Cancelled flight - Who is liable travel agent or airline

acarter1970

London > Bangkok, via China, using Hainan Airlines.

And then back.

saajan_12

acarter1970 said:

Expedia were zero help, and their agent even terminated the call. I have a recording of this call.

So ended up spending about £1,100 more than the cost of the original flights, and still waiting for the refund which Expedia eventually put through after I complained several times, two months later.

How much later did you end up rebooking yourself? I would have persisted further to get Expedia to find a suitable alternative. Unlike the first OP in this thread, it seems like you jumped the gun and rebooked yourself. 

acarter1970

Nope. The flight was meant to be the next day. Called and was on the phone for half hour, then as I said the lady at Expedia hung up on me.

Was in a mad rush, given it was the day before I was leaving, so waited an hour to allow for a callback, which didn't happen, then booked a flight myself.

I take it I can pursue the difference in flight costs from the airline? As per UK261?

Caz3121

did you speak to the airline at all? I believe within 24 hours of the flight they have the control of the ticket (rather than an agent)

acarter1970

Was outside of 24 hours

acarter1970

Expedia also sent a link to 'other' alternative flight options - which brought back exactly zero options. 

eskbanker

acarter1970 said:

Booked return flights via website Expedia to Thailand. Not one but BOTH flights eventually cancelled by the Chinese airline I was booked on.

Spoke to Expedia to arrange alternative outgoing travel flight options, as they put me on an alternative flying out to China (before the next flight to Bangkok) which saw me living in China for 36 hours, so obvs no good.

Could you clarify the specifics, i.e. was it Expedia or Hainan who notified you of the cancellation, which was it who offered you the rerouting with a 36 hour layover, who did you advise that this wasn't suitable?  Under the UK regulations applicable to the outbound journey, the airline is required to offer a rebooking 'under comparable transport conditions', so it can certainly be argued that a substantially longer total journey time isn't appropriate, but it isn't as simple as just rebooking yourself and expecting to be able to reclaim the cost difference.

acarter1970

Expedia for all your questions. 

eskbanker

acarter1970 said:

Expedia for all your questions. 

In which case, if you didn't deal with Hainan at any point after being notified by Expedia of the cancellation, I don't think you'll be able to reclaim alternative flight costs from them - that's not to say it's not worth trying, but don't be surprised if they just say that they sent a refund to Expedia (which you'd be entitled to recover from them, less admin fee).

That's all you'd be entitled to for the cancellation of the return journey anyway, have Expedia said anything about refunds or did they arrange the alternative return flight?

acarter1970

This is what I emailed to Expedia:

Right.

 

I received emails from you the weekend before the outgoing flight the following Wednesday, to notify me my flight from China to Thailand was cancelled. Basically four day’s notice. I was in the Glastonbury Festival so was away all weekend. Despite this, I found somewhere with network coverage, and tried clicking on the links in the email you sent me to see ‘alternative flights’ as the one you moved me to saw me living in an airport in China for 20 hours (I was originally stopping for six hours, which is the absolute maximum I can handle). There were ZERO alternatives.

 

I then called you the Tuesday after returning from the festival. 30 minute call in which your female staff member repeatedly told me she would offer alternatives options, but clearly did not know what she was doing, and offered precisely ZERO OPTIONS, before hanging up on me.

 

Waited an hour to get any kind of callback, none came. Was mad busy getting my affairs in order, ready to leave the UK the next day, so tried calling Hainan on their 000 number, which is on their website – could not even get a ringing sound on the line, just a message telling me ‘number not known’ so this number does not work.

 

Booked new flights and ground transportation, including in Thailand, leaving the same day as originally planned.

 

Arrived Thailand, left a message on your online chat, as there was no human to reach out to. Message told you to contact me to arrange to pay the difference for the new travel I booked, and warning you that this money was needed ASAP for my holiday in Thailand.

 

Waited two weeks. No response. Tried to call your number again, from Thailand, a cost of £2.35 a minute. On hold for 25 minutes, no answer. Ended call.

 

Got an email then, telling me the second flight, returning to the UK, was also cancelled.

 

Spoke to you end of July. Explained this needed to be taken care of ASAP. You told me in this call that 1) was not entitled to a refund as I was classed as a no-show, and 2) the email telling me the second flight was cancelled was sent in error, as I was not booked on it anyway, having not taken the original flight, which I made clear to you July 1st was not being taken. This was despite my logging in to the booking and clearly seeing my second flight info, and that I was booked on it, weeks after the first flight.

 

Then you told me you had now requested a refund from the airline, despite my not asking for this, and telling you the important thing was to totally cover all my additional expenses. You expressly told me this would be escalated to a special department who would respond to this request in 24 hours.

 

Then an email the next day stated 48 to 72 hours.

 

I had no response though, and had to call you a further two times. Total cost of calls now approx. £325. Told you again that this money was needed for my holiday in Thailand, and also my plans travelling to the USA and Brazil later in the year, and that any ruination of my holidays would lead to loss of opportunity and my taking you to court for adequate recompense.

 

You have now contacted me back – after I have had to move to a disgusting accommodation due to lack of funds, to tell me you are ‘in no way responsible for any additional costs’, and that the airline needs to be contacted directly (first time you have told me this), oh, and the refund “might be coming”, as per your website showing that you are ‘still requesting the refund from the airline’.

 

I have now moved to disgusting accommodation, as it is all I can afford, I am eating only junk food from grocery stores, and my holiday has been absolutely ruined.

 

There is also the knock-on effect on my plans for the USA and Brazil. I have had to spend over £2,000 on alternative flights, ground transportation, and phonecalls, basically availing myself of equivalent flights to and from from Thailand, due to your complete inability to arrange these yourself, and your website which is not fit for purpose.

 

As I have repeatedly told you, I booked with you to get some cheap flights and save some money. You have now left me out of pocket over £2,000!!! That includes no compensation for my time, distress and inconvenience.

 

And I value the ruination of the end of my Thai holiday at a further £2,000.

 

What are you going to do about all this to avoid a massive court case when I get home to the UK???