Non Refundable Flight

tightauldgit

born_again said:

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.

They're not though are they? They're attempting to supply different flights at a different price. You can't book one leg of a trip (if they even have done that) and claim that the flights are booked. 

born_again

tightauldgit said:

born_again said:

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.

They're not though are they? They're attempting to supply different flights at a different price. You can't book one leg of a trip (if they even have done that) and claim that the flights are booked. 

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.

Which is exactly what they state.

No good, In fact it's rubbish, but that is how these sites work.

OP mentioned direct flight, I think they missed the bit when booking that you go via other airports. Which is clear when you look at the flight details.
Heathrow, Abu Dhabi, Melbourne, Wellington. 
Or they simply put it that way as they think it is one trip.

tightauldgit

born_again said:

tightauldgit said:

born_again said:

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.

They're not though are they? They're attempting to supply different flights at a different price. You can't book one leg of a trip (if they even have done that) and claim that the flights are booked. 

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.

Which is exactly what they state.

I understand that but I don't see the relevance. The OP isn't asking them to supply the flights at the price quoted, he's asking them for a refund of the money they took for the flights that they can't provide at the price quoted. 

The terms, yes, absolutely give them the right to come back and say 'sorry we couldn't get those flights' but they do NOT give them the right to say 'we got you different flights for twice as much, so we are going to charge you double' nor to say 'we couldn't get your flights but we are keeping your money' 

If there's no booking confirmation and no contract then why are they keeping the money? 

mr_stripey

are there ever any advantages from using these sort of sites to book flights? You often read on here about people having problems. I guess they're ok as long as everything goes smoothly and nothing needs to be changed/cancelled?

tightauldgit

mr_stripey said:

are there ever any advantages from using these sort of sites to book flights? You often read on here about people having problems. I guess they're ok as long as everything goes smoothly and nothing needs to be changed/cancelled?

The only advantage is if they can get you a lower price which in fairness they often can but you do get all the downsides.

I've used sites like Opodo on several occasions and gotten the best price and had no issues - as you say it generally goes wrong when something changes

Exodi

mr_stripey said:

are there ever any advantages from using these sort of sites to book flights? You often read on here about people having problems. I guess they're ok as long as everything goes smoothly and nothing needs to be changed/cancelled?

They often work out a bit cheaper than booking directly. Using the OP's circumstances as an example, you can save about ~£100 booking through an intermediary.

Some may argue £100 is worth it for the peace of mind, but others may argue that given the significant majority of flights are without issue, paying an extra £100 for 'probably nothing' isn't worth it.

I have used intermediaries in the past, but nowadays I usually book direct. I am appreciative of both sides and don't want to come off as tone deaf as if money was no object, I'm sure everyone would prefer to book direct.

tightauldgit

I guess the other advantage of these sites is that they are searching all the options and even allowing people to potentially mix and match airlines if they wish to. Of course once you've found the option that suits you still have the choice to book direct with the airlines but that's another step of faff for many people. 

sheramber

Exodi said:

mr_stripey said:

are there ever any advantages from using these sort of sites to book flights? You often read on here about people having problems. I guess they're ok as long as everything goes smoothly and nothing needs to be changed/cancelled?

They often work out a bit cheaper than booking directly. Using the OP's circumstances as an example, you can save about ~£100 booking through an intermediary.

Some may argue £100 is worth it for the peace of mind, but others may argue that given the significant majority of flights are without issue, paying an extra £100 for 'probably nothing' isn't worth it.

I have used intermediaries in the past, but nowadays I usually book direct. I am appreciative of both sides and don't want to come off as tone deaf as if money was no object, I'm sure everyone would prefer to book direct.

It's no help being cheaper if the flight doesn't materialise.

Exodi

sheramber said:

Exodi said:

mr_stripey said:

are there ever any advantages from using these sort of sites to book flights? You often read on here about people having problems. I guess they're ok as long as everything goes smoothly and nothing needs to be changed/cancelled?

They often work out a bit cheaper than booking directly. Using the OP's circumstances as an example, you can save about ~£100 booking through an intermediary.

Some may argue £100 is worth it for the peace of mind, but others may argue that given the significant majority of flights are without issue, paying an extra £100 for 'probably nothing' isn't worth it.

I have used intermediaries in the past, but nowadays I usually book direct. I am appreciative of both sides and don't want to come off as tone deaf as if money was no object, I'm sure everyone would prefer to book direct.

It's no help being cheaper if the flight doesn't materialise.

Of course, I look at it a bit like travel insurance. 9/10 times you will get no benefit from the money spent, but it's the 1/10 times that matter.

Only a few weeks ago, I was notified of a flight change (the first leg was delayed by about 1.5 hours), which meant I would likely miss my connecting flight. Fortunately I had booked direct and instead of the first offer (a much earlier first flight meaning sitting in the connecting airport for 10 hours), they offered to change both flights to much better (and pricier) flight times at no charge.

If I had booked through an intermediary, I can only imagine the outcome.

But as I said before, I don't want to appear tone deaf, as it seems obvious booking direct is the best option, but some may be willing to wager peace of mind for £100.

Hola365

Hi, was this situation ever resolved? I’m having the same issue with this company and I’m convinced they are a scam because the mobile phone number they provide on their website is some random guy who says he’s been inundated with complaints as they used his number without permission. However, I rang the airline and they said the tickets are booked and genuine. But others online have said that at some point before the flight date they withdraw the tickets and make off with the money. Can they actually do that? The airline seemed unsure. My credit card company are currently saying they can’t do anything because the goods have been provided so I’m not sure where that leaves me other than praying! I’ve heard some people say they got lawyers involved and got a refund so I may go down that route but I’m hoping against hope to find someone with experience of this company who actually ended up on the plane!