Holiday disrupion

Mystified2024

Hello 
I am hoping for some advice apologies for the long story . We booked a package holiday through trail finders for £7108. The itinerary  put together was to fly from LHR-Kul with Malaysian Airlines on the  4/08 to spend 3 nights in a hotel in KL then to fly onto Depensar Bali on 8/08 stay in Ubud for 3 nights then travel to Nusa Dua on the 11/08 and finally fly home on 19/08. 
on ou outbound flight we then got diverted to Doha due to a technical issue . We spent 7 hours in Doha airport which was chaos then got transported to a hotel in Doha without luggage as Malaysian advised they were unable to fix the issue. We had to go out into Doha to get some essential toiletries and clothes
 We were then updated by Malaysian that our flight would continue the next day via email. The next day we were all up at 05:30 ready to be collected however we then were advised the flight would not be going ahead and had to wait for updates. Communication was quite poor via the hotel staff who were trying their best to answer questions . The communication from Malaysian was limited with a lot of swapping flights via email. I also contacted Trailfinders asking if the could advise what was happening with our flights or if possible could arrange for flights to KUL they emailed back advising not possible as there were no available seats on flights to KUL We were finally taken to the airport on the 7/8 and checked into a flight to KUL once at the gate then told the flight would not be leaving finally a manager from Qatar airlines advised they had to wait for paper clearance . In the meantime i was then alerted by Malaysian airlines they had cancelled my flights and rearranged new ones with Qatar DOH-JKT at 02:05 08/08 in the morning and then a connecting flight from JKT -DEP with Garuda airlines with a transfer time 1hr 50 mins which we had to get from the international terminal to domestic through immigration. collect luggage recheck in go back through security and get to the gate for boarding all very stressful. Luckily we were met by a garuda rep who fast tracked us through and we made the gate just as it was boarding.
On arrival in Depensar our luggage which we had not seen since LHR did not arrive We made a report at the bagge service desk. We were then met by our transfer and taken to the hotel arriving at around 23:00 very tired exhausted and frustrated. The local rep arrived the next day and advised he would contact the airport to chase our luggage and we updated him about the situation so far So again we went out to buy more clothes and toiletries. The following day I was informed by the rep that we would have to liase with the airport myself to try and track our luggage. Luckily we got through to a chat with Qatar who confirmed our luggage had arrived on the 9/8. We then spent the morning liaising with the airport by sending baggage numbers and photos of our cases  and it was finally confirmed they had our luggage . We then collected our luggage the next day on our transfer down to Nusa dua 
I have put in a complaint and request for compensation in regards to UK261 as Trailfinders keep telling me to do. we are currently in the 3rd investigation email. 
I have also put in a request for a partial refund and complaint to trailfinders who have advised they cannot provide any partial refund or compensation as it down to the airline and  it’s the law that Malaysian  pay our £ 520 compensation and that will cover the loss of our 1st week of our holiday However I am upset that the first week of the holiday was a complete nightmare and not whai I paid for. I do not feel the £520 covers the losses we experienced the lack of enjoyment , stress. My question is should i 1 continue to pursue Trailfinders for resolution while Malaysian continue to allegedly investigate 
2 Wait for malaysian airlines and their investigation outcome as suggested by Trailfinders then contact them back if no resolution found 
3 Seek legal advice due to the complexity of the situation 
Any advice would be welcome  and thank you for reading if you got to the end 

lisyloo

Do you have any travel insurance?

I am due £520 x 2 for delay in 2022 from sri lankan airlines. They are not paying and it's not easy to legally chase them in another country (I am still pursuing it).

So do Malaysian have a UK presence?
If they don't and they decide not to pay then you could find it very difficult, very delayed or impossible to get this compensation so don't count on getting it.
I have no idea what they are like, but if a company outside the UK refuses to cooperate then it's anything but easy as some countries don't have a "small claims" equivalent, so might mean going to court in Malaysia for example.

Was your holiday sold as a package? There are different regulations for different types on holidays.

Have you spoken to your insurer?

phatbear

you mention....

"I have put in a complaint and request for compensation in regards to UK261 as Trailfinders keep telling me to do. we are currently in the 3rd investigation email. "

but skim reading your post as im busy and its too long to read. 

but it wouldnt apply as you are on a non-eu/uk airline originating from outside the uk/eu

lisyloo

LHR - london heathrow is in the UK

phatbear

lisyloo said:

LHR - london heathrow is in the UK

i read it the other way round, silly bear, but you are correct.

mdann52

lisyloo said:

So do Malaysian have a UK presence?
If they don't and they decide not to pay then you could find it very difficult, very delayed or impossible to get this compensation so don't count on getting it.

Malaysian Airlines have a UK presence - https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/BR017728

Mystified2024

lisyloo said:

Do you have any travel insurance?

I am due £520 x 2 for delay in 2022 from sri lankan airlines. They are not paying and it's not easy to legally chase them in another country (I am still pursuing it).

So do Malaysian have a UK presence?
If they don't and they decide not to pay then you could find it very difficult, very delayed or impossible to get this compensation so don't count on getting it.
I have no idea what they are like, but if a company outside the UK refuses to cooperate then it's anything but easy as some countries don't have a "small claims" equivalent, so might mean going to court in Malaysia for example.

Was your holiday sold as a package? There are different regulations for different types on holidays.

Have you spoken to your insurer?

Hi Lisyloo
Thank you for your advice we do have travel insurance but they ask that we contact the airline and travel provider first. My plan is now to try and speak to the UK Malaysian airlines office directly as do have a reference number. Then gain advice from our travel insurance.

 Our holiday was sold as a package but Trailfinders have been no help and basically have said Malaysian airlines have to pay by law the £520 x2  and they can’t offer any compensation /partial refund for the missed aspects of the trip 

mdann52

So, trailfinders are partially correct there. The statutory compensation is owed by the operating airline, so you can't hold them liable.

However, assuming this was booked as a package, I would recommend having a look at S16 of The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 - 
 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/634/regulation/16/made

Essentially, the organiser has to offer compensation where the package offered does not confirm with what has been booked, except if caused by "unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances".

Now, the initial diversion may have been extraordinary, however the subsequent cancellation might well not be, and if they didn't offer alternatives when you contacted them, that adds to your case. 

I'm not saying that reg16 is a sure fire way to get compensation, however at least some of the delay and inconvenience should be covered by them

lisyloo

its all very well saying the airline have to pay by law but as I said in my case Sri Lankan airlines are refusing to obey the UK law and it's very very hard to enforce.
If Malaysian airlines actually have a UK arm then you might have better luck as you might have the UK small claims track on your side (and of course they might not refuse anyway).

I'm still fighting for mine 2 years later.
It's just a warning that they have to pay isn't actually true in practice.

Hoenir

Mystified2024 said:

on ou outbound flight we then got diverted to Doha due to a technical issue . 

What was the nature of the "issue" ?   The plane being diverted and grounded caused a change reaction of events beyond the airlines control. Not least that it involved numerous other parties. 

mdann52

Hoenir said:

Mystified2024 said:

on ou outbound flight we then got diverted to Doha due to a technical issue . 

What was the nature of the "issue" ?   The plane being diverted and grounded caused a change reaction of events beyond the airlines control. Not least that it involved numerous other parties. 

Huzar v Jet2 would disagree with you there. A diversion due to a technical issue isn't automatically an exceptional circumstance for the purposes of UK261, unless it's a freak failure. Unless it's a hidden manufacturing defect or deliberate sabotage, it's not deemed exceptional under EU law. It's a pre-Brexit judgement, so it's also binding on UK courts.


The airline would, even if the diversion was extraordinary, need to prove they took "all reasonable measures" to reduce the delay or reroute on other flights/carriers (Blanche v easyJet)