Travel Agent wants extra money after I paid in full. Options?

Poor Ass on 24/08/2019 - 12:39
Last edited 27/08/2019 - 12:52

Paid a cruise in full as per the contract and then few hours later agent said they made a mistake with the price (forgot to include taxes they admitted).

I asked for a full refund then they said cruise company cannot refund as passed full refund cooling off period etc etc.

Now travel agent are refusing full refund and they provided option either I forfeit the initial deposit and get refund of what ever remains or I paid the difference of there mistake.

Travel agent won't budge. Legally what are my options as they screwed up the pricing and won't refund in full and want me to pay difference.

Help?? Thank you.

UPDATE: TRAVEL AGENT WILL PAY TAXES IN FULL BUT ONLY AFTER WE ADVISED WERE GOING TO REPORT THEM TO OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING AND ATAS

THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE'S INPUT. MUCH APPRECIATED.

Travel

Comments

  • wizzlesticks on 25/08/2019 - 14:24
    +1

    You will win this case easily. You don't really need to charge it back. You just need to call their head office and you'll be getting a refund within hours.

    • Poor Ass on 25/08/2019 - 18:39

      2-3 weeks apparently

      • tomsco on 25/08/2019 - 22:41
        +10

        Just a point, I would be calling them and saying if they haven't refunded or waived the taxes within a week, you'll do a chargeback.

        I acknowledge that they can't just make a decision on the spot, but 2-3 weeks is not justified. Don't see why they can't resolve it within a day or two. Meanwhile, they're holding on to your money which you may need to book with another agent and thus result in possible higher costs (ie. price going up the closer it gets to the cruise).

    • No ONE on 25/08/2019 - 21:20

      Edit: wrong reply.

  • Donaldhump on 25/08/2019 - 16:22
    +1

    if a mistake you were aware or is an obvious mistake you should be aware of then pay it.
    if not aware of and not obvious, and it is a deal breaker, demand refund, they have to at least do that.

    • Poor Ass on 25/08/2019 - 18:40

      I genuinely did not know they made a mistake until I paid in full which i committed to

      • Donaldhump on 25/08/2019 - 18:42

        Well they should refund, I think u have no trouble

        • Poor Ass on 25/08/2019 - 18:43
          -1

          there stance is pretty firm but that's because I haven't called in the legals yet

          they must think i'm a sucker

          • Donaldhump on 25/08/2019 - 18:56

            @Poor Ass: Only because they don’t want to pay themselves, they are just seeing if ur weak. Go external to travel ombudsman or what ever the equivalent is, they will shit bricks in the end.

  • redforever on 25/08/2019 - 17:44

    so you booked with them because they were $150 cheaper than booking direct and they are now asking for $200 more, making them more expensive?

    insist they honor the price or offer a full refund.

    • barozgain on 25/08/2019 - 18:02
      +7

      even if they asked for just 1 cent more, OP shouldn't pay (it's the principle more than the amount itself)

      • Poor Ass on 25/08/2019 - 18:37
        +1

        yep

        I committed to a price that I firmly believe was final and now they are reneging

        pretty sure that's how people get sued

    • Poor Ass on 25/08/2019 - 18:35

      correct… the products were slightly different but they pretty much said this is the total cost XXX and when I paid in full. They said, oops we made a mistake could you pay more because your deposit cannot be refunded

  • justwii on 25/08/2019 - 19:44

    OP I see there are at least two transactions here: the initial deposit and the remaining. It sounds like they are just holding your remaining in their account doing nothing, you can easily get this money back without issue. Now for the initial deposit, how much is that? A CC charge back may not be an option here given it happened at least for some time already.

    • Poor Ass on 25/08/2019 - 22:08
      +1

      how long do they give to do charge back… it was last month the deposit was made

      they paid the deposit already… just the remainder they are keeping

      • pvemula on 26/08/2019 - 19:24

        Banks normally give you 120 days. You have to defend your claim with proper documentation (agreed amount as per the contract and any receipts). Note: from what I understand you can only do a chargeback if you go through either Visa/MasterCard network, EFTPOS will have to go through a different process.

  • bmerigan on 25/08/2019 - 21:59

    If you were to contact the cruise company, do you have a fully paid cruise? If so, can't you ignore the travel agent?

    • Poor Ass on 25/08/2019 - 22:09

      travel agent is holding on to the money until I kow tow to their demands

      i thought i had paid in full

      I have received nothing to date

    • gromit on 26/08/2019 - 07:44
      +1

      cruises booked through a travel agent are entirely under the control of the agent. I am betting so far they have paid nothing more than the holding deposit. Ignoring the issue may be a far worse disaster when you turn up and find you have no ticket. Regardless the agent is required to either refund or eat the cost of the taxes (their choice), It is not on you to fix their mistakes or to wear costs for their mistakes.

  • CocaKoala on 25/08/2019 - 22:08
    +3

    Chargeback via your credit card, and then complain to both ACCC and to QLD fair trading. Do not tell them about chargeback, but tell them you'll be reporting to ACCC and QLD fair trading. That should bring them their senses back.

    Scumbag businesses like this deserve to be punished.

    • Poor Ass on 25/08/2019 - 22:11
      +1

      they sure do

      but I don't really want to bust out the legal threaten stuff unless I have to go down that road which it may be

      they are just hoping i'm a sucker and pay

  • FSTB on 26/08/2019 - 09:06
    -6

    Rookie error.. Booking with a travel agent. Should have just done it yourself.

    • Poor Ass on 26/08/2019 - 09:18
      +1

      well it was a bargain I couldn't refuse

  • gumbo45c on 26/08/2019 - 09:40
    +3

    There is also a travel agent body that insures against things like this, they would probably want to know and might be able to intercede on your behalf.

    edit https://www.atas.com.au/lodge-a-complaint

    • Poor Ass on 26/08/2019 - 10:49

      thank you

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 26/08/2019 - 10:38

    The law should be on your side i donno why they are being difficult?

    • Poor Ass on 26/08/2019 - 10:48
      +1

      i think they are hoping for a miracle

  • Levathian on 26/08/2019 - 11:02
    +1

    Aaaaand this is why I don't trust fright centre.

    • Munki on 26/08/2019 - 12:41
      +3

      Heard plenty of toxic culture about the organisation from a friend who used to work at a few of their branches. Yeah I'd never use their services either.

      • Poor Ass on 26/08/2019 - 13:17

        i usually don't either because they are a rip but this was truly a bargain … then I found out

        • Munki on 26/08/2019 - 13:20
          +1

          Good learning experience, mate. Hope you get your money back though!

      • Levathian on 26/08/2019 - 15:24
        +1

        I booked a trip to the USA 5 years ago through them. Had a lovely American lady as our agent but a lot of the time we went in it was obvious she was overworked and stressed to her eyeballs. She said she hadn't had a day off in two weeks. The other agents there didn't seem nice to her either.

        I hope she isn't still working at that shit hole.

        • StrayfireX on 27/08/2019 - 09:10
          +1

          Hmm I keep seeing their job ads on Seek.

          They must have an insane turnover rate.

          • Levathian on 27/08/2019 - 10:28

            @StrayfireX: Hmm commission + sales + tight margins + the need to lie to make a profit + customers who can cross check everything against the internet..

            Though a friend of a friend has worked at FC for years and she's always posting pictures of their social outings + overseas team trips etc. so it must be working well for her.

  • Dack Smith on 26/08/2019 - 13:34
    +1

    Huh?

    Paid in full means what it means, make sure you go after this terrible travel agent and escalate this as far as it will go.

    The person should lose their job for this, not that it's a real job anyway.

    • Poor Ass on 26/08/2019 - 13:46
      +4

      well it is true…. all sales are scum

      • Sweaty-penguin on 26/08/2019 - 13:48
        -4

        And what do you do?

        • Poor Ass on 26/08/2019 - 13:50
          +7

          not corrupt sales

  • Sergeant Salami on 26/08/2019 - 14:42
    +8

    A friend of mine had a similar situation. If you call up their resolutions department, you'll get your way.

    1800 117 747
    [email protected]
    Monday to Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm

    If that doesn't work, then get the bank to do a chargeback.

    • Gaz1 on 26/08/2019 - 15:29

      Chargeback only work for credit card payments in a certain timeframe (90 days I think, but check with your credit card).

  • kev98 on 26/08/2019 - 16:16
    +2

    Quite clearly their stuff up, they have 2 options:
    1) refund you whatever you paid
    2) pay the tax on behalf of you

    It should not cost you a cent more than they quoted.

  • lltravel on 27/08/2019 - 08:49

    why anyone uses a travel agent these days is beyond me

    You have so many resources at your fingertips

    • Poor Ass on 27/08/2019 - 09:34

      Because it was cheaper in this case

    • Bargain80 on 28/08/2019 - 10:34

      physical travel agent or online agency can sometimes be cheaper.
      The other day I booked a SQ flight to Singapore for $400 from lastminute.com.
      I have checked on SQ website, the same flight would cost me $1200.

  • happirt on 27/08/2019 - 09:35
    -2

     

  • anon1221 on 27/08/2019 - 10:28
    +10

    Hi there,
    I’m an ex Flight Centre employee which I hope can give you a bit of insight.

    First of all, you are completely in the right. You and the agent both have the legally signed invoice/ contract that states you have paid in full.

    The mistake was made by the agent, so they or (the store) will have to cover financial repercussions of the error. In terms of moving on from this situation :

    1. Best way to solve the situation and to go on the cruise is contact Flight Centre Customer Relations. I believe someone else has posted that here. This support line is designed for the company to solve things internally between HQ and the store itself instead of bringing in Fair Trading. To me it seems like everything you’ve done is correct. Give them a call and they will work it out with the store.

    2. If you want a full refund, still contact FC Customer Relations. Tell them what happened and if you were or were not made aware of the cancellation conditions (doesn’t sound like you were made aware). They will do their best to work out what’s happened with the store and they will tell you the correct refund you are entitled to.

    3. If Customer Relations hasn’t been any help (I highly doubt- as they are great )- then contact Fair Trading. But it will still go back to CR to be solved. Just lodging it through FT can take some time.

    I highly recommend you go through your invoice with a fine tooth comb and read every line as you contact customer relations because that’s what they will go off. There should be due dates for your cruise clearly written (ie final payments for cruise are usually at least 3 months before departure). You should also ask for the agent or the store for your CRUISE PASSENGER CONTRACT/ TERMS AND CONDITIONS This outlines from the cruise company the CRUISE Cancellation payment structure- by certain dates you start forfeiting the deposit, 30% of the booking, 50% 100% etc. (different cruise lines have different cancellation conditions). I think you can sometimes find this in cruise brouchures.

    Anyway I hope this was helpful and all the best in getting what’s rightfully yours !

    • uzz30 on 27/08/2019 - 17:28

      ^^^^ This is good advice ^^^^ @anon1221

    • capslock on 29/08/2019 - 08:32

      Just wondering, will the cost of the mistake likely come out of the agent's commission or wages?

  • knobbs on 27/08/2019 - 10:59

    I was in a similar situation with a holiday booked through FC 3 years ago. Everything sorted and ready to go, final statement says X due. Go intstore to pay and have them tell us oh agent forgot to add this charge onto the booking. New total is ….. I had only paid a deposit so far but was kinda annoying they wanted extra after the initial printout was ~$500 less than the final price.

    • Poor Ass on 27/08/2019 - 12:20

      what happen at the end?

      • knobbs on 27/08/2019 - 12:41

        I paid the extra, thinking I couldn't really do much about it. I had only paid a deposit so far and would lose that. I think your situation is a little better where you have already paid the invoice in full then they want more money

  • Skramit on 27/08/2019 - 13:47
    +4

    UPDATE: TRAVEL AGENT WILL PAY TAXES IN FULL

    In the famous words of John Cadogan: "YASSSSSSS!"

    • blergmonkeys on 27/08/2019 - 18:11
      +1

      John cadogan is a blow hard moron.

      • Skramit on 27/08/2019 - 19:19
        +1

        Yes but he makes me laugh and makes some great videos.

  • ExpressCoffee on 27/08/2019 - 14:19

    Sounds like the Flight Centre reps commission is going to be affected too much which is why they're chasing you up for it.

  • Schumi5 on 27/08/2019 - 14:55
    +1

    Awesome outcome

  • justwii on 27/08/2019 - 15:41
    -7

    Good outcome for you! Now to think about the agent, does he/she look miserable? Was him/her a new dude that needs a lesson or a single mum who was exhausted by everyday chores already and made a careless mistake?

    • HighAndDry on 29/08/2019 - 15:53

      Mistakes have consequences.

  • uzz30 on 27/08/2019 - 17:35

    If you look at the reviews for working at Flight Centre, there are a lot of 1 star reviews. You have to feel a bit sorry for the employees working long hours, on low pay and meager commissions who are probably getting hit to cover the losses on deals gone wrong.

    Not OP's fault or problem, but worth considering that the culture at Flight Centre doesn't look that great for many employees and have some empathy for the worker at the bottom of the chain.

    https://au.indeed.com/cmp/Flight-Centre/reviews

  • [Deactivated] on 27/08/2019 - 20:16
    +1

    UPDATE: TRAVEL AGENT WILL PAY TAXES IN FULL BUT ONLY AFTER WE ADVISED WERE GOING TO REPORT THEM TO OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING AND ATAS

    Report them immediately after your cruise!

    Shonky operators not treating customers fairly should be put out of bussiness.

    If you don't speak up, it will just keep napping and they will just keep bullying customers when they speak up, then sucking up once they realise you are someone who won't back down on what's right.
    The next people that get scammed may not realize their rights, and may not be OzBargain members😆 , to seek advice from here.
    So please, do the right thing, and after your cruise is done, report them so it doesn't keep happening to others.
    Reminds me 9f Sydney news tonight, someone on their robbed or $5,000 and they told him they'd get him if he talks to police etc. The brave gentlemen said, he must continue and speak up, because they could have stabbed him and he could have died, he doesn't want that to happen to others. A bit of an extreme example, but made me wonder, that person that did that to him,, the news said it was a repeat offense. Who knows how many people were scared and/or just didn't bother to report the ahol offering a laptop for sale, then robbing thousands at knife point.

    I would say that these scammers were well aware that they were in the wrong (both legally and ethically). They misrepresented the price, through their error. You should, in fairness of trading, be given correct pricing at time of deposit. If they don't give you the correct price, that's 100% on them. They most likely would have had to forfeit some of the deposit money, and pay it themselves, but that would the price for them having falsely marketed an incorrect price to you.

    • gimme on 27/08/2019 - 21:45
      -1

      Hate to be your neighbor…or in your vicinity

      • CalmLemons on 27/08/2019 - 22:51

        Agreed.

        How to be happy in life? Don't worry about trivial things especially material items…

        TBH I would stop watching general population news, or TV in general that is. Try to be a bit more critical on why such media outlets choose to report certain things, hint, has to do with advertising and ratings.

        • gimme on 28/08/2019 - 06:08
          -3

          Yea no womder half the population is depressed

        • [Deactivated] on 29/08/2019 - 01:04
          -2

          LMAO 😂 … Ummmm Okayyyyy 😆 Sounds like ignorance and apathy are bliss ?

  • SpendLess on 28/08/2019 - 09:45
    +2

    sounds like they put you through alot of stress ;)
    id ask for some freebies

  • sghetti on 28/08/2019 - 11:27
    +1

    I haven’t read the whole thread, I’d probably say the rep made a mistake and was trying to cover themselves. I doubt it was intentionally deceitful, but it doesn’t make it right.

    It would certainly leave a bad experience on your behalf and I certainly wouldn’t trust them going forward. And as bad as it sounds, I’m not sure they’ll go above and beyond for you going forward, so keep that in mind for any further discussions with them.

    Everything you’ve done was all perfectly within your rights.

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