skyscanner and fly.co.uk scam

will-i-am_3

I am disgusted that this site is allowed to con everyone dispite what is known. Having gone through the search engine I found the site (top of the search list) and after doing a search found a flight. I booked the flight and totted up. The total was not as advertised but £48 had been added (some surcharge). I bit the bullet and paid.
Today they contacted me via email to tell me the flight advertised was wrongly priced and I was given the option to pay an extra £48 or cancel at no cost to me. I immediatly replied asking to cancel. I am now worried I will not get my money back.
Incidentaly I went onto Royal air moroc direct tonight and booked the same flight for £82 less.
Can they refuse my refund. The internet was supposed to be safe. This is the last time I will book on line. In future I will go back to the phone.

TimeFlies_2

Alan,

Thank you for your response.

I had my doubts about them prosecuting being a German bases company but there is always that nagging feeling.

Being a frequent flyer I mostly book direct with the airlines but the price was good and I was sucked in by the .Co.UK bit. I bombarded them with emails lodging my complaint and received a reply asking me to forward my emails that informed them the security block on my card had been lifted. I also had agreed to them using my debit card but all these emails were ignored. They have now apologised for 'inconvenience' and take responsibility for the error. I was never going to pay their late charge and cost of cancellation as I knew I'd followed correct procedures and had the emails to prove it.

I'll never book with an agent again and will always book direct with the airlines as I'd previously done. I advise anyone who has had problems with this company - not to give in to them.

I'm now bombarding them with emails again, this time requesting compensation for the exact amount they tried to charge me for cancellation and late charge payments. Again, I realise that as the company is outside of the UK, my attempts may be futile. It just makes me feel a bit better to send them demands. I'll send the same email to them every day for a while. Don't chance you don't get do you?

Anyway, thanks again for your response.

Why are these companies allowed to use UK? Its totally misleading.











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TimeFlies_2

I've always booked flights on the internet and never had a problem - only with Fly.Co.UK.

As a general rule I usually book direct with the airline but I got sucked in by this company giving a good deal and was under the UK 'banner' which is totally misleading. I realise my mistake.

I suggest you book direct with the airlines as I do. I've always booked online and never had a problem.

jpsartre

will-i-am wrote: »

The internet was supposed to be safe. This is the last time I will book on line. In future I will go back to the phone.

Booking from someone based solely on price and without doing any research beforehand is the root of your problems, not booking online.

Slappermum

They have several credit cards on offer at the last step, all apparently incurring a credit card surcharge + service fee except for visa electron. So i tried paying with my visa electron, but the site claimed I didn't enter my number right 3 times, so I thought "what the hell, i'll paywith my visa credit card for an additional 4,50£ charge as stated on the credit card selection menu". When you do click on VISA they sneakily add a service fee of 17,88£ which hadn't been appearing while Visa Electron was selected...and so I just clicked through
The booking request email arrived shortly, stating that the final price could change after "confirmation". That did it, so I phoned them to complain about their policies and the lady told me that a cancellation would cost me 50£... I refused her kind offer, sorry to see another 5£ gone in this endavour (price of the phonecall)

I ended up calling the credit card company and cancelling the credit card. The operator assured me the transaction wouldn't go through, so here's hoping to that...
Upon subsequent searches on the internet i saw that they tend to sart sending threatening emails to people, but i do hope that, since no goods or services have actually been provided to me, their claims are unfounded. In any case, "move to spam" is ready and waiting

wooster1

They have been back in contact with me.
It's taken them five months, but apparently it's just registered that the payment was disputed by myself and my bank (Clydesdale) stopped the transfer, even though it was a Debit Mastercard. :beer:

Anyhoo,[STRIKE] they [/STRIKE] he (Thomas Wagner "CEO") has requested that I pay the cancellation fee ASAP.
It's not a demand as yet (still waiting for that), but he's onto plums as far as I'm concerned and won't be getting a brass bean from me.

Given that every response via email triggers an automated response to Fly.Co.UK FAQ's, the lack of any non-automated responses at all and the experiences of others who have responded in here about their futile attempt to contact them by phone. I can only assume that this is a one man scam and he doesn't have the time or resources to respond to every enquiry on a personal basis from his boiler room.

I've had previous dealings with private parking companies trying to extort money out of me and Fly.Co.UK has the same feel to it.
They understand perfectly that they have no grounds, but they keep pumping out the demands anyway, in the expectation that some will pay and make it worth the little effort it took.

wooster1

Sorry double post.

I reported the site to Google Adwords on the off chance they pull the site and I also notice that The Guardian covered the site around the time I had my problems.
Just Google: [guardian "fly.co.uk"] without the brackets (I'm a newbie so can't post links)

wooster1

Another demand in, this time threatening legal action (I'm quaking in me boots ).

Coincidentally, they no longer appear in the Ads on a Google search for "cheap flights uk".
Cheers Google :beer:
They're still on the first page, but 2nd from bottom and will shortly disappear completely I hope.

nik_zaayman

Thursday i book a Monarch flight to Cyprus. Decided to book via UK site Fly.co.uk. Price was £13 cheaper than others. Booked. Nowhere do you see any additional charges. On a comparison site you book the cheapest ?.
After taking ages to go through the process you are charged £9 extra to use a debit card. Indeed, there is no way to pay on offer that does not charge. So as a fixed cost it should be included in the price advertised. You have no choice. So i paid. Today i get an email from Germany that now they have my bank details they are requesting a booking fee of £27 ?. A joke !. The ultimate scam. How can they legally get away with this. As long as Monarch fills their seats they not going to care. Am too scared to tell my bank not to pay as i may find i have no seat when getting to the airport. I did not once see an extra booking charge advertised. Besides as a fixed cost it should also be in the original comparison price.

Bob_the_Saver

Book Direct