Teletext Holidays to be investigated as hundreds complain they've not received refunds for coronavirus-cancelled trips

The CMA says that in some instances, Teletext Holidays customers have reported that they were promised refunds by a certain date, only to have that date pushed back. It will now engage with Teletext to gather further evidence on whether the company has broken consumer protection law.

Teletext Holidays has performed poorly in various surveys run by MoneySavingExpert.com looking at consumers' experiences with travel firms during the pandemic. In our most recent survey in December 2020, just 12% of Teletext Holidays customers who'd had bookings cancelled by the firm told us they'd received a full refund. See our Coronavirus Travel Rights guide for more help with refunds and cancellations.

Refunds secured by the CMA from several travel firms 

Today’s announcement follows several investigations by the CMA into holiday firms and their behaviour towards consumers during the coronavirus pandemic. The CMA has already secured refund commitments from a number of travel providers, including Love Holidays, Lastminute.com, Virgin Holidays, Tui UK, Sykes Cottages and Vacation Rentals.

However, the CMA is only at the initial stage of its investigation into Teletext Holidays and it stresses that the probe does not mean Teletext Holidays has done anything wrong at this stage. 

How the case will progress depends on the evidence – this could include the CMA closing the investigation if it believes consumer protection law hasn't been breached, securing commitments from the company to address any identified concerns, or taking court action.

What does Teletext Holidays say?

A spokesperson from Truly Travel Ltd, who operate the Teletext Holidays brand, said: “Despite the adverse conditions that the travel industry faces and the lack of industry-specific support provided by the government, the business continues to work hard to process refunds as quickly as possible and will work closely with the CMA in order to reach a satisfactory outcome for all our customers as quickly as possible.”