Flight cancellation - refund fee

Sammyspider1983

I booked flights through lastminute.com. My outbound flight was cancelled and they moved me to an earlier flight, which I could not go on due to work. They offered me a refund which I accepted. They now want to charge me an admin fee to give me a refund (unless I opt for a voucher). As the cancellation isn’t my fault, surely I don’t have to pay an admin fee just to get a refund?! I don’t want compensation, just my money back!

lisyloo

Have you gone back to them in the first instance and explained the change was their fault and therefore admin fee shouldn’t be charged?
what was their response?

Caz3121

Most of the third party ticket floggers charge fees for doing any work including processing refunds following airline cancellations. Not your fault but not theirs either. You will need to read the t&cs you agreed to. 

eskbanker

Sammyspider1983 said:

I don’t want compensation, just my money back!

You might be entitled to compensation anyway, depending on when the flight was cancelled and the reason for doing so, so probably pragmatic to investigate that....

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays/#cancelrules

Westin

Caz3121 said:

Most of the third party ticket floggers charge fees for doing any work including processing refunds following airline cancellations. Not your fault but not theirs either. You will need to read the t&cs you agreed to. 

Caz3121 has covered it.

When you elect to use LM or one of these ‘cheap’ online ticket sellers you sign up and agree to a whole host of extra fees. One being that they will charge a service fee if they process a refund for you.  Check the T&C’s for details.

Whilst it wasn’t your fault that the airline cancelled the flight, it wasn’t LM’s either.  They will want paying for the work they initially did to book the flight and collect and pass on payment to the airline, plus the refund process work. To avoid this in the future either book direct with the airline (then there is an obligation for a FULL refund if the airline cancels), or at least use a proper and reputable real travel agent.

bagand96

lisyloo said:

Have you gone back to them in the first instance and explained the change was their fault and therefore admin fee shouldn’t be charged?
what was their response?

It wasn't LM.com's fault,  it was the airline. Had the OP booked directly with the airline they'd have been entitled to a full refund of all monies paid.

OP chose to use the services of an agent to arrange their ticket. Agents can and do charge admin fees to do work on behalf of customers. As long as they are notified in the T&Cs at the time of booking, which they are with LM.