Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia
Cancelled trip
My son and his friend Walter planned a trip overseas to visit my sister. Walters�s parents did not have the funds to purchase the ticket at the time. I paid for the plane ticket in Walters name on my husband�s credit card. Two weeks later I received a check from Walter�s parents for the full amount of Walter's airfare. Three weeks after that payment was made my son came to me with information about Walter and why my son did not want to travel or have Walter stay at his aunts (my sisters home). I spoke to Walters parents two weeks before the planned trip and said the trip was cancelled. Since the ticket was purchased in Walter�s name, only Walter can get a 75% refund or use the ticket to purchase a different ticket for himself or another person. Walter is now suing me for the full amount of the ticket $916.00. There was no contract or exchange of money for Walter to spend the two weeks at my sister�s home. Walter could have still taken the trip on his own. Did I have the right to deny Walter accommodations at my sister�s home? Will I be responsible for paying for any or all of Walter�s plane ticket? I have already called the airline and there is NOTHING I can do with a ticket purchased in Walter�s name.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Cancelled trip
It would seem that once you had received full payment for the airfare from Walter's parents, that you should've left well enough alone and not taken it upon yourself to cancel Walter's ticket.(Your son could've explained to Walter that staying at his aunt's home at the place of destination was no longer an option and that he himself had changed his mind about the trip---for whatever reason. Then, if Walter had still wanted to go by himself he could've done so and arranged for his own accommodations.)
However, even with this blunder on your part, you still could not be responsible for all $916 of the cost of Walter's ticket, and in my view the most he could legally recover from you would be the difference between the 75% refund amount ($687) to which he's apparently entitled and the full cost of the ticket ($916) or $229. And, arguably, even this amount Walter may not be entitled to for reasons which
you've already mentioned.
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