I had booked a stay at Perisher Manor earlier this year, paying top-dollar for a season of unprecedented demand. Unfortunately, due to the lockdown in Greater Sydney, I was unable to go. I notified the property as soon as lockdown was announced for the dates of my stay. They offered to rebook me for the same season (useless with the extended lockdown) or provide a partial refund.
They ended up charging me $1,578 in cancellation fees--that's more than enough for a weekend stay even in 2021!
Their T&Cs had no provisions for COVID-19, so they made up that policy after the fact (or at least didn't publish it). What is published is that no refunds are offered at all for cancellations, so I suppose I should be grateful. That is if I were to ignore the fact that such an unfair term would likely be void under Australian Consumer Law. read more