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It's a long story so I won't go into the details of why I need to cancel 24 hours before I travel. They say they will charge the full amount.

I paid with a debit card - which I can easily reduce the available monies to £0 or I can even cancel the card.

The other thing is, if they charge the full amount for cancellation - is there any point in using their cancel facility? I guess all this does is free the space up so they can resell it - which doesn't benefit me at all.

Is there any recourse if I do this?

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    I'm told that sometimes the "full amount" they charge is just the ticket price, while you may still get back the additional taxes and fees. – gerrit Dec 18 '15 at 11:32
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    Allowing cancellation up to 24 hours before departure does not seem very restrictive and I assume you did agree to these conditions when booking so why is that you feel entitled to get your money back and inconvenience everybody else unless cancelling properly benefits you personally? – Relaxed Dec 18 '15 at 13:48
  • "They say they will charge the full amount. // I paid with a debit card " - so - have you already paid or not? I'm confused because whenever I've travelled with BF I've always had to pay the full balance weeks before the date of travel, so come 24 hours before travel they've already got my money. – AakashM Jul 5 '17 at 8:49
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Own experience/common knowledge answer, so no links.

If you booked a ticket on which there is no free cancelation within the last 24 hours, you owe the company the money. If you make it impossible to get the money from your debit card, you may be charged in an other way.

Your best bet is to claim back from your travel insurance.

Sometimes companies allow you to change your booking to a date in the future rather than canceling, you will not get back (or not pay) your money but you might be able to get the date changed to a date you can travel.

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  • If the debit card is cancelled, the ferry company can send Scrutinoid an invoice, but they have no way to enforce it besides going to court. If he's from a distant country it probably wouldn't be worth to sue over a few dozen pounds. – JonathanReez♦ Dec 18 '15 at 8:57
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    In case of my debit card the money will be paid unless I am well below zero. Most companies charge cards well before the day of travel, often on the day you buy the tickets, and they want your address details, which will allow them to send a money collecter to get the money with you paying the cost of that service. – Willeke♦ Dec 18 '15 at 16:54
  • If OP lives in India (for example), it would be quite difficult to send a collector... – JonathanReez♦ Dec 18 '15 at 20:04
  • Most people using the ferries live either in Ireland, the UK or in the countries on the continent close to the ferries, like the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, tourist from other continents are rare on the ferries and all I have met traveled as part of a coach company. The fact he uses the pound sign for the money on the debit card makes it more likely he is in the UK than anywhere else. – Willeke♦ Dec 18 '15 at 20:06

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