Travel agent has cancelled our holiday and no notification

Marksfish

Our travel agent is closed today, so I am trying to get information together to bombard them with.

I made a contract with a independent ABTA travel agents for a multi point USA holiday. I paid the monies on my credit card, I was the party point of contact tickets arrived, seats were chosen, all was good.

My brother's daughter has recently been diagnosed with a serious illness and my brother discussed with me the possibilities of his cancelling for him and his wife.

We are due to fly on this Wednesday coming, so we visited my brother to see my niece before we went away. My brother then told me he had been talking to the travel agent and had cancelled their tickets and hotel because of the health problems on the 12th Jan. The hospital then told them they should take the holiday as no further treatment is due for 2 weeks, so he rang the agents again on Saturday 14th to cancel the cancellation and was told the cancellation had not yet been actioned. This was all done unbeknown to me.

I was checking flight details on the Delta app today and my reference number doesn't exist any more. We called Delta, who told us to ring Virgin (Virgin flight run by Delta). We rung Virgin and it was answered by Delta (????) who told us that all flights had been cancelled. Delta are willing to reinstate the flights, but Virgin are saying no.

Now, where do I stand? As the person with whom the contract was made, should the travel agent have actioned anything without my consent? Should the travel agent even have discussed the holiday with anyone else that was not the lead passenger and without my authority? Is it a data protection thing? I have seen the email sent by my brother to the agent clearly stating that only his and his wife's holidays should be cancelled and not affecting ours. I have also seen the email stating that further to the telephone call the cancellation should not be actioned. No correspondence from the agent at all confirmation of instruction wise, either to me as lead passenger or my brother. This would have set alarm bells ringing earlier and allowed me to contact them whilst still open

I am sure there is a breach of contract somewhere and want to put some hard facts before them when they open at 9am tomorrow. As it stands, there are is only 1 seat left on the outbound flight on Wednesday, so it has all gone to pot big time.

Thanks for any advice.

Mark

Marksfish

I should just mention here that their terms and conditions clearly state:

5. Changes You Make Before Travel

If, after your booking has been confirmed, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will endeavour to assist but it may not always be possible to make the changes. Any request for changes must be in writing from the person who made the booking. You will be asked to pay an administration charge of £30.00 per person per change, plus any further costs incurred in making this alteration, together with all costs or charges imposed by any suppliers other than ourselves.

6. If You Cancel Your Holiday

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received at our offices.

In both cases, the person who made the booking (me) has had no contact with their offices at all. Game, set and match maybe?

leylandsunaddict

If it was a package holiday then the agent should not have discussed the booking, let alone touched it unless you authorised it, either verbally to them or in writing. Only the lead name has the right to authorise any changes.

Slightly different note, but as your niece has recently been diagnosed I trust your brother has informed their insurers and they have agreed to insure her (and they've had their policy endorsed to that affect)?

I've got ask - which agent?

cubegame

I'm guessing someone at the travel agent has made a mistake and actioned a cancellation against their own T&Cs. They may have meant to cancel some of the flights but managed to cancel them all.

It looks like your only course of action is to go in guns blazing and hope they can get you into a higher class on the outbound plane.

Marksfish

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

Slightly different note, but as your niece has recently been diagnosed I trust your brother has informed their insurers and they have agreed to insure her (and they've had their policy endorsed to that affect)?

The niece isn't going with us, she is going to Euro Disney with her siblings.

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

I've got ask - which agent?

Deluxe Breaks/ Jetline Travel.

leylandsunaddict

The niece isn't going with us, she is going to Euro Disney with her siblings.

Sorry, my misunderstanding, but the same applies re insurance no matter where she's going.

Deluxe Breaks/ Jetline Travel.

Independent tour operator. I've not seen an abundance of complaints about them, so I'm guessing this is more of a single employee problem than a company problem as a whole, possibly someone without much experience going from the mess they appear to have made!


Ok, I wouldn't go in all guns blazing. Yes, they've c*cked up, but you've still got to make them want to help you, especially given the very short time scale. Pleasant, polite but firm usually is the best approach. Point out that they should not have discussed or touched your booking without your prior authorisation. That despite that they have touched it, and totally messed it up. Tell them that you want it rectifying, and how they do that is not your problem, it's theirs, and what do they propose to do about it, given the very limited time left?

If the hotel rooms are still available then it's up to them to work with the airline to sort the flights, even if that means them paying to put you on a different airline, or in a higher class of travel. In case the rooms aren't available I would have a suitable alternative ready to give them.

Marksfish

I don't really know if the rooms are available, it was all a part of the package, so to my mind if they have messed the flights up they have messed it all up.

I sent an email earlier explaining what I expect them to do. Firm, reasonably polite (in the situation) but precise and to the point.

Thanks

leylandsunaddict

Marksfish wrote: »

I don't really know if the rooms are available, it was all a part of the package, so to my mind if they have messed the flights up they have messed it all up.

I sent an email earlier explaining what I expect them to do. Firm, reasonably polite (in the situation) but precise and to the point.

Thanks

They have messed it all up! It sounds like you're doing the right things though. I hope they do sort it all out to your satisfacation, even if it's not to theirs

Blue264

Just wondering, do you and your brother have the same surname? Same first initial to your birth name?

I'm just thinking of possible excuses the agent could come up with, but it all sounds as if you're doing it right.

Have you made any progress today?

Marksfish

No he is my step brother, so different surnames.

Mine and my wife's flights are reinstated, not my brothers, but they took away our pre- booked seating and we are now sitting apart on the outbound flight (some may say that is a good thing ). The agents are refusing to take any responsibility, so will probably upgrade and bill them on return.

Have taken legal advice today and the solicitor couldn't believe the incompetence and unprofessionalism shown by the agent. Apparently I have an extremely good case.

Mark

Gleeful

Marksfish wrote: »

No he is my step brother, so different surnames.

Mine and my wife's flights are reinstated, not my brothers, but they took away our pre- booked seating and we are now sitting apart on the outbound flight (some may say that is a good thing ). The agents are refusing to take any responsibility, so will probably upgrade and bill them on return.

Have taken legal advice today and the solicitor couldn't believe the incompetence and unprofessionalism shown by the agent. Apparently I have an extremely good case.

Mark

I wouldn't upgrade and bill them on return, they have no liability to pay that bill. You still have seats on the flight so you got what you paid for, seating together is not a given but you may be able to get seats together when online checkin opens. By all means ask them for compensation to cover your disappointment at whats happened and not being sat together, but upgrading and sending them the bill is not a good idea.