When COVID-19 canceled spring crack, a hotel in Mexico refused to refund an all-inclusive keep | Vacation Troubleshooter

Bernadette Cieslak’s spring split trip was washed out by the pandemic. But her all-inclusive hotel will not give her a refund, and her on the net journey agent is powerless to support. Is her $844 missing permanently?

Q: I booked a 7 days at the Senses Riviera Maya by Artisan in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, for spring split. The pandemic took place and we had to terminate our holiday.

I contacted Expedia and it served me get a refund for my flights. But the lodge will not difficulty a refund. An Expedia consultant claimed I really should get a refund for the lodge, also. But the lodge will not give me my dollars back again.

Curiously, my brother experienced reservations at the same resort. The resort refunded him.

I tried using to dispute the fees on my credit score card, but my financial institution sided with the lodge. Can you assistance me get my $844 again? — Bernadette Cieslak, Hamilton, Ohio

A: If the resort refunded your brother, it really should also have refunded you. Truly, it should have refunded any one who experienced to terminate because of COVID-19. On the working day you had been intended to fly, the State Department issued a “do not travel” advisory, urging Us citizens to keep household. You did the right point by canceling. Most resorts offered a no-inquiries-requested refund right after that, but some experimented with to hold their customers’ money. At a time like that, you can and need to lean on your travel agent to aid. But even Expedia was getting some trouble persuading Senses Riviera Maya by Artisan to return your cash.

Why did the lodge refund your brother, but not you? The solution may possibly lie in its existing refund plan. It offers the capability to terminate on particular (extra costly) fees but not on all of them. It’s probable that your brother had booked a diverse amount, which the vacation resort thought of refundable. I like your strategy of a credit history card dispute and am sorry that didn’t work. A credit score card dispute is typically the previous vacation resort for receiving a refund. I’d say you ended up there. (By the way, I consider it’s time for you to obtain a new credit score card. Your lender is unquestionably not on your side.)

You could have achieved out to an government at Expedia. I publish the names, numbers and e-mail addresses of Expedia’s client assistance professionals on my client advocacy internet site, Elliott.org.

The up coming time you make lodge reservations, I persuade you to pay out interest to the cancellation phrases. If you consider you could have to connect with off your vacation, contemplate a vacation coverage coverage that will address your loss.

I contacted Expedia on your behalf. It reached out to the Senses Riviera Maya by Artisan. But the hotel nevertheless refused to return your funds. Expedia refunded your $844.