Non Refundable Flight

kiwiscott

Hello I recently bought a flight off a provider called CheapFly shop to go back to New Zealand to see a sick mate. All very last minute as I wasn’t supposed to be going until Xmas. Needs must.
I paid circa £1500 for direct flights return. I instantly got an email saying the are processing my order and they will be in touch within 48 hours. Well int now day 4 so I am getting twitchy and decide to google the reviews on the company. My heart sank as they had an awful lot of terrible reviews all saying the same thing. They could not provide the flight they booked but they could get them on another flight for 3-500 extra and no baggage was booked with flight either… I immediately emailed the company letting them know I haven’t heard from them and an hour later I get the call. Your outbound flight is booked out so we will try and find you another flight at an additional cost… I said no I paid for that flight, if you cannot fulfill the flight I purchased then I would like a refund. He said that’s not possible as it’s a non refundable flight… I said if you haven’t fulfilled the flight I bought then you can’t keep the money. 

Where do I stand here??!! I have one week before I fly and I need to come back at these people with some facts. He said he will contact me tomorrow with some other flight options but they might be on a different day and will likely occur additional costs.

fairly urgent HELP required!

tightauldgit

Don't know anything about the company but obviously it doesn't matter if the flight is non-refundable if they haven't actually booked you on the flight. 

If they can't fulfil what you booked then they can offer you an alternative but you've no obligation to accept it, and you are due a full refund. 

Presuming you paid on credit card you might be able to ask them to intervene? Has the transaction actually been charged to your card?

kiwiscott

I did book it on credit card for protection and it is showing as pending. Yes my thoughts exactly. The guy on the phone was raising his voice saying non refundable but if you don’t supply me with the thing that is non refundable then you have to pay me back!?!

powerful_Rogue

Try and get it in writing the the flight you booked is fully booked so no space for you. Will make it a lot easier for the s75.

Money_Grabber13579

Presumably they have booked the return flight but it is the outward bound flight that is fully booked and they are saying you can’t have a refund because they have already booked part of the trip? Not that I think it makes a difference, as they haven’t yet fulfilled the whole contract.

born_again

Where you book online, the order summary email sent to you is NOT contractual acceptance of the supplier’s ability to provide these travel services, it is an acknowledgement that we have received your offer, and should the travel services be available as detailed on our website then we will issue to you a booking confirmation which is when your contract with us comes into existence and you have entered into a legally binding agreement to purchase those travel arrangements subject to the supplier’s terms and conditions and these Booking Conditions.

https://www.cheapflyshop.co.uk/terms_and_conditions

tightauldgit

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Presumably they have booked the return flight but it is the outward bound flight that is fully booked and they are saying you can’t have a refund because they have already booked part of the trip? Not that I think it makes a difference, as they haven’t yet fulfilled the whole contract.

When I first read the OP I did wonder if that's what they meant but it would a) be a very weird way to conduct flight bookings b) not affect the rights of the buyer to refuse a completely different flight/price and get a refund. 

tightauldgit

kiwiscott said:

I did book it on credit card for protection and it is showing as pending. Yes my thoughts exactly. The guy on the phone was raising his voice saying non refundable but if you don’t supply me with the thing that is non refundable then you have to pay me back!?!

I'm not completely au fait with credit card company's operating procedures but I wonder if you could call them and get them to stop the pending transaction by disputing it? It wouldn't necessarily get you out of any legal obligation to pay for your booking - but from how you've described it i don't think you would have any legal obligation to pay. 

eskbanker

tightauldgit said:

kiwiscott said:

I did book it on credit card for protection and it is showing as pending. Yes my thoughts exactly. The guy on the phone was raising his voice saying non refundable but if you don’t supply me with the thing that is non refundable then you have to pay me back!?!

I'm not completely au fait with credit card company's operating procedures but I wonder if you could call them and get them to stop the pending transaction by disputing it? It wouldn't necessarily get you out of any legal obligation to pay for your booking - but from how you've described it i don't think you would have any legal obligation to pay. 

I don't believe that it's possible to stop a pending credit card transaction - once the bank has authorised it then the merchant has the authority to proceed, but it can be challenged by the cardholder further downstream if there are valid grounds to do so.

Perhaps also worth noting that buying flights through a third party agent will usually deny the purchaser section 75 protection, as it's deemed to break the direct debtor-creditor-supplier chain needed to qualify for this.  However, chargeback may still be an option....

born_again

tightauldgit said:

kiwiscott said:

I did book it on credit card for protection and it is showing as pending. Yes my thoughts exactly. The guy on the phone was raising his voice saying non refundable but if you don’t supply me with the thing that is non refundable then you have to pay me back!?!

I'm not completely au fait with credit card company's operating procedures but I wonder if you could call them and get them to stop the pending transaction by disputing it? It wouldn't necessarily get you out of any legal obligation to pay for your booking - but from how you've described it i don't think you would have any legal obligation to pay. 

No, is the simple answer.
A card payment is a guaranteed form of payment & can not be stopped once approved. Once debited it can be disputed.

Agree with above & S75 especially given the quote from their T/C (why do people use these companies)

I can't see any chargeback option here. As they are supplying the flight & again the above from T/C. Bank might try it, but I would not hold hope hope of it sticking. Given one leg is booked.

CardinalWolsey

kiwiscott said:

I paid circa £1500 for direct flights return.

No you didn't. There are no direct flights between the UK and NZ - they all require at least one change. If they have been sold to you on the basis that they are direct, there is another route to refund - misdescribed.