No Refund Policy Against Consumer Protection Act

In February I bought flights from JNB to London, and return from Paris (ZA ********** 9) as we were planning a Euro trip this August, but then in April we were ****** of all our savings and can no longer afford to go. I contacted Travelstart to cancel the flights, and they also gave me a quote as follows: Fare and Taxes :R7791.61 P/P Service fees :R704.78 (nonrefundable) Airline Penalty :R7381.00 P/P Refundable amount :R410.61 P/P A refund of R821.22 for 2 people out of R15583.22 we paid for the flights. I then queried whether we could change our flights, and was told yes as the flights are valid for a year, but there was no mention of additional charges. When I queried to change it to Thailand, I received this quote: The cost for the changes are as follows: Airline Penalty Fee: R1000.00 Airline Fare Difference: R3140.00 Airline Tax Difference: R330.07 Travelstart Handling Fee: R598.00 Extended Travel Insurance: 0 Total: R5068.07 per person per change (additional) Another R10136.14 to change the flights!!! And the flight they want us to book, is with the same Airline (Emirates).

I contacted them saying we wanted to explore cheaper options as we cannot afford to go anymore, but didn't want to lose the R15000 we already paid, but now they want us to pay another R10000 more, when the flights they quoted with the same Airline are R20000 on their website, but I will then have paid R27000 in total if I accepted and they told me that this is the amount it would cost, doesn't matter how I change my flights. I've phoned, with no answer, as I wanted to speak to a manager. I emailed in excess of 5 mails requesting to be contacted by a manager, and each time, a new person responds with - I see you were sent a quote, please confirm if you will be changing your flights - like they not even reading my mails! It is highly infuriating and frustrating as they are basically forcing us to go even though we cannot afford to.

I have also been reading the Consumer Protection Act and their refund policy goes against the Consumer protection Act, which is *******. RIGHT TO CANCEL ADVANCE RESERVATIONS, BOOKINGS OR ORDERS You have the right to cancel any advanced order, bookings or reservation. Depending on the nature and circumstances, suppliers are entitled to request a reasonable charge for the cancellation. Suppliers are entitled to a reasonable deposit for bookings, orders and reservations. But this is not reasonable. I should be entitled to a full refund, as they will just sell the current tickets to someone else which means they not losing out on any funds. And if they keep my money for these flights and still sell the tickets, it's *****, because they are getting paid twice for the same seats. See this link: https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/is-no-refunds-and-no-returns-legal- ********** 5 Which states that I should be entitled to a full refund within 6 months of purchase. I purchased the tickets on 19 February 2018, and it is not even 4 months from then. If I don't get a full refund, I will be going to the National Consumer Commission Gauteng Reuben Sedibane ********** / ********** ********** and I will be contacting the The Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman. The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud Sharecall: ***(CPA) Email: ********** Fax: ********** Physical Address 292 Surrey Avenue Ferndale Randburg Postal Address PO Box 3815 Randburg 2125