Duplicate flight bookings may occur when you accidentally select the payment tab twice, or if the system fails to register a successful transaction. When this rare problem appears with an airline you may be surprised like one Scoot passenger who was billed $1,363, twice the amount for the flights he had booked.
In case of dublicate bookings, the airline refunds the passanger for one of the bookings but this may take some time (measured in months). But refund may not be the case with all incidents according to a Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) press release. CASE got into dispute with budget airline Scoot over refunds for duplicate bookings.
According to CASE press release, over the last three years, it has received 23 complaints from customers who were charged double for a budget flight when booking online. According to CASE out of the four airlines involved, Scoot, which received three complaints, was the only one which did not offer a refund.
A month earlier than the Scoot customer above, another passenger made a duplicate booking and later tried to contact the company repeatedly for a refund, but has not heard from the airline so far. Another was able to reach Scoot with Case's help, and transfer the second booking for a small fee.
But Sccot denies the allegations and says "as long as the names, flights and travel dates are identical, one of the bookings will be refunded."
The other three airlines - Jetstar, AirAsia and Tigerair - offer full refunds for duplicate bookings, although it can take as long as two months. Airline staff urged customers to call up and check on their bookings if they encounter errors online, instead of trying to re-book.
"Don't assume it didn't go through just because you didn't get your itinerary. Always call the airline first," said a Jetstar call centre officer to the The Strait Times.
In case of dublicate bookings, the airline refunds the passanger for one of the bookings but this may take some time (measured in months). But refund may not be the case with all incidents according to a Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) press release. CASE got into dispute with budget airline Scoot over refunds for duplicate bookings.
According to CASE press release, over the last three years, it has received 23 complaints from customers who were charged double for a budget flight when booking online. According to CASE out of the four airlines involved, Scoot, which received three complaints, was the only one which did not offer a refund.
A month earlier than the Scoot customer above, another passenger made a duplicate booking and later tried to contact the company repeatedly for a refund, but has not heard from the airline so far. Another was able to reach Scoot with Case's help, and transfer the second booking for a small fee.
But Sccot denies the allegations and says "as long as the names, flights and travel dates are identical, one of the bookings will be refunded."
The other three airlines - Jetstar, AirAsia and Tigerair - offer full refunds for duplicate bookings, although it can take as long as two months. Airline staff urged customers to call up and check on their bookings if they encounter errors online, instead of trying to re-book.
"Don't assume it didn't go through just because you didn't get your itinerary. Always call the airline first," said a Jetstar call centre officer to the The Strait Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment