Chargeback issue between On The Beach (OTB) and Ryanair

Rockape185

Based in England.
Booked a trip to Tenerife in September with Lastminute.com. Paid in full with credit card. Was able to log into the Ryanair booking and pay to reserve seats on the 9th August.
Logging in last week Ryanair advised that there is an outstanding balance of £592. Lastminute said "dont worry about it" but after contacting Ryanair, they advised this is due to a chargeback made for a flight to Portugal in 2020.
I never booked or went to Portugal (or anywhere else) in 2020.
Anyone had a similar suggestion? My credit card company also confirmed not chargebacks were made during this period. Not sure how best to manage this as contacting either party normally ends with a call being answered and then hung up on immediately.

DullGreyGuy

Lots of people falsely believed that they were due refunds and that the chargeback process was in some way a rigorous and binding process. RyanAir has decided to take the approach that rather than pursue everyone for the debts after a chargeback that they will simply hold it as a debt on file and not allow another booking from that person until the debt is cleared.

I would assume that RyanAir are using some form of fuzzy logic to do the matching of customers to debt to avoid someone just spinning up a new email address etc to bypass the system. So it sounds like in your case its created a false match (I assume you've spoken with those that you live with to ensure it wasn't a surprise trip they'd booked for you etc?). 

For those booking with RyanAir directly its fairly simple, they cannot complete the sale without the payment. No idea how they are policing it with those booked through agents. Presumably you've received your eticket (not just the sales advice) and so on the surface seems LastMinute are correct for this flight at least but they aren't known for being a rigorous company.

Rockape185

Thanks, very much appreciated. I'm the only booker so 100% confident the trip was never booked by me. Will update on progress!

bagand96

What @DullGreyGuy said is correct in respect that Ryanair are treating chargebacks that weren't due as debt.

It may be because the card or email address that LastMinute.com have used on the booking has also been used for an account where there was such a debt.

I would continue pursuing with Ryanair stating that there wasn't a trip booked to Portugal and no chargbeack by you, or anyone else on the booking (are you travelling alone? Absolutely sure no-ne else on the booking have cancelled a trip to Portugal?).  You could ask them for details on the alledged cancelled booking.  I would also push LM.com a little more.  I wouldn't be inclined to believe their "don't worry about it".  What happens if Ryanair don't allow check-in?

Rockape185

Ok. may have got to the bottom of it. I had a holiday booked with Onthebeach in 2020 to Fuetuventura, which included Ryanair flights. OTB cancelled and refunded the holiday and flights to my credit card. I did not raise a dispute or chargeback directly with Ryanair.
Ryanair have said that because the flight was operational we should have flown and therefore we owe them the monies, 

eskbanker

Rockape185 said:

Ok. may have got to the bottom of it. I had a holiday booked with Onthebeach in 2020 to Fuetuventura, which included Ryanair flights. OTB cancelled and refunded the holiday and flights to my credit card. I did not raise a dispute or chargeback directly with Ryanair.
Ryanair have said that because the flight was operational we should have flown and therefore we owe them the monies, 

If OTB handled the booking and refund processes with Ryanair in such a way as to leave you with a residual debt to the airline, then you probably have a claim against OTB for this - they should sort this out with Ryanair, but whether or not there's any realistic prospect of getting them to do that is another story.... 

bagand96

What a mess!

So you booked a package holiday with OTB? I guess you couldn't travel because of Covid restrictions and under The Package Travel Regulations were entitled to a refund from OTB.

OTB couldn't and wouldn't get a refund from Ryanair so elected to do a chargeback on their own card. Ryanair now treat this as a debt against you.

I agree with @eskbanker its OTB in the wrong here. However getting them to resolve it or even admit liability will be an uphill battle.

Will Ryanair actually stop check in and travel for these debts? Has anyone experienced that or seen any reports? If they do,  you might have to cough up the £592 if you wish to travel in September and then try and claim that back from OTB maybe via small claims court. Just an idea.

I would get in touch with OTB though and explain it and ask them to resolve. Make it clear you won't be fobbed off. 

elsien

What was the reason OTB gave for cancelling the booking or was it at your request? 

Did any of the individual elements fail, because if the flights were still going and the hotel open then wouldn’t not travelling have been down to an insurance claim? 

Plus we’re assuming your holiday was a package, but you haven’t actually said whether it was or not? In these cases the devil will be in the detail. 

eskbanker

elsien said:

What was the reason OTB gave for cancelling the booking or was it at your request? 

Did any of the individual elements fail, because if the flights were still going and the hotel open then wouldn’t not travelling have been down to an insurance claim? 

Plus we’re assuming your holiday was a package, but you haven’t actually said whether it was or not? In these cases the devil will be in the detail. 

OP will be able to clarify but given that the cancelled trip was in 2020, the suspicion would be that it was one of the many package holidays that were refunded under the 'unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances' provision in the Package Travel Regulations, during Covid lockdowns and associated travel restrictions.

Rockape185

OTB Cancelled it - and it was sold as a package holiday.
@bagand96 - Ryanair did stop check in for the flight until the money was paid. Interestingly it allowed be access immediately after booking to pay for seats, and then locked me down.
I am over a barrel so have paid and will try to recover this from OTB but not hopeful. My credit card provider confirmed there was no chargeback done on my behalf. 

bagand96

Rockape185 said:

OTB Cancelled it - and it was sold as a package holiday.
@bagand96 - Ryanair did stop check in for the flight until the money was paid. Interestingly it allowed be access immediately after booking to pay for seats, and then locked me down.
I am over a barrel so have paid and will try to recover this from OTB but not hopeful. My credit card provider confirmed there was no chargeback done on my behalf. 

When you book with an OTA like OnTheBeach you pay them with your card for the total cost of your holiday. They will then book the separate elements with the suppliers using their own payment cards.

So OTB cancelled your holiday (guessing because it couldn’t go ahead due to Covid?) and therefore had to refund you.  However the Ryanair flight was operating so there was no entitlement to a refund from Ryanair, leaving OTB with a loss.  They’ve presumably instigated a chargeback against Ryanair on their own payment card to recover their loss. Which in turn has now left you in this situation. 

I’d certainly be complaining to OTB and take this as far as possible.(Just to confirm it is the Fuerteventura booking that's the problem, as you were originally told it was Portugal?)