AITA for not giving money back to friends after a cancelled vacation?
My family planned to take a vacation this month and allowed our daughter to invite a friend, which we agreed to fully pay for since it was our choice to bring the extra child along. We are friendly with the family of the friend that was invited, so when we started planning, they asked if they could come on the trip as well, at their own expense, of course. We agreed, thinking it would be great fun for all of us to vacation together.
My husband booked 3 rooms on his account to ensure that we would all be close together, paid the initial deposit for all 3 rooms and asked the other family to simply pay the remaining balance due on the room that would be theirs. My husband was feeling generous and paid more for the deposit on their room than what was required, and did not ask them to reimburse him for the deposit amount at all, just to pay the remaining balance.
Unfortunately, the day that we were supposed to leave for this vacation, due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to cancel the trip. Cancelling was a joint decision by both families. Both families had travel insurance, so we wouldn't be out the entire amount. The destination company provided a small refund for the cancellation, and the rest was submitted to the travel insurance for reimbursement.
We did not get a cash refund from the insurance, instead receiving credit to use towards a future vacation. Since the booking of the 3rd room was in the other families name, they are receiving the travel credit, which is non-transferrable. Because of the substantial deposit my husband put on their room, they will be receiving more in travel credits than what they actually paid for the trip.
The small cash refund received went back to my husband's credit card (the original form of payment). The family is now asking that we give them back the cash amount, which we don't think is fair since they can't transfer any of the travel credits to us. My husband has firmly stated that he will not be giving them any money back, and now I am getting constant texts from the other family about how they can't afford groceries without that money, which makes no sense to me because if we had taken the trip as planned, they would be out that money anyway.
So... AITA for not giving them any cash back?