easyJet Air Port Duty increase question

Cumbrian_Male

Your moral and political debate should be held on discussion time in the arms.

This thread is about easyjet APD increases and when if how to pay it.

Please stay on topic.

darbooka

Considering the relative unreliability of email messages, don't you think that EasyJet should send a letter in the post or at least attempt a phonecall to ensure that customers know what to do and whether they have to pay, rather than just putting the word out and hoping people have the time and inclination to come back to their site and see if they can understand what it's all about and how it affects them?

jabbawoki

Hi

ALthought I have been a subscriber to MSE for some time now it is only my recent exeprience that has prompted me to seek advice on a forum.

I booked a return flight with BMI from Edinburgh to Heathrow at the beginning of September 2007. I could not subsequently take the outbound flight as I had to travel a day earlier in the end and it was cheaper to book a single flight with Easyjet than pay charges to change my existing booking.

I took the return flight with BMI and a colleague pointed out that as I was unseated on the plane and hadn't checked in for the outbound journey, then I could reclaim my tax back.

I have just got off the phone from BMI and asked for my tax back. They said that this was fine but I needed to pay a £25.00 admin fee. I asked the chap why I should pay this to reclaim money that was destined to go to the Government and not their money. He said "sorry Sir, it's company policy".

How can this be lawful? - can anyone share their experiences of this and provide any useful information as I feel like I have been taxed 80% to reclaim tax I didn't need to pay.

thanks

Jabbawoki

Sam_Bee

jabbawoki wrote: »

Hi

How can this be lawful? - can anyone share their experiences of this and provide any useful information as I feel like I have been taxed 80% to reclaim tax I didn't need to pay.

thanks

Jabbawoki

What would you deem a suitable admin fee to cover their costs for a flight you chose not to take? It's not like they are just sending out an automated letter (like the banks have been penalised for). There is quite a bit of human work involved.

I'm not saying it's a relatively accurate charge, or even standing up for them. But time is money for them, they have to pay staff to process the refund. If they didn't charge the fee, ticket prices would have to rise.

Whereas it's been shown that it costs banks about £2.40 to send an 'overdrawn letter' that incurs a £35 charge, I would love to see the real cost of processing a tax refund. It might be closer to the £25 than you think.