Aunt Betty Unreasonable Cancellation Policy

sauce2k on 02/04/2020 - 23:25
Last edited 06/04/2020 - 12:02

Hi guys,

My gf booked her flights through Aunt Betty and now given the situation, she has to cancel all her flights.

Aunt Betty came back and offered her:

  1. Flight credit, but will charge $150 pp
  2. Refund, they will charge $250 pp
  3. Still wish to travel (WTF?)

This is broad daylight robbery.. I don't have a problem with that if she's canceling for a trivial reason, but seriously that's bs from them.

Apologies for the rant but wanting to see if anyone has any suggestions on how to take this further?

Cheers and take care!

Edit: I checked with JAL and they confirmed full refund will be offered. The $250 charged by Aunt Betty is really just their "handling fee" which in my opinion is absurd.

Edit 2: confirmed JAL actually cancelled the flight.

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Comments

  • Hybroid on 02/04/2020 - 23:32
    +8

    Read the T&Cs you agreed to when you purchased the flight ticket.

    Cancellations to International bookings will incur a fee of $250 per passenger per booking in addition to supplier fees.

    https://www.auntbetty.com.au/booking-terms-and-conditions

    • sauce2k on 03/04/2020 - 08:08
      -4

      Hey yes thanks for this. I did check and understand this is part of the T&C. This is not a normal situation where I'm cancelling due to personal reasons. My point being the pandemic and government have forced her and her family unable to travel

      • jdkong21 on 11/04/2020 - 23:00

        I agree the cancellation fee of $250 per passenger is excessive.
        Have you checked under sections "Cancellation because of a natural disaster or other
        crisis – frustration of contract" and "Cancellation fees"
        https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Travel%20%26%20accommod…

        I would like to know if anyone has gone to ACCC or any of the Aust Consumer Affairs and what are their responses?

  • AwesomeAndrew on 03/04/2020 - 00:19

    Ask your gf's credit card company for a chargeback, given the situation they should be nice and process it for you.

    • jimbobaus on 03/04/2020 - 01:12
      +3

      And then the Chargeback will fail
      Aunt betty will appeal, show that the terms and conditions were accepted when tickets purchased.
      Bank will reverse the charge back and they wont even see their refund (minus the $250)
      and will be blacklisted by Aunt Betty for future purchases.

      • dinglejerry on 04/04/2020 - 11:19
        +1

        Honestly Aunt Betty barely know their ass from their face at the moment, they are getting hammered with all the refund requests and I know a few people who have successfully claimed chargebacks in the current situation. In theory what you say is probably fair enough, but I think given all and sundry are having trouble getting in touch with them (including the banks), it has enabled a few to get successful chargebacks. I can't blame people for trying this avenue.

        • jdkong21 on 11/04/2020 - 23:37

          Any tips on how to claim using chargeback from the bank for using their credit card?

  • leiiv on 03/04/2020 - 01:06

    When is the flight? It is more likely that the airlines will cancel that flight first, which in that case, full refund.

    • Russ on 03/04/2020 - 01:30

      Depends. If the airline is Virgin, they aren't offering refunds, best you'll get is a credit note, or get the flight dates moved.

      According to the news, Virgin International are in a precarious financial position. There's no way they are going to refund money, putting them in an even-more precarious financial position.

      OP, I'd approach the airline first. You can possibly do for free, what Aunt Betty are wanting to charge money for.

    • sauce2k on 03/04/2020 - 08:05

      Jal actually offers full refund, we have checked this. Aunt Betty won't refund the full amount due to their policy

      • capslock on 03/04/2020 - 08:08
        +2

        Did you book with Aunt Betty because it was cheaper than buying directly from JAL? If so, then you signed up to save money upfront in exchange for less flexibility.

      • FirstWizard on 03/04/2020 - 09:23
        +1

        Their policy still applies if YOU decide the cancel the ticket. JAL having an exception to change their policy to offer a full refund for voluntary cancellations may not compel Aunt Betty to do the same, and they don't have to. This is just another case of change of mind.

        However, as @leiiv suggests, if the airline cancels the ticket and not you, then Aunt Betty policy will not apply as it's services not rendered and you will be entitled to a full refund from both the airline and Aunt Betty. You may even be able to chargeback. This is a totally different scenario than what you want to do.

        True that these days the airlines are trying to say this is a government restriction and consumer rights do not apply. However, one could argue that the government has never restricted airlines from flying, and the travel ban has exceptions on travelling for compassionate reasons.

  • TheMindsetTraveller on 03/04/2020 - 07:52

    Your/our consumer rights have been heavily diminished due to this unique situation - and governments allow it to happen, supporting big business / the big guy I suppose.

    Even thought flights have been cancelled, some airlines are not automatically cancelling tickets and refunding your money. What they are doing is open-end date your ticket to a future date xx/xx/2021 and you need to move your flights to a day from now till then.

    If you no longer want to travel, do no need to travel, change of mind etc you are still bound by the original cancellation terms in your booking, which often involves some type of cancellation fee.

    Now, Aunt Betty is probably just relaying back the airlines conditions.

    • sauce2k on 03/04/2020 - 08:06

      JAL offers full refund, we called and checked this.

  • theHMASfriendship on 03/04/2020 - 09:02

    This is broad daylight robbery

    How is this the case if it's in the terms and conditions?

    If you booked directly with JAL then you'd get the full refund, but you didn't, so you're not.

  • JimmyF on 03/04/2020 - 09:41

    This is broad daylight robbery

    Why? its all listed in the T&Cs you agreed to. Its one of the reasons these places are 'cheaper' than booking direct. You gambled, you lost.

    The fact is if you do a refund, they don't get commission, so all these places charge a 'fee' to cover wages in processing it etc.

    • sauce2k on 06/04/2020 - 12:01

      JAL cancelled the flight, so why do customers have to cope

  • chrisie on 03/04/2020 - 10:06

    BYOJet are offering the same as Aunt Betty both owned by Flight Centre .

    I would wait till they cancelled the flights.

    • SydneySwan on 03/04/2020 - 13:28

      FC actually charges more = $300 per person.

      • chrisie on 03/04/2020 - 13:41
        +2

        Unbelievable in this environment which is out of our control.
        I'm sure we will all be jumping to book flights with BYOJet , Aunt Betty and Flight Centre after the way they have looked after us when this is all over !

        • CMH on 03/04/2020 - 21:17

          TBH (not that I'm rooting for them or anything) if they didn't do this and grab what little they can off you they might not even survive this pandemic.

          So they're kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place.

          I do have bookings with one of them though, and would still be looking for a full refund myself as their survival really isn't my concern.

  • chrisie on 15/05/2020 - 12:50
    +1

    Rang BYO (0281032107) and requested a full refund for cancelled flights on Singapore Airlines which they agreed to and processed, sent me a confirmation email advising that the turnaround time may take more than 12 weeks for the funds to appear in my account.
    Now we wait some more.
    Very happy not to have to deal with BYO again after I get the refund .

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