Lastminute.com Refunds

5kendal

Hi all, I wanted to let people know about my experience with Lastminute.com. I know that the company has been extremely busy with the adverse weather conditions affecting travel but their customer service is a disgrace.

We were due to travel to Alicante from Liverpool on 18th Dec. Easyjet cancelled the flight and we could not get another flight until 21st. As we were due to travel back on 22nd this was not a viable option.

I rang Lastminute.com, explained the situation and after 4 days was refunded for my flights. The hotel costs however, were being dealt with by the "Hotel Team". I was advised that they were in contact with the Hotel and were waiting for a refund from them.

Days went by without any response from Lastminute,com. When I chased them there was a variety of excuses as to why it hadnt been dealt with (hotel not responding / person dealing at lunch / left for the day etc. I was starting to get a little suspicious.

Promised return phone calls were never made by Lastminute.com (yes madam we will call you back in 30 minutes etc), so I decided to call the hotel myself to see if they could help. I was advised by the Hotel that a payment had never been received from Lastminute.com so they could not refund me.

After emailing lastminute.com with the email from the hotel, low and behold I got a phone call within 30 minute to confirm that they were refunding my hotel cost. Coincidence?.

Once bitten, twice shy. I will not be dealing with this company again.

PompeyPete

All the recent cancellations must have been a nightmare time for Lastminute.com, and all the other companies involved in the travel industry.
The volume of demanding calls they've had in such a short time will have been very demanding. The time of year won't have helped either.
It's only 11 days now since you were due to fly, and half of them have been either weekend or bank holidays.
I wouldn't have fancied their job, and think you're being a little harsh.

Westin

I think something called "Christmas" might have got in the way. Have you been working this week?

I also think you are being a little harsh and unfair.

I'm sure you will get your refund but they must have had thousands of customers with similar issues as you and the christmas break has also probably slowed things down.

5kendal

I should have pointed out that the call centre is in India and they were operating normal service hours.

As I stated in my post, I am aware of the difficulties that all travel companies are experiencing with the adverse weather, but I was lied to on 5 seperate occasions by customer service staff. My refund was straightforward, Lastminute.com had not paid the hotel so were holding funds back. Surely they are aware that the hotel had not been paid when looking at my travel booking?. Why not press a few buttons and given the refund while I was talking to the customer service staff.

Perhaps I am being a little too simplistic in my approach!

redcard

Not quite sure what there was to get 'suspicious' about, or what makes you think you were lied to everytime.

Most businesses don't refund just cos you demand they do, there's processes and procedures to follow. So yes, you are simplistic.

VfM4meplse

I was due to fly out on the 20th December, called LMDC when I heard that LHR T3 was closed and got through in 2 mins. Was assured by the Indian call centre that the company would refund me in full, even if at their own expense, and would be in touch in 48 hours.

They weren't in touch during the specified time but I could forgive this because I appreciate the service must have been stretched given the circumstances. I took a call yesterday (28th), telling me that the hotel costs would be refunded within 7 days but the flight costs may take 4-16 weeks, as it is down to the airline, but LMDC are pressing for them to settle within the next week.

Overall I'm happy but won't be re-booking until I get my money back!