Being ignored by travel agent re refund

la531983

eskbanker said:

la531983 said:

eskbanker said:

Pursue your claim via MCOL, as they're a UK-based company - send a Letter Before Action first and be prepared to follow it through to court.

Note that paying by debit card still should have given you chargeback rights had you used these earlier on, but if this was nearly two years ago then that's no longer an option for this claim....

Likely pointless if the figures earlier in the thread are anything to go by. The OP is likely due a refund of around seventeen quid per ticket if that was accurate. 

Where do you get that figure from?  Economy flights to Australia, during 2022/23, would incur APD of £84 each in band B:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-allowances-for-air-passenger-duty-historic-rates

I stand by my comment that OP needs to be prepared to go through with a claim rather than simply bluffing with a LBA, it's only £35 and this would be reimbursed assuming OP wins....

Previous poster near the bottom of page 1 said it would be 92 quid each but then swallowed up by the 75 quid admin fee. 

pain10suffering10

I was told by the agent at the time of requesting taxes and fees that I would likely get around £500 reimbursement ( I was informed that £200 of that may come from the extra we paid to change the dates too ) 
I wouldn’t be chasing it for £17 ! I have a bit more integrity than that…..
Also, I would be happy with a response from them rather than being ignored, it’s not just about the money, it’s the lack of respect I’ve been shown and the fact I was told I’d get a partial refund for fees/taxes etc etc after 6 weeks and never did….. email me back and explain why at the very least…. 🤷🏻‍♀️

la531983

The £17 was based on this year I assume, would actually be less than that if it was during 2022/23....

eskbanker

pain10suffering10 said:

I was told by the agent at the time of requesting taxes and fees that I would likely get around £500 reimbursement ( I was informed that £200 of that may come from the extra we paid to change the dates too ) 
I wouldn’t be chasing it for £17 ! I have a bit more integrity than that…..
Also, I would be happy with a response from them rather than being ignored, it’s not just about the money, it’s the lack of respect I’ve been shown and the fact I was told I’d get a partial refund for fees/taxes etc etc after 6 weeks and never did….. email me back and explain why at the very least…. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you have any written breakdown of exactly which taxes and fees applied to your booking, and which are reimbursable?

It's understandable to be miffed at a company messing you about but generally best to stick to verifiable facts when trying to make a claim, especially if contemplating legal action....

DullGreyGuy

pain10suffering10 said:

I was told by the agent at the time of requesting taxes and fees that I would likely get around £500 reimbursement ( I was informed that £200 of that may come from the extra we paid to change the dates too ) 
I wouldn’t be chasing it for £17 ! I have a bit more integrity than that…..
Also, I would be happy with a response from them rather than being ignored, it’s not just about the money, it’s the lack of respect I’ve been shown and the fact I was told I’d get a partial refund for fees/taxes etc etc after 6 weeks and never did….. email me back and explain why at the very least…. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Which airline is it? What connections were you making

You are "guaranteed" to get the APD back which was £82 over 2 years ago less their £75 admin fee. Anything else depends on a combination of which airports and airlines were involved; you may get other governmental taxes and airport fees back or not. 

Caz3121

APD would be refundable, many other taxes and fees on a flight ticket are not (the biggest one being YQ-Carrier/Fuel surcharge which isn't)
If the agent charges £75 for service fees then the APD of £84 would be reduced to £9 per person. plus any additional refundable taxes.

You could use ITAMatrix to see a breakdown of taxes based on routing and airline (although these will be at todays rates)..I suspect YQ will be the largest then APD then some smaller ones
as an example at todays rates here is the breakdown of BA flights via Singapore

Singapore Airport Development Levy (L7)£3.40

Singapore Passenger Service And Security Fee Pssf (SG)£7.00

Australia Passenger Services Charge Arrival International (WY)£47.40

United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge Departures (UB)£48.89

United Kingdom Air Passenger Duty APD (GB)£92.00

Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ)£354.00

Australia Passenger Movement Charge PMC (AU)£36.20

APD would be refundable
Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ) is not
that leaves about £140ish of other taxes that may or may not be refundable (I suspect many won't be)

pain10suffering10

eskbanker said:

pain10suffering10 said:

I was told by the agent at the time of requesting taxes and fees that I would likely get around £500 reimbursement ( I was informed that £200 of that may come from the extra we paid to change the dates too ) 
I wouldn’t be chasing it for £17 ! I have a bit more integrity than that…..
Also, I would be happy with a response from them rather than being ignored, it’s not just about the money, it’s the lack of respect I’ve been shown and the fact I was told I’d get a partial refund for fees/taxes etc etc after 6 weeks and never did….. email me back and explain why at the very least…. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you have any written breakdown of exactly which taxes and fees applied to your booking, and which are reimbursable?

It's understandable to be miffed at a company messing you about but generally best to stick to verifiable facts when trying to make a claim, especially if contemplating legal action....

Yes, I have all emails and photos of flight bookings and invoice, plus all emails sent between the company and myself when applying for the APD and other fees, I have in writing that I would be refunded around £500 ( they couldn’t give an exact amount but that was the figure they estimated ) 
When I looked into making a claim as some have suggested on here, it is not £35 to take to small claims court but could cost a lot more…. I don’t have the money for this…
I appreciate everyone’s comments but I have already tried these avenues to no avail…. 

It’s the disrespect as a customer that sticks in my craw….the fact they just stopped replying to me regarding the APD is outrageous…. They are, or were a big company and they’ve done wrong by me…. My friend even looked at booking the same flight that we had to cancel and all seats were sold, so the airline filled our seats and got their money, all I was asking for was the taxes to be reimbursed, which I don’t think is an unfair ask….
i have since had to pay for new flights earlier in the year ( March ) to go to Australia to clear Mums house and collect her ashes…..We were told by travel decorum that it would cost £100 pp to change the dates if we needed to, and when we tried to change them they wanted another £900pp…. We looked at different dates/months/ even the next year, but were told it would be £900 regardless of when we changed tickets for! I have all this in writing in an email, as well as the initial email suggesting we pay an extra £100 per ticket to cover us ( with a fee of only £100 to change tickets ) if we needed to... 

I don’t see how they can get away with this? 

It’s disgraceful and I hope others that may have read this thread never book through travel decorum 

MeteredOut

Can you post the T&Cs of your booking.

Companies often say "£100 to change*" where the (*) highlights that that is the change fee only, and any difference in pricing must also be paid.

la531983

pain10suffering10 said:

eskbanker said:

pain10suffering10 said:

I was told by the agent at the time of requesting taxes and fees that I would likely get around £500 reimbursement ( I was informed that £200 of that may come from the extra we paid to change the dates too ) 
I wouldn’t be chasing it for £17 ! I have a bit more integrity than that…..
Also, I would be happy with a response from them rather than being ignored, it’s not just about the money, it’s the lack of respect I’ve been shown and the fact I was told I’d get a partial refund for fees/taxes etc etc after 6 weeks and never did….. email me back and explain why at the very least…. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you have any written breakdown of exactly which taxes and fees applied to your booking, and which are reimbursable?

It's understandable to be miffed at a company messing you about but generally best to stick to verifiable facts when trying to make a claim, especially if contemplating legal action....

When I looked into making a claim as some have suggested on here, it is not £35 to take to small claims court but could cost a lot more…. I don’t have the money for this…

Really not sure where you have been looking...

https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees

If you are claiming £500 it would cost you £50, which you would get back if you win.

You can also apply for help to pay the fee upfront - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-help-with-court-and-tribunal-fees