Awful to deal with when an unforeseen cancellation was needed
I contacted Welcome cottages to ask about refund conditions when an unforeseen circumstance made it impossible to go away. This was not covered by travel insurance so it was at huge cost to me. I had 2/3 days from contacting them before I lapsed into an even greater loss. In this time I asked around to see if anyone else would like to go. No-one did so I called on the Friday night deadline just after 8pm to cancel. According to their website their call centre is open until 9pm on a Friday night. I tried various numbers assigned to the company and got the same dead end each time saying that the call centre would open the next morning at 9am. I immediately emailed to make sure I have evidence of trying to contact them before the deadline. The next morning I called and explained to the member of staff. I was told that I'd missed the deadline so I could no longer claim 25% refund. I had to get considerably annoyed in order for them to look into my email. Eventually the email was confirmed and it was agreed I was entitled to a 25% refund. The member of staff said their emails didn't work at the weekend and I would therefore have to wait until Monday for confirmation of cancellation. Monday came and went. I had no email. I emailed after to ask what was happening. I was replied to. the next day I had a 22.5% refund in my account. They add in an extra rip-off charge by making the booking fee non-refundable. The cancellation process most certainly cannot be described as "stress-free."
By Jane