Being refused flight refund

Colleen3009

Hi,
Looking for some advice please.  We have been trying to claim back out money for a year now. Here is a brief description of our issues. 

We booked flights with the flights guru to travel on 6th April 2020. As you know there was a ban on travel. We contacted the flights company who refused a refund and advised we could move the holiday. We explained that due to there being 13 of us, it would be difficult to all get the time off again. However, we did try and work with them. Unfortunately there was no flights that could accommodate us. We asked for a refund due to this and was refused again. The representative advised me that I would have to cancel the flight and claim my travel insurance. I wasn’t happy with this response, however, I was reassured this was the only way and that it would be easy to do. I cancelled the flight and from then, The flights guru have been non compliant. 

They have made many mistakes since booking. 

1. When we booked they got names and DOB wrong- this had to be rectified. 

2. In January 2020 they called and advised that instead of one stop to tampa there was now two and did I agree to continue with this. I agreed due to still arriving at an earlier time. Little did I know they split the party up and put us on different flights from each other. 

3. They wrongly advised me to cancel my flight- I have asked to get the call recordings which they have refused. 

4. I am not the lead passenger and I’ve now been made aware that I should not have been able to alter the booking nor should I have been able to cancel the flights. 

We tried claiming travel insurance who declined due to the flights guru being liable. We spoke to flights guru and they advised the bank should be refunding through travel insurance. 

We tried claiming credit cards and they explained that we were out with our timescales. 

We are completely at a loss. We do not know where to turn. We are out of around £8500 for flights. 

We are also down £1700 from the villa we booked in Florida. We could not physically travel due to the ban and have been refused a refund from the owner. 

Can you please help us or point us in the right direction. 

Thanks

Colleen

Upsidedownandaround

If the flight went ahead then you would not be entitled to a refund.

If the villa was open and your booking was non-refundable you would also not be entitled to a refund.

This would be a matter for travel insurance for which each of you would likely have to make a claim under your own insurance. I would go back to them as this would appear to be your only option as it sounds like this wasn't booked as a package.

bagand96

Regarding previous problems with the booking and the agent, they aren’t really relevant.

It sounds like you voluntarily cancelled the flights (on the advice of the agent?). The flights were non-refundable so you got nothing back?

This would be a travel insurance claim.  Why exactly are your insurance refusing to pay out?

Caz3121

Colleen3009 said:

We tried claiming travel insurance who declined due to the flights guru being liable. We spoke to flights guru and they advised the bank should be refunding through travel insurance. 

We tried claiming credit cards and they explained that we were out with our timescales. 

We are completely at a loss. We do not know where to turn. We are out of around £8500 for flights. 

We are also down £1700 from the villa we booked in Florida. We could not physically travel due to the ban and have been refused a refund from the owner. 

was this a package holiday with ATOL certificate or had you purchased refundable flights? - unsure why the insurance would think flights guru would be liable to refund you if not.
If the flights were scheduled to operate at the time you chose to cancel then credit card would not have helped anyway as there was no breach of contract
If the villa was open then again, unless you had purchased on a refundable rate, this would be one for your travel insurance. Whether you would be covered would depend on the policies...many insurers will only pay for those named on the policy so if your policy covers 2 people they may pay out 2/13ths of the cost with others being required to claim on their own policies

CKhalvashi

Upsidedownandaround said:

If the flight went ahead then you would not be entitled to a refund.

If the villa was open and your booking was non-refundable you would also not be entitled to a refund.

This would be a matter for travel insurance for which each of you would likely have to make a claim under your own insurance. I would go back to them as this would appear to be your only option as it sounds like this wasn't booked as a package.

We don't have enough information to say this yes, and it sounds to me like it may (and probably should) be protected as a package.

OP, do you (or the lead passenger) have an ATOL certificate, or anything with 'Package travel directive' (or similar) on it?

If yes, once we know that this is a package, your rights will be completely different, subject to certain conditions being met. Once you've advised, we can talk you through this.

Upsidedownandaround

CKhalvashi said:

Upsidedownandaround said:

If the flight went ahead then you would not be entitled to a refund.

If the villa was open and your booking was non-refundable you would also not be entitled to a refund.

This would be a matter for travel insurance for which each of you would likely have to make a claim under your own insurance. I would go back to them as this would appear to be your only option as it sounds like this wasn't booked as a package.

We don't have enough information to say this yes, and it sounds to me like it may (and probably should) be protected as a package.

OP, do you (or the lead passenger) have an ATOL certificate, or anything with 'Package travel directive' (or similar) on it?

If yes, once we know that this is a package, your rights will be completely different, subject to certain conditions being met. Once you've advised, we can talk you through this.

Given the way they have structured their post with the Villa being almost a footnote to their dealings with Flight Guru I'd be very surprised if they have booked the villa with them as well.

Thrugelmir

Did you have the correct travel insurance in place, i.e. a group policy to cover the entire party? 

Westin

CKhalvashi said:

Upsidedownandaround said:

If the flight went ahead then you would not be entitled to a refund.

If the villa was open and your booking was non-refundable you would also not be entitled to a refund.

This would be a matter for travel insurance for which each of you would likely have to make a claim under your own insurance. I would go back to them as this would appear to be your only option as it sounds like this wasn't booked as a package.

We don't have enough information to say this yes, and it sounds to me like it may (and probably should) be protected as a package.

OP, do you (or the lead passenger) have an ATOL certificate, or anything with 'Package travel directive' (or similar) on it?

If yes, once we know that this is a package, your rights will be completely different, subject to certain conditions being met. Once you've advised, we can talk you through this.

I also think it is flight only.

Regardless however the company is a US based OTA and does not sell or come under the CAA’s ATOL scheme.

As others have suggested, travel insurance is your only real route here.

Alan_Bowen

I also think this was a flight only booking, although why you would need to change twice to get from London to Tampa goodness only knows. The company is based in south London and appears to be a member of ABTA and has its own ATOL licence. The first thing to establish is which airline was the booking made with and check to see if they issued a refund to the agent? How far ahead did you, and I agree you should not have been allowed to, cancel? Was it your card (I assume a debit rather than a credit card) that was used to pay? If it wasn't, then the lead name ought to argue that they had no authority to act on your say so and that of itself is a breach of contract on their part!
The Trustpilot reviews suggest you are far from the only people in a similar predicament, and as usual with Trustpilot reviews for many businesses(which is why  I don't trust them) the one-star reviews and mixed with 5-star reviews which have been requested. I was amazed on Monday this week having had a conversation (nothing bought as yet) they asked me to post a review of a telephone conversation and texted me offering me an Amazon voucher I did. Needless to say, I have not done so and it has put me off the business altogether but it may explain why some people think a business is wonderful and others, waiting for money in this case, haven't got a good word for them at all. 

CKhalvashi

Westin said:

CKhalvashi said:

Upsidedownandaround said:

If the flight went ahead then you would not be entitled to a refund.

If the villa was open and your booking was non-refundable you would also not be entitled to a refund.

This would be a matter for travel insurance for which each of you would likely have to make a claim under your own insurance. I would go back to them as this would appear to be your only option as it sounds like this wasn't booked as a package.

We don't have enough information to say this yes, and it sounds to me like it may (and probably should) be protected as a package.

OP, do you (or the lead passenger) have an ATOL certificate, or anything with 'Package travel directive' (or similar) on it?

If yes, once we know that this is a package, your rights will be completely different, subject to certain conditions being met. Once you've advised, we can talk you through this.

I also think it is flight only.

Regardless however the company is a US based OTA and does not sell or come under the CAA’s ATOL scheme.

As others have suggested, travel insurance is your only real route here.

If a package/LTA and the company is targeting EU travellers (which would have been relevant at the time, the rules have now changed slightly from January 1, but the principles remain the same), then it would have at least needed to hold insolvency insurance somewhere within the EU. If flights are involved, a national equivalent to an ATOL would have been required in any event under the rules in place at that time.

As the amount is quoted as £1700, not $2200 (or whatever the amount would be) I assume that it was paid in Sterling, and therefore would be targeting UK-based customers.

It looks like the company has chosen to be regulated in the UK in any event, so the national rules apply, which were as above at the time.

The advice given here is fully correct if it is on a flight only basis however I asked for clarification so we can ensure we are giving the correct information to OP.

Westin

My apologies. I read as OP booked with California based online flight seller - Flight Guru (www.flightguru.com), rather than what appears now to be the Flights Guru (www.theflightsguru.co.uk).