What would you do if you planned a vacation with another couple who backed out at the last minute and insisted on being refunded? Unfortunately, that happened to this man who took to Reddit to see if he was wrong. For the sake of his story, we’ll call him Bill.
Annual Vacation With Friends
Bill explained that this is an annual event and that the couples are overall great friends. They’ve spent five years becoming friends with the pair and never endured any arguments or riffs in their friendship. Furthermore, Bill is close with the husband of the pair, and their wives are best friends. They only live five minutes from each other and hang out at least once weekly.
The couple locked in their vacation plans in the mountains six months ago. So they split the cost down the middle. Unfortunately, the travel company used has a two-week termination policy where you can’t cancel and get a refund if it’s within two weeks of the stay.
Bill explained, “Well, we are all supposed to arrive in three days, and this morning they texted us saying they don’t think they can go. They went out of town to visit family and are afraid their pipes may have burst or are at least frozen, as they did not drip their faucets before leaving.”
After experiencing an unusual freeze, their thermostat was showing offline. “So they don’t plan on coming home before going on vacation with us. Hence they may pass on holiday with us to check on their home.”
Finally, the couple asked them to find a replacement family and refund them half of the vacation ($1200) we were supposed to go on. “We said no.” Here is how the internet responded.
Why Should It Be Your Responsibility?
One user asked, “Why should it be your job to find a replacement family willing to cough up $1,200 on short notice? That should be their job if, and only if, it is a replacement family you are willing to share a vacation.
Don’t give them their $1,200 back, even if your family takes a holiday by yourselves. Unforeseen things sometimes happen, and sometimes lost costs can’t be recouped–but that is not your responsibility.”
You’re Not Wrong, But Prepare to Lose Friendship
“This is why everyone pays their share in the first place!! Because people are less likely to cancel at the last minute, knowing THEY will lose THEIR money if they do. It is totally on them. Be prepared to be blamed and to lose the friendship, though,” warned another.
Remove Yourself From the Equation
Someone suggested, “Take yourself out of the equation entirely and tell them, unfortunately, you would love to give them a refund, but because both of you paid directly to the company, they will have to talk to them about a refund. Tell them you cannot find anyone on short notice and ask how they are going with their friends.”
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Something Else Is Up
Finally, many people in the thread said they didn’t believe the story. One noted, “Something else is going on. If they legit thought the pipe might have burst. No one local can check for them (as your other comments indicate). They would be hightailing it home to deal with the damage, mitigation, and insurance.
If all was well, they could still go on vacation and deal with the extra drive time. They are asking you to eat the $1200. Think about that for a second.”
What do you think? Should this couple feel obligated to refund the $1200 or find another couple to vacation with on three days’ notice? Or is the other couple ridiculous? We hope you enjoyed this Reddit discussion. This article is inspired by the internet and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Wealthy Nickel.
