Air Passenger Duty - APD Refund Opodo

Gareths37

LIES, LIES AND DAMN LIES - The best way to sum up Opodo!!!

In 2015 myself, wife and 2 children (11 & 15 at the time) traveled to American for our annual holiday.

In 2016 we all went on our annual holiday to Indonesia.

All of our flights were booked with Opodo and this process was splendid....... unfortunately however claiming back the APD has been nothing other than astonishing

Being away that in 2015 the regulations regarding APD tax had changed meant that we could apply for a refund against our youngest child, 11 at the time. A few months after we arrived back in the U.K. I remembered this and decided to contact Opodo and ask for the refund! Having emailed three times I eventually received a response to indicate that this had been refunded. Somewhat surprised, as I'd not recalled seeing any refund on any of my accounts, I just accepted it as I didn't believe that they would advise me that it had been refunded if it haden't!

Now in to 2016 we, once again, booked our flights through Opodo! At the time of booking I made the decision to pre-empt the APD, which bewilderingly, was charged even thought the new ruling on APD had been in place for sometime but now applied to any child 16 and under! I also decided that I would ask for proof of the refund from the previous years holiday.

I received a response pretty quick advising that the APD could only be refunded once the journey had Ben completed and we were back in the U.K. - note that there was NO REFERENCE to the proof!

So upon landing back on the U.K. Although perhaps 1/2 weeks after I then commenced the process of attempting to reclaim the APD back on BOTH our 2015 and 2016 flights! Haven't had no joy with the email route I made the decision to call Opodo directly! During this conversation on the 11th Sept 2016 I was advise that NO REFUND had been given for the 2015 Holliday and that they would issue the refund for this and the 2016 holiday! As pleased as punch the chap on the phone confirmed the account that it would be refunded back to and that it would take approximately 4 weeks! After almost 4 weeks I then received, roughly, 6 emails from Opodo asking for copies of the children's passports! I sent both over and then on the next working day called to ask/confirm that they had been received. I was then advised that they had them but that the claim had not been progressed since 4 weeks ago........ after venting my frustration and having to go through the whole process again the chap on the phone said he would see to it and guaranteed me that the funds would be in my account within Seventy Two hours!

Having waited from the Monday until Saturday no refund appeared!!!! Once again I called Opodo and requested that I be put through to a supervisor/manager......having EVENTUALLY been put through I explained the whole scenario to the manager who didn't really seem that bothered! I was astonished that when I advised the chap that I had been constantly lied to by their organization he didn't even acknowledge it........... and to rub salt in to the wounds when I was telling him about the 2015 trip he had the ordasaty to tell me that as it was over a year ago it was unlikely I'd get a refund?!?!? REALLY! The only reason that it had been refunded nor persued was due to the lies I had been fed in the first instance!!!!

I've still not had a refund and the Manager advised me that it would now take anything from 14-28 days for the refund to be processed as it needs to go to the refunds department?!?!? I await with the expectation that they'll try and drag it out for another 11 months and the say it too late!!!!

Opodo are utterly shameful!!!!! BE WARNED!

leylandsunaddict

Opodo have got more complaints on the internet than you could shake a stick at. They're as shonky as they come and have been for the last 5 years since they were acquired by eDreams Odigeo. Last year the CAA launched an investigation into their pricing policies.

Sorry you're having problems, but if struggling with APD refunds is the worst of it then you've been extremely lucky. Better to book flights direct with the airline, but if you must use a middleman research thoroughly and use a reputable one like Trailfinders or Netflights.

Voyager2002

Why do you even bother? You paid by card, so contact the card issuer.

Opodo

Hi Gareths37,

Could you let us know your booking reference number?

Kind regards,

Liv