Zoom Airlines in Big Trouble [MERGED]

crass

I paid for my tickets online using a Natwest Maestro servicecard (debitcard). I called up Natwest and the said there was nothing they could do, next time pay with a credit card.

Is there anything I can do to recover any money for the flights? I can't afford to book with another airline if I don't get refunded at least some of the money!

I can't believe how unhelpful Natwest are!!!! Anyone got any ideas of what to do??

MrMonkey

Did you pay for travel insurance, and does this cover cancellations? Its the only other way I can think of to get a refund.

jodenice

My heart sank when I read this this morning. I have booked a holiday to Egypt, but we went through Discover Egypt (I had thought the flights they used were Monarch) and we got the tickets through yesterday and laughed at the fact that such a cheap sounding air company was taking us ("Zoom? Who're they!'). I have seen that the company we are using is a member of ABTA - do you think we will be covered? We fly end of September. Alas, I also paid by Natwest Solo (I have no credit at all!) so if not, I'm stuffed!

exel1966

This has been taken and edited from an article written by Martin Lewis :-

Did you pay on a Visa Debit card?

If you paid for ZOOM on a Visa debit card, there is a real chance you can get your cash back. Unlike with credit cards, this isn't a legal protection, but a protection from Visa's own rules. It's all about Visa's 'chargeback' system.

What is chargeback?

It's effectively Visa's own refunds system. It's designed so that if you pay for something and that order hasn't been adequately completed or is never received, or the order is illegitimate in some way, your bank can do a chargeback on the bank that collected the payment.

The crucial part of this is that the chargeback means you're asking for a refund from ZOOM's payment processing bank rather than ZOOM itself, which is great news, as ZOOM has no cash, but its bank does!

I'll be honest, when I first suggested people try this it was as a "it's worth having a go, you've got nothing to lose" as this is an arcane piece of internal Visa regulation. Yet more and more people are reporting successes and it seems there's real hope. Now don't get your hopes up too much; it's still not guaranteed you'll succeed, but it appears there's a realistic chance.

How do you do a chargeback?

Quite simply call up your bank, with all the details of the payments made to ZOOM (check your statements, if you don't have them ask the bank for details, but this slows things down) and ask it to start the 'Chargeback procedure' to get you your money back on the basis of "non-delivery of the goods".

At this point it's quite possible the person you're talking to will never have heard of chargeback. Yet don't let that put you off. This is a legitimate system, and you need to (politely) stand your ground. If the bank says no, write an official letter of complaint and note that you'll be writing to complain to Visa.

Luckily, the more people who try to do a chargeback, the more likely it is the banks will know the process and proceed.

What about other debit cards?

If you paid via another type of debit card, you could have a go at the same process, but the rules are different and nowhere near as strong.

exel1966

jodenice wrote: »

My heart sank when I read this this morning. I have booked a holiday to Egypt, but we went through Discover Egypt (I had thought the flights they used were Monarch) and we got the tickets through yesterday and laughed at the fact that such a cheap sounding air company was taking us ("Zoom? Who're they!'). I have seen that the company we are using is a member of ABTA - do you think we will be covered? We fly end of September. Alas, I also paid by Natwest Solo (I have no credit at all!) so if not, I'm stuffed!

Different rules apply to package holidays than flight ticket only purchases. You are covered by ABTA, but you have absolutely nothing to worry about as Discover Egypt will use an alternate carrier. Switching carriers is a completely normal practice.

Confirmation HERE

sleepy-frog

A wee bit of hope . . .

Myself and my partner had flights booked with Zoom to fly out on 12th September to Toronto. When I heard the news last night I read the Zoom statement and phoned my telephone banking. I paid for both flights on my Alliance and Leicester Visa Debit card in June and when I spoke to the girl in the call centre she said they'd received notice that the company were liquidating. She then said she was submitting some sort of form on my behalf to the appropriate department. It would be picked up by them on Monday at the latest and a refund would appear in my account by the end of next week. I asked if it would be the full amount (£700, give or take . . . ) and she said yes. I asked her if this was definite and she said 'I wouldn't anticipate any problems - we're aware of the situation'. Based on this, I went onto Lastminute.com and found two flights from Glasgow to Toronto, via Amsterdam, leaving one day earlier and only £40 more than the original expense. I've now booked these on my credit card (for a little more peace of mind!). All being well, the money back from Zoom will be there to pay that cost off before we go . . . Our new flights may take slightly longer, but at least we're still going . . . It's a real shame about Zoom - we've flown with them every year since they started. Hope this post gives hope to some - good luck with the refunds.

Alligator

exel1966 wrote: »

Section 75 of the Consumer Creditt Act 1974 covers you in FULL. The credit card company have acted correctly in passing this to their 'disputes' dept.

Thanks exel1966 for the concise and reassuring response.

I do feel quite lucky as not only have I not been stranded but I have also managed to get flights with BA for the same dates at a lower price than Zoom had charged.

gregg1

When we flew with Zoom 3 weeks ago there was a problem with them landing at JFK. The pilot reckoned that there was a bad storm and the airport had been closed and not allowing any flights to land. However, he said he was going to keep on the approach to JFK till the last minute before diverting "just in case they allow us to land". We did eventually land at JFK but although it was raining we though it was a bit weird that there had not been much turbulence (certainly not anything like there would be if there was a storm) and the taxi driver reckoned the airport had not been closed at all. Guessing there is a good chance that they had just been refused permission to land cos of another "problem".

jodenice

exel1966 wrote: »

Different rules apply to package holidays than flight ticket only purchases. You are covered by ABTA, but you have absolutely nothing to worry about as Discover Egypt will use an alternate carrier. Switching carriers is a completely normal practice.

Confirmation HERE

fab, thank you so much, I looked on the website but didn't see this!

Someone in my office paid by Switch for flights to New York in October for his wedding anniversary for the 25th October.. no joy for him, he's just lost the money.

baloo

I am so desperately sorry for all of you that have booked flights or holidays with Zoom - how gutting.:mad:

Hindsight is a great thing I know, but the Zoom scenario must teach us to ask around before booking a cheap flight. I was told that Zoom were in serious trouble about 6 months ago and that many operators were starting to refuse to use them or insure against them.

I truly hope that you all get your money back, and find something just as good.