Guy, I'm not thinking of cancelling my booking - it hasn't been ticketed yet.

Story so far:

TA email my itinerary and a list of their Terms and Conditions - the $600 cancellation fee is one of the terms. At the bottom of the email is a signature block.

I decided to read the Terms much more closely than I normally would once I discovered the stuff ups in the itinerary (1 flight missing, 4 flights in wrong order). The Terms included many of the things in that are already in the STAR file, such as $75 fee for routing change. The $600 cancellation claused seemed to come from nowhere. When I enquired, the TA confirmed this was their own rule and that they were the benificiaries. TA also said this was "normal".

I already know that I don't have a cancellation fee if I deal direct with QANTAS, but today I asked a couple of other TAs in town (Darwin) - all thought $600 was excessive.

I have given them no reason to think I am likley to cancel. What I found most offensive was the assertion that a cancellation fee of $600 is "normal" or standard. Adding to my anger is the incorrect advice on simple rules - the TAs asserted that you can never backtrack bewteen continents. Incidently, when I challanged that assertion, the TA responded with "I've booked 100s of these ... but I'll check it out with QF". If it weren't for my doing lots of homework and much assistance form everyone here I wouldn't have got the trip I wanted. Okay, now I am ranting!

I've stewed on this for a few days, and I think I'm ready to find myself another TA (I'd prefer to use a TA than go straight to QANTAS). Wish me luck!