Scandalous – stag do in Budapest cancelled because of COVID but the company gives nothing back!
We received an email from a reader of us living in the United Kingdom. He said that they wanted to come to Budapest for a stag do but it was cancelled because of the coronavirus epidemic. However, the company that organised it gave no money back. Instead, they said that they should reschedule the event (a stag do!) or sell the voucher to their friends.
Companies in the catering, tourism or event organising sectors are all affected badly by the coronavirus epidemic and the restrictive measures the governments implemented. We wrote HERE that the Hungarian economy will suffer significantly in the impending crisis. However, there are companies even in the most affected sectors that try to act gently in this situation and refund their customers for their cancelled services. Of course, there are exceptions.
One of our readers (let’s name him Pete) wrote us a couple of days ago that they planned to come to Budapest for a stag do. Therefore, they paid €530 in advance to book
a unique bath party in the Hungarian capital by a company called Sparty.
According to him, the company cancelled the event because of the coronavirus epidemic, which he accepted since health is much more important than parties. But the problems came just after that.
Pete asked Sparty whether he can get back at least part of the money he paid in advance, but they “have refused the refund many times drawing me to the terms and conditions. My question is, how can there be terms and conditions due to the coronavirus? In my opinion, it is a chance to show some great customer service and do the right thing” – he wrote to us.
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According to him, they should not have to pay for something they are entirely unable to attend.
The company offered them to change to another date
but he explained to them that they are UK-based, so they are not able to attend another time; furthermore, the date was scheduled for just before the wedding. Of course, there will be no need for another after it.
Pete says that the dispatcher of the company was exceptionally rude to him by ignoring everything he said and repeating the “please see our terms and conditions” sentence. “I have tried the nice approach, I have tried a heartfelt approach and I have tried an angry approach. I find it disgusting they are profiting from the virus. And they are profiting because they are not refunding us anything. We have paid in full” – he added.
Sparty’s terms and conditions say that
- INTERSPUTNIK reserves the right to modify, restructure and further develop the Events, and the services and products provided at the Events, according to its discretion, as required. Visitors are not entitled to make any claims against INTERSPUTNIK with regards to such modifications, restructuring or further developments.
- In the event of lawful cancellation by INTERSPUTNIK, visitors are not entitled to make any claims or demands against INTERSPUTNIK.
Therefore, they wrote him that since they are not a once-off event, as per the above terms, they reserve the right to modify the date of the event and the postponed events will be held at a later date. They added that “please keep in mind that we are not accepting any claims for refund, but due to current circumstances
we are giving an exceptionally long period to our Hungarian and non-Hungarian resident guests to arrange the rebooking
or the transferring (to someone else) of the tickets.”
Pete says that their case is exceptional since they will not return another time, so he said that Sparty offered a very bad customer service.
“As I have said to them, I understand why terms and conditions exist. I truly do. However, in times like this, it does not mean you have to apply them. There is no need for them to profit from this.
If the party does not go ahead, their costs are considerably less yet we are still charged” –
he concluded.
We sent our questions to Sparty last week, but we have not received an answer yet.
Welcome to West balkan baby.
If the hapless reveller, ‘Pete’ paid using a UK credit card, say Visa, Mastercard, or American Express, he is fully protected by UK Consumer Protection Law Section 75 providing the purchase is over 100 GBP and less than 30,000GBP (which in this case it is). If he paid with a Debit Card, then he needs to contact his bank within 120 days of purchase and make a claim under the Chargeback scheme. In this case Sparty are unable to provide the service that was paid for (a party on a specific date) so ‘Pete’ is entitled to a refund, regardless of the 2nd paragraph of the Terms and Conditions that you printed (that paragraph is in contravention of Contract Law and is thus of no merit). The refund will be given by the Credit Card company or Bank, who will retrieve the money directly from Sparty’s account. These consumer protections apply to all purchases made on UK cards irrespective of which country the purchase was made in. It is for this reason that any major purchases that I make here in Hungary are always paid for using a UK credit card so that in the event of a problem, if initially the retailer refuses to refund me, the credit company will. It is worth noting that if ‘Pete’s’ transaction was made through a third party ie. he used a credit or debit card or direct debit to pay Sparty via Paypal, the Section 75 or Chargeback consumer protection does not apply and he will have to contact Paypal about their refund policies. With regard to Sparty, they may be able to reclaim the money from their hosts, the Szécheny Bath, depending upon the contract that they have with them.
Sounds just like a proper hungarian costumer service!
Go to see Budapest Metropolitan University, the crappiest institution in europe..
For me happened the same. I won’t never again think I’m put my feet in Budapest.
Same happened with us due to Covid. Unacceptable refund policy as the event was cancelled and we are from the UK so not able to attend later on!