 |
| The Judge: Travel company won't refund my money after I accidentally booked trip to Melbourne... in the USA |
Donald Black is angry that he has not been given a refund as he feels he was misled on the website
DONALD Black booked a flight to Melbourne to visit his sick brother after he was given six months to live.
He paid £427 by credit card to fly from Glasgow as frail Nathaniel had been diagnosed with heart failure.
But what Donald didn’t realise was that he had booked travel to Melbourne in Florida, USA, not Melbourne, Australia.
Donald, 62, said: “I had no idea there was a Melbourne anywhere else in the world.
“But the tickets came in by email and the flights were shorter than I expected.
“For some reason, the agent found my misfortune funny. I’m not laughing.”
Donald, of Airdrie , booked the flight via Expedia.co.uk and was due to travel this week.
Nat, 79, a retired policeman , emigrated to Australia 50 years ago with his young family.
Donald said: “As soon as I heard Nat was ill, I knew I had to get out to see him. I typed Melbourne in the destination box on the Expedia website and went on to select flights.
“I have a screen shot which shows it brought up Melbourne, Australia. Where else?”
But alarm bells started to ring when an email arrived two days later with minor changes. Donald, a retired joiner, said: “It didn’t make sense. I was flying from Glasgow to Amsterdam, then on to Atlanta, Georgia, before reaching Melbourne.”
He called Expedia. Donald said: “The person I spoke to was neither pleasant nor helpful.
“He started laughing and said it was my fault. Expedia wouldn’t refund the cash and, because the two Melbournes were on different continents, a change of flight was not feasible either. I couldn’t believe it.”
Donald wrote to their complaints department and sent off a screen shot of his booking as evidence.
But he called me in when Expedia said his only option was to cancel and get a refund – of £80 airline tax.
Donald said: “Expedia are now not returning my emails or calls. I am out of pocket by more than £2000 as I’ve had to book new flights to get out to see Nat. Please help.”
It’s not the first time my readers have come a cropper after booking flights online.
I previously told how Jack and Mary MacQueen, of East Kilbride, lost £647 when they booked a trip to Las Vegas from the wrong Glasgow airport. The tickets they had were from Glasgow, Montana, USA, not
Glasgow, Scotland.
I got on to Expedia but they refused to refund Donald’s cash, claiming the error was his, despite the evidence he provided.
They said: “Our detailed review of his case showed the flight purchased on our website was Melbourne – Florida.
“But since the problem occurred through a customer error, not a website error, we are unable to offer a refund.”
I’ve asked his credit card firm to investigate further.
Read more from The Judge here
Source: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/judge-travel-company-wont-refund-7146344
No comments:
Post a Comment