Hi forum. I am looking for some advice on a bit of a pickle I have got myself into regarding air tickets.
The day before yesterday, after searching through the internet for airline tickets to South America, I came across what I thought was the best offer from a company called Esperanza Travel. They were offering a one way ticket with a Spanish airline Air Europa on 7th October for £432.14. I spent the next 24 hours searching for more competitive offers before returning to Esperanza Travels website to book the ticket. The price had now increased from £432.00 to £512.00, that is quite an increase for 24 hours ! Perhaps that particular flight was very popular ? There was an option on the webpage to search +/- 3 days. I selected that option and was presented with a price of £432.00 for 8th October, the next day. Now this is going to become significant later, but I am fairly certain the date I selected was 8th October. The webpage asked me if I wanted to book this flight which I responded with 'yes'. I was then directed to a payment page where I input my bank account details, and paid the full price of £432.00. Once confirmed I was directed to another page which informed me I had purchased a ticket to fly on the 8th November.
Horrified, I immediately (within minutes) called the telephone number displayed on the website. I was answered by one of their representatives, and I explained to them what had happened, I also explained that I was fairly certain that the date I had selected was 8th October, and not 8th November as was displayed on my payment confirmation. The representative chuckled and took my phone number and said he would contact the airline, and sort it out for me. Ten minutes later, he returned my call and said he had contacted Air Europa (the airline), and unfortunately, the ticket had already been dispatched (within 15 minutes !!!!) and the only way to get me on the 8th October flight was to cancel that ticket and buy a new ticket for 8th October, he expalined that the cancellation fee for the first ticket would be £280.00. After telling him that I could not afford that price, he firstly informed me that there was nothing he could do about it, I had committed myself when I paid the money. He then went on to speak to his accounts department, which 'kindly' offered me to reduce the cancellation fee to £240.00 as long as I paid that money immediately. All within 10 minutes. I was starting to suspect there was something very wrong with what was going on here. I certainly knew better than to pay more money without getting some advice. The point is, have I got any rights as a consumer here ? Any advice welcome please.
The day before yesterday, after searching through the internet for airline tickets to South America, I came across what I thought was the best offer from a company called Esperanza Travel. They were offering a one way ticket with a Spanish airline Air Europa on 7th October for £432.14. I spent the next 24 hours searching for more competitive offers before returning to Esperanza Travels website to book the ticket. The price had now increased from £432.00 to £512.00, that is quite an increase for 24 hours ! Perhaps that particular flight was very popular ? There was an option on the webpage to search +/- 3 days. I selected that option and was presented with a price of £432.00 for 8th October, the next day. Now this is going to become significant later, but I am fairly certain the date I selected was 8th October. The webpage asked me if I wanted to book this flight which I responded with 'yes'. I was then directed to a payment page where I input my bank account details, and paid the full price of £432.00. Once confirmed I was directed to another page which informed me I had purchased a ticket to fly on the 8th November.
Horrified, I immediately (within minutes) called the telephone number displayed on the website. I was answered by one of their representatives, and I explained to them what had happened, I also explained that I was fairly certain that the date I had selected was 8th October, and not 8th November as was displayed on my payment confirmation. The representative chuckled and took my phone number and said he would contact the airline, and sort it out for me. Ten minutes later, he returned my call and said he had contacted Air Europa (the airline), and unfortunately, the ticket had already been dispatched (within 15 minutes !!!!) and the only way to get me on the 8th October flight was to cancel that ticket and buy a new ticket for 8th October, he expalined that the cancellation fee for the first ticket would be £280.00. After telling him that I could not afford that price, he firstly informed me that there was nothing he could do about it, I had committed myself when I paid the money. He then went on to speak to his accounts department, which 'kindly' offered me to reduce the cancellation fee to £240.00 as long as I paid that money immediately. All within 10 minutes. I was starting to suspect there was something very wrong with what was going on here. I certainly knew better than to pay more money without getting some advice. The point is, have I got any rights as a consumer here ? Any advice welcome please.