Those trying to get refunds from Opodo

goldmine2011

Taken me since March to even get through to someone at opodo, 3 letters wrote, 10 emails sent, 8+ (hour long) phone calls recorded, each time they promised a refund within 3 months and it never came, anything they promised never came. They updated my booking status a few times to make it seem like there was something happening with the refund. e.g. refund requested, awaiting airline confirmation etc.

I had enough last week and literally went onto their online chat, and then also got on the online chat with my airline (at the same time) asked both of them what was going on because Opodo are saying they requested the refund 6 months ago and you aren't giving them the money back, the airline confirmed that no refund request was ever made by opodo and then you had opodo saying they requested the refund ages ago, got a screenshot side-by-side of them basically accusing each other of lying and i sent it into both customer service emails that i could find for both companies and saying that one of them is clearly lying and because it has been 6 months passed any deadlines that was originally given that i would be looking to take it to a legal matter since i now have proof that one of them is clearly lying about the situation.

Surprise surprise, it was Opodo who for nearly 8 months literally did nothing at all with my booking even after i got confirmation from about 6 different people that my refund was requested etc, they literally did nothing at all. After i threatened legal action the airline immediately said that they had proactively refunded my money to Opodo, and sent me proof of them doing so,  i took that proof and sent it to Opodo and they had no leg to stand on they confirmed that they got the monies and have processed a refund which will take 3-5 days, so i will update once i got the money in my account.

But don't bother with chasing Opodo, whatever they tell you will most likely be false, chase up the end-product (airline, hotel, cruise) company and tell them that they need to refund Opodo so that they can refund you and make sure you ask them for proof that they have done so because once you have that then Opodo have to give you your money back.

Butts

Why didn't you just do a chargeback as soon as they failed to refund you in the proscribed time ?
Your money would back within weeks rather than the months you have waited.

goldmine2011

Butts said:

Why didn't you just do a chargeback as soon as they failed to refund you in the proscribed time ?
Your money would back within weeks rather than the months you have waited.

I paid via Paypal and they only have a 180 day period to raise any disputes anything after that and their system basically just sends you an auto-reply saying that you are past the 180 day period and auto-closes any dispute you raise.

I booked & paid in September 2019 and because this all happened in March/April i had literally just gone past that 180 day period by a week or so. so yeah i had no chance of getting any money back from my payment method, i asked multiple times and they just said "past the 180 days, nope cant do anything".

So yeah theres another pitfall of paying via paypal and not a credit card

Butts

goldmine2011 said:

Butts said:

Why didn't you just do a chargeback as soon as they failed to refund you in the proscribed time ?
Your money would back within weeks rather than the months you have waited.

I paid via Paypal and they only have a 180 day period to raise any disputes anything after that and their system basically just sends you an auto-reply saying that you are past the 180 day period and auto-closes any dispute you raise.

I booked & paid in September 2019 and because this all happened in March/April i had literally just gone past that 180 day period by a week or so. so yeah i had no chance of getting any money back from my payment method, i asked multiple times and they just said "past the 180 days, nope cant do anything".

So yeah theres another pitfall of paying via paypal and not a credit card

Fair play, at least it looks like your perseverance has finally paid off.

Nick212010

Butts said:

Why didn't you just do a chargeback as soon as they failed to refund you in the proscribed time ?
Your money would back within weeks rather than the months you have waited.

Opodo appealed my chargeback claim on the basis they lied to the credit card provider by saying I was given vouchers. They also said that the Ts & Cs weren’t broken by them, and that the airline cancelled the flights so they’re not liable. (Which in fairness is true) However the lie and misinformation they peddled to the credit car provider to ensure the chargeback could be appealed showed how unscrupulous they are.

My refund status in their website indicates that they have the money for the airline and they are processing it, however I’d be lying if I didn’t think they were trying to fob me off with more lies. I’m now inclined to ring my airline direct to hear their side of the story.

Butts

Nick212010 said:

Butts said:

Why didn't you just do a chargeback as soon as they failed to refund you in the proscribed time ?
Your money would back within weeks rather than the months you have waited.

Opodo appealed my chargeback claim on the basis they lied to the credit card provider by saying I was given vouchers. They also said that the Ts & Cs weren’t broken by them, and that the airline cancelled the flights so they’re not liable. (Which in fairness is true) However the lie and misinformation they peddled to the credit car provider to ensure the chargeback could be appealed showed how unscrupulous they are.

My refund status in their website indicates that they have the money for the airline and they are processing it, however I’d be lying if I didn’t think they were trying to fob me off with more lies. I’m now inclined to ring my airline direct to hear their side of the story.

LastMinute.com tried it on with my provider, but Capital 1 told them to "go forth and multiply" and come up with some credible defence (which they didn't ) and I kept the cash.

goldmine2011

Nick212010 said:

Butts said:

Why didn't you just do a chargeback as soon as they failed to refund you in the proscribed time ?
Your money would back within weeks rather than the months you have waited.

Opodo appealed my chargeback claim on the basis they lied to the credit card provider by saying I was given vouchers. They also said that the Ts & Cs weren’t broken by them, and that the airline cancelled the flights so they’re not liable. (Which in fairness is true) However the lie and misinformation they peddled to the credit car provider to ensure the chargeback could be appealed showed how unscrupulous they are.

My refund status in their website indicates that they have the money for the airline and they are processing it, however I’d be lying if I didn’t think they were trying to fob me off with more lies. I’m now inclined to ring my airline direct to hear their side of the story.

I have recorded phone calls of 8 different people, 4 of them i told them i was recording the calls and whatever they say i have it recorded and they still told me that my refund will be in my account within 3-6 months, whereas all of them literally did nothing after the call, even though i properly kicked off on them about it. So for that to happen they must have been told by higher management just to appease the customers by telling them they will get refunds within x months just to shut us up.

I was shocked when my airline told me that Opodo have literally not asked for anything......ever, after all those times i contacted them and had all this evidence against them which i told them i was going to use and 8 whole months had passed and they literally did zilch. Sure they had a 3 month backlog, but after that they must've been sat on their behinds with nothing to do since worldwide travel grinded to a halt.

once you have proof from your airline that they have refunded Opodo they wont have a leg to stand on and you should get your money back, or at least them confirming they will process it and shouldnt take more than 3 working days.

kjmatt

Anybody know what has happened with Opodo, both numbers I have used before are now saying "this number is not in use anymore", one of them gives new number as 8712777723 probably missing a + or 00. If they are not operating in UK any more, can ATOL help?

eskbanker

kjmatt said:

Anybody know what has happened with Opodo, both numbers I have used before are now saying "this number is not in use anymore", one of them gives new number as 8712777723 probably missing a + or 00. If they are not operating in UK any more, can ATOL help?

That is a UK number, missing the initial zero, shown under linked questions when Googling 'opodo contact number' (but not obviously visible on the linked page itself):

How do I call Opodo?

Call us on 0871 277 7723 to make the reservation over the phone.

Home | Help Centre - Opodo

Westin

kjmatt said:

Anybody know what has happened with Opodo, both numbers I have used before are now saying "this number is not in use anymore", one of them gives new number as 8712777723 probably missing a + or 00. If they are not operating in UK any more, can ATOL help?

Answer on the telephone number from eskbanker.

Opodo customer service and reservations have not operated in the U.K. for sometime. They are in Spain I believe.  Telephone numbers will just divert to their contact centre.

ATOL can only help if Opodo go bust. It is a financial protection scheme.

NobbyTucker

I'm also having problems with Opodo and having exhausted everything else it looks like court action is my only option. Any thoughts please?

I have posted this below on another thread before I saw this one...

Yes also chasing over £1,000 refunds from Opodo since last March - will never use them again, ever.  I escalated to a complaint and they accepted that a refund is due but delayed paying it for months. They have now changed thier story (and website so save screen grabs from thier app) to say that it was a 'no-show' when the flights were clearly cancelled.

I persued a S75 credit card chargeback but due to a technicality that isn't going to work, so I'm here gathering information as I can't see any other option now but to write them a letter giving x days notice of court action and then will lodge a claim with money claim online.

Any tips or suggestions please? 

Thanks Nobby