Too good to be true??

Poorlass

I paid for 3 flight tickets on Saturday through an agent who was 25% cheaper than competitors and paid by credit card although the agent advising me to pay by cash. I was supposed to get confimation of payement from the accounts department on Saturday or this morning. I waited until lunchtime and called the guy who informed me that the email had been sent. I doubled checked my email and spam folder and there was nothing. After a couple more calls the guy sent me an email with no attachment. At this point I was getting frustrated and when the right email with receipt finally hit my email I asked the guy if this had been sent before or it was the first time the accounts department was sending it. The guy flipped! He had been really professional but he was literally shouting at the top of his voice saying he would cancel the tickets, how dare I accuse him of trying to steal money. I was buffled and upset by this behaviour and asked to speak to his manager who I asked to cancel the tickets. The guy was saying the tickets would only be issued 4 weeks before the flight departure date, is this standard? I intend to fly out at the end of July and he was suggesting that I would not have tickets until the end of June. All other agents are quoting around £1000 per ticket and he wanted £750, was this too good to be true?

StuieUK34

imagine a puzzle....... reading that is like trying to do a puzzle with 75% of the pieces missing!
where u going ?
who u book through, whats there website, etc ?

Poorlass

Thank you for your response. Fair point, there are plenty of typos and reading it back it is somewhat not clear.

The tickets were to Lusaka, Zambia.

I do not want to give an agent a bad name because of one employee hence why I did not mention their name.

I just wanted to know if this is standard practice to take full payement and issue tickets 4 weeks before the flight? I guess I should have asked that directly without the longwinded story.

I have since booked the flights on the days that I wanted direct with the an Airline and was sent tickets and receipts straight away. I would still appreciate a response for the future before this experience puts me off dealing with agents.

PL

Incapuppy

So how are you going to recover the £2k+ that you paid for tickets on Saturday?

ickledd1

I received a call this eve from 01702444594. Using my maiden name and telling me I'd completed a survey in 2009 and confirming some personal - vague- details then told me I'd won a holiday for 4!!! :j

The hotel and return flights were paid for, all I had to do was stay on the line while I was passed through to the travel consultant and pay 22.99 per person and I could choose to go within the next 18month...... promptly I hung up....!:spam:
They tried to call me straight back, but I havent answered.
I looked up the number and have found they don't give up calling and become a nuisance.:(

IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT OFTEN IS!

WHY SHOULD IT COST ME IF I HAVE WON SOMETHING???

Alan_Bowen

Going back to the original case, I find it almost impossible to believe any agent can sell for £250 pp less than anyone else. As a general rule the profit on an airline ticket is £10-40 maximum so the figures do not add up. Agents do delay issuing tickets if they can, many airlines now insist on immediate ticket issue, because they only pay the airline after the ticket has been issued.

I assume you have a confirmation with a 6 digit reference of numbers and letters? Its called the PNR, depending how it has been booked, you can check the booking exists by going to www.checkmytrip.com and inputting the PNR and your last name. A real booking will be confirmed but it will also show the state of the ticket issue. No ticket, no flight of course. At £250 I would be very worried, does the agent have its own IATA number which would allow it to issue tickets, if not then it has to be buying from another agent which would make the £250 even more unlikely. You could also check with your credit card issuer and see what name appears as the debiting agent to see if it is the same.

Poorlass

So the agent agreed to refund the payement on the 23rd of May and I have an email to that effect but until now this hasn't been done. This raises my suspicions aaabout them even more.

I had gotten in touch with my card issuer on the same day to see if they could stop the payement but they said it had already been called and to wait for the refund which would take 4 to 5 days. I checked my account every single day but the money was not returned in that period and I contacted the bank again and raised a dispute. They said they had ammended my account and I would not be liable for this amount whilst they dealt with the dispute. All I needed to do was to pay the difference on my card when the payement was due. They sent me a disclaimer which I returned with the email from the agent stating they would refund. I sent it by recorded delivery and they received it on the 14th of June.

in the mean time someone from the Agent's accounts department called me to ask if I had received the money back and when I told him I hadn't he said that was strange as they had refunded on the 23rd of May. He wanted to know wether I had used a debit or credit card and he advised me to tell the bank I had had no dealings with them and claimed this was the fastest way to get my money back. I told him that I would not be lying to the bank and I had told them exactly what had happened and he rung off.

I then made a payement for £25 to the bank which was the difference. However today I checked the account to see if by some miracle the money had been returned but it had not and the bank has taken a direct debit set up on the account. I am very buffled by all this and hope that it was a mistake on thier system but I cannot help but think that I am going to have to fight to get my money back or I might not get it at all.

So my questions are what are the chances of getting my money back? And is there anything else I can do to help this case? Is there a time frame for these refunds? Could they really get away with taking hard earned money without providing a service? Who do I report them to?

Many questions I know and I look forward to your responses. I could not talk to the disputes team today but I will first thing in the morning so will update situation then.

Many thanks,

PL

bagand96

So my questions are what are the chances of getting my money back?

100%. You paid by credit card and you are protected by law. The credit card company have to refund you and it is up to them to chase the agents.

I then made a payement for £25 to the bank which was the difference. However today I checked the account to see if by some miracle the money had been returned but it had not and the bank has taken a direct debit set up on the account.

This is probably just an oversight. If you have a direct debit set up for full amount on your credit card, it will be an automated process that had probably already kicked in. Usually whena transaction is in dispute you don't have to settle it, but it may be that on your credit card issuer's system the relevant steps had not completed and the automated DD had already happened.

in the mean time someone from the Agent's accounts department called me to ask if I had received the money back and when I told him I hadn't he said that was strange as they had refunded on the 23rd of May. He wanted to know wether I had used a debit or credit card and he advised me to tell the bank I had had no dealings with them and claimed this was the fastest way to get my money back. I told him that I would not be lying to the bank and I had told them exactly what had happened and he rung off.

Very odd. I cannot see why the company would tell you to advise your credit card company you have never had any dealings with them. It sounds as if they want to make off with your money, and you just tell the credit card provider it was a fradulent transaction you do not know about - therefore the credit card provider bear the cost. You are absolutely correct to not lie to the CC issuer. You should phone them ASAP tomorrow, and inform them of that telephone conversation. This will help them in their own investigations and they should know this information.

Finally, its about time you named and shamed this so called agent who seem to want to get customers involved with fraud!

Poorlass

I spoke to the bank and they have refunded the direct debit.

They also confirmed that they got my paperwork and they have written to the travel agency and await their response. The agent is an FT tours based in London.

What is annoying is if I had no other source of income this might have been the end of a very important trip as I have been informed that it can take up to 45days to settle.

Anyway thank you again to all that have responded.

T

bagand96

I spoke to the bank and they have refunded the direct debit.

They also confirmed that they got my paperwork and they have written to the travel agency and await their response. The agent is an FT tours based in London.

Glad you are getting it sorted. The FT Tours site amuses me somewhat. From their homepage:

If you're looking for cheap package holiday deals or holidays abroad then FTTOURS is an ideal choice. When you book with Direct Holidays you're booking discount holidays direct from the tour operator. We've built our reputation as a provider of excellent bargain package deals and cheap flights, and customers book with us every year to get superb late holiday deals at a cheap price.

The second two senences "When you book with Direct Holidays" are lifted directly from the Direct Holidays website (www.directholidays.co.uk). For the record, Direct Holidays are a reputable package holiday operator, part of Thomas Cook, who have no affiliations whatsoever with "FT Tours".

Alan_Bowen

Even worse, the ATOL belongs to a real agency in Upton East London, nothing whatsoever to do with a business in Camden in North London that appears to be running the FT Tours website, a warning to everyone to steer clear!