I need your help guys please.

We accidentaly booked a holiday with Cosmos tonight for the wrong month, 16th Dec rather than 16th Feb (half term).

This is the first holiday we have been able to afford in years and the cancellation policy says that if you cancel within 10 days you are liable for 100% of the booking cost.

I'm trying to reassure D that surely they can't do that to us for a miss-click on the Internet and there must be some leverage via some consumer policy.

He's really upset.

Paid with debit card, we don't have credit cards. Millys, that's what I was thinking, surely with anything there is some protection for the consumer?

Mr Puffy wrote (see)

Are you cancelling? Or are you simply amending your booking if you change to Feb?
You need to phone them first thing and explain, if no joy then legal advice.
Have you paid in full?

We've paid in full but only tonight, I'm looking at the distance selling regulations and trying to assure him that we have 7 working days to cancel. We can't amend as the price will be triple. We want to cancel, period.

He's now quoting citizen's advice, which apparently says it's up to the holiday company. I haven't looked myself but surely the distance selling rules trump that?

I can't believe that a company can just take a couple of grand in a heartbeat, but he's being a cynical grumpy bastard.

Distance selling regs don't apply to holidays.  I think you need to try to contact the travel agent asap.  I seem to recal from some contract law course that I did years ago that a contract isn't valid if it is made in error.

Caveat emptor - let the buyer beware is a fundemental of contract law although thats normally about faulty goods I think.. But its worth contacting the company to explain, specially with the internet as its so easy to click a bit too early. Good luck. 

I did this a few years ago with a flight on lastminute.com. Lastminute wouldn't refund and so I ended up having to take the problme to the Financial Help column in the Independent newspaper who got me a full refund. Btw, I had also purchased another ticket on another screen with the correct dates! 

I've got a bad feeling about this...

D is going to try phone calls first thing this morning

Keeping fingers crossed for you KK. I've done that with Expedia and they changed the booking for a fee (50EUR I think)... so it may be ok.

I know it's not ideal but if the worst comes to the worst could you possibly just take the holiday this month? Would you be able do that?

or sell it to someone who can, the name change fee's might be cheaper than the cancelation fees

Where's the holiday to?

You will almost certainly be relying entirely on the company's goodwill.  Read this thread which covers all the same ground.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=1133883&mid=25020&nmt=flythomascook+100%25+cancellation+charge+for+mistake%3F

Always worth ringing them and asking to amend... What've you got to lose by trying?

Definitely. 

Most companies want to be shown to be helpful and don't want any bad publicity if they can avoid it. You need to act immediately though as its next Sunday you'll be flying ?

and crying on the phone might help?