[Be_Nice]

When a mistake is obvious why all the hassle making a fuss when it’s obvious. I feel that rferguson you have tinged your whiter then white image that you make believe us have.

Your posts of BA may now seem to be not necessarily the whole point of the subject.

Just my own thoughts.

[NTarrant]

Eh?

Who said it was obvious? What would a customer who didn’t have the knowledge feel? What have a go at rferguson?

[Be_Nice]

I am not having a go;

‘He sensed it was an error’
The ticket was issued in economy
The booking class was economy

Also the fare, was far too low, even for a ‘special’, these I believe come with a bang of an advert.

A customer without the knowledge would have queried this at once, as the ticket was not issued in business. Not sat back and hoped for something.

Why go to all the trouble trying to get something for nothing. I couldn’t be a chancer, get it all wrong and have to sit 12 hours in a terrible seat in between others, all for the sake of an error.

That’s all, just saying what’s obvious for me.

Edited
A customer …..

[lloydah]

Be_Nice, how about being a bit nicer.

[rferguson]

Be_nice I think you need to climb down from your high horse.

Now I could be wrong (I often am) but by the tone of your posts you are insinuating that I am doing something wrong or deceptive by pursuing this issue?

‘Tinged my whiter than white’ image??
Well i’ve never heard that mentioned before but i’ll take it as a compliment if thats how you think I am perceived.

“Your posts of BA may now seem to be not necessarily the whole point of the subject.”…
Call me thick (I AM just a trolley dolly afterall) but I cannot understand what you mean by this comment. And I totally fail to see how my comments on other threads have any relation to this one. Perhaps you can expand on it?

Firstly, this ERROR is not mine. It is Thai’s. Now if I made an error online with Thai (say I entered a wrong name or wrong date on an inflexible ticket) and went back a few days later to them and said ‘you know what Thai Airways, I made a MISTAKE. I think I want to change the date of my reservation and the name on it’. What do you think the first thing Thai would reply? Probably something along the lines of – go back and have a look at what you agreed to, and what you paid for. And probably something along the lines of ‘You should have checked very carefully the information you entered’. And you know what, so should you Thai Airways!

The fare was advertised by Thai in Business Class.

They sent me a CONFIRMATION EMAIL with both the fare displayed and every segment of the flight listed as Business Class.

And they took my money – money which was an offer for what they were advertising. NOT something inferior.

If they had turned around within say 12 hours and said ‘this was a mistake fare, we haven’t charged your card’ I would think OK at least they’ve done the right thing there. But they HAVE taken the funds from my account and you know what – the brief email didn’t even offer a refund. So that really is two fingers up at them from me i’m afraid.

By the way regarding your comment: “A customer without the knowledge would have queried this at once, as the ticket was not issued in business. Not sat back and hoped for something.”….are you having a laugh? Do you think Jo Bloggs is like us airline geeks (sorry guys). Do you think Average Joe knows the difference between Y/J/F/P/A/D/C/M/O/V/W class?? When he does a search for ‘Business Class’ and has a confirmation itinerary listing ‘Business Class’…but oh yes he recieves a ticket afterwards listing ‘O’ class (ABSOLUTELY zero mention of economy) he should instantly be aware that it is an economy fare?

So… be_nice. Why the hell should I just walk away from this? Is it not worth a shot to see if Thai will accept their reponsibility in loading an incorrect fare? As I see it, there is zero deception from my side. Absolutely, my first gut instinct on seeing the fare online was that it was a mistake. And at every step thru the booking process I was waiting for the mistake to be highlighted – an ‘error’ message. Or the words ‘economy’. But no. Business Class Business Class Business Class. Confirmation. When this confirmation was received (which came an hour after the booking was made) I took it in good faith that it WAS some kind of genuine promotional fire sale (it was around midnight that I booked it). It wasn’t until Expedia sent me a brief email near a week later that it was a confirmed error.

And i’m sorry but it is unacceptable for an airline or agency to do this and then to just be able to turn around and say ‘sorry, mistake’. Because what if I had paid £2K?? Or £3K?? Do they still then have the right to turn around and say ‘sorry, mistake, it’s not Business Class it’s economy’?? Who deems what an ‘acceptable’ fare is these days?? You know what they probably do have every right somewhere deep down in their T&C’s saying they CAN just turn around and say ‘sorry, mistake, economy’. But my point that I am making to them in the letter I will send tomorrow is that it is a very poor way to do business by not honoring what they advertise. And that I will be seeking further advice if they don’t accept some form of responsibility.

Now I respect that everyone is different. You would be virtuous and accept this kind of business practice. I will not. So, with all due respect, horses for courses.

Happy Flying!

[Shearer]

The hotel company I work for had an issue where incorrect rates were loaded on a third party website.

We only noticed when bookings starting coming in.

It was fixed immediately, but it was inconcieveable that we would contact guests and tell them that because of our error, they couldn’t stay at the price we offered. All the more interesting in that we don’t take payment at the time of booking.

Mistakes are mistakes, the airline should take it on the chin and strengthen their procedures so the mistake doesn’t happen again.

[Be_Nice]

No high horse here rf.

Yes things can go wrong, but I would rather remain the better party to any transaction and not a chancer. Whilst a business may make an error, I am not virtuous, just realistic.

Anyway nice to see such a descriptive (language and tone) post from you, as I don’t recall this before.

My three succinct comments on a thread should be enough to get my thoughts across.

[rferguson]

Good for you be_nice! And delighted I was able to add a little bit of colour to my ‘whiter than white image’ you had of me. It never is fun being teachers pet.

Do come back at some point to see how I get on – i’m sure you will wish me well in my pursuit.

Be Nice! 🙂

[canucklad]

rferguson….just completed a course on complaints…..

Remain calm, stick to the facts and if your issue is with Expedia, play them off against each other…

There is no way Thai would want their name tarnished by another companies ineffeciencies…

And your’e right , regardless of industry knowledge, the fact is, you should trust a reputable company at their word….

Send Thai an e-mail with a link to this thread…..companies freak when their reputation is compromised…

[Papillion53]

Rferguson – good luck with your mission! Let us know how you get on. 🙂

[skywards]

Hello, This has just happened to my best friend with a booking through ebookers. He seen a business class fare to Shanghai from CDG with China Eastern Airways for £593, he phoned ebookers 3 times asking if this was not a mistake and all 3 times he was informed it was business class. He went ahead and booked the ticket. Later he checked on China Easterns website and typed the record located number in, it didn’t recognise the number so he phoned ebookers and found out he was sat in row 35, the very last row! He has been in touch with ebookers lots of times, he has a receipt with his flight details and it clearly says “business” the last time be phoned ebookers he was told it was a mistake but my friend is not letting it lie now, he is right in what he says, ebookers mislead him and is going to speak to CAB about what action he can take if they don’t honour their price. Im sure he finds out from ebookers today on what the outcome. He said he’d be happy with a full refund plus compensation of £200 for the inconvenience in the form of a discount code for a future flight. He doesn’t seem to be worried in the least and has stated the UK is now a nation of claims. I know per year his family spend many thousands of pounds on business class flights and I guess if ebookers want his and his families business they may have to give in to his terms.

[FormerlyDoS]

There seems to be a spate of this happening, as it also happened to me with another online agent a couple of days ago.

However, in my case the ticket was clearly issued as economy and it was handled easily with a discussion with the agent and cancellation of the tickets at no charge.

They also worked pretty hard to find me replacement flights (1 stop) at a reasonable cost (though rather more than the originals, which were 2 stops and a longer connection time, so plausible) and also found a very good hotel package to offset the damage.

However, it is concerning that this seems to be happening as often as reported and it alerts us to watch the ticketing like hawks and ensure that the tickets are issued in line with the product purchased.

[skywards]

I have just contacted my friend and he said ebookers are waiting for a reply from China Eastern about this misleading price and he hoped it would be settled on Wednesday. My friend thinks ebookers are blaming China Eastern and thats its taken slightly longer than expected to sort out.

[skywards]

My friend who booked the China Eastern Airways business class flight from CDG to Shanghai for £593 received what he asked for today, a full refund and a good will payment of £200 each to him and his father from ebookers.

[IanFromHKG]

rferguson, I would respond to both Expedia and Thai jointly and say (in essence) – “Tough. You sold me a business class trip and I expect business class. Whether this was a mistake by Expedia or a mistake by Thai really isn’t my concern – that is something for you to resolve. The fact remains that I saw an advertised price, I offered the fare requested, it was accepted, and I was issued with a ticket, and at every stage of the process it was clear that I was asking for and expecting business class travel. Please confirm in writing within seven days that that is in fact what I will receive, failing which I will make a complaint to the authorities and may take legal action”

Incidentally SwissExpat is correct to point out that you may also have a claim against your credit card company if you fail to receive what you purchased – but I would try to get Thai/Expedia to deliver what they sold as your first resort

Good luck!!

[Author]

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