mytrip flight refund from March 2020

Mobo

Hi all, I booked 2 x flights with mytrip in January 2020. The flights were cancelled by Norweigan due to Covid-19 and I logged a refund request on 28 March 2020. I've now been chasing this for over a year! I've tried everything I can think of - chasing mytrip direct, contacting Norweigan, messaging mytrip customer service on LinkedIn....

My question is, should I just let this go now? It's nearly £500 which is a lot of money for me, but the hassle, time and stress is getting ridiculous. I made some silly mistakes 1. using mytrip rather than booking direct and 2. using my debit card - I am kicking myself for these!

Any advice or next steps would be gratefully appreciated. Many thanks Mo.

Mobo

Sorry forgot to add this latest comms from mytrip: 

We recently received information from Norwegian that they are now under reconstruction. This has lead the airline to stop all refunds at the moment. 

Caz3121

when you spoke to with Norwegian did they confirm whether they have issued a refund to MyTrip? (or at least confirm if MyTrip have requested it)

eskbanker

Mobo said:

I made some silly mistakes 1. using mytrip rather than booking direct and 2. using my debit card - I am kicking myself for these!

It won't be much consolation, but using a credit card wouldn't have offered any additional protection when booking via an agent, so no point in kicking yourself for that aspect!  MyTrip will be on the hook to pass on the refund once they get it from Norwegian but I'm not sure there's anything you can do to expedite this - if the refund eventually isn't forthcoming at all, did you have travel insurance that might cover it?

Mobo

Thanks both, unfortunately travel insurance wouldn't cover it. And yup I was trying to work out from Norweigan if it had actually been requested....! I may go back to Norweigan on this and then at least I'd know if in the system.

Alan_Bowen

There are two possibilities if the airline hasn't repaid your agent, and for heaven's sake don't book a flight from the UK to the US with a Greek-based travel agency again, then there will be no refund coming. In legal proceedings regarding their reconstruction, they admitted 34,000 passengers had not been and would to be refunded in the future. They owe something like 6 billion, not sure whether that is dollars or Euros but it makes little difference. At the start of the pandemic, they were actually very good at refunding, when refunds were requested of course.
That leads me to the second possibility, that Mytrip has been sitting on the refund for months and using the airline's well known financial position as an excuse. If you can show the refund was processed then they are in breach of contract with you and you should be able to make a section 75 claim against Mytrip rather than the airline. Try and get the truth out of the airline and then you may have a successful outcome

eskbanker

Alan_Bowen said:

That leads me to the second possibility, that Mytrip has been sitting on the refund for months and using the airline's well known financial position as an excuse. If you can show the refund was processed then they are in breach of contract with you and you should be able to make a section 75 claim against Mytrip rather than the airline. Try and get the truth out of the airline and then you may have a successful outcome

As above, s75 wouldn't apply to an indirect booking via an agent even if OP had paid by credit card, but as payment was via debit card, that point is moot and s75 isn't an option full stop....

Alan_Bowen

As it is a debit card, s 75 won't apply, but if it did, I would strongly argue, and I think the Ombudsman would agree that once the agent has been refunded by the airline, the breach of contract is with the agent in any event for failing to pass the funds back to the customer

eskbanker

Alan_Bowen said:

As it is a debit card, s 75 won't apply, but if it did, I would strongly argue, and I think the Ombudsman would agree that once the agent has been refunded by the airline, the breach of contract is with the agent in any event for failing to pass the funds back to the customer

There are plenty of FOS cases where the ombudsmen have rejected s75 claims specifically because the presence of an intermediary agent breaks the debtor-creditor-supplier chain needed to sustain such a claim - if an agent isn't compliant with its obligations that doesn't change that fundamental contractual structure, although does open them up to the possibility of small claims recovery.  In other words, even if consumers enter multiple contracts, one with an agent and one with the supplier, that doesn't grant s75 rights to pursue either of them.

Alan_Bowen

If the contract was still with the airline I would agree, but if the airline has fulfilled its obligations but the agent is now the one in breach of contract and that is the company that has been paid, I do see a claim. We shall have to agree to disagree.

eskbanker

Alan_Bowen said:

If the contract was still with the airline I would agree, but if the airline has fulfilled its obligations but the agent is now the one in breach of contract and that is the company that has been paid, I do see a claim. We shall have to agree to disagree.

For the avoidance of doubt, I absolutely agree that the consumer has a claim against the agent here, but just not one against the credit card company under section 75, as they're not legally liable in this situation where a fourth party is involved beyond the debtor, creditor and supplier!