Lastminute.com are keeping my money??

R2OBD

Hi , I'm hoping someone can give me a little advice...

Unfortunately last year my flights got cancelled to Aruba for the family due to Covid. After some weeks Lastminute offered me either a travel voucher with a bonus £200 (within a few days) or a face value refund (minus admin fees) which stated it could take 3 - 6 months to get. At the time not knowing how long the pandemic would last (and not knowing better) I opted for the voucher.  I recently went to use the voucher now Aruba flights have become viable again but ... (you guessed it!) the voucher has expired.  I have spoken to the call centre a few times (twice getting hung up on) and they have now asked me to wait for an email from the voucher department to see if they can extend the voucher.   I have also explained I had tried to convert the voucher to a refund during the validity period but my emails never got acted on. 

I'm very concerned Lastminute.com is shaping up to keep my money and not refund me / issue me with a new voucher - i have checked with KLM (flights) who state they have refunded Lastminute.com - the face value of the tickets is £2,300 and i have now been waiting a week for an email from the voucher department.

Any help / advice would be gratefully received. 

The_Fat_Controller

When you accepted the voucher, did it have a clear expiry date and have Terms and Conditions attached ?

Did you ever try to extend the validity BEFORE the expiry date ?

Once you accept a voucher that normally negates your right to any refund.

R2OBD

Hi, Thanks for the response, 

When accepting there was no indication to the expiry date , I did read through the terms and conditions at the time and again i do not recall anything regarding an expiry date. When the initial voucher was issued I did not receive it by email only when revisiting my account on Lastminute recently to actually use the voucher, i could see a warning about checking Spam and an option to resend the email - which i did to then retrieve it from spam and see the voucher was expired. 

R2OBD

I would add also,  that on the voucher I now have, I can request a refund during the life of that voucher - which i did - but the emails i sent went unanswered.  This is the same email address I'm now using to contact them which they are responding too. 

R2OBD

Sorry to trouble you all - they have literally just issued a extension to the voucher -  it has taken a lot of chasing but they have actually done the right thing.  Think i was very lucky - wont be making this mistake again.  Oh and if your in my boat always check your spam folder....  

Westin

R2OBD said:

Sorry to trouble you all - they have literally just issued a extension to the voucher -  it has taken a lot of chasing but they have actually done the right thing.  Think i was very lucky - wont be making this mistake again.  Oh and if your in my boat always check your spam folder....  

.... and avoid using lastminute.com for any purchases.

Ananya21

Westin said:

R2OBD said:

Sorry to trouble you all - they have literally just issued a extension to the voucher -  it has taken a lot of chasing but they have actually done the right thing.  Think i was very lucky - wont be making this mistake again.  Oh and if your in my boat always check your spam folder....  

.... and avoid using lastminute.com for any purchases.

May be its happens because of those pandemic days..


Thanks & Regards
Ananyasambath

Westin

Ananya21 said:

Westin said:

R2OBD said:

Sorry to trouble you all - they have literally just issued a extension to the voucher -  it has taken a lot of chasing but they have actually done the right thing.  Think i was very lucky - wont be making this mistake again.  Oh and if your in my boat always check your spam folder....  

.... and avoid using lastminute.com for any purchases.

May be its happens because of those pandemic days..


Thanks & Regards
Ananyasambath

I am sure the pandemic and mass travel disruption has not helped, but even before that BravoNext SA / lastminute.com did not have particularly good feedback on post booking customer service.  For many online and often overseas based companies of selling "cheap" air and travel, there is no margin to invest in excellent (or even average) contact centres or well trained staff. If you don't need to contact them or seek help or your travel plans remain unchanged, you will probably be ok.  It's when things go wrong, or travel plans change, then people struggle with these OTA set ups.