.
    
    Given 80% of our food is imported and 5-6k lorries a day enter our country stopping we are not physically able to hermetically seal up the UK.
    
    The government are playing to popular opinion only now. People quite like being on furlough. No longer having to commute. Working from home. Extra disposable income. Increased universal credit. Pubs are open, Euros are on TV.
    
    Those that can afford will go on holiday to amber countries regardless. Many will ignore the quarantine anyway. Others don’t care as they can just work from home anyway when they get back.
    
    A rolling 7 day average of 9 Covid deaths (of which Covid may not have been the primary cause of death). 80% of the country already having antibodies. Not a single variant has shown to be vaccine resistant.
    
    In comparison, 213 people per day die in the UK of smoking related illnesses yet we still allow the sale of cigarettes.
    
    I annoyingly find myself agreeing with Rees-Mogg. The government doesn’t have the right to take charge of people’s lives purely to prevent them seeing the doctor. The NHS is for the benefit of the people, we can’t live forever in fear of its capacity.
Charlie says:

16 Jun16 June 17:41

Have Ebay done away with £1 seller fees?
When would be the best time to sell something for around £150?
Thanks
- Sam says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 18:16
  
  Seems so. I had an 80% off fees last weekend. Guess you should wait for the next one
- Pablo says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 18:17
  
  They ran 80% discount on final value fees last weekend
- Jonathan says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 18:42
  
  I think they might’ve scraped the £1 sellers fee since they (eBay) now process the payment, and charge about 11 times the actual processing cost !
- Travel Strong says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 19:35
  
  The fortnightly £1 offer has stopped reoccurring for now, but another similar offer popped up instead last weekend (‘80% off seller fees’) – so keep watching on the weekends for something appropriate.
  
  If you or your partner have a dormant account, you probably have a ‘sell 3 items for £0 fee’ offer from now til the end of june too.
  - Charlie says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 21:24
    
    Thanks very much
Maciek says:

16 Jun16 June 17:57

IC O2 cancelled my reservation, ambassador@ihg.com are utterly useless – happy to offer a room at the IC Park Lane for twice the original rate.
I’ve cancelled the ambassador membership and demanded a refund.
- meta says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 18:07
  
  Just saying, that’s not the way to get a room at IC Park Lane for the same rate with bonuses thrown in…and they couldn’t care less you cancelling Ambassador membership (can it even be cancelled?) and no they won’t give you a refund.
  - Maciek says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 18:48
    
    Refund is being processed, so let’s stick to the facts, shall we?
    - meta says:
      
      16 Jun16 June 19:32
      
      Great, that means that they don’t care.
      - Maciek says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 19:46
        
        I don’t care – I’m sold on Hyatt now.
    - Blenz101 says:
      
      16 Jun16 June 19:47
      
      The fact is the hotel operator (Meridian) has decided to close the hotel and act as a quarantine centre. IHG can’t make force another franchise take you for free.
      - Yorkie Aid says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 20:19
        
        Collecting fees from franchisees does come with some responsibilities.
      - Blenz101 says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 20:37
        
        Yorkie – I think the hotels participating in the quarantine scheme are in. pretty unique situation at the moment for which their MSA would not have envisaged. It isn’t as though they can predict how long the government will keep locking up its citizens on arrival or how the government will seemingly randomly categorise countries as red.
        
        If the hotel had been open and the room could not be provided then we all know they would have paid for alternative accomodation and transport to it.
        
        As it is they are closed and have offered a refund. The customer can try their travel insurance (trip cancellation). Most people would be rather more understanding of the situation both the operator and brand find themselves in given the way the UK government are acting.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 20:44
        
        Arora?
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 20:45
        
        @blenz101. When they took the government contract and subsequently renewed it they should have accounted for the fact they would need to move guests with reservations.
      - Blenz101 says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 21:11
        
        @TGLoyalty When they took the contracts there was a complete ban on leisure travel with no end in sight. Could they really have expected institutional quarantine to continue indefinitely, there was no talk of variants back then. We were just going to rapidly jab the vulnerable. That fact that country is still a state of lockdown with no real events at the o2 many months later is just another unfortunate outcome of the way government has handled things.
        
        We don’t know when the Maciek’s room was cancelled for but I really find it hard to blame the hotel for the fact they are having to refund and cancel future bookings which they never expected to do. If he wants to stay in Greenwich he can spend his cash savings at he HI Express. The IC park lane is not a comparable property.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 22:28
        
        There was an end in sight. May 17th date was announced in Feb.
        
        They took the £££ and HI express is in no way comparable to 5* IC O2.
        
        I kind of agree PL might not be the closet suitable property but I’d be putting my foot down for something comparable. 5* with pool and spa etc
      - kitten says:
        
        17 Jun17 June 02:33
        
        @TGLoyalty This. The IC02 is getting money for quarantine stayers and should not just walk away from previous obligations.
  - Lula says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 20:20
    
    HI Meta. Does that mean there is a way to get a room at the Park Lane hotel for the same rate with bonuses???
    
    If so, might you share? I just had a booking there that was cancelled that was meant to be part of our honeymoon!
    - A says:
      
      16 Jun16 June 21:32
      
      @Blenz
      
      I don’t think an operator would need to posses more than average foresight to predict there might be a time in the future when they were acting as a quarantine hotel, but leisure travel had returned.
      
      This is basically identical to any walk situation – the hotel has made a business decision to make the room unavailable to you for revenue-related reasons. The motivation for that is irrelevant. They should be stumping up to the same extent they would in an ordinary walk/overbooking cancellation scenario. It’s a situation entirely of their own making, based on a revenue maximisation decision. I don’t blame them for it, there’s no moral turpitude; but they have to own the risk and costs inherent in that decision.
    - meta says:
      
      16 Jun16 June 22:21
      
      It’s putting a pressure on the hotel and IHG to honour their contract. I had a similar situation with IHG last year at a different hotel and have managed to negotiate the same rate and they threw in free breakfast and F&B discount as well. And this was in another country! In the UK, I would have been far more empowered and be prepared to go all the way to MCOL.
      
      The fact is you have to ease them into it. You can’t just go threating them explicitly. You need to be relentless in your demand and slowly build it up. Never lose your cool, always be very polite, but firm and then slowly build it if they keep resisting. Perhaps also an email to IHG
      /hotel press office, short negative comment on social media and then they’ll agree.
      - Lula says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 22:36
        
        Thank you. Very helpful and I’ll give it a try. Not always easy to keep your cool with IHG customer relations but maybe the hotel will be easier.
      - Yorkie Aid says:
        
        16 Jun16 June 22:41
        
        +1 Spot on meta