Travelbag & Ebookers

[Topspliff]

Hello everyone!

After scouring the net recently for cheap flights to Jakarta in Indonesia I booked a flight with Travlebag!.

Oh dear what a big mistake, first they sent me a confirmation email verifying my booking details, well the details were wrong, they had my middle name as my first and my first name as my surname.

I emailed them to tell them of the error, 3 days later no reply so I telephoned them, no UK person answered eventually a man from an Indian call centre answered me.

I explained the situation and asked for a name change, he told me he would ring the airline "Etihad" to change the name on my ticket and would call back in an hour, the call never came!, so I thought I would wait till after the weekend and try again.

Monday morning! still no emails so on the phone, Indian call centre lady said she would call the airline to see how much a name change would be, she said the lines were busy and would call me back, 10 minutes later she did blimey I was impressed, she said that she had spoken to the airline, they had made a note of the name error and to just go to check in and there would be no problems!, this to me just did not feel right.

So I ended the call to India and telephoned Etihad airlines, told them the story and they told me that there would be no way I would have got on the plane, I was furious I asked them how much for me to do a name change, and they told me they do not do name changes!, my best bet was to go back to the agent "Travelbag" do a cancellation and re-book.

So back on the phone to India, £125 to cancel I could have got really angry and swore but I just said OK, then they asked if I wanted to re-book um no I don`t think so.

I get a confirmation email of the canellation and of the remaining money to be re-funded, one week later no re-fund so on the phone to India different person again, they call up my details and as far as they are concerned everything has been cancelled and re-funded, I tell them I`m still waiting for my money they say give it another 4 days.

8 days later nothing, on the phone this morning as far as they are concerned I have been re-funded according to thier system!.

Now I`m getting angry as I asked for a contact phone number for here in the UK as well as a local email address for customer support, I received no phone number and a customer service email that does not exist and just bounces back.

What the hell am I to do, these con merchats have over £700 of mine, I`m not rich and desperately need this money back, I actually booked direct with Etihad it was cheaper! and all done in 5 mins no hassle whatsover.

What are my rights, these people need closing down, I even did a search online for reviews of travel agents, and you should see the complaints about Travelbag and Ebookers!!!!

Do I have to take them to court or is there an easier option, because the phone and email responses are a complete waste of time.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Alan

[heidi1]

Hi Alan,

I have just run a check on them, their registered office in the UK is:

Travelbag Limited
6th Floor
140 Aldersgate Street
London
EC1A 4HY

Tel: 0207 958 3784 (not open right now!!)

Try calling this number in the morning, if you dont get any joy with them on this number, they should be able to pass you onto another one that can help.

I would firstly call and complain that you have not had your promised refund, and can provide bank statements etc to prove (assuming they were refunding via bacs). Explain what you have been through and that you are not best pleased with them (try and keep your cool, easier said than done, but trust me, you will get further than just shouting obsenities, which I'm sure you feel like doing)

Explain that you want it seeing to that you recv this refund in your account say within 4 working days (take the persons name and direct tel number), tell them you will contact them personally if you have not recvd your refund within this time scale. When money is transferred between accounts its never instant so you need to be prepared to wait a few days more... sorry!

At this point if you have not recvd your refund, I would then start threatening lagal action, I should hope that it doesn't come to this, the last time I doled this advice out, the guy had his money in 3 days!

Sorry if all the above sounds very patronising, I'm sure you've gone through all this before with them, but its much easier if you can deal with one person, and in the UK!

Good luck, and give me a shout if you want any further help.

Heidi

[Topspliff]

Hi Heidi

After more phone calls to that number you supplied, I eventually got hold of a new contact and left a message on her ANSWER MACHINE!!, apparently she could not get hold of me on the office phone, even though it is sat next to me but told my reception that she would call my mobile, she did not but just sent this email to me...

Subject: REFERENCE: TB 1746708

Dear Mr Burgess,

Thank you fro your recent telephone call, however I have tried to call you but the reception where you work had difficulty in transferring calls to you.

I have looked at your booking and can confirm that a refund authority from your cancellation has been sent to the airline on the 25ht May 2007. As per our terms and conditions the refund procedure with the airlines can take between 10-12 weeks to complete. Therefore the refund for this ticket will be made as soon as we get the funds from the airline concerned.

I thank you for taking the time to write to us regarding this matter.

Yours sincerely


Caroline Smith
Customer Relations Team Leader
Customer Relations Department
Travelbag
Travelport
T +44 (0)207 958 3795
F +44 (0)207 497 2923

W www.travelbag.co.uk
Office Address: 373-375 The Strand London WC2R 0JE
Registered Office: Ebookers Limited 140 Aldersgate Street London EC1A 4HY UK

Is this correct?, can they really keep hold of MY MONEY for that amount of time, I have been told repeatedly that my money has been refunded and it has`nt, are they just waiting to see if I`ll go away so they can keep my money?.

I have my new flight booked, but I need this money back to cover the costs of the new flight.

Any further help or advice greatly appreciated

For anyone out there reading this, please avoid these two companies for flight bookings, book direct with the airlines it will save you time, money and an awful lot of hassle.

Alan

[heidi1]

So basically what she is saying is that they have applied for a refund from the airline, then when they have that, they can refund you.

As they are an agency, they will have taken your funds then sent them on the the respective airline, for whom they are an agent. So now they are waiting for their refund from the airline before they refund you, if that makes sense.

In effect yes they can do this because you are dealing with an agent, a kind of "middle man" (I hate saying that because I'm an agent, lol)

How long is it since your promise of a refund originally? because she is saying that that it takes 10-12 weeks for it to all happen, I was just wondering how much of this time has already been spent on dealing with it.

I wonder if a phone call the Etihad accounts will do any good to chase things up their end, and to make sure the said request has actually been made to them. They may not talk to you as the contract was made with the agent, they may tell you to contact your agent, but I should explain that you are not getting any joy from your agent and you would really like to sort this mess out and see how you go. I'm not sure what the UK number is for Etihad, but I'll post it if I find it.

Heidi

[Topspliff]

Hi Heidi1

At long last a response from the cowboy travel company.

After more emails I finally received payment back into my account, below is the last email I sent to them.

Take heed with travelbag and Ebookers I seriously do not recommend them, try the airlines direct first, it works out an awful lot cheaper.

Good morning XXXXXX

I do apologise, I have just checked my bank and yes the refund has been made for which I thank you.

It`s still a shame that I had to go through all this hassle and in the end lose money rather than saving, which was one of the reasons why I chose to use your services in the first place.

I will state again that on the online form for making the booking, I only used my first and last name, the middle name was only used when inputting my card details, and to say that no-one can change details is open to question, any details on a computer CAN be changed, I should know as I`m a programmer!.

Needless to say as I`m out of pocket by £125 plus phone calls and time writing lengthy emails, I can`t and won`t be recommending Travelbag or Ebookers to anyone.


Regards Alan Burgess

[heidi1]

Or try me... lol!! (thats a joke, please dont edit it, I'm not advertising my services...much... honest!)

Well done Alan, I'm glad you managed to get this sorted out. Its a shame it took so long, but at least you got it all back in the end.

Dont know if I was much help to you or not, but at least its done with now, and was glad to help as much as I could.

Hope you have a nice time when you go.

Heidi