A retired carer has told of her frustration as she battled to get a refund for her holiday booked two years ago.
Christine Roberts, of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in Northumberland, was booked to go to Benidorm on Spain's Costa Blanca to celebrate a friend's 60th birthday in October 2020.
Christine, 65, was the lead booking of the party of seven of her fellow carers, and says she feels embarrassed and guilty that her friends are still waiting for their money nearly two years later.
The pals booked and paid the deposit on their holiday before the coronavirus pandemic hit, and in the early days of lockdown, Christine thought the best thing to do was to continue to pay the instalments as planned in case their holiday could go ahead - a decision she now bitterly regrets.
"I feel ever so guilty that I encouraged my friends to pay for the whole holiday and they are still waiting go get their money back two years later," said Christine.
"We finished paying in August 2020 and the total amount was £2479.70. Since then I have done everything I could to get the money back, but I just feel I am frustrated every way I turn."
The pals' booking was with Teletext Holidays, which ceased trading in January this year after coming under fire by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over delays in repaying outstanding refunds to customers.
The High Court found the following month that Teletext Holidays had broken consumer law by failing to fully refund customers within the legally-required 14 days for holidays cancelled during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The party was due to fly from Newcastle Airport, but Christine said as the date drew nearer, it became more obvious that the holiday was not going to go ahead.
"We waited until we knew the hotel had definitely closed because of Covid and wouldn't be reopening in time for us, then contacted Teletext Holidays to ask for our money back," said Christine.
"They did everything they could to avoid giving us a refund. We couldn't reschedule because we were all care workers and wouldn't have been able to get the time off together easily again.
"Teletext offered us vouchers but that was no good for us.
"Twice I was told the money would be in the bank in 15 working days and it wasn't.
"They were full of excuses and I felt they were fobbing me off. It's a big responsibility looking after someone else's money and I found the whole thing very stressful.
"Then I found Teletext Holidays were in trouble so I contacted my bank - Halifax - about a chargeback, but was told I could not make one because I was outside of the 120 days allowed to make a claim."
When Teletext Holidays went into liquidation, customers awaiting refunds were told to start a claim with trade body the Travel Trust Association, which Christine claims she immediately did.
She says she received a letter back from TTA saying she was due to have the money refunded, but asked her to get a letter from Halifax confirming that she had not received the money via a chargeback as her claim was refused due to it being outside the chargeback 120 days window.
Christine claims she has called Halifax on numerous occasions, emailed them and has gone into the Ashington branch in person twice, but still no letter is forthcoming as the bank claims there is no record of her contacting them for a chargeback in the first place.
She now feels she will never see the money as she can't get it back from TTA without a letter from Halifax, and the bank won't send a letter because there is no record of her making a chargeback claim.
Halifax apologised for the delay, saying: "We were concerned to hear of the difficulties being faced by Mrs Roberts in obtaining a refund for her holiday booking.
"Our customer services team spoke with her again and have now provided a letter confirming that there was no chargeback raised. We’ve also apologised for the service she received when she first contacted us and have made a payment of £150 to reflect this."
"I really shouldn't have had to go through this just to get my money - which TTA agree I was owed - back," said Christine.
"We used to book holidays with Teletext years ago when they were on the TV and I had confidence booking with them this time too, as I felt they were a trusted brand. I feel let down by the whole thing and I feel really responsible as my friends paid me their money and I can't get theirs back either."
TTA has said it has now issued a refund to Christine after being contacted by ChronicleLive.
However, Christine claims she has not received a penny from the travel brand, and despite several attempts from ChronicleLive to contact TTA, we have not been able to establish what the hold-up has been and when the payment was made.
A TTA spokeswoman said: "We understand that some customers have waited for a refund since before the financial failure of Truly Travel Ltd – and we know how frustrating it is waiting for reimbursement – but this is a complex scenario in unprecedented times involving multiple third-party suppliers.
"The collapse of Truly Travel Ltd, known to holidaymakers as Teletext Holidays, was a significant event and we are sorry that so many people have been affected but we are doing everything we can to resolve matters as soon as possible for everyone."
But Christine says it is "yet another stalling tactic", with her now waiting 28 months for her money back.
She said: "After this long saga of fighting for my money back, sending all the evidence to the holiday company that I actually paid for the holiday, receipts, ATOL certificate, why did I have to then provide even more evidence to get what I'm owed?
"Surely they could find out if I've already claimed the amount back without me having to go round in circles. I think this yet again is another stalling tactic."
