Flight cancelled by Falcon. Options?

geronimofinch

Hi there, looking for some input please. Meself and the family had a holiday booked to Gran Canaria for May 2nd to May 16 departing Shannon. Holiday paid in full. Received phone call from people at Falcon yesterday advising that the flight from Shannon had been canceled and were now going to allow me to choose between Cork and Dublin instead. Great, I thought, as I'm living in Cork. They then rang back and said all the flights from Cork were booked for the 2nd and that we would need to take the 9th - totally throwing all or plans into the toilet. Further snag that I would now have to pay a further €1,000 for the privilege. This doesn't seem right. Anyone have experience of this from Falcon? Doesn't even seem legal. Even more baffling is that I just checked the Falcon website and they're still selling flights from Cork to Gran Canaria for the 2nd to the 16th as they allowed me to book 4 seats upto the point they asked for credit card details. Fishy to say the least. Ombudsman time?

Berty

National Consumer Agency Law

If you as the operator cancel the holiday or significantly alter an essential term of the contract, including the price or type of accommodation, you must give customers the following options:

* A replacement holiday of equivalent or superior quality, if you can provide this;
* A lower grade holiday, with a refund of the difference in price, if you can provide this; or
* A full refund
* Compensation in certain circumstances

Compensation may not be due if you need to cancel the package due to factors outside your control, such as an "act of God", or where you have failed to get the number of people required for the package to take place. However customers are still due a refund or replacement holiday as set out above.

No price changes are allowed within 20 days of the departure date.

Lucky them!!

Also this

( c ) The consumer is entitled, without prejudice to paragraph (b), to be compensated by the organiser for non-performance of the contract except where—


(i) the package is cancelled because the number of persons who agree to take it is less than the minimum number required and the consumer is informed of the cancellation, in writing, within the period prescribed in the contract, or


(ii) the package is cancelled by force majeure, that is to say the package is cancelled by reason of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the organiser, the retailer or other supplier of services, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised.


( d ) Overbooking shall not be regarded as a circumstance falling within paragraph (c) (ii).




You are entitled to a refund at least or a change of your holiday to a similar or superior holiday at not cost to you.

I would be interested to know WHY the flight was cancelled. If it was due to overbooking or underbooking then you are entitled to compensation.

I would also be interested to know your insurance policy terms and conditions to check whether you are entitled to compensation through Insurance.

supermouse

Falcon pulled 4 flights form Shannon for Summer 09 due to poor sales. Majorca, Portugal, Bulgaria and Gran Canaria. They are offering a full refund, change of departure airport or alternative holiday which they will try to cost as close to the origional as possible.
Call them again and speak to a supervisor as they are allowed transfer you to another date for the exact same money you have paid - Im a travel agent myself and did this just monday for a client. In relation to the seats being available for the same date online - does it allow you go as far as to put in credit card details? As it may show up yet when you go to book may divert you to another date?! If it lets you put in cc details, there's 99% chance there are seats available.
Hope you get on ok!

geronimofinch

Thanks for the info, Berty, Supermouse. The problem is, I don't want a refund, I want to go on the holiday I booked. It's just 7 weeks away and we're not going to find something better at this stage.

Per Supermouse, it seems that poor sales is the reason for the cancellation and despite Falcon informing me on numerous occasions that they cannot accommodate 4 seats on the 2nd May to Gran Canaria from Cork (which was the alternative flight they offered me originally after informing of the Shannon cancellation), I am brought to the CC details screen when attempting to book 4 places for flights only from Cork to Gran Canaria on the 2nd May for two weeks on the Falcon website. I put in a dummy CC number and other details and it got as far as telling me that the CC number I inserted was incorrect. Falcon are obviously lying to me when saying they do not have any seats left for the May 2nd flight from Cork. Surely, this is illegal?


Cork
Gran Canaria (Las Palmas) (4hrs 30mins)

Sat 02 May 2009
Departs: 16:00
Arrives: 19:55
Airline: To Be Confirmed
Flight: TBA
Gran Canaria (Las Palmas)
Cork

Sat 16 May 2009
Departs: 20:55
Arrives: 00:40 on Sun
Airline: To Be Confirmed
Flight: TBA
Price Details
Price Includes:

* 20kg Baggage Allowance
* Delivery of Tickets to Postal Address

In-flight Meals Not Included

Terms and Conditions
Item Price
Party Price €1,606.00
Party Details and Prices:
3 Adults (at €429.00 each) €1,287.00
Mr F Falcon
Mrs J Falcon
Ms A Falcon
1 Child €399.00
Mstr A Falcon (22/06/2003)
(includes €40.00 Online Discount
and all Taxes and Charges)

dereko1969

ring them up and ask straightaway to speak to a supervisor, explain that their own website is stating that there are spaces available from cork, that they are obliged to accommodate you and that if they don't you will get onto joe duffy or gerry ryan.

supermouse

If it lets you go that far i would assume the seats are there. Seems to me like the person you were talking to in Falcon may only be new/training as they do allow customers change dates and secure the holiday cost as on origional booking.
I would speak to a supervisor- put your point across and they'll work around you to keep your custom.

Savman

Let them fly you up to Dublin

Salome

dereko1969 wrote: »

ring them up and ask straightaway to speak to a supervisor, explain that their own website is stating that there are spaces available from cork, that they are obliged to accommodate you and that if they don't you will get onto joe duffy or gerry ryan.

And what will Joe or Gerry actually be able to do for you? Nothing. Talk to the holiday company - they want to try and keep your custom and will be as accommodating as they are able to be.

Venting spleen on one of those radio shows might make you feel better but they rarely solve the problem. At the end of the day, the flight is cancelled, give the holiday company an opportunity to come up with a solution. Joe and Gerry won't be able to do that.

dereko1969

Salome wrote: »

And what will Joe or Gerry actually be able to do for you? Nothing. Talk to the holiday company - they want to try and keep your custom and will be as accommodating as they are able to be.

Venting spleen on one of those radio shows might make you feel better but they rarely solve the problem. At the end of the day, the flight is cancelled, give the holiday company an opportunity to come up with a solution. Joe and Gerry won't be able to do that.

You should really read posts before opening your keyboard.

The travel company have already spoken to the OP and have not come up with a suitable (and legal) remedy. I suggested talking again directly to a supervisor and then telling them that they would get in contact with the radio stations as that may get their attention, but someone on the radio detailing a valid complaint about a travel company not adhering to their obligations on either of the two most popular radio stations could impact on that travel company's reputation.

Berty

As a former call centre employee the references made to ringing the radio stations will fall upon deaf ears and will not be entered into the recent call dialogue(most likely).

Send your information to Conor Pope at the Irish Times. pricewatch@todayfm.com is the easiest way to get him.

Send him everything you have.

Salome

dereko1969 wrote: »

You should really read posts before opening your keyboard.

The travel company have already spoken to the OP and have not come up with a suitable (and legal) remedy. I suggested talking again directly to a supervisor and then telling them that they would get in contact with the radio stations as that may get their attention, but someone on the radio detailing a valid complaint about a travel company not adhering to their obligations on either of the two most popular radio stations could impact on that travel company's reputation.

You should really read the Package Holiday Act before opening YOUR keyboard. The holiday company is entitled to cancel a flight for many reasons, probably in this case, it's because not enough people booked the same flight so it was commercially not possible to operate it. The customer is entitled to an alternative holiday, subject to availability or a full refund.

Gerry Ryan or Joe Duffy are not going to be able to change that. At the end of the day, the holiday company will want to try and keep the booking by offering something as suitable to the customer as possible - they're not out to ruin someone's holiday - it's a fact of commercial life and is covered by the holiday contract.

Unfortunately, there is small print in every contract so it's important to read and understand them before you enter into one.

Hopefully the OP got sorted though.

supermouse

Berty wrote: »

As a former call centre employee the references made to ringing the radio stations will fall upon deaf ears and will not be entered into the recent call dialogue(most likely).

Send your information to Conor Pope at the Irish Times. pricewatch@todayfm.com is the easiest way to get him.

Send him everything you have.

But why would he do that before talking to the supervisor in Falcon??? That makes absolutley no sense.
Talking to the supervisor/manager - seeing exactly what they are offering before going any further with it.

Berty

supermouse wrote: »

But why would he do that before talking to the supervisor in Falcon??? That makes absolutley no sense.
Talking to the supervisor/manager - seeing exactly what they are offering before going any further with it.

They are going the 2nd of May which leaves not a lot of time to get the finger out and get things done.

By sending the information to Conor Pope puts another shoulder to the wheel. I never said do NOT speak to Falcon again but the Irish Times consumer watchdog desk is definately a solution because they, Falcon, would prefer to come to an amicable solution much quicker if they can see the effort the consumer is going to.

I mentioned before my long standing battle with Air France to get my 100% refund which they claimed under their terms and conditions was nonrefundable. Long story short, two months later I got my refund and booked with somebody else, cheaper. The OP does not have two months to be seeking a solution.

Ring Falcon again and again and write them formal letter/emails and request a formal letter detailing their requests and their reasons and justification as to why they believe they can charge you more money.

Let them put their cards on the table first and then come back here for more advice from the forum members.


Note: I still believe this information should be sent to Conor Pope.

Salome

As we haven't heard from the OP for a few days, it's possible that the matter has been resolved as best it can.

Your Air France situation would be slightly different, the OP is entitled to a refund or a replacement holiday, subject to availability. Unfortunately, the replacement holiday might not be from his ideal choice of airport but as his flight was cancelled due to poor sales, his ideal choice was never going to be possible. Hopefully, it has been sorted to his relative satisfaction though.

geronimofinch

OP here - Just as a matter of interest (and excuse my ignorance) an OP would be?

Well, after Falcon continually denied that there were any flights leaving Cork on the 2nd allied to their insistence of charging a further €1000 if we were to change dates to reschedule the holiday, further allied to us not wanting to choose a different package within the same price range, we opted for a refund of the money we had paid - including the deposit, naturally. They said a cheque would be in the post and to allow 5-7 working days.

I thought no more of it until just going through my MBNA online banking thingy and guess what? They've refunded the cost of the holiday MINUS the deposit (around €480) which we paid last year!

Now, when you people tell me that I'm entitled to a refund, that would imply a full refund including the deposit, yeah? Surely be to Christ, they can't keep the deposit when they've canceled the holiday in the first instance?

We also rang the Financial Services Ombudsman to lodge a complaint and he informed us that Falcon, as registered as a Belfast company are outside his remit and to contact some European Combune Unipene?

Not what we wanted but with only 7 weeks left, beggars can't be choosers so we're now going to Turkey for 2 weeks from Cork on the 2nd with Budget Travel - self catering.

Never again going near Falcon - well, apart from trying to wrangle my deposit back.

Berty

Seriously Falcon need to cop on and give back the deposit. They are only landing themselves in hot water if you follow through with making a complaint to the relevant authorities.

Complain to this crowd

http://www.abta.com/home

And a lot of information here

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/before_you_buy/

What is an OP? Opening Poster.

geronimofinch

Mmm, I see. Well, there is the possibility that it was merely an oversight on good old Falcon's part so a simple phonecall tomorrow should sort out the deposit part. I mean, even their own T & C's indicate that all monies paid under the contract are to be refunded.

9. ALTERATIONS BY THE ORGANISER
(a) The Organiser reserves the right to alter, change, curtail or cancel a holiday.
(b) If as a consequence of force majeure (as hereinafter defined in sub-paragraph (f) of this clause), the Organiser is obliged to curtail, alter, extend or cancel a holiday, the Consumer shall not be at liberty to maintain a claim for compensation or otherwise for any loss arising as a consequence of the said curtailment, alteration, extension or cancellation of the holiday.
(c) The Organiser has specified that a minimum number of bookings are required for a programme of holidays in its published information relating to that programme, the Organisers obligation to provide that programme shall be contingent upon the Organiser receiving and maintaining that minimum number of bookings. In the event that the Organiser does not receive the minimum number of bookings or having received such minimum number has that number reduced by reason of cancellations or transfer by Consumers or otherwise, the Organiser shall be entitled to cancel or curtail the relevant programme at any time up to 4 weeks prior to the departure date and the Consumer shall not be entitled to make a claim for loss arising as a consequence of cancellation or curtailment in these circumstances. The Organiser shall notify the Consumer as soon as practicably possible of any cancellation or curtailment necessitated by the foregoing circumstances
(d) If prior to the departure date there is a cancellation, alteration, change or curtailment relating to a holiday, which results in more than 18 hours change in the time of departure, or a change of resort or in the type of accommodation offered, or some other change which fundamentally alters the holiday, the Consumer is entitled;
(D1) To take a replacement package of equivalent or superior quality if the Organiser (whether directly or through a Retailer) is able to offer such a replacement or;
(D2) To take a replacement package of lower quality if the Organiser is able to offer such a replacement and to recover from the Organiser the difference in price between that of the package purchased and the replacement package or;
(D3) To have repaid as soon as possible all the monies paid under the contract.
(e) Where the Organiser makes an alteration in the holiday as contemplated in sub-paragraph (d1 and d2) of this clause the Consumer shall be entitled to receive compensation in accordance with the scale set out below.

On a plus note, my credit card is temporarily in credit to the tune of €1000. Thought I'd never see the day.

Berty

geronimofinch wrote: »

On a plus note, my credit card is temporarily in credit to the tune of €1000. Thought I'd never see the day.

Air France refunded me my flights to a tune of €2866 so I had that as a credit on my card.

It didnt last long when I booked Singapore Airlines but I still saved €796 which trust me, herself did not left long sitting on the card. Her list of holiday clothes grew overnight.

Salome

You will get a refund of the full deposit - I'm sure it's just a administrative issue. You are 100% entitled to a full refund.