Flight cancellation in Dutch... 31 August 2020 at 8:40PM in Flight delay compensation 2 replies 41 views

Timasher

I will attempt to keep this brief and to the point and would gratefully appreciate any advise please

1. Booked 3 flights on 13-08-2020 . Bristol to Nuremberg via Amsterdam

2. Booking made via Budget air.co.uk

3. Original times and flight numbers as follows:- outgoing Wednesday 02 September 2020 -  Bristol to Amsterdam Schiphol - KLM Flight number: 1046.  Amsterdam Schiphol to Nuremberg - KLM  Flight number: 1883

Returning:-  Monday 07 September 2020 -  Nuremberg to Amsterdam Schiphol - KLM Flight number: 1880. Amsterdam Schiphol - Bristol - KLM  Flight number: 1049

4. On the 20th August received an email from KLM airline in Dutch (I dont read Dutch btw!)  after my basic Google translate skills were employed.... basically stating flight number KL1049 has been cancelled and we will rebook you to another flight or read what you can do yourself... It goes on to say I can rebook the flight or request a full refund etc but only if I booked directly via KLM otherwise go through the agent I booked with.

5. I immediately emailed Budget air with the following:-

"I have just received an email from KLM advising our return trip has been cancelled. Unfortunately this means we will have to cancel our trip to Germany. Can you please reimburse all our expenditure with you in full thank you."

6. Budget air reply with a std letter as follows:-

"If your flight is cancelled by the airline, then the next steps will be initiated by us. You do not need to take any action for this. We will reach out to you. For more information regarding refund applications go to the /updates page on our website.

Some airlines, such as EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air or Transavia, follow a different procedure. In this case, when your flight is canceled you will receive an email with the next steps."

 7. On the 21-08-2020 I receive another email from KLM Stating your flight has been cancelled and we have rebooked you on another flight:- Flight number KL 1053 Amsterdam to Bristol but where originally this was flight number KL1049 Departing at 09:40 the new flight number KL1053 departs  16:40

8. Umpteen calls and emails to Budget air and finally got an email tonight stating the following:-

"We regret to inform that airlines are not offering any more refund due to flight cancellation.They are offering only travel credit solutions. We don't support “travel credit solutions” or “travel vouchers” because it is not possible to exchange the value of the credits/vouchers on our websites. Please contact the airlines for a future travel voucher option.

Kind regards,

BudgetAir  Customer Service

9. I replied with the following:-

I have tried to contact KLM but unfortunately as the booking was not direct with them I have to go through yourselves . Note want KLM STATE ON THEIR WEBSITE

“If your flight was cancelled, you may be entitled to a refund. Bear in mind that conditions vary, depending on who cancelled the flight (you or the airline). Did you not book directly with KLM? Then our agents are not able to help you. Reach out to the travel agent you booked with for more information about refunds.

If the airline cancelled your flight, you can request a refund in the form of a voucher or cash. If you cancelled the flight yourself, you can only opt for a voucher. You can request a cash refund even if you already received a travel voucher. Please note that if you already received a voucher, it will not be valid anymore."

So basically can I get my money back?

Thanking you in advance

Tim

Alan_Bowen

It is a great pity you didn't come here or to any review site before booking with this non-UK based company which belongs to no trade association to which you can complain. It is obvious they didn't contact the airline but just left KLM to rebook you on the nearest alternative flights as that protects their profit which they added to the original cost of the flight. So you paid more and get zero service. Alas, KLM is right, they won't deal directly with passengers when they have booked through an agent. The reviews sites are full of customers who have checked with airlines and discovered the agent has been refunded but they have not passed a penny back to the customer.
You obviously paid by card, you could try a request for a chargeback based on their failure to follow your instructions to cancel the entire trip when the original flight was cancelled. you have to argue it this way as banks quite often argue your contract is with an airline and an agent is not at fault, in this case, I would say it is clear they are

Timasher

Alan_Bowen said:

It is a great pity you didn't come here or to any review site before booking with this non-UK based company which belongs to no trade association to which you can complain. It is obvious they didn't contact the airline but just left KLM to rebook you on the nearest alternative flights as that protects their profit which they added to the original cost of the flight. So you paid more and get zero service. Alas, KLM is right, they won't deal directly with passengers when they have booked through an agent. The reviews sites are full of customers who have checked with airlines and discovered the agent has been refunded but they have not passed a penny back to the customer.
You obviously paid by card, you could try a request for a chargeback based on their failure to follow your instructions to cancel the entire trip when the original flight was cancelled. you have to argue it this way as banks quite often argue your contract is with an airline and an agent is not at fault, in this case, I would say it is clear they are

I paid by Visa Debit card is that still ok to a request for a chargeback?

Also if the flight was cancelled and a new flight number given can I get the money back under the EU Rules?

Thank you