Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Refund not issued from Travel Agent

I am not sure that Mr. Hoffman is entirely correct. Also, you need to tell us what the language is as to refunds; you merely cite as to cancellations.

If they promised you much better accommodations then were provide, they breached the contract and you are entitled to the difference between what you paid and the value of what you got, plus perhaps some damages for your upset, etc. It may be very difficult, however, to show what the did promise and that they did not provide it.

If people in authority promised you a refund [people who had the power to bind the company], in agreeing to accept the compromise you gave up the right to sue them so there would be a binding contract secondary to the first contract. They will deny that those people had the authority, so you need to speak to someone at the highest level you can go to and find out whether they will authorize any type of refund for not giving what they promised as to accommodations and if not why not [what exactly in the contract prohibits a refund] and why the statement of 4 of their employees is meaningless. First check with the Better Business Bureau and the trade agencies that they below to to see if they have complaints against them, go to web sites to see if others have written negative comments, find out which governmental agency regulates them and what their record is, find out from the place where you stayed if they will refund anything if it was them who created the problems. If the company will not pay you anything, look at the contract to see which state has jurisdiction over the case and if it is worthwhile to lose part of a days wages, sue them in Small Claims Court. You might need to get a quick opinion from an attorney as to what the contract does legally permit [a semi-retired attorney such as myself might charge $100-150 per hour for perhaps one hour's work, which might include a letter to the company once you have done all the background work and transmitted that to the attorney, but you first need to be sure that the amount you hope to recovery is great enough to justify spending any money on an attorney].

Good luck.

Re: Refund not issued from Travel Agent

Unless you had relied to your detriment on the company's promise (for example, by buying something expensive which you would not have bought otherwise), the company had the right to change its mind and you are not entitled to the refund.