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Opodo - How should I prepare my case for compensation
jhs2zz
Posts: 19 Forumite
Sorry to through in another case related to flight and Opodo but I would really appreciate some thought on how I can best make my case to seek compensation from Opodo.
Situation:
- Booking made and paid in early March, due to fly on at 9:25am on 14 March with Lufthansa from MAN to Frankfurt, then to Denver.
- On 05 March (9 days before departure) Opodo sent an email saying the carrier has changed the schedule, asking me to call them for details
- On 06 March, I called Opodo, who told me Lufthansa has cancelled the flight from MAN to FRA at 9:25am, and offered to put me on a flight at 6:40am instead
- I asked them to also bring forward the connecting flight so I will arrive at my destination earlier. The agent said they need to request 'approval' from the airline, and said that I will receive a callback within 48 hours
- On Monday 09 March, after >50hours of wait, nobody called me back. I called Opodo again, raising the same issue. The agent said they will sort this out in 12hours
- On Tuesday 10 March, after >24hours, nobody called me back and no email communication from Opodo. I called again. At this point I complained and decided to cancel my trip completely, on the grounds that the Airline cancelled part of my trip within less than 14 days of departure and the alternative flight is more than 2 hours before the original departure. Opodo said they need approval from the airline, and ask me to wait for a reply within 24hours, or call them after that.
That is the story so far and I highly suspect they will NOT email me and I have to make another call tomorrow, let along the >1hr wait on the queue each time you call them. So I need to be prepared for what may become a longer battle with them to seek my compensation. My questions are:
- If Opodo keeps delaying this without communication beyond my flight departure time, can I still ask for 'cancellation' and 'refund'?
- I am prepared to write a complaint letter because there is no other way you can contact them by writing. Their online chat is a joke - I waited 12hours today and nobody replied. And I cannot find any email address online. Would their registered address in London be OK?
- My grounds will be 1) poor communication leaving me in uncertainty of my trip; 2) confusing instructions from Opodo (in the first occasion, the agent tried to contact the agent while I was on the phone but nobody answered; on the last 2 occasions, they said they need to escalate this to another team and they cannot do it themselves); 3) flight cancellation by the carrier within short notice.
But TBH 3) is the responsibility of the carrier, so i am not sure how to make my argument and I am concerned if I file my complain *after* the departure date (because I do not know if Opodo will be able to sort this out in the next few days), Opodo and/or the airline will say it would be impossible to 'cancel' as the flight would have been past-event.
Any advice would be highly appreciated!
Situation:
- Booking made and paid in early March, due to fly on at 9:25am on 14 March with Lufthansa from MAN to Frankfurt, then to Denver.
- On 05 March (9 days before departure) Opodo sent an email saying the carrier has changed the schedule, asking me to call them for details
- On 06 March, I called Opodo, who told me Lufthansa has cancelled the flight from MAN to FRA at 9:25am, and offered to put me on a flight at 6:40am instead
- I asked them to also bring forward the connecting flight so I will arrive at my destination earlier. The agent said they need to request 'approval' from the airline, and said that I will receive a callback within 48 hours
- On Monday 09 March, after >50hours of wait, nobody called me back. I called Opodo again, raising the same issue. The agent said they will sort this out in 12hours
- On Tuesday 10 March, after >24hours, nobody called me back and no email communication from Opodo. I called again. At this point I complained and decided to cancel my trip completely, on the grounds that the Airline cancelled part of my trip within less than 14 days of departure and the alternative flight is more than 2 hours before the original departure. Opodo said they need approval from the airline, and ask me to wait for a reply within 24hours, or call them after that.
That is the story so far and I highly suspect they will NOT email me and I have to make another call tomorrow, let along the >1hr wait on the queue each time you call them. So I need to be prepared for what may become a longer battle with them to seek my compensation. My questions are:
- If Opodo keeps delaying this without communication beyond my flight departure time, can I still ask for 'cancellation' and 'refund'?
- I am prepared to write a complaint letter because there is no other way you can contact them by writing. Their online chat is a joke - I waited 12hours today and nobody replied. And I cannot find any email address online. Would their registered address in London be OK?
- My grounds will be 1) poor communication leaving me in uncertainty of my trip; 2) confusing instructions from Opodo (in the first occasion, the agent tried to contact the agent while I was on the phone but nobody answered; on the last 2 occasions, they said they need to escalate this to another team and they cannot do it themselves); 3) flight cancellation by the carrier within short notice.
But TBH 3) is the responsibility of the carrier, so i am not sure how to make my argument and I am concerned if I file my complain *after* the departure date (because I do not know if Opodo will be able to sort this out in the next few days), Opodo and/or the airline will say it would be impossible to 'cancel' as the flight would have been past-event.
Any advice would be highly appreciated!
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Comments
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You are absolutely correct that you need to get this sorted BEFORE the departure date. Otherwise you will go down as a no-show and you'll likely lose everything.
Do you know that Lufthansa will allow you to cancel? A two hour change isn't particularly major so they may not allow a full refund. That said, with the Coronavirus situation some airlines are being more flexible - so maybe they will. You could consider talking to Lufthansa. They won't be able to change the booking or do anything with it talking to you directly - that must be done via opodo - however sometimes airlines will at least speak to you - you might even be able to get them to attach some notes to your booking in respect to what you want to do.
Get back onto Opodo and keep at them until you get a resolution. Also try and get something down in writing informing them of your intentions. That way you can prove you notified them if you have to take it further.1 -
Thanks for your quick reply, that's much appreciated.
That is quite concerning. Given what I have seen from Opodo's customer service I highly doubt they will resolve this before the departure. I am sending a formal letter to their London office tomorrow to document my intention.
I did spoke to Lufthansa today and they said they will allow refund in this case but this needs to be done through Opodo - again very concerning. I will call them again tomorrow to see if they can add a note about this...
I am prepared to chase this even if I do not receive a resolution from Opodo after the scheduled departure time. I feel that their response has been very poor - each time I called it was clear that what they promised to do last time was not done. This caused delay resolving the issue.You are absolutely correct that you need to get this sorted BEFORE the departure date. Otherwise you will go down as a no-show and you'll likely lose everything.0 -
Send an email now the same as your letter. You can always prove the time and date an email was sent. Whilst a letter may seem more formal, snail mail probably isn't going to help get this resolved in time. It can also only be proven if its tracked.
I would send the email, phone again when you get chance, and try online chat. All of those can be proven if you need to take action in the future - email date/time stamps, phone call logs, and screenshot of online chat.1 -
Thanks. The problem with Opodo is they do not have a single email address that you can find online - very dodgy and very annoying.... the email address that sends me my bookings etc are a 'no-reply' address. And I can only find their address here: https://www.opodo.com/terms-and-conditions/bagand96 said:Send an email now the same as your letter. You can always prove the time and date an email was sent. Whilst a letter may seem more formal, snail mail probably isn't going to help get this resolved in time. It can also only be proven if its tracked.
I would send the email, phone again when you get chance, and try online chat. All of those can be proven if you need to take action in the future - email date/time stamps, phone call logs, and screenshot of online chat.
This incident makes me think they do it on purpose...0 -
Well I knew it's not going to be easy...
- Called LH today who told me I am entitled to full refund in this case, but I need to ask Opodo to sort this. When I said Opodo has been trying to contact them seeking authorisation from LH, LH said Opodo should not need to
- Called Opodo, who said they called LH, they emailed them with my request but has not received the response from LH. When I said I called LH this morning who told me I am entitled to refund etc, Opodo agent said if I can get an email from LH confirming this, forward it to Opodo then it will deal with it
- Called LH again, who said (1) they cannot provide me with an email because Opodo needs to contact their 'airline support' which is only available to travel agencies, while they can advise me on my case they cannot provide email confirming this (2) they looked in the system and said Opodo did not contact them, and said, that if Opodo contacted them, they will be able to see it in the system record; (3) they will take note of this conversation
I really do not know who to believe... I cannot see how this will be resolved in the end and when...0 -
Opodo have to request the refund. They requested mine from Emirates on April 23rd. 90 + days down the line and still no refund although Emirates have sent it to Opodo. They deny receiving it. When I questioned them further I was cut off!!!!!!! Am now getting advice from my bank but not really hopeful.0
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HELP! BOOKED EASYJET FLIGHT FOR 1 APRIL - FROM SPAIN TO UK WHICH WAS CANCELLED. SADLY, BOOKED VIA OPODO!! HOWEVER, EASYJET REFUNDED OPODO ON 19 JUNE, BUT I CANNOT GET OPODO TO SEND THIS MONEY TO ME. HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING. JUST KEEP GETTING FOBBED OFF, "its arranged & will be with you in 2 wks" ITS.NOT..."it will take another 90 days" ....ETC., . AS EVERYONE KNOW IT TAKES HOURS TO GET THROUGH TO OPODO - ALL YOU GET ARE EMPTY PROMISES!!THEY HAVE NOW BEEN EARNING INTEREST ON MY REFUND SINCE 19 JUNE. SURELY THIS IS NOT LEGAL???? WHAT MORE CAN I DO?0
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You think travel companies at the moment have a load of money sat in accounts earning interest?0
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Why type in capital letters !! Just for info we had a holiday booked with Jet2 ,one of the best travel companies about and they cancelled our holiday ,the repayment will be with us in 6 to 10 weeks, no problems as we know the money will be back in our account when they say and as most of the planet is in lockdown do not think this is bad.cruzdelsur said:HELP! BOOKED EASYJET FLIGHT FOR 1 APRIL - FROM SPAIN TO UK WHICH WAS CANCELLED. SADLY, BOOKED VIA OPODO!! HOWEVER, EASYJET REFUNDED OPODO ON 19 JUNE, BUT I CANNOT GET OPODO TO SEND THIS MONEY TO ME. HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING. JUST KEEP GETTING FOBBED OFF, "its arranged & will be with you in 2 wks" ITS.NOT..."it will take another 90 days" ....ETC., . AS EVERYONE KNOW IT TAKES HOURS TO GET THROUGH TO OPODO - ALL YOU GET ARE EMPTY PROMISES!!THEY HAVE NOW BEEN EARNING INTEREST ON MY REFUND SINCE 19 JUNE. SURELY THIS IS NOT LEGAL???? WHAT MORE CAN I DO?
PS the money arrived today so less than 10 weeks - result.0 -
Glad you got your refund no problem Ganga! Opodo are one of the worst! I am still waiting for my refund for cancelled flights from 1st April! Every time I ring I just get fobbed off, the manage my bookings section tells me it's been refunded, but when I called them today they said they are still waiting for authorization from airline and I have to wait a few more days, its been 7 months!! I very much doubt that anything will materialise. I can't even get a straight answer from them on what their email address is to make a complaint as proof that I have been chasing them.0
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