Lastminute.com: I left it to the last minute, and so did they.

CherryBakewellTart2

lastminute.joke

Needed to vent, so here goes. Part of this is my own fault, and I’ll say so before anyone else does.

I booked a flight and accommodation package through Booking.com. Turns out it was actually sold by lastminute.com, which I only found out when lastminute.com sent me a confirmation email.

Because travel costs a fortune anyway, I paid almost £15 extra for cancellation protection, thinking that surely meant something. I’ve got the screenshot of me ticking the box. Apparently it means very little.

Our plans changed and we couldn’t go. The trip cost about £350 in total, and when I checked, the refund on offer was £100. That’s £50 each, so £125 each down the drain. Annoying, but I could live with it. Two days later it had dropped to £50 total, so £25 each and £150 each lost. Nobody could tell me why it had halved in 48 hours.

Then I went on the site to see the full breakdown of the refund, clicked “Continue” expecting another page, and it cancelled the entire holiday on the spot. No confirmation, no “are you sure?”. Easiest booking I’ve ever made, except it was the un-booking.

I messaged lastminute.com with a very long, very polite list of questions: why the refund halved, and what exactly I was being refunded for. I got back no answers and a general vibe that this was entirely my fault. The agent couldn’t seem to grasp that I’d paid for cancellation protection, despite the screenshot, and very heavily implied that our flights had been cancelled. After speaking to Ryanair’s customer service, I found out Ryanair flights can’t be cancelled and they have a no-show policy, which lastminute.com definitely never mentioned.

When I asked more questions, silence. When I asked to be put through to someone who could answer them, I was transferred before I’d finished the sentence. Second agent was just as clueless.

I’ve also complained to Booking.com, about the protection fee I paid, who haven’t replied yet. I couldn’t even find a phone number for them. Nothing seems to be clear anymore.

I’ve accepted the money’s gone and I’m filing it under expensive lessons. But how are you supposed to confidently spend hundreds on a trip when the people you’re paying can’t explain what you’ve bought? I’m now put off both Booking.com and lastminute.com, and I’m planning on just staying in and looking at other people’s holiday photos instead.

Anyone else had this? Misery loves company, and I’d love to know I’m not the only one beaten by a “Continue” button. 😅

flaneurs_lobster

It's like a checklist of the travel companies I have vowed never to do business with again

booking.com

lastminute

Ryanair

If the hotel was run by Mercure then you'd have my full bingo card.

saajan_12

Read / quote the exact terms of the cancellation protection you bought.

Ryanair's cancellation policies may only be relevant where you want to cancel and get the taxes back under a normal transaction with no extra protection.

If you bought cancellation protection that gets you all your money back then that's on the protection seller, regardless of if they get their money back from Ryanair. If however your protection had an exclusion for Ryanair or for non cancellable flights, etc then that takes prescedence. Basically depends on the wording.

Makingabobor2

And this is why you should always book through a travel agent!

Worried_fool

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82173543#Comment_82173543

I think you meant NEVER when you typed ALWAYS.

After all, LastMinute is a travel agent.

Makingabobor2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82173922#Comment_82173922

No they are not a true old fashioned sort of travel agent. I was a TA most of my working life & we were constantly getting calls from people who had booked with LM.com, or OTB, or other dubious online companies. They have had a bad reputation for many years. The stories I could tell you about some of the things that happened, would make your hair curl.