Aussie Influencer hits back after outrage over honeymoon refund demand

Australian influencer Jade Tuncdoruk has faced outrage online, after taking to her Instagram account to blast a business over a refund on her honeymoon holiday deposit.

The 26-year-old, who had over 400,000 followers on the social media app, uploaded a now deleted post explaining that she had put down a $2,000 deposit with holiday rental company Weekenda last year.

However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Jade and her fiance, Lachie Brycki, were forced to postpone their wedding and in August she canceled her Weekenda honeymoon stay for March this year.

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“We requested a refund due to the pandemic, but they said the best they could do was put it back up online to be booked by someone else,” Jade told her followers.

“6 weeks out of the booking and we’ve asked again for a refund which they’ve denied.

“They’ve had months to refund us for a booking that we don’t need.”

Jade said it was “incredibly poor form and so disappointing that businesses are taking advantage of people in the middle of a pandemic.”

Not long after the post, Jade came back online to let her followers know that the company had refunded them for the holiday.

“They've agreed to refund us for our stay! Thank you guys for your help,” she wrote with a love heart emoji.

However, Instagram account @celeb_spellcheck, which calls out influencers on their social media posts, took to their page to blast Jade, saying: “Congratulations on not reading the terms and conditions".

They continued: “We’re almost two years into the pandemic, 99% of us have had travel plans fucked by cov*d. It sounds like it was her call to cancel, not due to lockdowns or government restrictions out of her control. If a small business was willing to list the accommodation and refund me if it got booked, I’d say THANK YOU!”

Jade hit back at the account, taking to her Instagram to say she is “every bit entitled to request a refund from a business that’s charging $2k for accommodation I don’t need”.

“I gave them 8 months notice. 8 months!! Lots of people have had to reschedule their weddings in the middle of the pandemic and have rightfully requested and received refunds.

“This has nothing to do with supporting small businesses. If you guys want to go around throwing $2k at businesses for services you don’t need and won’t use that’s amazing! I can’t wait to see all your receipts! They’re not a charity though so I’m not doing that.”

Jade went on to call out the Instagram page and said posting about the business on her account was a “last resort” after countless emails to them.

She called the backlash “ridiculous” and said: “Don’t act like you wouldn’t all sit at home and try to get the refund yourselves”.

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