bmi - extra airport tax

Dill_&_Boo

Hi

I have tried to search on this subject but no success!

Late last year I booked return flights for my sister to fly between Manchester and Heathrow on February 3rd with bmi. When she arrived at Manchester Airport she was informed by bmi that she did not have to pay the extra tax introduced last month.

However, when I checked my bank account the following week, bmi had debited the account for £10 without any authorisation, notification or explanation of their actions.

I wrote to bmi portraying my annoyance and anger of their actions and the fact that they had not even informed me they were doing this. They replied stating that because there are such a massive number of passengers they would have to contact, they basically didn't bother.

Is there anything I can do to challenge this? Surely taking money from someones account without authorisation (signature or pin etc...) is illegal? Could I challenge the transaction?

Your views appreciated. Thanks.

D & B

WiseInvestor_2

The airlines are far from happy with this new 'Green Tax' either but the levels of anger and vitroil directed at the check-in staff by the travelling public have been totally out of order. I'm not at all surprised that customer-facing staff have elected to avoid the upset by leaving it to their finance departments to collect.

Some airlines, like British Airways, have offered to pay the tax on behalf of customers who'd already booked tickets. Had you refused to pay the extra on the day, bmi would've cancelled your sister's booking immediately.

Takecareofthepennies

Dill_&_Boo wrote:

However, when I checked my bank account the following week, bmi had debited the account for £10 without any authorisation, notification or explanation of their actions.
D & B

I've got a booking on Air Berlin for later on in the year and they've done exactly the same thing ...

WiseInvestor_2

Blame Gordon Brown

Takecareofthepennies

WiseInvestor wrote:

Blame Gordon Brown

Don't get me started ... :mad:

Alfie_E

Dill_&_Boo wrote:

Could I challenge the transaction?

The airlines have seriously abused their position. It’s fair enough if they ask you to pay, as their terms and conditions say they can pass their liability for air passenger duty on to you. But, how are they to know if taking an extra £10 isn’t going to tip you over the edge on that particular card and land you with overdraft or credit-limit-exceeded charges?

Of course you can dispute the transaction. Contact your card issuer and tell them you didn’t authorise the transaction and you want it reversed. Include a copy of the bmi letter with the disputes form. You may get into an argument with bmi that you do owe them the money. Maybe you do, but it’s up to you and the airline to come to an agreement as to how they are to be paid.

dipsy

my mum, dad aunt and uncle left from Gatwick on the 19th (Mon), they were told they should hand over an extra £80 pp at the airport... I rang Virgin before they went and it stated bookings before (something of Dec think it was 12th) they would pick up tab and after that tough you were paying.. of course those are not verbatium... :-), but gist of it... will let you know if my parents were asked to stump up the extra £80 per head... £320 in their case for their party... if so ... and they booked Jan 06 god help familes that have booked for Florida... thats the price of another air fare.. not right... bit like the plan to introduce this pay as you drive system... sugar... I come home to check on my dog.. so I leave my dog get prosecuted, as he hasn't had walk since 8am.. and worry if he is ok, or go home and get a £5 a day bill... plus what if your kids do activities... scouts/cubs/drama/music mine do all... and I can only just afford now... so lets introduce some more tax... so kids have no activites..........somewhere its all gone nuts... sorry for ranting... I signed the petition... think they are mad... lets have a decent workable transport system


phewwwww all done now .. sorry :-)

LesD

Dill_&_Boo wrote:

When she arrived at Manchester Airport she was informed by bmi that she did not have to pay the extra tax introduced last month.

However, when I checked my bank account the following week, bmi had debited the account for £10 without any authorisation, notification or explanation of their actions.

Was this a situation of understanding being hampered by the use of 'English'? She DIDN'T have to pay at the airport because they had taken the cash from the bank account!!!

It's also strange that bmi and bmibaby seem to have handled this in different ways. I had several bmibaby flights booked and received an extremely long email in respect of each of them setting out exactly what their situation was and giving me the option of not paying - AND THEN NOT BEING ALLOWED TO FLY!!!