Time to Think Option problem
 

Hi folks,

I encountered the following problem with the Time to Think Option, which I chose to hold an itinerary: when I went to pay for the ticket, the KLM website told me that one of the segments was cancelled and thus the ticket could not be booked.

I contacted KLM via messenger for a refund and I was told that the option is not refundable. I reiterated my position that KLM was at fault as they could not complete the booking I had paid to hold as I was ready and willing to complete the booking had it been possible. The response was the same: it is a non refundable option. I sent a screen shot from their website but to no avail.

It’s not a lot of money ($46 CDN ) but the principle is bugging me so I want to escalate as KLM failed to deliver in this case. Any ideas on how to do that?

Do you have status with FB? It may help to call to Paris or Amsterdam, where status may be taken into account.

Fully agree with you by the way. They took money to allow you to be able to book at a later time. Either they return that money (not being able to let you book the flight as promised), or, they should still book you for the same price (possibly on an alternative flight/service). Either they refund or provide the service that was paid for. Keeping the money and refusing the service is... unfair.

Thanks for this. I do not have any status with FB. I was able to book the same flights for the same price, so that is not an issue. That did not have anything to do with the purchase of Time to Think, so as you note a refund should be in order. I did request via Messenger that my request be escalated to a supervisor as the person I was dealing with simply repeated the terms of reference as justification for not providing a refund. The terms of reference only say that the customer cannot get a refund if they do not book and nothing else. I suspect that there was an IT glitch on their end, but ultimately their process did not work.

As is the case with such things, the amount of money is relatively small in the grand scheme of things so it is not worth my time to pursue it too much (though I’d love to push on the principle issue). I may file for a CC chargeback given that I have screenshots of everything in question. I have to call KLM anyway relating to some other bookings so I will raise the issue there before doing anything else.

I appreciate your feedback on this. It is a small frustration only, and hopefully not a sign of how KLM deals with things generally. I just booked 4 TATL trips in business with KLM/AF so it would be nice if the rest of the way went smoothly (I am a realist, of course!).

I would file a CC chargeback on the grounds that KLM failed to deliver the service promised - an option to book the flights within the time period stated.
It's one thing if the flights end up cancelled after booking, and they don't refund the time to think thing, because you did get the option to book (and presumably an option to take alternative connection), but in this case, clearly the service was not provided.

However, before that, I would give KLM one more chance. Make it clear that you are not requesting a refund on a service used, but you are terminating the purchase agreement because KLM could not provide the service paid for.

Thanks. As I need to call KLM to figure out PNRs (as per my other thread, which you commented on) I will raise the issue there. There is a bit of frustration about "do I let them get away with it vs spending time on resolving it."

It is definitely an odd one. I expect had the person responding on Messenger been either more equipped to respond appropriately OR cared to understand the issue it would have been settled right away.

In the grand scheme of things, it is not so bad--just one of those annoyances.