UK hotel cancelled booking but keeping money

[MillieMoo23]

I have booked a UK hotel for one night in June and received an email yesterday to say that due to the Corona Virus my booking has been cancelled as they are shutting their hotel until 30 June. We were due to go on 25/26 June. But, they are keeping my money on hold and won't be offering a refund until their hotel is open again as they have no department that can action this.
My question is, can they do this? I've paid £100 and won't be getting a refund until 30 June at the earliest. Money is really tight at the moment and could really have done with getting the refund now.

[j9mcl]

To enable a refund it would mean someone having to travel in to work to process it. I would rather that person stayed at home and didn't put lives at risk for the sake of £100.

[novocastrian]

did you pay by credit card? maybe contact card issuer

easy to say its only 100 quid but if OP isnt working etc etc

[tspill]

Originally Posted by j9mcl

To enable a refund it would mean someone having to travel in to work to process it. I would rather that person stayed at home and didn't put lives at risk for the sake of £100.

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Can these refunds not be done from anywhere - e.g. their home using the card portals? I am assuming these are "Card not Present" transactions.

[j9mcl]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

did you pay by credit card? maybe contact card issuer

easy to say its only 100 quid but if OP isnt working etc etc

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I get that £100 is a lot of money to some people - it is to me. But what price do you put on people's lives?

To me the OP paid their money and had the hotel been open at the end of June they wouldn't be looking for a refund. Hard as it is that money is written off until the end of June at least.

[novocastrian]

Originally Posted by j9mcl

I get that £100 is a lot of money to some people - it is to me. But what price do you put on people's lives?

To me the OP paid their money and had the hotel been open at the end if June they wouldn't be looking for a refund. Hard as it is that money is written off until the end of June at least.

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im sure no one would physically have to travel anywhere surely this can be done online from anywhere? notwithstanding one person travelling alone to an empty building is hardly a risk ?

you also dont know the OP circumstances maybe a month ago 100 wasnt a deal breaker but now maybe it is ?

fwiw weve cancelled 3 separate hotel booking in the last week & each one has had the courtesy to refund the money there & then , one a hilton booked on a fixed no cancellation rate...

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OP. Just to clarify ref a S75 credit card refund. The amount must be more than £100, not £100.

So if you paid £100 it's not recoverable that way. If it was £100.01 or more then yes you are.

[400ixl]

Card charge back does not have any minimum value limit though.

[j9mcl]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

im sure no one would physically have to travel anywhere surely this can be done online from anywhere? notwithstanding one person travelling alone to an empty building is hardly a risk ?

you also dont know the OP circumstances maybe a month ago 100 wasnt a deal breaker but now maybe it is ?

fwiw weve cancelled 3 separate hotel booking in the last week & each one has had the courtesy to refund the money there & then , one a hilton booked on a fixed no cancellation rate...

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Some company banking systems can only be accessed from the network that they are assigned to. Its not always as simple as accessing a website.

I work in education and we do not have home access to lots of our systems - this is creating lots of problems as Im sure you can imagine.

As for the travelling alone, that is not always possible. Who is going to open the building? Too many factors and opportunities for this virus to spread. The virus can survive on some surfaces for 72 hours.

I know £100 could be a dealbreaker for some but in my opinion totally not worth it - and Im saying this as a person who's husband may lose his job.

[MillieMoo23]

Thanks for all the replies. When we booked, money wasn’t an issue, now it is. Unfortunately it was £98, so won’t be able to claim re credit card. I wouldn’t want to put someone else’s health at risk, but wanted to check whether it was legal/right to hold people’s money once they’ve cancelled a service. I’ll accept that I won’t be getting the money until June