PN
Prenavin N
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2020
31 Jan 2021, 10:46
Appalling Service and being de*****ed of money with service and processing fees
Dear Travelstart,
I am highly disappointed with the appalling service and lack of proper communication received from Travelstart throughout this journey.
My flights have been canceled for the 2nd time, of which I had to pay R728 to make a change - this might I add is totally unacceptable as in the first place the change was not by choice but due to you not being able to refund me with a short period of time. My question is why take money from me when you know or were aware that the flight would be cancelled? Why take any bookings at all?
While I understand that you cannot control what happens with airlines, your customers should be treated better than this.
I would appreciate urgent feedback on this and in the interim, please could my request for a full refund be made today.
This will also be escalated legally through the aviation channels and I would like a response from your senior management on how they will be handling my refund.
Kind regards, Prenavin Naidoo
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Replies (1)
Travelstart's replyOfficial
31 Jan 2021, 15:07Good day Mr Naidoo
Thank you kindly for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. I am really sorry to hear of your frustration and experience.
Thank you kindly for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. I am really sorry to hear of your frustration and experience.
We try our best to make travel simple and ensure that our customers are satisfied.
I had a look into your booking and would like to use the opportunity to address your concerns.
With our industry there are various factors that may affect flight time changes, which the airlines & travel agent have no control over. This could be weather related, international airspace agreements, statistical data, technical issues or in this instance worldwide pandemic with entry restrictions into various countries etc
Airlines therefore cannot guarantee their timetables and this is the reason the IATA Conditions of Contract was drafted - which basically stipulates that airlines guarantee to transport clients from A - B but do not guarantee their time tables. Each airline also has their own Terms of Conditions and procedures where schedule changes and delays are concerned.
At the time of rebooking and booking the flights it was still available and travelling , we were only notified on the 30th January of the latest cancellation of all flights with emirates up until 12 Feb. The airline has directives that they send to us when flights are cancelled ,the directives inform us on what to offer the passenger as alternative. When your flights were first cancelled the airlines directive was to waiver the penalty fee charged on the rebooking, however we had to charge whatever difference in airfares and taxes for the requested available flight. The flights that was rebooked had a Airlines fare difference of R500.00 and Travelstart only charged a R99 service fee for the processing of the rebooking. From what I can see the invoice was only charged at R599.00 for the above mentioned amounts.
Travelstart is a registered third party supplier and acts as a search engine for good fares between the airline and the passenger. As Travelstart acts as an agent for the airline we are bound by all airlines rules and need to quote according to the directives which they have provided us at the time.
I understand that it may have been frustrating to wait for us to provide communications as to how to proceed with the suspended tickets. We had very little time with which to work with and could only offer the alternatives when the airline had made them available to us.
The airline has offered a full refund for the recent cancellation and Our refunds Team has sent you the information on this. I can see that you accepted the cancellation and our refunds Team has been notified to proceed accordingly.
Once again, I apologize for our failure to serve you well. Thanks so much for letting us know.
Your feedback is valuable to us.
Wishing you a wonderful day further!
Thank you and kind regards
Travelstart
Once again, I apologize for our failure to serve you well. Thanks so much for letting us know.
Your feedback is valuable to us.
Wishing you a wonderful day further!
Thank you and kind regards
Travelstart
Travelstart's reply31 Jan 2021, 15:07
Official
Good day Mr Naidoo
Thank you kindly for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. I am really sorry to hear of your frustration and experience.
Thank you kindly for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. I am really sorry to hear of your frustration and experience.
We try our best to make travel simple and ensure that our customers are satisfied.
I had a look into your booking and would like to use the opportunity to address your concerns.
With our industry there are various factors that may affect flight time changes, which the airlines & travel agent have no control over. This could be weather related, international airspace agreements, statistical data, technical issues or in this instance worldwide pandemic with entry restrictions into various countries etc
Airlines therefore cannot guarantee their timetables and this is the reason the IATA Conditions of Contract was drafted - which basically stipulates that airlines guarantee to transport clients from A - B but do not guarantee their time tables. Each airline also has their own Terms of Conditions and procedures where schedule changes and delays are concerned.
At the time of rebooking and booking the flights it was still available and travelling , we were only notified on the 30th January of the latest cancellation of all flights with emirates up until 12 Feb. The airline has directives that they send to us when flights are cancelled ,the directives inform us on what to offer the passenger as alternative. When your flights were first cancelled the airlines directive was to waiver the penalty fee charged on the rebooking, however we had to charge whatever difference in airfares and taxes for the requested available flight. The flights that was rebooked had a Airlines fare difference of R500.00 and Travelstart only charged a R99 service fee for the processing of the rebooking. From what I can see the invoice was only charged at R599.00 for the above mentioned amounts.
Travelstart is a registered third party supplier and acts as a search engine for good fares between the airline and the passenger. As Travelstart acts as an agent for the airline we are bound by all airlines rules and need to quote according to the directives which they have provided us at the time.
I understand that it may have been frustrating to wait for us to provide communications as to how to proceed with the suspended tickets. We had very little time with which to work with and could only offer the alternatives when the airline had made them available to us.
The airline has offered a full refund for the recent cancellation and Our refunds Team has sent you the information on this. I can see that you accepted the cancellation and our refunds Team has been notified to proceed accordingly.
Once again, I apologize for our failure to serve you well. Thanks so much for letting us know.
Your feedback is valuable to us.
Wishing you a wonderful day further!
Thank you and kind regards
Travelstart
Once again, I apologize for our failure to serve you well. Thanks so much for letting us know.
Your feedback is valuable to us.
Wishing you a wonderful day further!
Thank you and kind regards
Travelstart