Tourist denied refund after cancelling £3k holiday over EasyJet hotel and rooms switch

Just three days after supposedly booking a four-night stay on December 27, Barnard received an email from the budget airline saying tht the hotel was overbooked.

The group, which included three people, was moved to the Hard Rock Hotel.

Reacting to the switch, Barnard told The Telegraph: “This would be unsuitable for my 88-year-old mother.

“We have also only been assigned a double room with extra bed instead of a junior suite.”

He added: “I phoned easyJet’s customer service team and was told that if we cancelled we would lose our deposit.

“This seems unfair. It’s like paying for a pair of shoes and being told you are being sent wellington boots.

“We asked to speak to a manager but this was refused. EasyJet seems to think we are being unreasonable in refusing to accept an alternative hotel. Are we?”

Section 11 of the UK’s Package Travel Regulations 2018 says that customers have the right to cancel if the tour organiser has “to alter significantly any of the main characteristics of the travel services specified”.

However, a difficulty does arise out of the ambiguity of the word “significantly”.

EasyJet view a “change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard” as insignificant.

Despite Hard Rock Hotel being a five-star property, the room type offered to Barnard was deemed significantly lower.

An EasyJet spokeswoman told The Telegraph: “On this occasion Mr Barnard should have also been offered the option to change to another hotel, or to cancel his holiday for a refund.

““We’re in touch with Mr Barnard to apologise that these options weren’t offered, and offer him a gesture of goodwill, and we are investigating how this happened, to ensure it doesn’t happen again in the future.”

The budget airline also stressed that instances of double booking remain rare.