Not informed of flight change by travel agent

Lee34512

Hello! I am just looking for some advice really. My family and I went on holiday to Gran Canaria in August and booked flights through an online travel agent. The return flight was booked for around 1330hrs with a change in Madrid and then on to Gatwick. I checked several times during my holiday and no schedule changes were made to the flight that I booked.

On the morning of our departure I tried to check in online to the flight and found that I was actually no longer on this flight. Our travel agents had changed the booking on to an earlier flight around two and a half hours earlier. By this time it was too late - we missed the flight.

My family and I were then stuck without accomodation or new flights for several hours while we tried to sort things out. The travel agents flatly refused to help and eventually we had to book a night's accomodation in a hotel and make alternative arrangements the following day ourselves. As it was the last weekend of school holidays it was almost impossible to find another flight that we could afford. We eventually found a deal which required us to fly to Glasgow, take a hire car and drive to Gatwick, pick up my own car and then drive home to Northampton!

Complete nightmare. The travel agent never asked my permission to change the flights but claim that they sent me an email to inform me of the change months before. I had not received any communications at all from them. I still don't know why they changed the flights. They say that the changeover times were a little tight but if that was the case, why sell them like that in the first place? Surely they need my permission to change booked flights?

Any ideas if I can claim compensation from them?

Thanks in advance!

Caz3121

Lee34512 wrote: »

I checked several times during my holiday and no schedule changes were made to the flight that I booked.....


claim that they sent me an email to inform me of the change months before. I had not received any communications at all from them.

If your flight had been changed months before, where were you checking that showed no changes? was this the airlines website...if so and you were showing the original time with the airline until the day of departure I am not sure how they could have advised you months before

Lee34512

I was checking the actual flight. I had booked flight IB3821 at 1355hrs from Las Palmas. What I did not know was that months after making the booking and receiving confirmation, the travel agent put me on to a different flight (flight IB3827 at 1110hrs).

Even now when I use the details that the travel agent sent me to check the booking on their website it shows the original time of 1355hrs. It was only when I tried to check in online that I saw the change.

I was then left at the airport with no support from the travel agent, with two young children, one of whom has a disability. The travel agent now claim that because they supposedly sent an email earlier in the year they are not responsible. There was certainly no email and I cannot work out how I could have known about the change.

Voyager2002

Just to be absolutely clear... during your holiday, when you looked on-line at your flight home, were you simply verifying that IB3821was leaving at the time you expected, or you were looking at your own booking?

In order to verify what happened, I suggest that you use the log-on details that you used for check-in to look at your booking, and then try to contact Iberia using these details to confirm your identity in order to find out what they say about the change of booking

Caz3121

Lee34512 wrote: »

There was certainly no email and I cannot work out how I could have known about the change.

You should have had a booking reference to use on the Iberia site
Under Manage my Booking it asks for your surname and booking code and would then show the exact details of the flights you are booked on.
Even though there was no change to the Las Palmas to Madrid flight time, there may have been a change to the Madrid to Gatwick flight meaning you had too little time between flights for a legal connection. It is then usually the airline rather than the agent that would change your flights to something that "works" and you would be notified to accept or reject the change.
As you chose to book through an agent rather than direct with the airline, any notification on schedule changes from Iberia goes to your agent who then should contact you
Whether booking with a travel agent or even direct with the airline, email notifications can often end up in spam folders and it is necessary to keep checking your booking through Manage my Booking on the airline's website to check for any changes.

Lee34512

Hi Caz/Voyager,

I was generally verifying that the original flight was going on time. However, even with the travel agents website, using my original booking reference and surname, it still showed the original flight time (it still does to this day). I didn't use the Iberia website direct to login to my booking (didn't know I could until I came to check-in online!)

When I spoke to the Iberia rep at the airport they checked the records. They had only made the change after a request from "me" (the request had actually come from the travel agent). They saw no requirement themselves to change the flight but had done so at the travel agent's request.

Voyager2002

Lee34512 wrote: »

H However, even with the travel agents website, using my original booking reference and surname, it still showed the original flight time (it still does to this day).

I suggest that you take a screenshot and/or print this, and I think we can be fairly confident that the email about change of flight was never actually sent. As a matter of interest, did you receive any other emails from the travel agent, and did any of them go to your Spam folder?

You might care to examine your travel insurance and home insurance to see if you have any cover for legal expenses: I suspect that this will end up in court.

JPears

It sounds to me as though the travel agent probably found the earlier flight was cheaper, changed it and kept the profit? They certainly shouldn't have changed it without your permission, especially as Iberia have indicated there was no need. Is the travel agent ABTA regsitered or anything like that?
You may have to take a legal route via small claims for breach of contract. The onus will be on travel agent to prove they contacted you.

Lee34512

Thanks all. My travel insurance, we later found out, covers us for the flight out but not the flight back. I have made copies of all info, so have PDFs and screenshots of all sites. No other emails went to spam, in fact my spam settings are so low that very few emails do. The travel agent in question is gotogate and doesn't appear to be ABTA registered. Appreciate the advice but what would next step be?

Lee

JPears

You probably need to write an official letter of complain, pointing out all the detail, sending copies of supporting evidence and laying out how you expect the complaint to be resolved ie an apology for messing up, expenses you incurred and compensation for distress and give them a time limit. Say 21 days. That's being generous. If they don't reply within 21 days with a satisfactory response, issue an NBA. If that doesn't produce a result then you will have to start a small claims action in the county court. Read Vauban's superb guide, but remember that is specifically for regualtion 261/2004. But the ideas in principal are the same.

Tyzap

There are pages of complaints about GoToGate on TripAdvisor.

A Scandinavian company with a bad reputation.