Duplicate Booking with Aer Lingus - Anxiety

Gangu

I booked a flight from Bulgaria to Dublin. However I was having internet problems at the time and a couple of weeks later I went to check my flight confirmation could not find any in my email. I booked the flight assuming it had not already been booked. Now it turns out I’ve paid twice. I went on to the Aer Lingus website and because of the chaos with the industrial action I couldn’t speak to anyone. On the portal I applied for a refund for one set of flights and it was rejected by the automated system. I feel sick with anxiety. I have no email confirmation from Aer Lingus of the first flight but can’t prove to them that they didn’t send it. I would be happy to just transfer the flight to another flight as we’ve to go to a family wedding later in the year. Do you think Aer Lingus will help me in anyway??? Any suggestions about what I should do? Do I have any rights or am I just hoping they will be kind.

endofrainbow

Did you pay by credit card ? If by debit card is there a chance the debit is pending ?

Do you have PNR's for both sets of flights? How could you cancel if you didn't have confirmation details?

Gangu

they are not pending. I have the booking numbers and references as I discovered it when I logged in to check my avios points

Gangu

they were booked with cards but the money is taken

wandererz

Well what's the penalty fare for cancellation?

Do you stand to lose part or all of the fare?

Why the need for anxiety?

When is the flight?

SuperBowserWorld

If you've booked twice with the same passport number then it's clearly a mistake. You can't sit in two seats. So, they should give you a refund. They should not have taken the second booking.

wandererz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122340099#Comment_122340099

There are exceptions to this. Larger people do book two seats. Also, depending on if you are carrying certain items. Google Sharon Corr and her violin with Cryanair last week.

Gangu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122340075#Comment_122340075

the anxiety is that the original 4 flights cost 1000 so it’s an amount I cannot afford to lose

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122340058#Comment_122340058

Ring either the credit card or debit card company and explain the situation and request a charge back, It was an honest mistake so I would hope they would do it.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122340099#Comment_122340099

Do you need your passport to book though?

Thought you enter that at online check in.

holliehobbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122341389#Comment_122341389

You don’t need a passport when you’re booking the flights.

Gangu

same passport numbers. Same names. An obvious mistake. I just can’t speak to anyone because of the work to rule. I don’t know what to do or how to communicate with them

boardjames

I would try contacting Aer Lingus on social media like Twitter. Often you can message them directly and get a quicker response than waiting on hold. Explain the situation clearly - that it was an obvious duplicate booking mistake due to internet issues, and you just want to resolve it by cancelling one set of flights or transferring them. Hopefully they will be understanding since it wasn't intentional. Don't offer to do a chargeback yet - let Aer Lingus try to resolve it directly first.

Gangu

any ideas about how to convert with a human in aer lingus

galvo_clare

I was in the same situation a few years ago although I discovered and contacted them straight away. No problem cancelling the duplicate booking. You should be alright.

rainagain

I used WhatsApp last time I had a query and was replied to quickly (before the industrial action though). Scroll down on https://www.aerlingus.com/support/customer-care/contact-us/

Gangu

yes I tried WhatsApp but they won’t engage about flights not impacted by the industrial dispute. Thank you though

Gangu

I stand to loose all except tax. Over €1000

Gangu

I’m so stressed

Dublinandy3

I wouldn't be too stressed. It sounds like you'll most likely get your money back so no need to be stressed, and if you don't you'll have to chalk it up to an expensive lesson learned.

You didn't notice you had the money missing after the first booking attempt which was a couple of weeks so I'm assuming it's not left you destitute.

I would suggest social media for this one, maybe even LinkedIn actually, that's worked for me with other companies in the past.

Still not pleasant but unfortunately sometimes crappy things happen in life.

chipschips

pretty sure you can change flights for a 40e fee per person per flight if you don’t have any joy getting a refund.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122341374#Comment_122341374

I would hope not - it would be an attempt to defraud. It’s up to the OP to resolve with Aer Lingus not to falsely claim that the service has not been provided. OP, even if you did not receive the confirmation you can see the booking in Avios which means you have the reference to manage the booking, change it, move it to a different date etc. if you want consideration for an out of policy cancellation then you should persevere with Aer Lingus to watch out for an offer to reschedule or cancel in accordance with work to rule. You may have used an incorrect email or it might be in junk/spam.

wandererz

When is the flight and what is the fare type that you booked?

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122341374#Comment_122341374

Chargeback is not some kind of get out of jail free card. The merchant will be consulted and so long as there in no illegality or technical issue, it will be refused. Although it was a mistake it is a valid transaction as far at the card company is concerned, it is up to the merchant to decide what they want to do.

Gangu

I finally managed to speak to a person about this yesterday. They were very nice and said that as the bookings were identical it was clearly an error and that they would refund me. I’m waiting for the funds now but all resolved hopefully. Thank you for your help, and most of you for your kindness.