Air Help Scam

lon_85

Hi everyone

I was delayed Wizzair flight to Milan at the start if this year - I noticed lots of comments on the airline not getting back to customers at all or taking months so i found airhelp who say they can support claims faster - however I couldnt see the fees for this - it asked me to fill in my details etc in order for me to find out  which I did but when I realised it was 30% service charge i opted out and did not go further with the request for help - I went ahead directly with Wizz Air instead. 


Now they sent me 2 payments only but we had 3 passengers which I found strange - they kept saying the lawyers were used and i was thinking what lawyer? I never used any lawyers- this went on fir months back and forth and eventually they said Airhelp have been sent my money! 

Airhelp sent me an email saying they closed my case when I asked them to however after they closed the case  Wizzair sent them the money - now Wizzair said they are suspending further payments and to get money from the lawyers - but why should i pay 30% to airhelp when I did not ask them to go ahead?

I have email from airhelp stating that I did close the case and the money was sent afterwards to them - I emailed Airhelp few times and nothing so my £250 is stuck :-( 

Any help would be appreciated. 

Thanks 

eskbanker

https://www.airhelp.com/en-gb/our-fees/ explains their fee structure without needing to open a case, but how long was it between submitting your details to Airhelp and them agreeing to close your case?

lon_85

I didn't even ask them to file a case so I'm totally confused - it said enter your details to get free quote - that was my mistake they took my details and acted without my consent - I submitted October last year they got back in Jan this year - I didn't even know they were acting on my behalf they have sent numerous emails saying you could be owed x amount from wizz air - just upload the needed documents to allow us to proceed with your claim 

eskbanker

lon_85 said:

I was delayed Wizzair flight to Milan at the start if this year 

lon_85 said:

I submitted October last year they got back in Jan this year

I'm still baffled by the timescales but the purpose of my question was to try to ascertain whether "Airhelp sent me an email saying they closed my case when I asked them to" related to a quick closure immediately after submitting your details or if this was months later.

Anyway, I guess that's largely moot if they now have your money and you're wanting to extricate it from them - clause 2.2 at https://www.airhelp.com/en-gb/terms/ states that they require an "Assignment Form or Authority Document" to proceed, so if you didn't submit these then that should endorse your view that you didn't authorise them to go ahead with the claim.

However, that page also states that they're a German company operating under German law, so any action you take will need to be via courts in that country if you're unable to convince them that they weren't entitled to act for you....

lon_85

My apologies 

Flight delayed - start of October 2022 
Airhelp quote- end of October 2022 

I spoke with someone on chat yesterday they said the airline made mistake sent it to them instead of me so they are sending money back to the airline.... but airline emailed me saying they cannot take money back and to ask the 3rd party Co. to send my money to me - airhelp said if they send it they will have to take out service fees 30% even though they were not supposed to file for it- I still need to pay then :-( 

lon_85

Oh and they sent email to me stating "sorry to hear you don't want us to go ahead with your claim" - in January 2023. 

eskbanker

lon_85 said:

Oh and they sent email to me stating "sorry to hear you don't want us to go ahead with your claim" - in January 2023. 

Was this as a result of you explicitly contacting them to say not to proceed (and if so when was that) or had you just not provided them with any further documentation in response to their requests?

Did you at any point complete the "Assignment Form or Authority Document" that their terms suggest are needed for them to act?

On the face of it it does seem that they acted without your authority, but getting them to accept that, and to return your money without deduction, is likely to be more challenging, so you'll need to construct a clear and compelling argument with care....

lon_85

1. Yes it was - I contacted them Nov 2022 to request to close as they kept sending me emails to send crucial documents - I thought that by not completing the process and not submitting docs they would close automatically- as they stated in their reminder emails - if we don't recieve relevant docs we will close your claim 
 That's when they sent email saying sorry you want us to close .... 

2. No I didn't complete assignment or authority form- I just logged into the portal and I can't even see any documents but I don't remember signing anything 

I sent complaint email to UKICC not sure if they can do anything

CKhalvashi

Unfortunately it's likely they may have already started work for you at the time you asked to close the claim. If you ask a company to work for you it's only fair they are paid for this.

I am not fully knowledgeable with the rights under German law, however the legislation stemming from EU directives in general would put you out of time to cancel any contract, and that's if any exceptions apply in the first place. It will therefore depend on how far you'd submitted the claim process at the point you stopped the application as a contract may have been formed at this time.

On a realistic level, they are holding the funds, so there's a chance you may have to pay them to see these unless you are sure you can overturn in a German court (presumably in German) and reclaim your costs to make it cost effective to do so.

I assume you didn't try to speak to Wizz before attempting your claim through a third party? Wizz won't normally pay out funds for a third party without a power of attorney as required under Hungarian law (your rights may differ on a Wizz UK operated service however in reality the stronger Hungarian process applies), so it looks like you've submitted this as part of your activities on the website.