Teletext Holidays faces court action over delays to refunds for Covid cancellations, watchdog says
Competition and Markets Authority warns holiday firm has not done enough to address failures
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Teletext Holidays is facing court action over the company’s delays in refunding customers for trips that were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK’s competition watchdog has announced.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday that it had requested a court order stating that consumers with outstanding refunds must be repaid immediately.
The regulator has also called for those entitled to a refund going forward to be paid within the 14 days required by law.
Truly Holidays, the company that operates Teletext Holidays and its sister company Alpharooms.com, formally agreed in May to address failures over timely refunds, but the CMA said it did not believe the firm had done enough to address the issue.
“Companies must abide by consumer protection law and treat their customers fairly,” CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli said.
“After engaging with Teletext Holidays extensively, we are now requesting a court order to make sure that the company immediately pays back the money it still owes to customers and refunds people within 14 days going forward.”
The watchdog has also asked for the case to be expedited so it can be heard more quickly due to the potential for ongoing harm to consumers - although it will be up to the court to determine when the case is heard.
It added that the action against Truly Holdings had already resulted in the company paying over £7m owed to package holiday customers.
Agreements from LoveHolidays, Lastminute.com, Virgin Holidays and Tui UK have previously been secured by the watchdog after thousands of customers complained that the companies had failed to refund them for cancelled trips.
The CMA previously threatened to take Truly Holidays to court in September, when it warned that refunds worth a total of £600,000 had not been paid.
At the time, a spokesperson for Teletext Holidays said that the firm was “working as hard as it can to process the remaining refunds”, adding that the company was engaging in a “constructive dialogue” with the watchdog.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments