What compensation am I entitled to for a partially cancelled dom flight booking?

[ZigZagWanderer]

I bought a return VA ticket from Mackay/Brisbane/Perth for a friend whose mother had died. The Perth part cancelled, and another flight 14 hours (?) later offered. This was completely unsuitable as the trip was just for a weekend, and time constrained by work commitments.

So, having the Perth section effectively cancelled, my friend flew back on the remainder of the booking, the Brisbane/Mackay leg, to get back for work.

The entire booking cost about $1700. I also bought her son a ticket from Brisbane to Perth for around $1500, which was cancelled, being the same flight. That was refunded in full less $80 (will challenge that, but irrelevant).

My friend's flight was given a refund of merely $500. They claim because she used the Mackay/Brisbane part (obviously Mackay Brisbane now costs $1200!). My argument is that the Mackay/Brisbane legs were only taken in order to travel to Perth, so were worthless in themselves if the Perth legs were cancelled. I'm angling for a full refund, plus potentially accommodation and travel costs in Brisbane.

Note that I booked the flights only about 4 hours before the Brisbane/Perth flight, so this wasn't exactly an old booking. I'm also very annoyed with their policy of waiting a month to tell you if you'll get a refund for partially cancelled bookings. When told you'll get it, they DON'T tell you how much, leaving you to monitor your CC statement to discover the amount. I'm certain that this is a deliberate ploy to make challenging it more difficult.

Anyone know what I'm actually entitled to, and how to go about getting satisfaction if VA refuse, which I'm certain they will?

 

[Mwenenzi]

Try "trip in vain". Seems unfair.
Any screen shots when the booking was made or looking at options. I always take screen shots before booking any flight.

If this was in EU/UK my understanding is the refund would be as a portion on the total distance.

 

[muppet]

Just to be clear, your friend flew from Mackay to Brisbane, then while at BNE airport VA cancelled the flight to Perth and so they just flew home?

If that’s the case, I’d demand full refund, then if not forthcoming, credit card chargeback and then if still not successful, QCAT.

Your friend purchased BNE to PER, not a mystery flight for the day.

If however, there’s more to it - like a few days were spent in BNE … complicates things but an entitlement to more then $500 would be likely.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Agree… might have to see what rights you have under consumer law here. The trip was to PER, and it clearly wasn’t delivered on. That might mean the product didn’t meet its purpose. Check with consumer affairs.

I can tell you that any claim of rights under consumer law could be a battle with VA. You might need to contact the Airline Consumer Advocate, but you’ll first need to get a response from VA customer service AND then asked for a review.

Once you have both the ACA can act.

@ Mwenenzie… the EU compensation says the airline has to get you back to your origin if the trip fails mid way and there’s no acceptable alternative. You get a full refund for any parts of the failed trip already take and a return to your point of origin, per Article 8, 1(a)

 

[ZigZagWanderer]

Just to be clear, your friend flew from Mackay to Brisbane, then while at BNE airport VA cancelled the flight to Perth and so they just flew home?

If that’s the case, I’d demand full refund, then if not forthcoming, credit card chargeback and then if still not successful, QCAT.

Your friend purchased BNE to PER, not a mystery flight for the day.

If however, there’s more to it - like a few days were spent in BNE … complicates things but an entitlement to more then $500 would be likely.

Your first paragraph is exactly what happened. She took the next available flight back to Mackay the next day, because no suitable flight was offered (eg early morning), so the entire day would have been a washout in Perth.

She was even given a claim form for accommodation etc. I'll be filling that out in due course, too! Two taxis, a meal and a hotel.

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2023

Agree… might have to see what rights you have under consumer law here. The trip was to PER, and it clearly wasn’t delivered on. That might mean the product didn’t meet its purpose. Check with consumer affairs.

I can tell you that any claim of rights under consumer law could be a battle with VA. You might need to contact the Airline Consumer Advocate, but you’ll first need to get a response from VA customer service AND then asked for a review.

Once you have both the ACA can act.

@ Mwenenzie… the EU compensation says the airline has to get you back to your origin if the trip fails mid way and there’s no acceptable alternative. You get a full refund for any parts of the failed trip already take and a return to your point of origin, per Article 8, 1(a)

Thanks for the information. I'll be contacting VA on Monday, and will go through the required hoops.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Your first paragraph is exactly what happened. She took the next available flight back to Mackay the next day, because no suitable flight was offered (eg early morning), so the entire day would have been a washout in Perth.

She was even given a claim form for accommodation etc. I'll be filling that out in due course, too! Two taxis, a meal and a hotel.

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2023

Thanks for the information. I'll be contacting VA on Monday, and will go through the required hoops.

I would give the equivalent of consumer affairs a call in your state to start with. They will give you the law.

I expect this will be a long, drawn out process if my experience was anything to go by. The contact centre - whether phone or email - have a ‘script’, and there’s no apparent way to escalate the issue outside the overseas call centre.

You might need to end up at the ACA, or write by regular mail to VA’s headquarters in Brisbane.

Hopefully YMMV and you’ll get a quicker resolution than i’m getting.

 

[ZigZagWanderer]

A quick update: after a looooong conversation with a couple of people who really can't speak English well, and actually couldn't access any real information, they tried to tell me that the passenger had actually taken the Brisbane to Perth flight. I pointed out that it took off 5 minutes after the passenger arrived back in Mackay the next day, so that was quite a quick return to Brisbane!

After demanding evidence that the passenger HAD taken the flight, and much to-ing and fro-ing, they went through the flights of the booking in turn. I had to stop them running on, and clarified every step, asking for clear confirmation for each flight taken or not taken.

Lo and behold, they figured out that tye B to P flight hadn't been taken!

They then changed their story, and claimed the $510 refund was for both the B to P and P to B flights. I asked for written confirmation of this information. They refused. I asked for written confirmation that they couldn't give me this information in writing. They refused. They then hung up when I kept insisting.

They referred me to their website, where I could apparently submit my claim for a refund. But you can't. You can make a complaint, or apparently a compliment (I imagine few of those are submitted), or send in a generic request.

I sent in a generic request, with details, and then just asked my bank CBA to dispute the transaction. Hopefully, the bank will return the costs to me and force them to behave like adults. There's no way the product that was purchased was delivered, however, so I think they will have to backtrack somewhat, and hopefully completely.

Meanwhile, the claim for expenses incurred is being filled out, and is becoming quite hefty. 2 taxis, 2 meals and a hotel make up around $500. VA aren't going to save money on this particular con. And con it is. Every single step of the process is specifically designed to avoid the customer being able to properly dispute any claim.

Unfortunately, the competition isn't any better, so they all get away with this shoddy and fraudulent service. I don't know if that $10 travel insurance they try to foist on you has any effect in such a situation. Can anyone confirm?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yeah. Pretty much as I expected unfortunately I was *hoping* your post was going to prove me wrong!

Chargeback might be the way to go.

The sad/bad thing is that there is NO avenue for review that gets you to someone in Aussie HQ who could deal with this in 30 seconds. You end up dealing with call centres that are following a script, and will not deviate, or escalate. Even if you provide a link and quote from their terms and conditions, they just respond per script, regardless of any evidence.

 

[ZigZagWanderer]

Yeah. Pretty much as I expected unfortunately I was *hoping* your post was going to prove me wrong!

Chargeback might be the way to go.

The sad/bad thing is that there is NO avenue for review that gets you to someone in Aussie HQ who could deal with this in 30 seconds. You end up dealing with call centres that are following a script, and will not deviate, or escalate. Even if you provide a link and quote from their terms and conditions, they just respond per script, regardless of any evidence.

Unfortunately for them, I'm "as compromising as a paranoid mule" (to quote Tom Robinson), and I'm retired, so I have both the incentive and time to dig my heels in deep. To court if required.

A stupid waste of money over a grand in flights not taken.