Next step in the complaint cycle?

[Curious Pax]

Sister-in-law, her husband, daughter and friend were due to travel to Canada from LGW with Globespan in September, having booked at the beginning of this year, and paid a 10% deposit. S-I-L suffers from a form of cancer that is incurable, but with a bout of chemo and a stem cell transplant can be very slow in advancing. At the time of booking there was no immediate likelihood of treatment being required that would clash with the holiday, but earlier in the summer her consultant decided that the stem cell transplant would be necessary earlier than he had expected, and should take place in July. With the expected recovery period being about 3 months this meant that the Canadian trip would need to be postponed.

So far so good. However a check of Globespan's schedule revealed that the LGW flight series ended at the end of September, and so the plan was to reschedule onto a 2010 flight when they became available - for a fee flights can be changed onto any currently on sale, which was fine. S-I-L spoke to Globespan about this when the departure minus 10 weeks point came, at which the balance needed to be paid. The Call Centre operative was very understanding, and explained that the 2010 flights would be on sale by August, and so they could pay the balance now, and then once the 2010 flights were available, and more than 7 days prior to the original departure, make the change required.

Unfortunately for some reason Globespan have even now not put the 2010 Canada flights on sale (I wonder if they ever will), and so the required change could not be made. S-I-L had expected to lose the deposit, but considers it unfair that Globespan took the balance under what were effectively false pretences (although she accepts that the call centre agent probably made the rebooking suggestion in good faith).

A letter to Globespan outlining this issue, and requesting a refund of the balance that was paid has (eventually, after 6 weeks) had the response 'sorry - tough luck - read the T&Cs'.

Question now is where to go next? Reply to them giving them 14 days to give a satisfactory response, then the small claims court? Get Tom Dalrymple's phone number (El Grifo? - read your thread on your GSM woes)?

Suggestions gratefully received.

[PAXboy]

If you booked through an agent - then to them.

If you booked direct - then get the details from the County Court.Making a Claim (http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm) You can download leaflets that tell you the procedure.

If you make a CLEAR and DETERMINED demonstration that you WILL take them to court - they will almost certainly settle out of court. So don't pussy foot. Threaten them and tell what you will do and give them a time to respond, using recorded delivery.

[strake]

Not sure I fully understand the detail as written but at this stage, perhaps you might be a bit cautious before jumping to legal action.
Possibly, your next stage could be to email the Air Transport Users Council The UK's Consumer Watchdog for the Aviation Industry | AUC Home (http://www.auc.org.uk) with a formal complaint and at the same time, contact your local Citizen's Advice Bureau to test the strength of your case should the AUC not be able to assist.
At least that way you have a couple of organisations to quote when you rewrite to Globespan should the decision be to claim for goods or services not supplied.

[HXdave]

as a travel agent, i always expect the first letter back from a complaint to be a standard 'fob off' letter. basically, most companies hope that this will put people off taking things further.

did you get the name of the person who advised you about being able to change the flights to S'10? can you remember the date & rough time of the call, as it may have been recorded.

unfortunately, on the other hand, the information and options were given 'uberrima fides' (in good faith). you also state that the globespan agent said that you could transfer onto any flight that was 'on sale', so effectively they have not lied or misled you.

did your S-I-L have travel insurance that can be claimed on? (please tell me that she wasn't going to canada with no travel insurance!).

my best advice initially is to send a second letter to globespan to show that you will not just 'give up'. however dont be snotty with them, don't threaten them with this that and the other. any letter like that immeadiately gets anyones back up, and will be just met with negativity. ask them to reconsider their decision considering the circumstances. then, if you still get a 'no', follow the advice above with the AUC. personally, i do not think the county court will be able to do anything regarding this, as effectively they are not in breech of any contract - something you admit in your original post.

and next time - tell her to book through a travel agent. it's amazing what they know, and how to work round things..............

[A2QFI]

If you paid by credit card or a VISA issued debit card ask the card issuer to initiate a "Chargeback" on the transaction. I did this earlier this year and got all the money back, it took 10 months and the refund was, perhaps, triggered by a complaint I made to the Financial Services Ombudsman. Please PM me if I can be of any help.

[strake]

did your S-I-L have travel insurance that can be claimed on?

My first thought but perhaps consider the circumstances a little more?

[dtaylor1984]

If you paid by credit card or a VISA issued debit card ask the card issuer to initiate a "Chargeback" on the transaction. I did this earlier this year and got all the money back, it took 10 months and the refund was, perhaps, triggered by a complaint I made to the Financial Services Ombudsman. Please PM me if I can be of any help.

What grounds are there for a chargeback in this case?

[HXdave]

Strake, ideally the best option would have been to cancel the flights at loss of deposits and claimed back on insurance. even if you know there might be a need to cancel, most insurance companies are happy to let you 'hold onto the booking' provided that when it comes time to cancel the booking it does not cost any more to cancel the booking than the original cost of cancellation when the first instance arises - eg £150 to cancel when you are made aware of need to possible cancel in say june, but as long as they cancel say in sept when they can still cancel for £150, insurances are usually fine. as a travel agent, this is what i would have advised, and i'm sure most would do the same too. i would not advise anyone to pay a balance for a holiday/flight that they know that they are not going to travel on.

dtaylor, totally agree with you about the chargeback. a chargeback situation can only be done when a provider fails to provide the service or goods that was paid for - (eg buy a TV from online electrical retailer and it never arrives). in this situation, globespan provided a seat/s as requested, it was then the clients choice to cancel the booking. therefore globespan has provided what was requested.

Personally, i would go down the line of a second, police letter to Globespan explaining the circumstances, with maybe a covering letter from the specialist.

[A2QFI]

I don't know - I am not familiar with the airline's T & Cs but it appears that they have charged for a service not provided having falslely given OP the perception that he could book/change flights. Obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception rings a bell.

[strake]

Obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception rings a bell.

That's a criminal charge of Theft requiring proof that the defendant used deception to obtain money or goods. I think this is still Civil but best sorted out with a bit more correspondence.
My point to someone else was that given the circumstances of the traveller, I don't think insurance was an option.

[HXdave]

My point to someone else was that given the circumstances of the traveller, I don't think insurance was an option.

Strake, in what way do you not think insurance was an option? surely you would not recommend someone to travel abroad without adequate travel insurance, would you? i have been in a similar position, and it cost a fortune.

but it appears that they have charged for a service not provided having falslely given OP the perception that he could book/change flights.

A2QFI

as far as i see it, the airline have said that they could change the dates to any other dates that were on sale. as the new required dates were not on sale, effectively they have not lied or decieved anyone. what would have happened if the OP wanted to travel in 2012? them dates would not be on sale.

[Final 3 Greens]

Strake, in what way do you not think insurance was an option?

I interpret Strake's comment as meaning that the OP's SIL may not have been able to get cover at all.

[HXdave]

Final 3 greens, i understand what you say there, but there is usually someone that will give cover for pre-existing conditions. fair enough, they may not be cheap, but in the event of something happening abroad that expensive insurance policy could end up saving a small fortune.

[Scumbag O'Riley]

I'd make a data protection subject access request including transcript of phone calls and see what was promised by airline.