Air NZ no refund on cancelled flights
Jul 29, 2014, 6:21 pm
#16
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: NZ*G ELT, VA-G
Posts: 3,595
Potentially. My study of contract law was some years ago now but following common law principles, if your particular car has been ascertained and earmarked for you, the contract contains no further direction on when title transfer is to take place then you bear the risk from the conclusion of the contract (which can be different to when you take delivery). You may have a case against the shipping company.
You can add all sorts of clauses to change the above of course but it remains, the example you suggest, although unlikely, is a possibility.
You can add all sorts of clauses to change the above of course but it remains, the example you suggest, although unlikely, is a possibility.
Jul 29, 2014, 6:22 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: NZ*G ELT, VA-G
Posts: 3,595
while I have some sympathy for the OP, it makes sense to me that they would not refund on the 2nd flight. I'm making some assumptions here.. you could have got to Wellington (albeit not in time for your meeting) and therefore you could have taken the flight home. So therefore it would seem quite nice of them to offer you a credit on the return portion.
Having said all that, I'd be quite livid too
It's easy to be calm and objective when the case referred to doesn't involve me!
Having said all that, I'd be quite livid too
It's easy to be calm and objective when the case referred to doesn't involve me!
Jul 29, 2014, 6:29 pm
#18
Join Date: Dec 2013
Programs: NZ Airpoints GE, Qantas Platinum, Accor Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 955
This happened to me on the WLG-HLZ route. New arrival time in HLZ was after the return flight time back to WLG and I was still denied a refund on the return and only offered a credit note on the outbound as it was a cheapie ticket. Obviously I could not travel as the whole point was negated.
Jul 29, 2014, 6:45 pm
#19
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: South
Posts: 127
You are quite correct. My earlier example would therefore only perhaps apply to a business purchasing a vehicle where the trader has specifically contracted out of the CGA. As I said, contract law was a long time ago, who knows what else has slipped my brain! 
Jul 30, 2014, 12:43 am
#20
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: WLG
Programs: QFF/NZ/
Posts: 98
I think a refund of the first (cancelled) flight and a credit for the unused return flight is not a bad offer.
Jul 30, 2014, 7:53 am
#22
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Location: Netherlands
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Jul 30, 2014, 5:10 pm
#23
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: New Zealand
Programs: NZ, IHG, Hilton, Accor, Hertz, FoundersCard
Posts: 298
You could try the Disputes Tribunal. There's a good chance they'd cave before the hearing, to avoid the possibility of a precedent being set. I got bussed HLZ-AKL once & got no compensation at all, but didn't bother pursuing it.
justakiwi
justakiwi
Jul 31, 2014, 12:15 am
#24
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,100
Flights are always credited after they are taken, ie you'll get credited immediately after the first sector of a return ticket.
Jul 31, 2014, 12:22 am
#25
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,100
Ultimately the OP made the decision to remove the travel insurance which is added by default to every domestic ticket, and purchased a non refundable ticket. While 99% of the time nothing is going to go wrong, this case shows what happens when delays occur.
Jul 31, 2014, 12:38 am
#27
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: NZ*G ELT, VA-G
Posts: 3,595
Just think if the Honolulu flight a few days ago was delayed by weather, would NZ ask you to pay for hotels yourselves? Ryanair would but I wouldn't expect NZ to say to me "Tough, you didn't buy insurance so sort out your hotel yourself".
Jul 31, 2014, 1:26 am
#29
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: WLG
Programs: QFF/NZ/
Posts: 98
You are right. The OP opted not to insure himself/herself against travel disruption. The cancellation was due to factors outside the airlines control and they did offer the OP an alternative which was of no use to him/her so he/she opted not to travel. The OP was refunded for the cancelled flight. It is the return flight that is in dispute. The flight operated but without the OP onboard.The debate is as to whether the airline should have to refund a non-refundable ticket in this case. My earlier comment that a credit for the ticket was a good offer is based on a compromise between the two options of a refund in $$$ or no refund at all.
Jul 31, 2014, 1:57 am
#30
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
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Posts: 28,697
cancellation was due to factors outside the airlines control and they did offer the OP an alternative which was of no use to him/her so he/she opted not to travel. The OP was refunded for the cancelled flight. It is the return flight that is in dispute. The flight operated but without the OP onboard.The debate is as to whether the airline should have to refund a non-refundable ticket in this case.
It shouldn't matter whether or not the delay/cancellation is the fault of the airline. If a customer is negatively impacted, they should have the right to agree either to a later flight, or if that is no good, a full refund. Why does the airline suddenly consider this single ticket to suddenly be two (or more) separate flight tickets that are handled differently? If the second (or subsequent) flight(s) can just be refunded as a credit note, why don't they refund the entire ticket in this manner? If the first (cancelled/delayed) flight can be refunded to the form of payment used when buying the ticket, why not the entire ticket?
If you're a resident or frequent visitor, and you know that you will be booking Air NZ travel again in the near future, it's probably not so bad to get a partial cash, partial credit-note refund. But if you're an infrequent visitor with no way of redeeming the credit note without incurring vast expense, then it's a disaster.
And as I said above - this is not the Air NZ that I know!!!