Where is our Mexican vacation refund? We’ve been waiting for months

By Christopher Elliott Expedition Troubleshooter Q My husband and I reserved a room in the Layla Guesthouse in Puerto Morelos Mexico earlier this year but had to cancel for personal reasons We canceled within the required time frame and requested a refund minus a percent cancellation fee but have yet to receive it despite assurances from the guesthouse that it was being processed Can you help us Betsy Webster La Grange Park Ill A You should have received your refund by now But I think I know the reason for your delay The Layla Guesthouse is a six-room boutique hotel that was in the process of turning itself into longer-stay apartments when you contacted me Your refund may have gotten lost in the shuffle The guesthouse applies a cancellation plan that s similar to one of a cruise line or tour operator If you cancel within days of arrival or more you ll get percent of your entire stay refunded The percent cancellation fee covers the credit-card swipe fee and currency conversion If you cancel between and days before your arrival date you ll get percent back If you re between and day it goes down to percent You knew about these fees and agreed to them In particular techniques they are more generous than what you would have gotten with Airbnb and Vrbo In other methods they are not For example none of the other platforms charge you percent cancellation fees I would normally say that you could have avoided this difficulty by using one of the vacation rental platforms but I ve seen more than a scarce refund problems with Airbnb and Vrbo Companies are quick to take your money and slow to return it regardless of company size It looks like you canceled your reservation by email well in advance of your stay and received confirmation that the cancellation was being processed You followed up several times only to be described by the guesthouse that they were experiencing technical difficulties then that your refund was being processed However you never received the money If a business promises you a refund in writing but doesn t deliver you may be able to talk to your bank about a credit card dispute A chargeback under the Fair Credit Billing Act would help you recover all of your money A dispute department will view your email from the hotel confirming a refund is being processed as a credit memo and claw back the money After months of waiting you contacted me for help My band contacted Layla Guesthouse on your behalf You also followed up with the guesthouse to press your occurrence Eventually a guesthouse representative reviewed your event and issued a full refund Related Articles American Airlines promised me flight delay compensation Where is it Princess canceled my cruise and unfairly charged a cancellation fee Wish You Were Here Icebergs penguins and whales in Antarctica Happy Wanderer Get a taste of the American West in Carson City Reno Wish You Were Here Eating guava pastry in Cuba snowshoeing in Norway Your experience illustrates the importance of persistence and following up It also shows the value of a paper trail By keeping a record of your correspondence with the guesthouse you were able to prove that you had canceled your reservation and were entitled to a refund In the end your patience and determination paid off Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy https elliottadvocacy org a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems Email him at chris elliott org or get help by contacting him at https elliottadvocacy org help