We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Robbed under cover of IATA rules???
RogerBruton
Posts: 17 Forumite
We are REALLY looking forward to spending a week in Vanuatu in November. Trouble is, there is already a “bad taste” in my mouth, caused by Air Vanuatu. After booking flights to Australia and deciding on an itinerary, the second thing I researched and booked, back in June,was Air Vanuatu flights from Brisbane to Port Vila on November 27th, returning on December 4th. As this was seemingly all OK, over the next weeks I then went ahead and booked all the rest of our holiday, including internal flights, hotels, hire cars and train journeys. This is a major six-week trip, not just a jaunt to Vanuatu.
I thought it was all settled. Then, just last week, I received an email from Air Vanuatu, telling me that our flights to Vanuatu were cancelled, and I was now booked to fly out on November 29th, returning on December 5th!! As John McEnroe would have said, “You can't be serious!?!?”. This was not possible. Due to the time difference between France and Australia, I then had to wait until 1a.m. to make the phone call. I spoke to a lady at Air Vanuatu in Sydney. “OK” I said, “these things happen, you have had to cancel the flights, for whatever reason, I'll just take a refund”. No. A refund was not going to happen. I had been offered alternative flights – take it or leave it. IATA rules. No sympathy was offered either.
Now, while waiting to make the call, my research on Opodo had shown that an alternative was available on the dates we had booked, but it meant first flying to Sydney. I sugested that Air Vanuatu could fly us to Sydney to catch a Vanuatu flight from there. “No”. They would not do that. That was another airline. So the final solution that I had suggested was that we were then booked to fly from and to Sydney on our chosen dates. The only problem now was getting to Sydney and then back to Brisbane. I had to book Tigerair for those legs of the journey at an extra cost of 276 euros.
The original Air Vanuatu flights cost 648 euros – the new flights were (surprisingly) priced at 333 euros. This means that Air Vanuatu have made 315 euros on the deal. To my mind, this is legalised robbery. !!!! Turpin would have been impressed. I cannot think of any other commercial transaction where this would be allowed. I own a hotel – if I were to take money for a room that I could not provide and then refuse to refund the charge, I'm pretty sure I would be in trouble. If I sold something on Ebay and did not supply the goods I would face the wrath of the authorities. Airlines, under the wing of IATA can apparently do this with impunity. I am not happy – BUT – I am sure it will, despite Air Vanuatu, still be a memorable trip. (hahahaha!! .... I see that MSE will not allow the first name of Mr Turpin!!)
I thought it was all settled. Then, just last week, I received an email from Air Vanuatu, telling me that our flights to Vanuatu were cancelled, and I was now booked to fly out on November 29th, returning on December 5th!! As John McEnroe would have said, “You can't be serious!?!?”. This was not possible. Due to the time difference between France and Australia, I then had to wait until 1a.m. to make the phone call. I spoke to a lady at Air Vanuatu in Sydney. “OK” I said, “these things happen, you have had to cancel the flights, for whatever reason, I'll just take a refund”. No. A refund was not going to happen. I had been offered alternative flights – take it or leave it. IATA rules. No sympathy was offered either.
Now, while waiting to make the call, my research on Opodo had shown that an alternative was available on the dates we had booked, but it meant first flying to Sydney. I sugested that Air Vanuatu could fly us to Sydney to catch a Vanuatu flight from there. “No”. They would not do that. That was another airline. So the final solution that I had suggested was that we were then booked to fly from and to Sydney on our chosen dates. The only problem now was getting to Sydney and then back to Brisbane. I had to book Tigerair for those legs of the journey at an extra cost of 276 euros.
The original Air Vanuatu flights cost 648 euros – the new flights were (surprisingly) priced at 333 euros. This means that Air Vanuatu have made 315 euros on the deal. To my mind, this is legalised robbery. !!!! Turpin would have been impressed. I cannot think of any other commercial transaction where this would be allowed. I own a hotel – if I were to take money for a room that I could not provide and then refuse to refund the charge, I'm pretty sure I would be in trouble. If I sold something on Ebay and did not supply the goods I would face the wrath of the authorities. Airlines, under the wing of IATA can apparently do this with impunity. I am not happy – BUT – I am sure it will, despite Air Vanuatu, still be a memorable trip. (hahahaha!! .... I see that MSE will not allow the first name of Mr Turpin!!)
0
Comments
-
How did you pay for the flights?Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.0
-
Richard ... plastic.0
-
I see that MSE will not allow the first name of Mr Turpin!!)
He was actually born "Richard" Turpin and MSE allow that:0)0 -
RogerBruton wrote: »Richard ... plastic.
S75 maybe?Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.0 -
-
It just goes to show .... If you kick up enough of a fuss .... I wrote to the airline management about this, and they have offered a full refund. Air Vanuatu turn out to be the "good guys" after all!0
-
RogerBruton wrote: »It just goes to show .... If you kick up enough of a fuss .... I wrote to the airline management about this, and they have offered a full refund. Air Vanuatu turn out to be the "good guys" after all!
Umm... so now you have Tiger Air flights; hotels and train travel for six weeks in Vanuatu, but no flights to get there? Or are you going to use the refund to buy the flights from Sidney as a new and cheaper booking?
I think that this was a case of an incompetent call centre agent: the person who answered your 'phone call should have agreed to reroute you as you suggested. That would probably have still meant taking the first Tiger Air flight to catch their flight from Sidney, but you would have had some kind of protection in case the Tiger Air flight were delayed or cancelled.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.4K Spending & Discounts
- 247.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 604K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.4K Life & Family
- 261.5K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards