Legal action looms for Lastminute after it fails to keep refund pledge

Monday, 12 Feb, 2021 0

Lastminute.com is facing legal action after failing to repay the full £7 million it owes in refunds for cancelled holidays.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the firm still owes £1m to 2,600 customers.

The competition watchdog has given Lastminute seven days to refund the money or face legal action.

The warnings follows a signed undertaking by Lastminute in December to refund £7m to 9,000 customers by 31 January.

CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said: "It is wholly unacceptable that thousands of Lastminute.com customers are still waiting for full refunds for package holidays despite the commitments the company signed with us.

"We take breaches of commitments extremely seriously. If Lastminute.com does not comply with the law and pay people their outstanding refunds quickly, we will take the company to court."

The CMA said Lastminute has also failed to meet an ongoing commitment to repay all customers within 14 days of their package holiday being cancelled on or after 3 December 2020.

"On top of this, Lastminute.com told some package holiday customers to go directly to their airline to get the cost of their flight back," the CMA said. "This is also in breach of its commitments and against its obligations under the Package Travel Regulations.

"The CMA has informed Lastminute.com that it will take court action if it does not repay the outstanding refunds within 7 days."

Editor of Which? Travel, Rory Boland, described Lastminute.com as ‘one of the worst culprits’ for failing to refund customers.

"It is right the regulator has taken strong action against the operator, sending a clear message that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable," he said.

"Lastminute.com is one of countless holiday operators that have let customers down on refunds, highlighting the need for widespread reforms across the travel industry.

"The government must look at measures to ensure there are better protections for holidaymakers’ money, while the Civil Aviation Authority – which has been unable to take meaningful action against airlines holding up the refund process by withholding money from holiday companies – must be given stronger powers."