“Stop this evasion!” – family demand travel agent refund £1,386 after flight cancellation

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“Losing the money is terrible. We can’t find out who actually has our money, wherever we turn we’re blocked,” explains Jijo, whose work involves helping vulnerable people. In January last year he booked three flights by credit card to Kochi for his wife and two children.

Travelling with Emirates, Jijo paid DWT and received the schedule details including a PNR number – the passenger name record – and a flight reservation code. 

When cancellation put paid to the journey planned for July, he repeatedly asked for a refund. 

++ If you’ve been affected by this issue or feel you’ve been a victim of injustice, please contact consumer and small business champion Maisha Frost on [email protected] +

“I was told by the agent it was processing a voucher as a replacement, something we didn’t ask for or want,” he told Crusader.

“I kept demanding a refund, but there was a long wait between responses. Then they said they were waiting for a ‘third party supplier’ to refund them.”

Recently Jijo asked Emirates to return his money, but was staggered when told: “They could find no booking, they hadn’t issued any tickets so could not refund what they’d never had. I have a transcript of our conversation.

“That made us livid especially when DWT then told us there were going to be admin deductions when it did return our money. We got a lot of signs it was going to refund but it didn’t actually happen.”

DWT warned Jijo’s wife: “We have received your refund, however your booking was made via a third party supplier. [It] is charging a fee of £60 per person which is currently being disputed by our legal team. There is a deduction of a £35 admin fee.”

DWT does mention a fee in its conditions. If all the charges are deducted that would leave the family with £1,101. Responding to Crusader DWT said: “We have taken necessary steps to expedite the refund for Mr Jijo James and will keep them posted on the matter.”

Crusader also asked who the “third party supplier” was and if the mystery over the booking with Emirates could be cleared up. We have not received a response.

Jijo also is waiting to hear. While paying by credit card can protect consumers if things go wrong, rights can be complicated. The complicated sale arrangements Jijo has now discovered mean his case is not clear cut. 

He approached his bank Santander about raising a claim, but was rejected on the grounds he is debtor in the transaction and not the one who received benefit of the service. 

He will take up the matter with the Financial Ombudsman and is also considering a small claims action if delays continue.  

RESULT!  Good news for another DWT customer Sidwell Musengezi and his family, whose rights Crusader fought for in March. They purchased £3,900 of Finnair tickets to Australia which, after cancellation, the airline had refunded to DWT but the Muzengezis hadn’t received. Last week Sidwell thanked Crusader for our support and confirmed the refund. 

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