British Airways tax reclaim

[charlie.l]

I missed my flight to Switzerland and BA canceled the return part of my journey which was really nice.

I asked for the £53.90 tax back for the unused return flights & they offered me £23.90. i.e. the £53.90 minus a £30 fee.

I think that the £ 30 fee is excessive whatever they call it (cancelation fee/ admin fee etc)

this seems like a penalty fee & doesn't reflect true costs


Basically I want that £ 30 back because I'm not very happy with them - especially as they would have profited from reselling my return journey.

Any ideas ?

C

[robert_harper_2000]

The sticky does say you can

It is possible to ask for the fee paid for cancelled flights.
If the flight was paid for by card then it will be refunded back.
They dont advertise this........but it is your right to ask for it !!

But dunno if the service is fair or not... perhaps write a rejection letter (with abit of adapting) explain your accept this partial payment as a partial settlement and before you begin further action what is there response.

[charlie.l]

Hi Robert - Well they paid back the £23.90 - think I'll send a letter to the OFT bout the £30 'fee'.

ta

C

[rosiecotton]

The trouble is that you will have a job proving that they have resold your return journey. I understand there are ways in which you can check how many passengers were carried on a certain journey, but I cannot remember how. If the flight was full, you will definitely have a strong argument.

However this tends to be the stumbling point in cases like this.

The problem is, bank charges are a clear penalty fee. However, in cases like this, there is an element of profit potentially being lost by the retailer. If they could not resell the flight, by refunding you in full they have missed out on whatever profit they would have made had you not missed the flight. The law says that they are entitled to withhold a reasonable amount to cover their loss of profit.

Just something to bear in mind when deciding how far to take the issue.

[StudentInDebt]

Rosie, the OP is querying the admin fee on a refund for the tax element of the ticket rather than the fare itself. The airline only pays tax on passengers who actually fly so isn't discussion of the resale of tickets or the loss of profit irrelevant as they won't actually have to pay the tax for this passenger?

[rosiecotton]

Ah, sorry if I misunderstood. If it were the fare, that's different. If it's an admin fee or tax for admin/tax which was then not needed, naturally there is a claim.

[BillyS]

Does anyone know how he (and me funnily enough!) would go about this. I am also being charged £30 to refund the taxes.

[10110001]

You can reclaim it under Regulation 5(5) of the Unfair Terms In Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and under sch.(1)(e) where it says:

(e) requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation;

Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2083

Just open a claim with https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

[charlie.l]

This sounds interesting.. I am looking (only) at the £30 fee.

Thing is.. gotta do it again as I have to change my next flight & because it's a cheap one my only option is to cancel. So another £23.90 refund coming up & another £30 'fee' for them..

thanx for all your posts

C

[BillyS]

Laughable....

I have just received the refund....

£173, taxes and surcharges paid.

Refund - £107 less £60 (2 tickets on same booking therefore 2 x £30 admin) - £47 returned.

Rip off.

[charlie.l]

If they refunded your account in one action how can they charge 2 x £30 ?
I imagine their legal justification for these charges is that it a 'cancellation fee' rather than an admin cost. Will call them tomorrow for my new refund & ask exactly what the fee is for..

C