Edinburgh couple wait four months for £600 refund after collapse of holiday firm Super Break

A couple who have waited four months for a refund on their holiday booking after the travel company went bust have finally been promised a refund after the Evening News got in touch with the travel agent.

Anne and James McKay booked a holiday to London with travel company Super Break through the agent TUI.

But Super Break went bust just hours after the couple made their booking on August 1.

Mr and Ms McKay put a claim in for a refund on their £572 cash booking on August 15 with the Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (ABTA).

But the couple did not receive a refund, despite repeated promises that the money would soon appear in their bank account, and many phone calls and letters sent by them to both ABTA and TUI.

“It felt like TUI was just ignoring us,” said Ms McKay.

“The woman on the phone to my husband at the Gyle centre was quite rude, it felt like she was laughing at him.

“It’s been very stressful for both of us, worrying that the money won’t be paid back,” the 56-year-old added.

The couple have now received confirmation from ABTA that their payment will be refunded within the next two weeks.

A TUI spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear that the customers holiday was cancelled due to Super Break going into administration.

“We will be in touch with the customer directly to offer a full holiday refund.”

But the couple do not yet feel that the issue is resolved.

“We’ll be very relieved when the money goes in but until we can see it in the bank account we won’t be able to relax,” said Ms McKay.

“We just can’t trust them anymore.

“We’re very cross that it’s taken such a long time for the refund to come through,” she added.

“It should have been managed a lot better.”

The couple have booked regular holidays with TUI for the past 20 years.

“We trusted TUI, but we won’t use them again after an experience like this,” said Ms McKay.

As the refund was delayed by such a long time, the couple were not able to book a replacement for their trip to London with Super Break, due to take place in September.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to book something else for the future when the money comes back, but it won’t be with TUI,” said Ms McKay.

“We’re very grateful to the Evening News for getting in touch with them.”

Super Break collapsed on August 1, along with sister company Late Rooms.

The two firms, both owned by the Malvern Group, had about 53,000 customers between them.

Both Super Break and Late Rooms continued to sell holiday packages until just before the collapse was announced.

Some 400 Super Break customers were on holiday at the time.