BMI Baby cancels Cardiff - Almeria route

fan-of-ezio

They told me refund would be in 28 days, and they DO NOT refund credit card charges! The only reference to this I can find on their website is when you cancel a fight, not when they cancel.

I'm up for the fight kchad, keep me informed!!

If anyone is sucessful getting credit card charges refunded, please can you post here.

fan-of-ezio

Omelette said

And just so you know, if you do take the refund they must offer a full refund of the price paid, which will include any card charges

Omelette, I think we need to know where this is written so that we can refer to it when communicating with BMI Baby. Can you help?

gallygirl

Hope this all gets sorted quickly for you all.

I have a property in Almeria I let out so I was delighted when BMI announced flights from E Mids & Cardiff - E Mids great for me and both good for business! Just after I booked 2 return flights I was informed the flights had changed from 8.30pm to 10am, meaning I've had to take 2 extra days off work. Now this........

3 cheers for Ryanair , they deliver better than so called 'quality companies'

Good luck again all.

omelette451

fan-of-ezio wrote: »

Omelette, I think we need to know where this is written so that we can refer to it when communicating with BMI Baby. Can you help?

I can try... The nearest I can come up with now is this, from the ATUC: (my italics)

you are entitled to [a] refund of the full price you paid for your ticket

This, to me, suggests that you should get back the full amount paid. I've definitely seen it written before that this must include card charges but unfortunately I can't find a link to anything now. However, I don't see any possible justification for not refunding card charges - if anything it would be severly unfair not to refund them, given that it's not in any way your fault that the service won't run. I would understand it if you decided for any reason not to travel and they offered a refund, but there's no sense or logic in this situation, even for stingy low-cost airlines.

kchad, I entirely understand your frustration, but ringing the ATUC now won't help you, and will only worsen the service they can provide to people who genuinely need it. There is no law saying bmibaby has to provide alternative transport - in fact, the only thing they need to do is tell you no later than two weeks before the flight and offer a refund, which they have done. IF the refund, when it comes, is for less than you paid (i.e. if it doesn't include fees/charges), then you would be justified in involving the ATUC. Unfortunately, as it stands, the airline has followed its obligations, and it's just bad luck that you don't have the money to go out and book another flight straight away. Unfortunately that's the risk you take when you book a flight, especially with the smaller operations (and bmibaby's Cardiff outfit is very much a small operation). Yes the rules are unfairly biased against passengers, and yes someone ought to start a campaign to change the laws and regulations, but I'm afraid it won't help you here.

kchad

Thanks for your advice Omlette. I will leave them alone for a while then. But will be sending my recorded delivery letter asap. Just so annoyed - we've now got to pay nearly £300 extra for flights from another airport that I know where only £500 when i originally booked in March!! I'm not playing flight lottery - I just want to go on holiday from my local airport!!!
I can't believe that they can just cancel like this!! Surely when the transaction is made its a contract and they have breached that contract.
It's a service like any other - so why when there are planes and flights involved does the bar get higher?
Ridiculous!!

richardw

Once an airline gets a bit of a reputation for doing this, can happen quickly with this internet lark, it really can be a problem and affects advanced bookings.
GB Airways got a reputation for flight changes and cancellations and then got taken over by easyJet.

carlajames

I too have been affected by the cancellation of this route. We had booked 3 flights in Feb for throughout the year and so did family members and friends.

I received an email in March of a change of 6 hours flight time and a cancellation of all flights in April and now awaiting a refund.

Obviously, these flights are now very expensive with alternative airlines, which is our tough luck, but what a blinky cheek to make people wait an additional 28 days for refund. I've also read that a refund should be made within 7 days, so how can they get away with this?

That's over £660 of my cash for 3 months and countless other thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people's money.

Not very good with maths, but calculating 2 flights per week from May to Oct would constitute quite a lot of cash even if these planes were under 50% full. That's a lot of charges that BMIBaby is not reimbursing back to customers.

Mr Crawford Rix, managing director of bmibaby announced this new route in jan and predicated that bmibaby would offer a no- frills cheap airline that would carry some 13,500 passengers to a destination that was not previously provided for in Wales.

That's correct, Mr Rix, both Cardiff and nearest airport Bristol both fly into Malaga, Alicante and Murcia - so there is no competition and neither airline has the monopoly.

So the cancellation must be due to a lack of demand. This raises the question of why bmibaby introduced this new route in january, given that BMIbaby has a history for cancelling routes and during last winter they once again shafted passengers who had booked on the Cardiff to Murcia route explanation the cancelled route was due to a reshuffle of their services and due to lack of demand and rising fuel costs.

So, my question to Mr Rix is given the known economic climate WHY DID BMI INTRODUCE THIS ROUTE in Jan only to cancel in April?

As a gold card member and subscribed to receive emails why wasn't I notified of this new route? How much advertising did they spend on promoting this route? Why did they offer 2 flights per week - did this not maximise the amount of bookings - did I not see 'hurry book now only 3 seats left'.

Perhaps their policy and decision making process is let's introduce it and see what happens. Exactly how much skin was grazed off their noses - as far I can see they don't have to reimburse the booking card charges - they clearly state this in their t&c , which we have to agree to and tick the box otherwise we cannot make an online booking.

Since I booked 3 flights at £2.50 per passenger one way - £10 for hubby and I for a round trip, 3 seperates flights totally £30.

BMIBaby's excuse for not reimbursing the charges is that the banks charge them - I've read two conflicting accounts on this- firstly, the banks do not charge for this service and secondly, that the charge is under 10 pence.

There is little that can be done if an airline cancels due to 'operational issues'. It's tough luck if you have booked cars, accommodation other transport, etc as long as they have given notice.

We can however avoid paying these credit/debit card charges by paying via an electron card. Many airline companies including BMIBaby do not charge extra if you pay via visa electron - they state this on their own website.

If BMIBaby informs you on the telephone that this flight is cancelled, but you are flying- then I guess they will put on buses to transport passengers to Nottingham where they have a 4 flights per week into Almeria during August and may be looking to put bums on seats.

Personally, I have opted not to travel with BMIBaby to an alternative destination, but are looking to book these flights with Monarch via Birmingham.

nil_desporandum

gallygirl wrote: »

Hope this all gets sorted quickly for you all.

I have a property in Almeria I let out so I was delighted when BMI announced flights from E Mids & Cardiff - E Mids great for me and both good for business! Just after I booked 2 return flights I was informed the flights had changed from 8.30pm to 10am, meaning I've had to take 2 extra days off work. Now this........

Just my point gallygirl, don't be suprised when BMI Baby does the same thing all over East Midlands service. I think as somebody else says they have a try it and see policy get the punters money in and screw them if there is not enough. The Cardiff route would appear to be a good option because we are so poorly served for Almeria, having to travel to Birmingham or Gatwick, so why is E. Mids any better when you have Monarch at Birmingham running?

hollydays

I have learned when I use budget airlines to always use a hotel booking service that allows you to cancel up to 48 hours before.

StillStoneybroke

bmibaby Route Cancellation - Eventually successfully obtained Refund of Credit Card Fees.
I, too, had an impersonal 'Flight Cancelled' email in December to notify me that bmibaby were cancelling flights to Bergamo booked for June, offering re-booking or a "Full Refund". Since there were no alternative flights to that destination with bmibaby, I took the latter option, but the refund was not full, but minus £14 Credit Card Charges.
No replies to emails on the bookings email address; at 35 pence a minute the Customer Disservice Line was not cost effective.
My first letter met with a terse response referring to T&Cs.
The Second Letter has, today (29 days after my request) resulted in the refund of the £14 (as a gesture of goodwill - not because I had a right to it!)
For the information of all concerned, here is some of the text of the successful letter of complaint.
You claim that the terms and conditions state that all credit/debit card fees are non-refundable; under Article 10.3 of your Conditions of Carriage, entitled 'Involuntary Refunds', there is no mention made of the retention of credit/debit card fees in the case of a cancellation initiated by the carrier, bmibaby.
The reference to the non-refundable nature credit/debit card fees under Article 4.2, of your conditions of carriage is in the context of a non-use of the ticket by the passenger, not the withdrawal of the service and involuntary cancellation by bmibaby. Since it is not clear in what circumstances this would apply, I question whether this remains a valid ‘get-out’ when bmibaby cancel the service without reference to the wishes of the consumer.
To claim that credit/debit card fees are non-refundable upon a cancellation initiated by bmibaby for ‘unavoidable operational reasons’ is, quite blatantly, contrary to the requirement of good faith and causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to my detriment, as the consumer, and, therefore, amounts to an unfair condition; I, the consumer had no say in the cancellation; the service was not provided, yet I, and countless others, pay for the privilege of nothing!
In plain English, a “full-refund” means that all monies paid should be refunded – you promise a Full Refund in your terms and conditions and conditions of carriage, which implies it will be made without any deductions, yet fail to make a full refund when required. This also reinforces a significant imbalance between you (who hold the money), and I, the consumer.
Furthermore, the fees charged do not reflect the true cost of the credit card transaction for the provision of a service.
I would submit that the terms and conditions in relation to the provision of this service, which you claim allows you to keep £14.00 for doing nothing, amounts to a financial penalty upon me and is an unfair contract under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

I hope this helps - feel free to Cut & Paste and flood bmibaby with requests.
I wonder just how much money bmibaby is sitting on from Credit Card charges for flights they have cancelled?