Retreat cancelled two weeks before and is only offering credit, can I get my money back

Some of you might remember my thread in the summer about the yoga and detox week that wanted everything upfront. I did book it in the end, deposit on my credit card and the balance by bank transfer in September when it was due.

This morning I got an email saying the week is cancelled because the lead teacher has had to pull out, and they are "pleased to offer a full credit" towards a future retreat within 12 months. No mention of a refund at all. The retreat was meant to start on the 6th.

I do not want credit. I booked time off work for this specific week and I am not sure I trust them now. Their cancellation policy I got in writing in June does say something about what happens if they cancel, I am digging it out. What do I actually do here?

Ugh, sorry Marta. My brother in law (the fraud one) would say: get everything in writing, do not accept the credit by replying "ok", and if they will not refund, ring the card company about the deposit. The transfer bit is harder, which is exactly what everyone said in your last thread, but still ask.

For what it is worth, teacher dropouts do happen at small places and it is not necessarily dodgy. But a decent retreat offers you the choice of credit OR a refund. Only offering credit is them protecting their cash flow at your expense.

Marta Lindqvist said:

Their cancellation policy I got in writing in June does say something about what happens if they cancel

That written policy is the most valuable thing you own right now, so start there. If it says you are entitled to a refund if they cancel, you are asking them to honour their own terms, not for a favour, and that is a much stronger position.

The usual order goes like this. Reply in writing, calmly, quote the exact line from their policy, say you do not accept the credit and are requesting a full refund of what you paid, and give a reasonable date for a reply, a week or so. Do not say anything that could read as agreeing to the credit. Keep every email.

If they do not refund, the card payment is your route for the deposit. Ring your card provider and ask about your options; in the UK that might be Section 75 for a credit card payment over £100, or chargeback, which works on debit cards too but is not a legal right and has a time window, so do not sit on it. Your card provider is the one to tell you which applies to your situation. The transfer is harder to recover, but if you have travel insurance, check whether it covers supplier failure, and tell your bank anyway.

I wrote all of this up properly very recently in wellness retreat deposits and cancellation, partly because of your summer thread. Your three questions back then are the reason you are holding a written policy now.

Found it. The policy says, in their words, "if we cancel a retreat for any reason you will be offered a full refund or a transfer to alternative dates". Sent exactly the email you described this morning with that line pasted in.

Full refund, deposit and balance, landed this morning. They replied apologising and said the credit email was "a template". I did not even need to ring the card company in the end. Lesson learned twice over: get the policy in writing before you pay, and keep it somewhere you can find it.