EasyJet changed the hotel and room type I paid for – then denied me a refund
Dear Gill,
On December 27 I booked a four-night holiday – in a junior suite at the H10 Atlantic Sunset hotel – in Playa Paraiso, Tenerife, departing on February 17. It cost £2,974 for the three of us and we paid a deposit of £180.
Three days later, easyJet sent an email saying the hotel was overbooked and we had been moved to the Hard Rock Hotel across the way. This would be unsuitable for my 88-year-old mother. We have also only been assigned a double room with extra bed instead of a junior suite.
We have stayed in H10 hotels before and really like the way they do things, so we decided to cancel the trip. I phoned easyJet’s customer service team and was told that if we cancelled we would lose our deposit. This seems unfair. It’s like paying for a pair of shoes and being told you are being sent wellington boots.
We asked to speak to a manager but this was refused. EasyJet seems to think we are being unreasonable in refusing to accept an alternative hotel. Are we?
– Liam Barnard
Dear Liam
When you buy a holiday from a tour organiser (and here easyJet Holidays is acting in this capacity, not as travel agent), you are bound by its terms which must align with the UK’s Package Travel Regulations 2018.
Section 11 of the Regulations says that you have the right to cancel if the tour organiser has “to alter significantly any of the main characteristics of the travel services specified”. However, “significantly” is not defined and the organiser is allowed to make changes if these are mentioned in the contract terms, or the change is insignificant.
EasyJet Holiday’s terms regard “a change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard” as insignificant. Only if there is a change of destination or an offer of accommodation in a lower category can the customer cancel the trip.
The Hard Rock Hotel is a five-star property close to your original choice, but the room type offered is in a lower category. “On this occasion Mr Barnard should have also been offered the option to change to another hotel, or to cancel his holiday for a refund,” says an easyJet Holidays spokeswoman. “We’re in touch with Mr Barnard to apologise that these options weren’t offered, and offer him a gesture of goodwill, and we are investigating how this happened, to ensure it doesn’t happen again in the future.”
Liam has now chosen a more suitable hotel in a different Tenerife resort and is proceeding with his holiday. EasyJet Holidays says these instances of double booking are rare as it has allocations at over 7,000 hotels and is usually able to resolve issues quickly.
Your travel problems solved
Gill takes on a different case each week – so please send your problems to her for consideration at asktheexperts@telegraph.co.uk. Please give your full name and, if your dispute is with a travel company, your address, telephone number and any booking reference. Gill can’t answer every question, but she will help where she can and all emails are acknowledged.