Flybuys travel - Free cancellation and now they want $27 as cancellation fee

[AnnaB]

I made a few bookings through Flybuys and Flybuys travel. It seemed like a great deal, many had the same price but free cancellation and I get additional points which is a bonus.

After getting a better deal on a Marriott booking I cancelled the one I had with Flybuys. Today I got an email saying I have to pay a cancellation fee, or their exact words were:

"As per our terms and conditions, any changes or cancellations to bookings incur a $27.50 flybuys travel fee. We can either charge this to the credit card used for the booking, or we can charge it to a different card. Please advise how you would like to pay for this fee"

But in my booking it clearly states Free Cancellation, it even says so at the bottom of the letter they sent:

[h=5]Cancellation policy:[/h]

[h=5]Free cancellation[/h]

We understand that sometimes your travel plans change. We do not charge a change or cancel fee. However, this property (Marriott Airport Hotel) imposes the following penalty to its customers that we are required to pass on: Cancellations or changes made after 11:59 PM ((GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada); Tijuana) on Jun 9, 2017, or no-shows, are subject to a 1 Night Room & Tax penalty. So how can they take a cancellation fee on a free cancellation booking? I wrote back to them and told them they did not have my permission to take the money out of my credit card as there is no fee to be paid according to their own policy. Or can they claim you have a cancellation fee in one place and then say that there is no fee in another one? Seems like they are trying to either get money they are not entitled to or swindle people out of a fee by saying one thing but write another.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Seems the cancellation is free by the hotel but FB charge you a $27.50 booking fee. Seems at odds with the stated T&C for hotel bookings so would appear to be misleading and deceptive conduct. Contact the ACCC.

 

[oz_mark]

The can't have terms that contradict another part of their offer that says its free. Wait and see how they respond.

 

[AnnaB]

I will just wait and see what they come back with, but yes, they are contradicting themselves. But I would assume that the booking would be the one that is "most" valid so to speak as that is the one they sent me. That would be the terms and conditions of the contract, or at least that is how I see it.

 

[flybuys]

I made a few bookings through Flybuys and Flybuys travel. It seemed like a great deal, many had the same price but free cancellation and I get additional points which is a bonus.

After getting a better deal on a Marriott booking I cancelled the one I had with Flybuys. Today I got an email saying I have to pay a cancellation fee, or their exact words were:

"As per our terms and conditions, any changes or cancellations to bookings incur a $27.50 flybuys travel fee. We can either charge this to the credit card used for the booking, or we can charge it to a different card. Please advise how you would like to pay for this fee"

But in my booking it clearly states Free Cancellation, it even says so at the bottom of the letter they sent:

[h=5]Cancellation policy:[/h]

[h=5]Free cancellation[/h]

We understand that sometimes your travel plans change. We do not charge a change or cancel fee. However, this property (Marriott Airport Hotel) imposes the following penalty to its customers that we are required to pass on: Cancellations or changes made after 11:59 PM ((GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada); Tijuana) on Jun 9, 2017, or no-shows, are subject to a 1 Night Room & Tax penalty. So how can they take a cancellation fee on a free cancellation booking? I wrote back to them and told them they did not have my permission to take the money out of my credit card as there is no fee to be paid according to their own policy. Or can they claim you have a cancellation fee in one place and then say that there is no fee in another one? Seems like they are trying to either get money they are not entitled to or swindle people out of a fee by saying one thing but write another.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention; we've discussed this with our travel partner. We regret you've had this issue and the $27.50 charge will be refunded.

 

[AnnaB]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention; we've discussed this with our travel partner. We regret you've had this issue and the $27.50 charge will be refunded.

Thank you, I just got a confirmation letter from FlyBuys:

"I do apologies that there has been some confusion with this issue and you are right there is no cancellation fee attached to this booking"


Nice to see the problem solved so quickly before the weekend.

 

[bsb]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention; we've discussed this with our travel partner. We regret you've had this issue and the $27.50 charge will be refunded.

Well done FlyBuys. Good to see some company's have common sense and understand customer goodwill.

 

[codash1099]

And nice to see that some organisations still see value in being part of AFF

 

[zig]

Whilst it is nice to see it has been resolved, the fee shouldn't have been charged in the first place. It would be nice to see that this is rectified for everyone, including those not 'cluey' enough to notice the error and lodge a complaint.

 

[flybuys]

Whilst it is nice to see it has been resolved, the fee shouldn't have been charged in the first place. It would be nice to see that this is rectified for everyone, including those not 'cluey' enough to notice the error and lodge a complaint.

We agree. We've valued the feedback about this particular instance and are working with our travel partner to ensure this doesn't happen to other customers.

 

[Punky]

Well done FlyBuys. Good to see some company's have common sense and understand customer goodwill.

More likely someone understands that when something is described as free, it must actually be free. Australian Consumer law and all that......

 

[straitman]

Whilst it is nice to see it has been resolved, the fee shouldn't have been charged in the first place. It would be nice to see that this is rectified for everyone, including those not 'cluey' enough to notice the error and lodge a complaint.

Unfortunately we all make mistakes and that is what happened here. The service recovery is just as important and that's what has happened so well done flybuys.