jochen_vdk

I have a general question about the booking of a flight ticket through an (online) travel agency.

I have booked a flight through an online travel agency, and got invoiced the ticket price by the airline and the booking fee by the travel agency (or this is what it looks like on my credit card statement)

The flight got cancelled by the airline for technical reasons. I could not accept the alternative they offered and the whole booking got cancelled.

Now, the airline refers to the travel agency for reimbursement; they say that they can cancel the booking but the reimbursement needs to go through the travel agency as I have bought it from them. The travel agency refers to the airline and says the airline has my money and they would ask for it and pay me back, but I am waiting for 2 months and I am getting nowhere.

I have two questions:

- Who needs to pay me back, the airline or the travel agency?
- I am entitled to a refund of the full ticket price. But what about the service fee of the travel agency? Can I get that one back as well?

mmff

You paid for a service that was never delivered.

What are you waiting for to call your bank and begin the chargeback? You are entitled to a full refund of your payment (including fees).

YuropFlyer

The travel agency. They are the ones to receive the money back from the airline, and then need to proceed back to you. The fees for the travel agency are probably gone, as I guess they're non refundable..

jochen_vdk

Thanks! I don't have experience with travel agencies as I always book directly at the airline. Much experience with flight cancellations, and I have always received my money back within 7 days.

I have filed a complaint at the credit card company, will see what they say.

Is there anything I can do against the travel agency? It is ebookers.de, registered in Germany. I don't want compensation from them or anything, although I would like to get their service fee back as well if possible, as their service is really unacceptable. But mainly I want to send them a signal that they can't behave like this.

YuropFlyer

Ebookers is considered to be one of the better OTAs, so that does surprise me a bit.

I'd absolutely make sure to document everything in written form.

ie, that the carrier cancelled the flight and told you you'll get a full refund, that it will go through your TA (and that they actually sent it to the TA), etc.

Ordering a chargeback otherwise - if the refund process is just ongoing - might end bad with you having to pay a nasty fee possibly.

Often1

First, while you did not provide flight details, I am presuming that your location and FFP membership suggest at least an EU carrier if not an EU origination for your flight, EC 261/2004 gives you the option of a full refund in the case of a cancellation. This is the responsibility of the operating carrier of the flight. While the refund may not come from the operating carrier, it is the responsibility of the operating carrier to get it done. Thus, telling you to seek the refund from your TA is inappropriate (although perhaps more efficient).

Second, even if EC 261/2004 did not apply, you have a contractual right to the return of all funds as the service was not supplied. This is not a matter of fault. Things happen. But, a refund is due and whoever holds the funds ought to return them. In the case of a credit card, to the original form of payment, e.g. a credit to the card account.

Third, if neither the operating carrier nor the TA initiated the credit in short order, the chargeback through the card issuer, presumably a bank (although it could be another financial institution) should be initiated. This should be simple and short. All that is necessary is the assertion that the flight was cancelled, that you elected a refund and that your effort to obtain a refund from both the operating carrier and the TA has been unsuccessful. The card issuer will handle the rest.

Do not be scared off by the suggestion that you will be assessed a fee for disputing the charge. Neither merchant vendor, the term for the air carrier and the TA, has accepted responsibility for processing the refund which you are due. Quite the contrary, both have effectively denied your request. This is exactly what the dispute process is for.

jochen_vdk

To me ebookers.de was a real nightmare. No possibility to contact them online, 45 minutes waiting time on the phone, support people that have no clue what they are talking about and having to check and double check everything (incl. being put on hold for five minutes every once and a while during the call because they had to look up something). Whereas I am just asking something as simple as a refund for a cancelled flight!

I have nothing in written form as everything was done by phone. I am entitled to a full refund, and second it was even a fully flexible ticket so even if the flight was not cancelled I would also have been entitled to a full refund.

The carrier (SAS) cancelled the flight and did not refund me, that is a fact. We are 2 months later now.

The TA said they wanted to refund me but I have spent 2 times 1,5 hours on the phone with them, I am not going to call a third time.

Fact is, after two months I still have not got my money back.

Tchiowa

You did business with and paid money to the travel agency. They owe you the refund. Including the service fee and full ticket price.

jochen_vdk

It was SAS, indeed an EU carrier, and a EU departure.

Some say the airline is responsible, others say if you booked through a travel agency, the TA is responsible. You see both opinions also in this thread, so it is very confusing. That's why I wanted to ask this question here.

Thanks, I have done that and will see what happens now.

SFO777

Just dispute with credit card company and let them handle it. Most reputable bank CCs will issue an immediate temporary credit pending resolution.
This should be an easy one for them to resolve in your favor.

lin821

Perhaps you should take a look at Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies Forum and check out what others have said about ebookers & how to deal with OTAs in general.

Sykes

In your situation, this is what I would do at this point.

Ultimately, it's the travel agency's responsibility to coordinate the refund. Even if the cancellation is the carrier's fault, you should be able to rely on the travel agency to advocate for you and coordinate the refund with the airline--that's why you pay a travel agent.

One thing I'll note, though, is that typically a travel agency service fee is nonrefundable. In this case, because the travel agency has failed to fulfill it's responsibility here I'd pursue a refund of the service fee as well, but under more typical circumstances the work that the travel agent does is not reduced by the cancellation--in fact, in most cases it's more work.

jochen_vdk

That's what I thought as well!

I agree that the TA has done its work even if the flight is cancelled. So if I had been reimbursed I would have had no problem with the TA's service charge. But in this case, I would expect the TA also takes care of the customer after they got his money, some kind of after sales care. I even don't understand why such cancellations are not automatically reimbursed to the customer. The TA should also know that that flight was cancelled.

Second, the problem is not even that they do nothing, but they also make themselves virtually unreachable for their customers: very long waiting times by phone, no online communication, no reaction to a letter. I am waiting for 2 months for a reimbursement of 3,500 EUR which I have always received within 7 days in the cases I had booked directly with the airline. So I think in this case they don't deserve to keep the service charge I paid.

warakorn

You need to read the CoC of the operating airline.
Scoot does not refund any money in case of an (airline-side) cancellation.

YuropFlyer

I can't wait for Scoot to fly to ATH and getting a nice whopping by EU261