However, amid the chaos of the time, the Fords organised their own way home, buying new flights for about $3300. They’d wanted to modify their original return tickets bundled with their tour, but the details and authority to deal with the airline directly were held by TripADeal.
Ford’s frustration with TripADeal intensified on their return to Sydney. She sent them a letter of demand seeking a refund plus reimbursement for the cost of their new return flight, but the company would only offer a company credit for a partial value of the tour, less the outbound flights and accommodation in Budapest.
‘They just pocketed all the money. That was it, tough bickies for us, we had to give the credit away to friends.’
Edilia Ford
The booking site had justified a refund refusal, Ford said, with the claim that they had already paid the operators of the flights, hotels and cruise, and that their money was with those companies. At the same time, Ford couldn’t chase those businesses for a refund directly.
“We didn’t own our bookings with those companies, TripADeal did, so it went nowhere.”
After two months’ dealing with the company directly to no avail, Ford launched proceedings against TripADeal at the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), seeking $11,160 covering the cost of the initial booking, their replacement flights home, plus compensation costs to cover their time preparing the case.
Ultimately, the tribunal ordered TripADeal provide a credit for about $3000 to cover the unused land component of the tour, and a cash refund for the unused return flight and cruise of about $2300. The tribunal found the company did not breach consumer law, and that it hadn’t stated it would reimburse customers who chose to book their own flights home.
“They just pocketed all the money. That was it, tough bickies for us, we had to give the credit away to friends,” said Ford.
TripADeal, which has since been acquired by Qantas, said it apologised “for the immense stress and disruption” caused to Ford.
“As the booking agent, we worked closely with our operators on the ground to recover all eligible funds for our customers, which were returned as a combination of cash and travel credits,” a company spokesperson said.
Edilia Ford and husband Geof remain out of pocket thousands from their booking with TripADeal.Credit: Louie Douvis
However, Ford is still fighting for the thousands she hasn’t been able to claw back. “Every time I see a TripADeal ad, my blood runs cold.” She is active in an online community for aggrieved customers of the business seeking recourse.
Beyond travel disruptions, even system glitches can also cause chaos for customers.
Such was the case with Melbourne father David Hamilton who booked flights to Europe in April for a September trip with his teenage son.
He purchased via Booking.com not motivated by a cheaper price – his tickets cost about $5300 – but because he felt it was easier to have his various, multi-city flights in one itinerary, which Booking.com – a name he had come to believe was trustworthy – offered.
“I assumed it was all sorted, I had a flight reference number and everything, so I didn’t worry about it.”
Loading
Trouble arose two months before departure when he tried to add his flights to the Virgin app on his phone.
“It came up as an error, it said my ticket had been cancelled.”
He immediately contacted Virgin Australia, who told him to contact Booking.com. It was then that he learned Booking.com uses an intermediary party, GoToGate, for its flight sales, and was instructed to take his issue up with that company.
“They were all as bad as each other, each one telling me to call the other one.”
A recurring reason he was given was that he had a “duplicate booking” – which occurs when a booking is erroneously made twice in an airline’s system – on Virgin Australia’s end.
“I spent probably 20 hours on the phone and typing to chatbots, re-explaining my story over again, and it all went nowhere.”
Hamilton claims a Booking.com representative ultimately called him in late August informing him that after internal consideration, it had determined it had fulfilled its duty to him.
“I asked can I at least get a refund, and she said no, there was nothing I could get from them.”
David Hamilton: ’“I spent probably 20 hours on the phone.”
Contacting Virgin Australia became a dead end, too, Hamilton said. While the airline could see his booking on their end, it was only Booking.com, which transferred the money for the tickets, that was authorised to speak with the airline.
“I was stuck in a loop.”
Days out from his departure date with no tickets or refund, it was only within hours of this masthead contacting Booking.com seeking comment, that Hamilton’s tickets were reissued.
“I was going to have to rebook fresh flights, I had no other options, it was a very stressful experience. I’d never go through a third party again, I will go direct every time,” Hamilton said.
A Booking.com spokesperson said that on reviewing the matter, “we learned the flight reservation had been made twice”, which triggered an automatic cancellation. The company said after realising this, due to questions from this masthead, it had contacted Virgin to reissue the tickets.
Ford and Hamilton’s frustrations at third-party booking sites are increasingly common. Over the two years to July, Booking.com was the sixth-most complained about company to NSW Fair Trading, with 502 issues lodged. In Victoria, there were 2866 complaints lodged about third-party booking websites with Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Complaint activity corresponds with the growing use of third-party travel websites in recent years, spurred by the demise of bricks-and-mortar travel agencies.
Australians spend about $452 million a year booking flights with third-party sites, according to an IBISWorld analysis. Across flights and accommodation, Booking.com – whose parent company also operates Kayak and Agoda – has 32 per cent market share, with Expedia close behind on about 28 per cent.
Third-party travel sites such as Booking.com are becoming increasingly popular. Credit: Getty Images
Adam Glezer, from Consumer Champion which provides advice for aggrieved customers to seek recourse, said while these platforms “promise convenience and competitive pricing, they often leave customers stranded when things go wrong”.
“Travellers frequently find themselves caught between the booking site and the service provider – be it an airline, hotel, or tour operator – with each side deflecting responsibility,” he said. “This blame-shifting leaves consumers without answers, without access, and without their money.”
Glezer said using third-party booking websites is ultimately “far riskier” than booking directly. “If anything goes wrong, even due to a technical glitch, consumers can face months or even years of chasing down refunds or [getting a] resolution without a guarantee of getting what is rightfully theirs in the end”.
He said he was aware of a growing number of affected customers resorting to taking websites to tribunals and pursuing legal avenues. “Alarmingly, legal action or media exposure are often the only ways customers can get answers.”
Loading
Glezer called for legal reforms to improve outcomes for customers. “Stronger protections, clearer and more transparent pathways for resolution, and real consequences for misconduct are long overdue. Nothing will change until they are introduced,” he said.
Jodi Bird, a travel expert at consumer advocacy organisation Choice, agreed that buying via third-party websites meant agreeing to reduced consumer rights.
“You are essentially subject to two sets of terms and conditions, not just one, such as from Booking.com or Expedia and then the airline’s, too,” he said. “That might include an entitlement to a credit only where you would have otherwise been entitled to a refund under the airline’s terms.”
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.
