Maxjet Gone Bust

AdamBrunt

Thanks moonrakerz.

I have sent another email (their primary method of contact) detailing those points.

Let's see how they react ....

serenitynow

Good news received this week.I have been credited £320+ by my credit card company.This covers the return part of my maxjet flight to las vegas, as maxjet went bust while I was out there.
I was put on the Virgin flight home in economy,but managed to successfully claim under section 75 of the consumer credit act that the 'services I received were not up to standard I had paid for'.
Thanks to everyone for their good advice,especially whoever recommended the claim form template.After initially being fobbed off on the phone,a couple of letters to the right people got what I wanted.
Good luck to everyone else.

luckydonut

Just spent 40 minutes on the phone to MBNA getting nowhere as usual.

Since the Financial Ombudsman wrote my formal complaint letter, I had a reply from MBNA saying I'd get a full response by March 6th. I heard nothing.

In this call I learned that the telephone number printed on the letter was for the wrong department (the complaints department doesn't deal with all complaints - go figure?) and that I'd been sent a letter on February 20th.

Didn't I receive this? Well duh, why am I calling you if I did?

But nobody could read it to me over the phone or even tell me what the gist of the letter was. How peculiar.

Eventually I had to settle for an assurance that the right person from the right department would call me back this afternoon. Presumably after they've actually written and backdated a letter...

luckydonut

Oh, I did get a callback. The gist is that they're still not paying out until the service dates have passed, which for me is in two weeks time for one (which I guess I can wait for now...) and July for another (which is a PITA).

Apparently Amex claims are being refunded whilst Visa and Mastercard are being rejected by MaxJet's bank and MBNA stands by its decision to cover its own backside by getting the money back first before refunding their customers.

He did his best to try to convince me that complaining to FOS was not necessary, and that they work at a snails pace so it probably wouldn't be make things much quicker anyway, even if they ruled in my favour. You know what... I think I'll find that out for myself!

toledo399

Like many others had 2 tickets for Maxjet for flights in May and paid through Tesco Credit Card. Following the guidance in these forums (thanks folks)managed to get a full refund of the tickets by late February after letter number 3! Tesco Card is on Mastercard and the response confirming the credit referred to charges back to suppliers bank. Not sure why this would interest me as my claim was specifically under Consumer Credit Act 1974 Section 75 and was NOT a chargeback.

My friend also had tickets purchased with a Virgin Credit Card (MBNA). She has managed to get the value of the tickets set aside on her account unpaid and not incur interest. The refund, she has been told, will take some time to come through!

Using the guidance of Moonrakerz in this forum I have now claimed for the difference between the Maxjet tickets and the replacement flights on premium economy with BMI. The claim is for £300+, I await with interest to see how many letters will be required this time.

moonrakerz

luckydonut wrote: »

Oh, I did get a callback. The gist is that they're still not paying out until the service dates have passed, which for me is in two weeks time for one (which I guess I can wait for now...) and July for another (which is a PITA).

Apparently Amex claims are being refunded whilst Visa and Mastercard are being rejected by MaxJet's bank and MBNA stands by its decision to cover its own backside by getting the money back first before refunding their customers.

He did his best to try to convince me that complaining to FOS was not necessary, and that they work at a snails pace so it probably wouldn't be make things much quicker anyway, even if they ruled in my favour. You know what... I think I'll find that out for myself!

Do that, the FO can award compensation to you if he considers that they are deliberately mucking you about - which they are !

PS: further to my post above (#141) - I got the cheque !

toledo399

Amazing!!! Only one letter to Tesco Credit Card and they have agreed to pay the £300+ as a full and final settlement.

Once again thanks Moonrakerz for your guidance without which I would have been £300+ poorer.

luckydonut

Excerpt from MBNA's final response:

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 does not provide an automatic entitlement to a refund where a customer has paid for goods or services using a credit card. A claim is only possible where either the supplier has breached the contract with the buyer or where the contract was induced by misrepresentation.

We review each case on its individual merits and determine our response based upon the documentation and evidence submitted to us. In this case we believe as yet, no breach of contract has occurred.

So, saying "we're not going to give you the flight you paid for" is not a breach of contract?

I'm quite interested in the talk of getting additional compensation to cover the inreased cost of the rebooked flights too.

To start with all I wanted was a refund and to have it over with, but the more annoyed I get with MBNA the more I want to make sure I'm getting everything I'm entitled to. Oh, and seeing MBNA lose out now would be quite satisfying too...

My first flight is a funny one, I only booked one-way with MaxJet (£827.36 - this is for 2 people) and used a BMI miles redemption for the return (US $143 in taxes). I rebooked return economy tickets with BMI costing £1217.40. This was actually cheaper than any one-way ticket at the time so I cancelled the redemption and got the miles returned to my account and a refund of the taxes minus a $100 cancellation fee.

So, for this, can I claim anything extra? The total cost of the trip is higher, but only because my flyer miles were involved, and if you consider half the cost of the BMI flight as the cost to replace the MaxJet flight then it was actually cheaper.

My second flight is more straightforward. The two return trips cost £1546.56 with MaxJet and I rebooked into BMI Business for £2806.00. I don't have anything now to show this (unfortunately) but I'm sure it was only about £200 each more for Business than for Premium Economy. Do I have a good case to claim for the additional £1259.44, or is MaxJet not comparable with BMI Business, only Premium Economy?

Also if I intend to do this, should I hold fire with my complaint to FOS?

Thanks for any help.

moonrakerz

luckydonut wrote: »

So, saying "we're not going to give you the flight you paid for" is not a breach of contract?

Write to them and say that if they don't pay you what is LEGALLY yours, you will take action in the County Court (don't forget to add your expenses for doing this) AND make a formal complaint to the FOS - who has awarded compensation in the past for this sort of delaying tactics.

If nothing else has come out of the Maxjet failure, it shows which credit card companies obey the law and which do their utmost to wriggle out of it. Vote with your feet - or wallets !

nottmgal

Thank you, thank you, thankyou Moonrakerz!!! :T

After just one letter to RBS they have refunded the full cost of the replacement flights home and the cost of all the phone calls, plus they have reinstated the 75,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles that I had to use to upgrade the tickets to business class. What a result!!!! :j

I am so grateful to you for sharing your expertise on this forum. Although I knew that I could get a refund for the unused portion of the fare, I had no idea that my credit card company was also obligated to return me to the same financial position as I would have been in had the original service been delivered.

You are a true star, and I cannot thank you enough!!

Nottmgal