When you book a group vacation, there is a lot of excitement in the air, and everyone is fully committed to going and paying as planned. However, nobody accounts for the possibility of circumstances changing and last-minute dropouts. If that does happen, should those people still have to pay up for their portion of the vacation, or should everyone else cover it?
A travel forum user has recently had to drop out of a group trip herself, and she has been faced with this dilemma. However, there is a twist. Let’s find out what it is.
To Pay or Not To Pay
The original poster explains (OP) that she had booked to go away on vacation with a group of friends but canceled at the last minute because of a family emergency. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about the situation, and her friends understood.
As she had already paid for the hotel and activities, she let her friends keep the money as a goodwill gesture, as she felt bad about potentially costing them more money at the last minute.
That isn’t the issue here, though. The issue is what then happened on the morning of the vacation. With the group all set to go, she received a message from one of her friends asking OP if she would be open to sending more money to cover another group member who could no longer go because they had tested positive for COVID.
A Crazy Suggestion
OP was taken aback by this. For starters, she wasn’t going anymore, so why should she have to chip in for the costs of the new dropout? And secondly, her costs weren’t covered when she dropped out, so why is this other friend getting bailed out?
She didn’t feel like she should have to pay any more money but wanted to check that she was in the right first. Here is the advice she received from Reddit.
Trust Your Gut
Reddit community members were quick to tell OP to trust her gut instincts on the matter and that she shouldn’t have to pay a cent more. One person summed up the thoughts of everyone, saying:
“If they want to be reimbursed for that person canceling, they should take it up with that person. It’s not your issue.”
Entitled Friends
Others were even suggesting that OP should go and find some other friends due to the disrespect that she was being shown. One user said: “Your friends are the ones that are acting entitled. You covered your portion and are NOT responsible for paying for your other friend. That is THEIR responsibility. Get better friends who don’t ask you for unreasonable compensation/requests.”
Update: OP has since confirmed that she has refused to send any more money and that the whole situation has left her with a sour taste in her mouth.
What Do You Think?
What do you think? Should OP have helped her friends by chipping in for the last-minute dropout, or was she right to refuse? Let us know what you think in the comments.
(Source: Reddit)
