[ChrisK8]

Hi all,

So “abandoned” is an exaggeration, but I was subjected to a timetable change with 0 notice and am trying to obtain a fair refund from MAS.

I wanted your opinion so I’ll try to lay out the fact pattern as simply as possible:

• I live in London and booked a return business class flight from Tokyo to Auckland via KL for travel in May 2016. I booked via the Malaysia Airlines Japan website and paid ¥330k (approx. £2,130 in pre-Brexit money!).
• The outbound travel had no issues and I made it to Auckland.
• The return leg was meant to depart Auckland at 01:30 a.m.
• Unbeknown to me, the flight had been rescheduled to be 12 hours later, around 13:30 the following day.
• I didn’t know about this change in schedule because I wasn’t informed. Initially Malaysia Airlines tried to claim they had e-mailed me, however they later conceded their system had not sent out an automated notification of the change of schedule.
• I wasn’t the only passenger affected by this.
• Indeed when I arrived at Auckland airport looking for my flight, the aircraft staff found me on the non-existent flight I was looking for, as did the Malaysia Airlines mobile website I was looking at. I was still booked on a flight which didn’t exist!
• The re-timed flight time wasn’t acceptable as I was meeting a friend in Tokyo and would have missed out completely on that because the 12 hour delay in departure also had no decent connection in KL.
• As a result I took the decision and booked a ticket to fly on Qantas economy class for about £500 first thing in the morning to arrive in Tokyo around the same time I would have arrived anyway as Qantas has better connections via Brisbane. Qantas was actually brilliant and I highly recommend their economy class product.

My issue is with the compensation I’ve received from Malaysia Airlines. They originally refunded me around £450 for the Auckland to Tokyo business class flight I didn’t use. I queried this, as it was less than 25% of the total ticket cost. They eventually upped their compensation to cover the ticket I bought with Qantas. I’ve got back just over £500 of a £2,130 ticket.

I maintain that it’s their fault I could not take the flight because they didn’t inform me, and when I took reasonable steps to check the flight schedule, my web check, along with the airport system still showed me on the flight I was expecting!

They say they calculate the fare as being almost all on the outbound leg. The return leg costs next to nothing. So despite having to downgrade to economy, I still paid overall about £2,130 for this return journey.

I’m a bit tired of dealing with Malaysia Airlines. Their staff in the London office are actually very helpful but they can conveniently hide behind head-office decisions in Malaysia.

Am I being unreasonable and is there any recourse I can pursue?

Thanks in advance!

[rferguson]

Hey Chris,

It sounds like a really poor show from MH.

I know MH has a 24HR call centre available. It probably would have been better to call them and demand a reroute via SYD on QF explaining that a twelve hour delay is unacceptable for you. Hopefully they would have accommodated your request. I’m not sure of the legalities of their obligations but I guess at least you would have had a better idea of where you stood and what you could have expected had you rerouted yourself voluntarily.

I’m not sure whether the ticket you initially brought was restricted or flexible but if it was restricted I guess MH may even consider themselves to have gone over and above my refunding you the sector you ‘no showed’ for.

It really is very very poor to a) not notify you and even worse b) still have your original flight times in your MMB. They always seem to strive to want to be on the same level as SQ or CX but issues like this just seem to happen too regularly at MH.

Good luck with it anyway.

[ChrisK8]

Thanks!

So I was on hold to the “24 hour” call centre when I was at AKL airport but they were no help. Even with the help of the AKL Menzies staff I was unable to talk to anyone who would help.

The ticket was probably restricted and I’ve kind of given up hope. I’ll just write it off as a bad experience and not use them again, nor recommend them to even my enemies!

Luckily this has been a one-off in the 27 sectors I’ve flown this year alone and many others previously.

[GivingupBA]

Hi Chris, really sorry for you and I too think you have been treated badly / unacceptably by MH regarding the lack of information, and I would have been inwardly feeling very angry at Auckland airport that night.

However, if it had happened to me, I would leave it at that and I would probably just want to avoid MH in future. Anyway glad to hear you got to Tokyo in time. Happy travels in future!

[IanFromHKG]

Problems can occur when you take things into your own hands. The initial course (and perhaps you tried this, but your post doesn’t say) is to demand re-routing. If that isn’t possible, get confirmation from the staff in writing if possible to sustain a subsequent claim.

At the end of the day, however, it sounds as though you got to where you wanted to be at the time you wanted to be there and MH have paid for the cost of the ticket. Financially I don’t think you have grounds (morally or legally) to claim more unless there are other incidental costs you incurred. However, I agree it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

I still fly MH although I do so knowing that they are unreliable with connections. I fly HKG-KUL-LHR return, and getting there has always been fine. On the way back they have invariably failed a connection – either I don’t make it (have been put up in KL overnight twice) or my luggage doesn’t. I bear that risk because to me it is quantifiable and bearable and not unduly disruptive and is worth the incredible savings I make on fares (I just snagged a business class return from HKG to LHR for less than 1,700 pounds). The first time, however, when I wasn’t expecting it and hadn’t planned for it was very stressful.

I sympathise with you and wish I could give you more comfort, but I think you have probably got all you can unless you are a member of the Enrich programme in which case a letter suggesting that a bundle of miles being added to your account would be appropriate – you might have more luck with that than trying to get money from them.

[Author]

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