Travel agent refusing to return calls or emails to change flight date

km1500

They have over 5000 reviews on TP and rating of  4.6 so a bit surprising they are not being helpful

Alfrescodave

I would be ringing every hour until someone responded to my request - tying up one of their phone lines should get a result.

Realise that this would be time consuming on your part 

MeteredOut

Do they have any social media presence you could post to?

born_again

isntthisfun said:

Yes documentation confirms it is changeable. Flight out is 5th Jan and flight back currently 17th feb but need to come back earlier in Feb now.  I don't really want to be out there wondering if I'm going to get back or spend my time fighting with them...
Agent is FlightsGuru - I booked over the phone - they do have office address in London (although whether they actually work from there I don't know).
Is the S75/chargeback route via my bank if I used my bank debit card?
Thanks so much for all the comments.

In a word, NO chargeback route.
I'm afraid you are stuck with getting them to sort the change of date.

I would also note this in their FAQ

• Can I make changes to my booking after I've confirmed it?

Yes, you can make changes to your booking by contacting our customer service team. However, please note that changes may be subject to fees and availability.

T/C state.

Alterations by you:

• If after booking you wish to change your travel arrangements, we will do our best to meet your new requirements. You will need to confirm your instructions in writing and pay an amendment fee of £35 per booking. Also you must pay any costs we incur in making the amendment, including any charges that may be levied by suppliers (e.g. airlines, hotels). Please note that some travel arrangements (e.g. Apex tickets) may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.

So while airline might be a free change, they can charge for the change.

But while on website a callback popped up, so try using that & let them pick up the cost of the calls.

MeteredOut

Is your ticket fully flexible (ie. no airline change fee) or just changeable (can change dates but will be repriced at todays prices)?

If the latter,  I'd also be pricing up an alternate way to get back earlier in February (ie throwing away the return leg of your existing booking). Even if/when you do get through to speak to someone, it could be the cost of change is greater than a new one way return flight.

Note: there is a theoretical risk that the airline can attempt to retrospectively reprice a ticket where you don't complete all the segments, but I believe they'd have to show you booked the whole flight knowing that was to happen, which is patently not the case here.

Which airline are you flying with?

isntthisfun

So I am flying with Air France but it's a Delta service - a but confusing. And on the way back it's KLM (but still a Delta service I believe).
I agree that the best route may be to cut my losses and book another return as I do not trust them not to masively overcharge to change it.
Re Trustpilot - I also checked this before booking - I'm usually pretty savy like this but now I've gone back and clicked on the one star reviews and see others have had EXACTLY this problem. Aaargh!
HSBC have said that if I cancel the tickets then I can activate a chargeback claim but obviously there is no guarantee of getting the money back and it's almost £4k.
It's just extraordinary to me that a company in this day and age can give you the run around like this and you have no comeback..... Exhausting!

TELLIT01

@isntthisfun sadly, with so many companies being on-line only, it's all too easy for them to take the money and then provide absolutely no customer service.

Bradden

TELLIT01 said:

@isntthisfun sadly, with so many companies being on-line only, it's all too easy for them to take the money and then provide absolutely no customer service.

 Many online companies work price as low as possible to get sales.. which inevitably results in cost cutting on customer service. I think it's a little unfair to blame them..It's the market .