Accountability?

<p>My wifes family lives in Kimberly and so coming from Cape Town there is only one airline to take, SAA. But last year November (2016) I used TravelStart to look for other alterntatives to getting to Kimberly and discover an Airline, Fly Blue Crane. Given the fact that they are a small fleet, I felt that they were good enough as TravelStart had them listed. Booking for Easter for my wife and two kids came to R5200 return. We decided to take Fly Blue Crane to Kimberly, but return via SAA. The only reason for this was the 2pm departure out of Cape Town compared to the 5pm departure with SAA. The costs were relatively the same. FLying with small kids it was going to be easier to take the 2pm flight.</p> <p> </p> <p>We all arrived at the airport on Friday 7 April (2017), and discovered that Fly Blue Crane doesnt exist! But on the 4 April I received communication from Travel Start titled "Its nearly time to fly", which had all flight details and ticket details on the body of the email.</p> <p> </p> <p>After calling Travelstart from the airport I was told that it was the airline (Fly Blue Cranes) responsibility to contact its passengers. Excuse me, but all trasnactions occured through Travel Start. Travel Start took my money, issued tickets, and kept me updated. I had no relationship with Fly Blue Crane.</p> <p> </p> <p>We were stranded at the airport, but then I went to SAA who fortunately had 3 seats left on the 5pm departure on the same day. Otherise they were fully booked the whole of the following week. With a 4 and 2 year old who are at the airport with bags packed and ready to see grandparents, I agreed to buy these tickets which cost me R5300 one way!</p> <p> </p> <p>After emailing Travelstart the details and requesting a refund, they only agreed to refund me R300, which is their booking fee. The said that they were in communication with FLy Blue Crane and they are going to "try" get my refund given that there is a long list of refund applicants.</p> <p> </p> <p>NOT GOOD ENOUGH!</p> <p>WHy am I the one who suffers from this. Looking at Travelstarts terms and conditions they do state that they are only the platform to make bookings between customers and suppliers. But I need to ask, surely I am protected in some way here. After reading the Consumer Protection Act, It states:</p> <p><em>(3) If a supplier makes a <strong>commitment or accepts a reservation</strong> to supply</em><br /><em>goods or services on a specified date or at a specified time and, on the</em><br /><em>date and at the time contemplated in the commitment or reservation, fails</em><br /><em>because of insufficient stock or capacity to supply those goods or</em><br /><em>services, or similar or comparable goods or services of the same or better</em><br /><em>quality, class or nature, the supplier must— (a) <strong>refund to the consumer the</strong></em><br /><em><strong>amount,</strong> if any, paid in respect of that commitment or reservation, together</em><br /><em>with interest at the prescribed rate from the date on which the amount was</em><br /><em>paid until the date of reimbur*****t; and</em></p> <p> </p> <p>So surely if Travelstart accepted payment from myself they are effectively the "Supplier" according to the CPA. Then payment would need to come ffrom them. My Bank Statement shows TravelStart, not Fly Blue Crane. Surely the CPA supercedes any terms and conditions on suppliers like this?</p> <p> </p> <p>I am not claiming for damages in this instance. The strange thing is that travel insurance from banks dont include local travel, and even if you purchase insurance from airlines they are excempt from any "Insolvency of Suppliers"</p> <p> </p> <p>All I ask, is that Travelstart make themselves accountable. They should have vetted their suppliers, and they have transacted with me. I would like my portion of FlyBlue Crane back.</p> <p> </p> <p>Regards</p> <p> </p> <p>Shaun Black</p>