'Tui closed its shops and cancelled my holiday in March – I've been waiting for a refund ever since'

Stephanie Round writes

In March I booked a week’s holiday in Slovenia with Inghams, departing on May 9. I used the Tui travel shop in Skegness and paid £1,100 for the package. When it became clear that the holiday would be cancelled I contacted Inghams, which said the instruction to pay a refund had to come from Tui, as it held all my personal and payment details.

I have tried to reach someone at Tui for two months but found it impossible. The travel shop in Skegness is closed, emails go unanswered and the message on the phone number given on Tui’s website simply says they are contacting people before they are due to travel. Yet nobody contacted me before my departure date.

Please can you help me get some answers because it is late June as I write and I really need the money.

Gill Charlton, consumer expert, replies

Yours is one of many emails received from readers frustrated at the closure of Tui’s retail stores during lockdown. The company furloughed most of its employees at the end of March, including 4,500 retail agents – almost its entire shop staff.

There have also been problems in migrating customer data from store computers to Tui’s online booking system. This has caused some holidays to disappear from the booking manager, but agents do seem to be able to recover them eventually.

Following my approach, Tui has contacted Mrs Round to arrange a refund. It initially said this payment would take 28 days to be refunded to her bank debit card but only five days if the refund was sent to her credit card account. Mrs Round needed the money in her current account, so resigned herself to another delay.

Fortunately someone at Tui had the sense to escalate her request and she has now been told the money will be in her bank account in five working days.

Tui reopened some of its stores on July 6 and says it now has 750 retail staff working from home calling customers. This should help shift the backlog but it is clearly going to take time to clear refunds for so many ­cancelled holidays.

Tui says that travellers whose holidays were cancelled before July 11 will initially be given a refund credit note for the full value of the holiday plus a booking incentive. (This may take several weeks to arrive following cancellation). The note will contain a special refund credit code, which is needed to apply for a cash refund online at tui.co.uk. To find the refund form, click on the “coronavirus page” link on the banner at the top of the home page and select “I would like a refund”. Those without internet access will need to call 020 3451 2688.

For holidays that cannot go ahead as planned after July 11, Tui says its staff will proactively contact customers to discuss their options within seven days of a cancellation confirmation email being sent. These will include the option of a cash refund.