Opodo flight claim

runningfox

Hi everyone, hoping for some advice. 

I booked a flight with Opodo travelling with Air India. I paid extra for a flexible fare in case my plans changed. I paid the full price in one payment on the Opodo website, however the payment was taken in two transactions, the bulk of the money by Air India and a smaller amount by Opodo. 

Shortly after booking I was informed by Air India directly that my return flight was no longer available and that I could pick another date to return. I needed to plan out some logistics and once I'd sorted the date I wanted to return the option to choose a date had disappeared from the Air India link.

I contacted Opodo and arranged the change with them. At first, the agent was saying I needed to use the flexible fare facility of my booking. I explained I was changing the flight because the airline cancelled my original flight. Eventually, he changed my return flight using the airline's policy and confirmed I had not used the flexible element of my booking.

A few days before my flight, I needed to change the travel date so submitted a request on the Opodo website. Under the terms I could do so up to 24 hours before flying and submitted the request 72 hours in advance. 

When no confirmation came through, I chased this with Opodo via their online chat and they claimed I could not change the flight as I'd already made a change to the booking thus rendering the flexible fare invalid. They said I would need to wait for a response from their team regarding the booking. They also claimed they had been trying to contact me about the issue by phone which was a lie. 

I received an email at 6am, three hours before the scheduled flight, from Opodo saying they couldn't do anything and I should contact Air India. Air India said it was Opodo's issue and to contact them.

I have completed a subject access request and have a recording of the call with Opodo's agent confirming I had not used the flexible fare and the transcript of the conversation with the chat help agent where they claim I have already used it and I clearly explain that I have not. 

I have subsequently had to spend £1200 on an alternative flight to get where I needed to be.

What is my best route to try and recover the £900+ I paid for the original flight?

Thank you. 🙏🏼

Westin

Was it your outbound, or inbound flight you tried to change?

runningfox

Westin said:

Was it your outbound, or inbound flight you tried to change?

I only wanted to change the outbound but the terms of the fare (they said) required me to change both.

Caz3121

it looks like it works like you cancel the original booking and make a new booking, you then get either a refund of the original flight or the new flight depending which is lower
Did you make the second booking with Opodo?
https://help.opodo.com/hc/en-150/articles/18971031887506-How-to-book-a-flexible-flight-ticket