A FAMILY has been left £500 out of pocket after the owners of a Wirral hotel cancelled its New Year’s Eve event just days before it was meant to go ahead.
Luke Hanson and his fiancé from Wallasey had booked two rooms and two tickets to Leasowe Castle Hotel's New Year’s Eve event on December 31, 2024.
The tickets, which were priced at £25 per person, included a welcome drink, band, DJ and fireworks.
However, two days before the event Luke said he was told by the hotel that the event had been cancelled and that a refund would be issued.
However, a month later, he now claims that the hotel is “refusing” to issue a refund.
Luke told the Globe: “There were eight of us booking on for the New Year's Eve event. All adults. Then myself, fiancé, mum and stepdad also booked rooms for the night, which my mum got us as part of a Christmas gift.
“Since then we have been contacted by the hotel with a really badly written email from senior management claiming that the cancellation was due to storm damage and that no refunds were to be issued as it was currently with their insurance company and not to contact them further.”
Luke said since receiving the email that the management have stopped responding to him by phone or email.
He said: “When they cancelled we were told a refund would follow. They were still advertising other events and taking people's money at this time and still are.
“They refuse to answer the phone or my email. We have nothing to do with their insurance company, and there seems to be a lot of negative feedback on social media from others experiencing similar.
“Now my family are approximately £500 out of pocket from their cancelled new year party. We paid a lot of money and had rooms booked and tickets for their event which they only notified us that it had been cancelled two days before it."
Luke said he finds the way the incident has been handled as “completely unacceptable”.
He said: “Our New Year was ruined. We were told the event was cancelled two days before it was supposed to go ahead not after the storm at the start of the December which the owners alleged had caused damage to the premises.
“We would like a full refund for both the event and the rooms that we cancelled for the event. It has been handled so badly and unprofessionally by the management team.”
An email shown to the Globe from senior management at the hotel to customers states that “our legal advice is that as the storm was an act of god causing damage and, that force majeure rules apply”.
It also claims that: “The insurance company will need to assess the business interruption, damages and consequences and will provide information of success or otherwise of our claim in due course and any pay out if applicable or not”.
The full email correspondence reads: “Dear guest, I have been advised that your refund is delayed due to ongoing insurance claim processing.
“As you know we had to cancel several functions at the hotel due to damage and safety concerns as a result of Storm Darragh damage to the building, including a chimney, roof damage and damage to the boiler room and heaters.
“Our legal advice is that as the storm was an act of god causing damage and, that force majeure rules apply.
“The insurance company will need to assess the business interruption, damages and consequences and will provide information of success or otherwise of our claim in due course and any pay out if applicable or not.
“We are not able to make payments as I will affect the insurance policy and claim. Meaning we do not admit any liability nor cause due to the hotel.
“We have been asked to let all guests seeking refunds to be explained this and await the outcome. Under force majeure (ie act of God) we are not liable to make refunds in any case – weddings, room bookings etc.
“We apologise for this situation however, the storm damage was out of our control for which we are not liable.
"Our insurance processes need to be followed to ensure recovery for all guests and the business as any likely breach of the policy will negate payments. We sincerely hope you understand this.
“If you have any questions, please contact you finance or legal advisors as the hotel staff cannot assist you in this regard further.”
A spokesperson from Leasowe Castle Hotel said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases owing to GDPR. However, the number of cases is extremely isolated and are currently being hugely amplified by other individuals on social media seeking a vendetta against the hotel.
“Our focus now is twofold…to continue to press hard for our insurers to settle for the very small number of parties owed a refund. And secondly, to protect our staff who are being abused online and offline by those who are part of that vendetta.”
“We are working very hard with our insurance company to ensure that in a very small number of isolated instances, refunds will be processed as soon as the insurance company enables this. We sincerely apologise for the frustration this will have caused.”
