Booking agent not giving flight refund
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Pamal.
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April 27, 2020 at 18:10 #151084GillParticipant
Hi there
I’m trying to get a refund for a cancelled flight on 23/4/2020 from LHR to Stockholm with BA. It was booked with Expedia (using a credit card) – booking reference LLZ6VN. The flight was cancelled via an email from BA to me on 3/4/2020 and since then I have spent hours on the phone being bounced between BA and Expedia. I have had no correspondence from Expedia. As you’ll know BA are not taking customers calls at the moment. so I’ve communicated with them via Twitter DMs. They insist that it is for Expedia to arrange the refund but Expedia are not budging, saying they don’t have the ‘same tools’ as BA. Expedia have also handled my enquiries very badly – on three occasions simply leaving me on hold for up to 10 minutes before cutting off the line.
I don’t want a voucher or credit note. I simply want the refund. Hoping you can help me please?
By the way – the return flight was to be with SAS, they have also cancelled and eventually offered a refund. Though this will take up to 12 weeks.)
April 28, 2020 at 11:31 #151093
Jasmine BirtlesKeymasterThat is so frustrating! So sorry you’ve had this.
It’s good that you bought it with a credit card as you can, as a last resort, get your credit card to refund you and go after Expedia et al themselves.
However, it’s quite right to work with Expedia direct as they were the ones you dealt with in the first place. It may be time to write to the CEO (copying in Customer Service) and insisting that the company refund you and then get the money back from BA.
I’m shocked at BA’s behaviour – although I know they are dealing with a lot at the moment – and I think it’s worth persisting with BA. However, as it was Expedia who took the booking originally, they should take responsibility here.
I will speak to a travel expert about this and add another reply later.
April 28, 2020 at 12:04 #151095Jasmine BirtlesKeymasterI have just spoken to my friend Simon Calder, travel editor on the Independent, and he says this: “Many people are in exactly this position, wondering who is responsible for providing a refund – and when it might arrive.
It’s tough enough when the flight booking is direct with the airline. While the European air passengers’ rights rules require a refund within a week of the non-departure of the flight, almost all airlines are ignoring the law – assuming, probably correctly, that they won’t face sanctions from regulators.
Once an online travel agent is involved, it’s trickier still. Your contract is with Expedia, and it is regrettable, to put it mildly, that it is not offering to do the legwork (or phone work) for you. British Airways has made it tough for passengers to get refunds, removing the button for easy online refunds and insisting you call if you want your money back.
If you can afford to wait a while, that is what I would advise – the alternative is to spend more time and energy on organisations that are already overstretched. Personally, at this stage all I would do is email Expedia to say that it owes the money and that you are expecting a full refund.
If the company appears to be dragging its feet, your options are limited – claiming through your credit-card firm may not work because there is no direct relationship with the airlines.
In future you might want to reconsider who you buy travel from. I think many of us will do that.”
April 28, 2020 at 22:18 #151113GillParticipantThanks Jasmine and Simon for your thoughts and advice. It’s good to get confirmation that I need to keep pushing Expedia. I heard Simon on Radio 2 with Jeremy Vine recently and he said that we have 12 months to claim a refund so I have time on my side. I might well need it!
I will follow your advice and not give up. I have sympathy for smaller booking agents but a big company such as Expedia should be better behaved. They clearly have no regard for their customers and I will definitely think twice about using them again. Thank you again Gil
May 12, 2020 at 10:20 #151291GillParticipantHi Jasmine
I’ve been following your advice and contacted Customer Services for Expedia – I got the following reply from their general customer service address:
“Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for contacting us. This is an un-monitored email address, you will not receive a reply.
Need to amend your travel plans? To allow us to support customers with imminent travel needs, we are asking those with less immediate trips to check our self-service tools, a much faster way to receive assistance on your booking. Please check out Travel Alerts and Contact Us on our website.”
Quite amazing isn’t it!? I will pursue with the CEO as you suggested. Though I suspect I’ll have problme finding thier contact details.
Expedia are still telling me it’s the software system they used to book my flight (called NDC) that prevents them from issuing a refund. I eventually spoke to a BA advisor who said she’d ‘never heard of it’. She also couldn’t help me but offered some good advice that echoes that of Simon. Ie I could try my credit card company.
They were quite helpful but are aksing for email trails between me, BA and Expedia. Of course my conversations have been on the phone. But they seemed fairly sure they would refund my money and chase Expedia/BA for payment.
So, not quite there yet! But feeling more positive! Thanks again for your help. Gill
May 19, 2020 at 12:30 #151415PamalParticipantAgree with all of above. This has been running on various consumer finance programmes. I travel for business so accepted the BA vouchers for future bookings, but a different ball game for individuals. I have rarely needed to use the “section 75″ clause on credit card providers being jointly and severally liable, but the card companies are far better than suppliers in a lot of cases. If you really want to make a point, you could just issue a summons against Expedia<span style=”display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,’Times New Roman’,’Bitstream Charter’,Times,serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;”> in the small claims court</span> (the legal contract will be with the to provide you the service, I believe) along with your incurred expenses in issuing the claim, plus admin costs. I am not a solicitor, but do follow things closely on finance and law, so do satisfy yourself on what may be refundable before going down this route. It may also be worth saying to Expedia that is you intention within a time, say 14 days, unless they provide full and final satisfactory settlement before that time to the value of £££ <whatever they should be giving back as a refund>.
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