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Lastminute.com Faces Antitrust Action Over Holiday Refunds In UK

By  |  February 14, 2021

Online travel agent Lastminute.com will be taken to court unless it pays more than £1 million (US$1.39 million) of outstanding refunds, the competition regulator has stated.

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    Lastminute.com had promised to refund people for package holidays canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    But it missed a repayment deadline at the end of January. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated the company needed to pay people back within seven days to avoid court action.

    “It is wholly unacceptable that thousands of Lastminute.com customers are still waiting for full refunds for package holidays despite the commitments the company signed with us,” said CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli. 

    “We take breaches of commitments extremely seriously. If Lastminute.com does not comply with the law and pay people their outstanding refunds quickly, we will take the company to court.”

    Lastminute.com has been approached for comment. Last week, the online travel agent stated the refund process had been “very complex and difficult.”

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