Covid ****s another travel giant

Up to our bookings for 2020 we would have rated Travelstart probably a 4 of 5 star. Little went wrong in the past. In 2020 we booked a ticket for my stepson to visit us in April. He's in New Zealand so the booking was Qantas. With the arrival of Covid-19 we received an e-mail from Qantas / Travelstart that for traveling during a specific period they offered a full refund - no penalties. We immediately selected that option as both his in-leg and out-leg fell in that period. Absolutely know joy after completing the selection process. Travelstart had shut down there offices so it is impossible to talk to anybody. No reaction to e-mails sent on multiple occasions. As our sons traveling date was approaching we eventually got a reply by e-mail with a 10% penalty for a traveler that was in no way my stepson or his mom whom made the booking. Still no joy.

Eventually we out of desperation did the online chat option. Very impersonal and no attention to detail. We had to pay a penalty to get a refund processed. This was on 17 April 2020. It is now 19 May. Still no refund in our account although they did say 6-8 weeks.

Travelstart has been sitting with R25000 approximately of our money from end January 2020. It will be middle of the year IF we get our money back.

I've booked a trip to the Singapore Grand Prix including a three day pass, hotel and the lot..... I'm not looking forward toe the process with Travelstart and it will be the last time we make use of their service. That is after 20+ international airplane trips with them.