Making a complaint when company will not change consumer's contact details

wotnott

I have asked this question elsewhere without getting a definitive response.

I have cause to make a complaint to an airline. However, they will not respond to me since their complaints system is webform based and they will only respond to the email address on the booking. That email address is not mine; I did not make the booking. I am, however, the passenger and the airline has a duty of care to me.

I am left effectively unable to make a complaint (at least, I can... but the response will go somewhere I cannot access it). Is there some legislation or case law that I can quote which says that their policy on this is wrong?

I'm sure it is not just me that this applies to. Plenty of people have flights booked through travel agents with no control over the contact details which are provided. They should not, in my view, effectively lose their consumer rights due to being able to communicate with the airline.

DullGreyGuy

Their consumer rights would be with the agency and the agency would have their correct email address.

Any reason for not just asking the person who booked it for you to send the complaint in? They are the contracting party and so the ones with the greatest rights.

jon81uk

If you did not make the booking you don't have the consumer rights, they are with the person who did book.

If you booked with a travel agent your consumer rights are to complain to the travel agent.

wotnott

The person who made the booking has since left the company. And I would not waste their time with this anyway; it is not their problem.

I have been working on the basis that there are Passenger Rights and a Duty of Care - both to the passenger, who may not necessarily be the contracting party. Perhaps I was mistaken.

Say I book a flight through a travel agent and am delayed at the airport for 12 hours and entitled to statutory compensation. Does that go to the travel agent?

jon81uk

wotnott said:

The person who made the booking has since left the company. And I would not waste their time with this anyway; it is not their problem.

I have been working on the basis that there are Passenger Rights and a Duty of Care - both to the passenger, who may not necessarily be the contracting party. Perhaps I was mistaken.

Say I book a flight through a travel agent and am delayed at the airport for 12 hours and entitled to statutory compensation. Does that go to the travel agent?

If they left the company is this business travel or do you mean they no longer work for the travel agency? If its an agency its irrelevant if someone has left, your consumer rights are with the travel agency.

Passenger rights are separate to consumer rights. It is the airline who is responsible for refunding you in the event of cancellation or assiting you if the flight is delay and yes for that then it is the passenger that they deal with. You can escalate to the CAA if it is a cancellation or delay compensation claim Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation – Free Reclaim Tool (moneysavingexpert.com)

But if it is just a "complaint" and you booked with an agency then your consumer rights sit with the agency.

eskbanker

Does the airline not offer any means of claiming other than webform/email-based correspondence - who is it?

wotnott

jon81uk said:

If they left the company is this business travel or do you mean they no longer work for the travel agency? If its an agency its irrelevant if someone has left, your consumer rights are with the travel agency.

Passenger rights are separate to consumer rights. It is the airline who is responsible for refunding you in the event of cancellation or assiting you if the flight is delay and yes for that then it is the passenger that they deal with. You can escalate to the CAA if it is a cancellation or delay compensation claim Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation – Free Reclaim Tool (moneysavingexpert.com)

But if it is just a "complaint" and you booked with an agency then your consumer rights sit with the agency.

It is business travel. My issue is one of Passenger Rights so I was probably wrong to refer to Consumer Rights in my original post. The airline will not respond to me, the passenger, since my email address is not on the booking. Submitting a claim or making a complaint is webform based and they have stated more than once by phone that they will only respond to the email address on the booking. It is this point I object to. Possibly I should be escalating to the CAA. However, as a general principle, people are expected to complain to the organisation concerned directly before escalating a complaint to a regulator. Hence I was trying to do that.

wotnott

eskbanker said:

Does the airline not offer any means of claiming other than webform/email-based correspondence - who is it?

EasyJet. No, they don't.

jon81uk

wotnott said:

jon81uk said:

If they left the company is this business travel or do you mean they no longer work for the travel agency? If its an agency its irrelevant if someone has left, your consumer rights are with the travel agency.

Passenger rights are separate to consumer rights. It is the airline who is responsible for refunding you in the event of cancellation or assiting you if the flight is delay and yes for that then it is the passenger that they deal with. You can escalate to the CAA if it is a cancellation or delay compensation claim Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation – Free Reclaim Tool (moneysavingexpert.com)

But if it is just a "complaint" and you booked with an agency then your consumer rights sit with the agency.

It is business travel. My issue is one of Passenger Rights so I was probably wrong to refer to Consumer Rights in my original post. The airline will not respond to me, the passenger, since my email address is not on the booking. Submitting a claim or making a complaint is webform based and they have stated more than once by phone that they will only respond to the email address on the booking. It is this point I object to. Possibly I should be escalating to the CAA. However, as a general principle, people are expected to complain to the organisation concerned directly before escalating a complaint to a regulator. Hence I was trying to do that.

But are you trying to make a complaint or a claim for compensation?
If it is a claim for compensation then they should deal with you and you can complain to the CAA.
Claiming for costs and compensation | Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk)

If it is just a general complaint then might be better to get the travel agent to do it on your behalf, your business has paid the travel agency a commision, make them earn it!

jon81uk

wotnott said:

eskbanker said:

Does the airline not offer any means of claiming other than webform/email-based correspondence - who is it?

EasyJet. No, they don't.

From the EasyJet website

" Travel agent or tour operator bookings

If you have booked with a travel agent or tour operator, please speak to them directly to manage your disrupted booking. If you make changes to your flights you must contact your travel agent/tour operator to let them know as this could impact your onward travel like transfers, hotels, car hire, and parking. easyJet is not responsible for these changes."

From Delays and cancellations | easyJet

eskbanker

I'd suggest referring the matter to their data protection officer, highlighting that their refusal to recognise the invalidity of the email address used for the booking is incompatible with their obligations under the Data Protection Act, and formally requesting that they either change it to yours or make other adjustments to allow you to proceed with the claim:

Privacy policy | easyJet