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Teletext Holidays threatened with court action after failing to provide refunds for trips disrupted by coronavirus

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Petar Lekarski
Petar Lekarski
Assistant Editor – News & Investigations
25 March 2021

Teletext Holidays may face court action if it fails to refund customers whose package holidays were cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said.  

The competition watchdog has written to the holiday provider and asked it to sign formal commitments – known as 'undertakings'– requiring it to refund affected customers as soon as possible and to take steps to ensure it complies with package travel regulations going forward. If it fails to do so, it may face court action. 

It comes after the CMA launched an official investigation into Teletext last month, following hundreds of complaints from holidaymakers who hadn't received refunds for package holidays cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The CMA told us today that it couldn't provide any details on the numbers of affected consumers or the value of the refunds involved at this stage.

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.

Other travel firms have also been investigated by the CMA

This latest enforcement action by the CMA follows several other investigations by the watchdog 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 HolidaysLastminute.com, Virgin Holidays, Tui UK, Sykes Cottages and Vacation Rentals.

What does Teletext Holidays say?

A spokesperson from Truly Travel Ltd, which operates the Teletext Holidays brand, said: "Discussions are ongoing between Truly Group and the Competitions and Markets Authority on this very subject. Accordingly we do not think it would be helpful for us to comment on the matter until that process is completed."

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TELETEXT HOLIDAYS THREATENED WITH COURT ACTION OVER REFUNDS

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