Lastminute.com dodging refund payment (not covid related)

CarolineDunn

In September my impoverished student son and girlfriend had a much needed weekend break in Paris, with accommodation booked through Airbnb. A few weeks before they we due to depart they got an email from Lastminute.com saying that their flights would be diverted via Barcelona, taking a total of ten hours out of their weekend break. The duly cancelled their flights and requested a refund and opted to go to Paris by Eurostar, and they had a fantastic time. Now (3 months later) lastminute.com have still not refunded them saying that they have not received a refund themselves from the airline Vueling Airlines. Having spoken to Vueling about the refund, it would appear that Vueling do not think they should be giving one as the altered flight times were still within 5 hours of the original flight times. It would seem that my son is caught between a rock and a hard place, is there any chance that we will get his money back. It might not be much money at £275.93 but to these to students it's a months food and for me a matter of principle. Can anyone help?

Sandtree

This isnt a delay, either its a reschedule or cancellation as you were noticed a few weeks before. The key is if the flight number changed or not.

If the flight code changed its a cancellation in which case you are entitled to a refund but no compensation as it was more than 14 days notice

If the flight code stayed the same then is a rescheduling and comes down to their T&Cs which states that they can change departure time by up to 5 hours before your flight becomes subject to refund.

Given they didnt fly they are entitled to reclaim the taxes from the tickets anyway however Vueling will take a €15 admin fee and wouldnt be a surprise if your booking agent didnt take a slice too

bagand96

Unfortunately Vueling are pretty shoddy when it comes to customer service. 

The fact that a direct flight (to Paris Orly?) was replaced with flights via Barcelona means that the original flight was cancelled. Clue here is if the flight number changed. 

Get back in touch with Vueling and point out that under EC261/2014 a refund is due when a flight is cancelled. The refund would have to go via LM.com as that is the agent your son booked via. Unfortunately they are also pretty shoddy when it comes to customer service although in this case it seems they may not be the main problem.  Only niggling issue is that if LM.com didn’t cancel the ticket when the schedule change was made and that Vueling now treat it as a no show.