The Debt Monster Must Die!

Keebs

Aaaargh, I’ve really gone and boobed big time: massive, blindingly stupid error means I may not be able to make my trip in Feb now :mad:


Am very much out of love with that tricky trickster of a monster at the moment I can tell you.

Booked (what I thought was) a bargain flight to KL using lastminutes flight finder. Original dates were Feb 12th to March 12th but had used the 3 days either side option, so when I saw a super bargainous fare come up on one of the matrix squares I immediately clicked on it for more information.



Left 12th and returned 13th, loved the price, dates doable, so booked it. Got the confirmation e-mail and was smugly congratulating myself when clocked a rather heart stoppingly important fact that had eluded me earlier.

The flight of my much longed for trip whisks me back to Blighty Sun 13th of FEB!!! This will give me all of 4 hours travel time before I have to return. Whatever will I do with the remaining 27 days of annual leave? :rotfl::(


Initially thought it must have been entirely my error but when I re opened lastminutes website (desperately looking for contact details) there was my original search info

Edinburgh to KL Feb 12th, KL to Edinburgh March 12th

So, although I should have checked dates closer before booking am damned sure the error is not all mine.


Called up only to be told that ticket was non refundable, would only get few pounds back, and so why not just use it as is. Pointed out (in a remarkably calm and polite manner if I do say so) that nigh on £600 (and over 43 hours traveling) was a high price to pay for a mere 4 hours (!!!) in KL and could she at least give me the actual cancellation price. She agreed that would be reasonable and then promptly cut me off :mad:


Spitting chips I called back and, eventually, spoke to someone who claimed to be a manager (I remain dubious about this but only time will tell), who sympathised and promised to call KLM to try his darndest to cancel flight without charge and get price for original dates. Alas (and this is what makes me think ‘hmmmm’) KLM are not available to travel agents at the weekend and he must need call me back Monday after 2pm :huh: (KLM were certainly available to me, even if only to tell me they could do nothing as not booked direct). As I’ll be at work from 6am to 8pm Monday have had to settle for an email instead.

Have a niggling doubt I’ve been played for a fool (not that I hadn’t already established my credentials in that department in booking the blasted flight in the first place) by last minutes phone operators but have to wait until Monday to find out for sure. If no email is forthcoming, or if the flight cannot be cancelled for more than a few quid back then I have 3 options.

1) Cancel and rebook correct dates. Ticket cost will rocket to over £1400 leaving me an (optimistic) budget of around £15 (US$24) per day for food, shelter, travel and sight seeing. Doable, just, but would rule out Cambodia, Mrauk U (indeed almost everywhere) and the purchase of fabulous carvings (main reasons for going).

2) Keep ticket, forget about return part and book new single ticket for return journey. Prices up at around £1150 total leaving (optimistic) budget of £22 (US$35) per day. Much more comfortable but still means am unlikely to make it to many of the places I’d planned on seeing this time round and again, beautiful carvings tantalisingly out of reach.

3) Cancel and stay at home twiddling thumbs for 4 weeks rejoicing at the extra £1300 I have to wing towards debt repayment.

Can’t believe I’ve been such an idiot.

Gutted.

Happytogetdebtfree

Hopefully it can be sorted out keep ratting and keep moaning write several letters and fingers crossed it will all work out big hugs xxxx

Keebs

Happytogetdebtfree wrote: »

we word 1 major and 1 minor only .. so i offerred nye nights and nye day nights im off all over christmas yay x

Woohoo :T

So good when it all goes to plan like that

Keebs

Happytogetdebtfree wrote: »

Hopefully it can be sorted out keep ratting and keep moaning write several letters and fingers crossed it will all work out big hugs xxxx

Thanks, am a little more philosophical about it all today. What will be will be I suppose


373 Days to go

82 Days till (excedingly short :eek:) holiday begins :rotfl:

Happytogetdebtfree

No i think you should ring again go through complaints explain your criteria explain how on earth it would thik it sensible to give you only a day in a palce when you stipulated a month really work it stand your ground and tell them you want a refund of a flight matching the same for a month !!! the cheek of it xx

Keebs

Aw, thanks but suppose I'd best wait and see what happens tomorrow first. Suspect the best I can hope for is a refund of taxes without any charges. (they do have a disclaimer in the small print about sytem allowing conflicting dates - nothing about the system indiscriminantly changing your details for you though )

Have been playing around with the site today (in an effort to determine what the blazes went wrong) and it all seems to be down to the side bar search. All searches from the front page work fine but the side bar search seems to indiscriminantly change details at will. In clicking through the system as I did Friday I now find I have a flight from Heathrow (:huh:)to KL (this time I deliberately changed the dates to see what it would offer - never once changed the airport info though) :rotfl:

Will write to Lastminute to advise that if they cannot have a system that works then they should simply remove it altogether. Especially as the initial search page consistantly holds the data as it was last entered, no sign of the indiscriminate changes wrought by the rest of the search system.

I do have to accept some of the blame though, wasn't thorough enough in checking the final details (never assume as they say) and ticked all the boxes waiving my rights.

Caveat emptor I suppose :undecided

Happytogetdebtfree

Ah well big hugs keep us posted xxx

Keebs

Refund price on flight is £14.98 (cost of flight £569 ). Lastminute, as a goodwill gesture only, will waive their fee bringing refund total up to £59.98 . That means KLM must charge a whopping £148 fee :eek: for cancellation (either that or Last minute are waiving their fee but deducting any lost commission). Am keeping the flight for now as will only be cost effective to cancel if I abort the trip altogether.

Have a written compaint to send their UK office in the hope they fix the dodgy search system for future customers (of which I shall not be one).

*sigh*

Why oh why must all my lessons in life be so darn hard on the pocket.

No time to wallow though, have to pack up all the football stips I've accumulated and take them (and my letter ) to be posted.

Aside from the disapointing news it looks like it'll be a rather beautiful day here, am off to enjoy

Keebs

On a totally different note:

wonder what's happened that my daily AVG scan, which used to take 1hr 30 mins, now only takes 6 mins :think:

Happytogetdebtfree

Maybe you have clicked the short one ?