When a deposit on a flight is non refundable

adronocus

Can anybody please offer me some advice and I know there is a strong possibility that there will be some responses advising me that I should have read through before paying any money!!  We strongly believed that we were booking flights with a legitimate company back in August 2023 having found them via kayak platform.  At the time of the telephone booking, it was not explained to us, that any deposit paid would be non-refundable.  A deposit was paid with the flights booked.  Within half an hour a rather dubious looking booking form arrived via email.  We were not numbered as passengers 1 to 5 but 1, 2 and 3 and then the further 2 passengers as 1 & 2.  It was only on this email that they stated about a deposit being non refundable and to refer to their terms and conditions.  Following receipt of the dubious looking booking form we decided to do some delving and then discovered that this particular company unfortunately had an exceptionally high number of terrible reviews with a number of customers also currently taking them to court!  Believe you me we felt really silly for falling into the trap but as we said because we found them via kayak we thought that we were ok.

We contacted the company the next day requesting a refund which obviously was refused.  We also contacted the flight company directly who informed us that no flights had been ticketed but there was a booking in our name but the booking had not been booked with the company who we thought we were dealing with, but a third party.  As this point we contacted our bank and requested a chargeback for obvious reasons.  We received our money back from our bank and thought nothing more about it.  A few days ago we have received a HM Courts and Tribunals (money claims online) letter notifying us that the booking agent are taking us to court.

We have obviously completed the paperwork and have heard that the other party are in agreement to participate in mediation to avoid  any court hearing.

Our defence is that it was not made clear to us at the time of the booking, that any deposit paid would be non-refundable.  Also it was not made clear to us at the time of the booking, that it would a third party booking the flights therefore surely resulting in our contract being with the third party.  Additionally, a non-refundable deposit can only be deemed fair meaning that the flight company can only and are only entitled to keep an amount sufficient to cover their actual losses - flights were booked back in August 2023 with departure date in January 2024.

Have also got the backing of a number of other victims who have dealt with this company and have come unstuck who have offered a testimonial from them should it go to court.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Keep_pedalling

A lot of these companies are not UK based so it would help if you told us who they are.

teeny39

Jet2 flight payments are also non-refundable, but it is made perfectly clear during the booking process.

adronocus

Keep_pedalling said:

A lot of these companies are not UK based so it would help if you told us who they are.

OK, thank you.  They are called Flight Gurus Ltd.  Since falling "into their trap" have unearthed an awful lot of concerning information about them.  I have tried to be reasonable and when requested a refund from them, offered them a reasonable amount of money to cover their losses, although it left a poisonous taste in my mouth, but they wouldn't stand for it.  Half of us wants it to go to court to fight these scammers but the other half of us just want to put it to bed.  Any advice?  Do we have any leg to stand on?  thank you

adronocus

teeny39 said:

Jet2 flight payments are also non-refundable, but it is made perfectly clear during the booking process.

Thank you.  Can categorically state that this was not made clear at the time of the booking.  Additionally, they did actually add a booking fee at the time of the booking which again was not made clear but because we were keen to get flights booked (a family wedding), we just accepted it at the time.

sheramber

FAQ

• What is Flight Guru’s Cancellation Policy ?

Take a look at our updated Terms & Conditions Here

Did you read the Terms and Conditions?

https://www.theflightsguru.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/

Most discounted airline tickets carry a 100% cancellation charge. Please check at time of booking for the charges which apply to your ticket.

Most discounted airline tickets carry a 100% cancellation charge. Please check at time of booking for the charges which apply to your ticket

adronocus

sheramber said:

FAQ

• What is Flight Guru’s Cancellation Policy ?

Take a look at our updated Terms & Conditions Here

Did you read the Terms and Conditions?

https://www.theflightsguru.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/

Most discounted airline tickets carry a 100% cancellation charge. Please check at time of booking for the charges which apply to your ticket.

Most discounted airline tickets carry a 100% cancellation charge. Please check at time of booking for the charges which apply to your ticket

Yes that's fine and I hold my hands up but surely they should draw you to this at the time of the booking or mention that any deposit is non refundable.  Just particularly frustrating when you then discover that the company you habe been dealing with should not be trading and are purely fraudsters.

Brie

My first thought was to wonder if HM Courts and Tribunals that you referred to was actually legit.  A google suggests that this is real rather than part 2 of a scam of some sort.

So I wonder if looking at the info on the "parking tickets" forum would be of any use for you.  There's lots of things on there about going to court against parking monitoring companies that issue PCNs and how, despite all the huffing and puffing they never actually go to court to defend themselves.  I have no direct experience but just thought your situation sounded somewhat similar.  I may be wrong....

adronocus

Brie said:

My first thought was to wonder if HM Courts and Tribunals that you referred to was actually legit.  A google suggests that this is real rather than part 2 of a scam of some sort.

So I wonder if looking at the info on the "parking tickets" forum would be of any use for you.  There's lots of things on there about going to court against parking monitoring companies that issue PCNs and how, despite all the huffing and puffing they never actually go to court to defend themselves.  I have no direct experience but just thought your situation sounded somewhat similar.  I may be wrong....

Hello Brie

Thank you for your response.  Unfortunately it is legit.  I had to ring them as an error had been made and we had to have it corrected.

Just feel in a very awkward situation as we are aware that we are at fault for not thinking about the T&C's but at the same time these people should not be allowed to trade so as we previously mentioned, it does leave a bitter taste in your mouth.  

Westin

Curious to know why you thought an airline ticket purchase would have a refundable deposit.  It is not the norm.

Ganga

Rather than getting your deposit back can you not just get the tickets and enjoy your flights.