Will I ever see my refund from Pacific Holidays?

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By Christopher Elliott

After the coronavirus forced Pacific Holidays to cancel Helene Rosenthal’s tour last March she agreed to postpone her journey. But months later, her circumstances changed and Pacific Holidays promised to give Rosenthal a refund. Or did it?

Question

In 2019, I booked a tour of the Baltics through Pacific Holidays, a tour operator. Pacific Holidays canceled the trip because of the pandemic in March 2020. In July, a representative of the company promised me a full refund.

I have since developed metastatic breast cancer and can no longer travel. I have contacted Pacific Holidays numerous times, but so far I have not received a refund. I’ve paid $1,443 for services charged and not received. Please help me and intervene in this dispute. Thank you for your help. — Helene Rosenthal, Bedford, Mass.

Answer

I’m so sorry to hear about your health challenges and hope you are on the road to recovery. But your medical issues have nothing to do with this refund. If Pacific Holidays promised a refund, you should receive a refund — no matter your personal circumstances.

Your situation is a little complicated. According to the correspondence you shared with me, Pacific Holidays postponed your Baltic trip to October, and you accepted the new itinerary. But then when you developed health problems, you asked for a refund. A representative of Pacific Holidays told you that she would submit your refund request to her accounting department.

After three months of silence, you decided to dispute the charges on your credit card. Unfortunately, under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you only have 60 days to dispute a charge from the date of expected service. Banks may make an exception, but yours didn’t. And that brought you to my doorstep.

I think you handled this by the book. You kept your correspondence in writing and saved all of your emails. You might have appealed your case to a company executive. They’re pretty easy to find online. All email addresses at Pacific Holidays are firstname@ pacificholidaysinc.com. A brief, polite appeal to one of them might have fixed this for you. (Here’s how to contact the CEO directly.)

Here is your refund from Pacific Holidays — more or less

I contacted Pacific Holidays on your behalf. It refunded your tour minus a $600 cancellation fee. Why? Since you accepted the rebooked tour and then canceled because of your illness, a cancellation fee would apply. The fee “covers our many hours and many weeks arranging this trip,” a Pacific Holidays representative told you. (Related: Pacific Coast Airlines canceled my flight — so where did my refund go?)

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I reviewed your correspondence with the company, and it looks like Pacific Holidays promised you a refund for your tour — but not a full refund. That leaves some room for cancellation fees. I’ve seen this before. When Pacific Holidays initially canceled your tour, you could have asked for a full refund. But when you accepted the rescheduled tour, the usual terms applied. But a partial refund is much better than none.

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Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes three nationally syndicated columns. He also publishes the Elliott Report, a news site for consumers, and Elliott Confidential, a critically acclaimed newsletter about customer service. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter. He is based in Panamá City.

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