Originally Posted by
navylad
Thanks for your post and particularly the edited update.
The website/app seams to be more buggy of late, I’ve had trouble with SDFC, having to call up too- whilst feeling guilty as I know people are trying to get through to sort their problems out too. They should really invest in (actual) enhancing things a little, surely it would be most cost-effective?
In any case, I’m glad you got it sorted. They shouldn’t charge you a change fee if it is because the app/website are incorrectly charging, although perhaps this is a grey area (refund within 24 hours is protected by law).
in any case, my advice is always to message on Twitter, I know you gave up on them, but it at least provides a contemporaneous record that you tried to change/cancel within the 24 hours.
Thank you. I was impatient and so was tweeting and phoning at the same time, and got through by phone first. But yes, by confounding the twitter bot I was able to reach the point where I was being passed to an agent. I don't know how long that would have taken had I waited.
The phone wait wasn't bad, at all. It's just that when it was answered it seemed to cut off, the first few times. Anyway, on my final attempt it was less than 5 minutes before I was able to speak to someone and they were very helpful. They told me that changes will always incur a fee, even in the first 24 hours. I think I must have got away with it in the past because I have a folk memory of being able to make a free change, pre-Covid - but that seems so long ago and is now just a blur.
It took around 15 minutes of refreshing the site to see my companion voucher and avios again, after the agent cancelled my original flight, and so I was able to book exactly what I wanted. And it will teach me to get it right next time. I honestly feel like a complete newbie again (I've re-subscribed to ExpertFlyer and that looked alien to me too). And it felt strange using a companion voucher that was originally issued in 2018! And the shock of being Bronze and not being able to book seats yet!
Let's hope I remember what to do at an airport!