Problems With Airlines? Airline Agents? Use Your Consumer Rights!

Problems With Airlines? Airline Agents? Use Your Consumer Rights!

We are all seeing and many of my travel colleagues, friends are experiencing more problems due to the COVID -19 pandemic, which most genuine people can understand in these uncertain times but what we are also seeing is that airline agents and airlines are obviously protecting their bottom line more and now customer satisfaction has totally gone out of the window, especially if they already have your money.

Tourandtakein has just experienced within the last week, hence this article, what can be done and what should be done for a fair refund or voucher, if necessary and we do stress, if it’s not your fault, you should be reimbursed.

We are all suffering, why should huge corporates keep our money!

Our example: We are in Malaysia at the moment and restrictions have been lifted for interstate travel, so we decided to see another part of this fabulous country while still in the RMCO.

We found a flight from Penang to Sabah using Trip.com and AirAsia. We were getting really excited until we kept reading reports that Sabah wasn’t allowing in non-Malaysians and had many restrictions other states didn’t, Yes, different states have different controls, therefore, not just following federal Governments control, a bit like 14 countries rolled into one:)

So as you do, we checked with the agents, airline, etc. No policy change, however people on the ground in Sabah were arriving and being refused at immigration. Very much a cause for concern!

We left it for a few days but seeing more posts on social media and reading Malay newspapers, speaking with Immigration officials which were stating various checks, quarantines needed to be done, ok and needed if you’re in a bad area, we’re in a green zone and everyday things seemed to be changing.

Even though this wasn’t any fault of the agents/airlines, we decided not to take the risk, why would anybody for a quick 5-day vacation. We may end up in quarantine for 14 days at our cost or the worse not let back out. Immigration has many powers now, which being full-time travelers can unsettle you at times.

After many days of receiving basic automated emails chats from Trip.com and speaking to chatbots on AirAsia, providing them with proof of what we were seeing and reading, we asked for a full refund, that’s when the fun and games started, one company playing off the other.

In fact, it is only down to one company, the company that you paid the money to. So this being the agent, once again several emails back and forth each day stating and asking for a refund and sending various clippings, conversations, etc…

We received four of the below, this is what we have now just discovered to be a pack of lies basically from the agents who aren’t a small company as we went into overdrive and threatened to speak with several people, including organizations, and are now receiving a refund by the agent, not the airline.

Which they mentioned could possibly be delayed because of the COVID -19 virus. Which lost us on that one, as the computers now must have got this virus? Your money in their account per day, times that by thousands of others, equals more interest earned!

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email.

Regarding your flight reservation(Order ID:130545xxxx and 130545xxxx),we checked the airline policy again ,unfortunately ,there is no relevant policy cover your route and travel date. We advise you to contact the airline directly to check if they could refund you.

Kindly understand that we as a travel agency could not commit to any confirmation and will need to abide by the policy provided by the airline company as per our agreement with them. Any change fee, cancellation fee, cash refund or travel voucher, ticket price difference, tax difference, related or non-related requests are always subjected to the decision and ruling of the airline.

Sorry for any inconvenience. Your understanding will be much appreciated.

If you need any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best Regards,

What they were expecting of us, was to board a flight, and then when we landed, we were at the disposal of immigration to possibly say sorry, no entry.

What then a refund? No trip and worse. Again we fully understand the agents or airline may not know of the problems on the ground, however, we gave them enough chances.

Keeping a long story short as possible, run out of nails just thinking about it, so you don’t have to go through the stress, finding the right person to speak too, several days of actually not knowing if you will be compensated for your request. A refund or the right advice. Please read below!

If you deal with an agent, it’s their responsibility, not the airlines, you’re their customer. Ask politely and then if you don’t receive your request with a reasonable time scale. Contact their customer service, if not already dealing with them, note everything! Tell them that you’re noting all the correspondence and give a good explanation of why. You demand a refund, compensation etc

If you feel you are just hitting your head against a brick wall, tell them that you will be corresponding with the US Department Of Transport – UK ADR means settling your dispute without asking a court to decide on your issue, through the CAA site.

Our complaint about a refund was the lack of knowledge, the agent and airline didn’t have or show and possibly could have put us in a tricky and costly situation, however, the above two countries organizations, The USA and UK. ( You will find the same in each country). You should get some serious attention and a refund without going down the dispute course of action.

It might feel like David V Goliath but if it’s not your fault, you have consumer rights and don’t let them persuade you that you don’t, with fancy lawyer jargon, most people just give up and that’s what they want!!

The above organizations should also have you covered for flight delays and cancellations, bumping and over sales, (which happens regularly), disability, tarmac delays, lost, delayed, or damaged baggage, discrimination, refunds, buying a ticket, family seating, frequent flyer, chartered flights, air ambulance, consumer resources, and privacy.

What’s an ADR scheme?

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes are processes that enable you to resolve a dispute you’re having with a company without having to go to court.

Some ADR schemes are called ombudsman services. List below.

Airline	Where to complain
Aegean Airlines	CAA
Aer Lingus	CAA
Aeroflot	CAA
Air Astana	AviationADR
Air Baltic	Latvian Consumer Rights Protection Centre
Air Canada	AviationADR
Air China	AviationADR
Air Europa	CAA
Air France	CAA
Air India	AviationADR
Air Malta	CAA
Air Mauritius	AviationADR
Air New Zealand	CAA
Air Transat	CAA
Alitalia	CAA
American Airlines	CAA
Asiana Airlines	AviationADR
Aurigny	CAA
Austrian Airlines	söp
Blue Air Transport	CAA
BMI Regional	CAA
British Airways	CEDR
Brussels Airlines	söp
Cathay Pacific	CAA
CityJet	AviationADR
Condor	CEDR
Czech Airlines	Czech Trade Inspection Authority
Delta	AviationADR
Eastern Airways	CAA
easyJet	CEDR
EgyptAir	AviationADR
El Al	CAA
Emirates	CAA
Etihad	CAA
Eurowings	AviationADR
Finnair	CAA
Flybe	AviationADR
Garuda Indonesia	söp
Germania	söp
Iberia	CAA
Icelandair	CAA
Japan Airlines	CAA
Jet Airways	CAA
Jet2	CAA
KLM	AviationADR
Loganair	CAA
Lufthansa	söp
Malaysian Airlines	CAA
Norwegian	AviationADR
Pegasus	CAA
Pakistan International Airlines	CAA
Qantas	CAA
Qatar Air	CAA
Royal Brunei	AviationADR
Saudi Arabian Airlines	CAA
Scandinavian Airlines SAS	ARN
Singapore	CAA
SkyWorks Airlines AG	AviationADR
Small Planet Airlines	AviationADR
Smartwings / Travel Services	Czech Trade Inspection Authority
South African Airways	AviationADR
Stobart Air	CAA
Swiss	söp
TAP Portugal	AviationADR
Thai Airways	CAA
Thomas Cook	CEDR
TUI Airways (formerly Thomson)	CEDR
Turkish Airlines	AviationADR
United Airlines	CAA
Vueling	CAA
Virgin Atlantic	AviationADR
West Jet	CAA
Wizz Air	AviationADR
Wow Air	CAA

We hope this article helps and please enjoy your traveling, most of the time it’s fun and gives us a great perspective for our hard work throughout the year.

Please do subscribe via our contact page to receive weekly articles and please share:)

Regards

Tourandtakein.com team