I am writing on behalf of my elderly mother 83 and 84 year old aunt to help us to get a refund for cancelled trip.
On July 19, 2021 my elderly mother (age 83), purchased an online trip from CheapCaribbean.com to travel to Mexican Riviera May Mexico, Barcelo Maya Tropical All Inclusive (Dates November 17-24, 2021). She also purchased a Standard Travel Protection Plus Plan offered by CheapCaribbean.com to ensure that this trip is protected and she can cancel it at any time. She also talked to an agent to confirm that the reservation is fully refundable and she can cancel it any time.
Agent told her that the only non-cancelable portion of the reservation is the airfare (airfare policy). Total cost of the trip, including airfare and travel protection insurance $4,246.57. She used my credit card to pay a deposit of $2,730.10.
With increased number of COVID 19 cases, we have decided that traveling outside of the US is unsafe at this time and contacted CheapCaribbean.com to cancel this trip. First time I spoke with a CheapCaribbean.com representative on 7/28/2021. The representative told me that the cost of airfare is non-refundable (airfare policy). However, I contacted airline directly, and airline refunded cost of the tickets in full to Cheap Caribbean within 3 days. The airline representative also informed us that tickets were refundable and Cheap Caribbean lied that the tickets cannot be returned.
On July 30, I contacted Cheap Caribbean again, informed them that airline refunded the funds, and requested to refund the money to us in full.
Cheap Caribean representative did not dispute that the company received the money from the airline, but told us that the company will not refund the money to us. Cheap Caribbean will give us a credit which we can apply for any future reservations within 1 year. I kindly explained to the representative, that due to Covid 19 and age of the travelers (83 and 84) keeping credits with the company is not an option. And if my elderly mother and aunt understood, that “refundable” package with a protection plan means “refundable for credit to travel in the future” they would not have made this purchase during the pandemic.
I asked for a supervisor. But my request was denied
I would like peacefully to resolve this dispute and receive a full refund. I called company 5 times, ensured that they received funds back from the airline, explained the situation but was unsuccessful. I also explained multiple agents that the package with full protection plan is advertised as fully refundable, which in reality is not the case.
On behalf of my 83 year old mother, and 84 year old aunt I am asking for help to resolve this case and receive money back from this company.
Thank you