Lastminute.com customers still waiting for covid refunds

Some customers of Lastminute.com still haven’t received all their money back for cancelled holidays, despite the travel agent committing to the regulator that all refunds would be paid by the end of January, a consumer watchdog has claimed.

Lastminute.com was investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in December and agreed to pay all outstanding package holiday refunds that were cancelled on or before 2 December by the end of January 2021.

Despite this, Which? said it has seen reports from several customers through social media who still hadn’t received a full refund after the deadline had passed.

At the time of the CMA’s intervention, the UK’s seventh largest travel agent owed more than £7 million in refunds for holidays cancelled on or before 2 December. In most cases, the hotel portion of their trips has been repaid, however, Which? found evidence that it had not returned the cost of cancelled flights to some of its customers by the deadline.

Some online travel agents have reported difficulties in securing refunds from airlines to pass on to their customers.

Under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Regulations 2018, if a package holiday is cancelled by the provider, the customer is legally entitled to a full refund within 14 days.

The commitment made by Lastminute.com to the CMA was to refund all money to customers for both accommodation and flights.

Customer Sheryl McLeod told Which? she booked a holiday for two adults and two children to Barcelona for July 2020 through Lastminute.com. She said that in June an agent from Lastminute.com advised her the flights and hotel were cancelled and there were no alternatives, so the trip would be cancelled and refunded. In September, she accepted the option of a cash refund. On 27 January, she was sent £932.49 – over £300 short of the £1274.68 she was owed.

When she accessed her account online, the trip was listed under ‘past bookings’, with no mention of the missing money, or anything to help her apply for it.

After Which? approached Lastminute.com, the customer was told she would receive all of her money back.

Which? has shared its findings with the CMA, and is calling for it to take appropriate enforcement action against the online travel agent.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “Despite being given ample time to return all outstanding refunds to customers – as well as clear instructions regarding its liability for refunding both accommodation and flight costs – Lastminute.com has failed to meet this commitment to the regulator.

“The CMA was right to intervene to demand action from the online travel agent, but after failing some of its customers once again, tougher measures need to be taken.”

A CMA spokesperson said action had led to lastminute.com committing to pay out over £7 million to customers waiting for money back.

It said: “Should it become clear that they have breached these undertakings we will consider further action."

Lastminute.com said the refund process had been “very complex and difficult” and said it had been “working hard to get the money processed back through the system and into our customer’s pockets as quickly as possible.”

It added: “In the cases you have highlighted, we can confirm that the refund has been sent to the customers also for the flight.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.