booking.com complaint

Muir2001

Hi peeps, do I have a leg to stand on here? Sadly I can't see there's any ombudsman I can take this too for flights booked through booking.com? I feel thoroughly ripped off! I'll try to be succinct! 

My lovely partner just birthday surprised me with flights to Switzerland in April next year! He booked them through booking.com and not on his credit card, just on his debit. (I have now told him to always book flights direct with airline and use a c-card )

Anyway he paid £30ish extra to booking.com for a flexible ticket, which states he can change his flights once without any fee.. just has to pay fare difference is there is any.  

We have just used live chat to try and change flights to May instead of April which is better for me for work as it's only a few quid extra to do so.. and the agent says theres a £146.96 charge due to the increase in fare cost! I told them there is no such difference in the fare cost as per their own website but they say on the system they use that is dictated by the airline they can see that is the fare difference! And that they couldn't comment on why it is different! Even swiss.com itself is selling the flights I want just as cheaply as booking.com are so I can't fathom where the £146 charge is coming in! They have assured me it is not a fee, purely the change in flight cost.. absolute ROBDOGS! 

I asked for their t and cs and they linked me to the ones on goto.com (apparently they are a subsidiary) and even the t and c's state the only thing to pay with a flexible ticket is any difference in flight cost.. of which there is none according to both booking.com and swiss.com. surely this £146.96 is something swiss.com are charging to booking.com for making the change? Why am I being charged it since my partner bought the flexible ticket with 'no fees'? 

Sorry for rant! Does anyone have any tips on how to overcome this? Is there an ombusdman? I feel my partner has been totally missold and they won't let us cancel the flights despite my accusation of such. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Muir2001 said:

Hi peeps, do I have a leg to stand on here? Sadly I can't see there's any ombudsman I can take this too for flights booked through booking.com? I feel thoroughly ripped off! I'll try to be succinct! 

My lovely partner just birthday surprised me with flights to Switzerland in April next year! He booked them through booking.com and not on his credit card, just on his debit. (I have now told him to always book flights direct with airline and use a c-card )

Anyway he paid £30ish extra to booking.com for a flexible ticket, which states he can change his flights once without any fee.. just has to pay fare difference is there is any.  

We have just used live chat to try and change flights to May instead of April which is better for me for work as it's only a few quid extra to do so.. and the agent says theres a £146.96 charge due to the increase in fare cost! I told them there is no such difference in the fare cost as per their own website but they say on the system they use that is dictated by the airline they can see that is the fare difference! And that they couldn't comment on why it is different! Even swiss.com itself is selling the flights I want just as cheaply as booking.com are so I can't fathom where the £146 charge is coming in! They have assured me it is not a fee, purely the change in flight cost.. absolute ROBDOGS! 

I asked for their t and cs and they linked me to the ones on goto.com (apparently they are a subsidiary) and even the t and c's state the only thing to pay with a flexible ticket is any difference in flight cost.. of which there is none according to both booking.com and swiss.com. surely this £146.96 is something swiss.com are charging to booking.com for making the change? Why am I being charged it since my partner bought the flexible ticket with 'no fees'? 

Sorry for rant! Does anyone have any tips on how to overcome this? Is there an ombusdman? I feel my partner has been totally missold and they won't let us cancel the flights despite my accusation of such. 

Doesn't it come down to the precise definition of "fare cost" here?  I agree with you that if the published fare (to the consumer) has only gone up by, say £5, then it seems logical that that's the difference you owe, but if the fare cost is defined as the fare to the agent (i.e. what swiss.com charge booking.com) and that has increased by £147, then you do owe that.

How is that "fare difference" defined in the terms and conditions?

As you advised your partner, this is one of the potential pitfalls of involving a third party.

born_again

What was the cost of the flights?

I wonder if the way this is being dealt with, is Booking.com are cancelling the flights & then rebooking them at the new price?

Penguin_

Can you search for the flights on both dates to see if there is an increase?

Muir2001

born_again said:

What was the cost of the flights?

I wonder if the way this is being dealt with, is Booking.com are cancelling the flights & then rebooking them at the new price?

£108 per person which is pretty much exactly what they are on the May dates I want instead. 

Muir2001

Penguin_ said:

Can you search for the flights on both dates to see if there is an increase?

Yes I have done. There is no increase save for a few pence as per the booking.com website! I don’t know where they’re pulling this extra £146 from.

Muir2001

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Muir2001 said:

Hi peeps, do I have a leg to stand on here? Sadly I can't see there's any ombudsman I can take this too for flights booked through booking.com? I feel thoroughly ripped off! I'll try to be succinct! 

My lovely partner just birthday surprised me with flights to Switzerland in April next year! He booked them through booking.com and not on his credit card, just on his debit. (I have now told him to always book flights direct with airline and use a c-card )

Anyway he paid £30ish extra to booking.com for a flexible ticket, which states he can change his flights once without any fee.. just has to pay fare difference is there is any.  

We have just used live chat to try and change flights to May instead of April which is better for me for work as it's only a few quid extra to do so.. and the agent says theres a £146.96 charge due to the increase in fare cost! I told them there is no such difference in the fare cost as per their own website but they say on the system they use that is dictated by the airline they can see that is the fare difference! And that they couldn't comment on why it is different! Even swiss.com itself is selling the flights I want just as cheaply as booking.com are so I can't fathom where the £146 charge is coming in! They have assured me it is not a fee, purely the change in flight cost.. absolute ROBDOGS! 

I asked for their t and cs and they linked me to the ones on goto.com (apparently they are a subsidiary) and even the t and c's state the only thing to pay with a flexible ticket is any difference in flight cost.. of which there is none according to both booking.com and swiss.com. surely this £146.96 is something swiss.com are charging to booking.com for making the change? Why am I being charged it since my partner bought the flexible ticket with 'no fees'? 

Sorry for rant! Does anyone have any tips on how to overcome this? Is there an ombusdman? I feel my partner has been totally missold and they won't let us cancel the flights despite my accusation of such. 

Doesn't it come down to the precise definition of "fare cost" here?  I agree with you that if the published fare (to the consumer) has only gone up by, say £5, then it seems logical that that's the difference you owe, but if the fare cost is defined as the fare to the agent (i.e. what swiss.com charge booking.com) and that has increased by £147, then you do owe that.

How is that "fare difference" defined in the terms and conditions?

As you advised your partner, this is one of the potential pitfalls of involving a third party.

It isn’t defined.

All that’s stated in the gotogate t and cs under flexible ticket terms is:

1. The rebooking of flights using the Flexible Ticket service is subject to availability. If the desired change results in a more expensive ticket, or if the change leads to the passenger no longer being entitled to a special price (e.g. for a small child), You have to bear the additional costs yourself. We are not responsible for the effects rebooking may have on any additional services concluded directly with the airline (such as booking of additional luggage or seat reservations).

So booking.com are telling me it’s a more expensive ticket even though on their own website it’s the same price as my partner already paid. And on the swiss.com website direct it’s the same price as what he’s paid! Where’s the £146 coming from and why is it our cost to bear? I don’t get it!

Jumblebumble

IMuir2001 said:

It isn’t defined.

All that’s stated in the gotogate t and cs under flexible ticket terms is:

1. The rebooking of flights using the Flexible Ticket service is subject to availability. If the desired change results in a more expensive ticket, or if the change leads to the passenger no longer being entitled to a special price (e.g. for a small child), You have to bear the additional costs yourself. We are not responsible for the effects rebooking may have on any additional services concluded directly with the airline (such as booking of additional luggage or seat reservations).

So booking.com are telling me it’s a more expensive ticket even though on their own website it’s the same price as my partner already paid. And on the swiss.com website direct it’s the same price as what he’s paid! Where’s the £146 coming from and why is it our cost to bear? I don’t get it!

Its probably down to the quantity of tickets that are wholesaled to goto.com  rather than retailed on the Swiss website
Its presumably  about Swiss revenue management who presumably are charging the fare difference for a change rather than a fresh booking and/or maybe Booking.com are doing it because they can.
( Of course Swiss would rather persuade people to book direct and avoid the commission and this seems a good way to achieve that goal )
This is unfortunately one of the downsides of booking via an OTA instead of direct
I am reminded of when I had a Panasonic Vacuum cleaner and the motor went 
Panasonic wanted more for the motor than the cost of a new replacement machine 

Wonka_2

As others have said the first issue is booking via Booking.com rather than direct via airline (and honestly using credit card vs debit card in this situation wouldn't have helped you).

To understand where the fare differences are coming from you need to ensure you're comparing apples with apples i.e. that the fare currently displayed on Booking.com is 'live' and not just an encouragement to take you to the next step of the process where it increases, and secondly that the fare code being sold now is the same as on your ticket - there may be subtle nuances between the tickets vs the one originally sold to you 

Muir2001

Wonka_2 said:

As others have said the first issue is booking via Booking.com rather than direct via airline (and honestly using credit card vs debit card in this situation wouldn't have helped you).

To understand where the fare differences are coming from you need to ensure you're comparing apples with apples i.e. that the fare currently displayed on Booking.com is 'live' and not just an encouragement to take you to the next step of the process where it increases, and secondly that the fare code being sold now is the same as on your ticket - there may be subtle nuances between the tickets vs the one originally sold to you 

Haha yes, I have told my partner his error as I said Hard to berate him too much since he was doing such a lovely thing for me

Definitely a live fare yes, no problem there. No way to know the fare code though. I have spoken to citizens advice and they have told me since it’s a Dutch owned company they can’t offer me any help but have referred me onto the UKICC who perhaps can. Anyway I have put my complaint in writing to booking.com today for all the good it will do. Thanks everyone