Sally won �1,400 after an online glitch meant she booked extra flights for a friend's trip home to see his dying father
A woman who was overcharged by �1,300 on bmibaby's website ? when she was booking flights so a friend could visit his terminally ill father ? has won a court victory against the budget airline.
After a five-month struggle to get her money back, during which she threatened to call bailiffs to the bmibaby headquarters, the woman was granted �1,400 in a small claims court.
Throughout the process the woman, who wishes to be identified as Sally, says the airline repeatedly blocked her request to get her money back, claiming it has a "no-refund" policy. She ran up a bill of more than �50 in calls to the airline's premium-rate phone line.
Her success will be welcomed by anyone who has been told they can't change an online flight booking, or has been forced to book a second flight following a technical problem. It also lends extra weight to European Union proposals to introduce a "cooling-off" period for online flight bookings.
Sally, from Cheltenham, was called in August last year by a close friend who was holidaying in Majorca. He had found out his father was dangerously ill, had been moved to a hospice, and was about to die. Not having access to the internet, he asked her to book flights back to the UK.
She booked four tickets at a cost of more than �1,300 from the bmibaby website. She soon realised that either she had made an error, or there was a system fault, as she had booked flights for the wrong day. She tried to amend the booking but the website wouldn't let her, and showed there were no flights available on the day she wanted.
By now it was after midnight, and she couldn't get through to the airline on the phone. Because her friend was relying on her, she had to try again with a second credit card. At this point the flights became available, and she was forced to spend a second �1,300.
"The next morning I contacted BMI via its premium rate phone line, to be told that it wasn't their problem. I was told that because the flights weren't booked on the same day, there was nothing they could do. They stated that it was in their terms and conditions and that was that."
She says a series of letters requesting a refund for the unused flights met with an invitation for her to call the airline back on its premium rate number.
"Bmibaby were trying to be as unhelpful as possible throughout, and in trying to get my money back I was forced to spend �52 on phone calls. I told them I would bring an action in the small claims court and the response was: 'Be my guest'."
A lawyer friend helped her write her claim, in which she argued the failure was due to a problem with bmibaby's website. She also wrote that the airline's parent company, BMI, had stated it had signed up to a voluntary code giving passengers the chance to make changes of this kind within 24 hours.
Bmibaby did not defend the action, and the court found in her favour. It awarded her the cost of the flights, her court costs and phone bill ? a total of �1,400. Sally says: "It was a long battle but it was worth it. I hope other consumers will take action if they are told it is not the airline's problem. The idea that airlines can behave in this way and get away with it is extraordinary."
A spokeswoman for bmibaby declined to talk about the case, but said: "Bmibaby flights are non-refundable. This is clearly stated in our terms and conditions that passengers adhere to when making a booking. This is in line with other low-cost airlines."
Sally's case shows courts will often find in favour of consumers in the face of an airline's refusal to pay a refund. Small claims courts do not set precedents, but other readers denied refunds should consider the same path.
Money often receives complaints from consumers who have been asked to pay big charges to make even tiny changes to bookings. Double-bookings are often caused when airline websites freeze, leaving users unsure whether the booking was completed or not.
James Fremantle, of consumer body the Air Transport Users Council, says several airlines have signed up to its "online cooling-off period".
"It is entirely voluntary, but the airlines that will let you rectify a mistake made during an online booking are BMI, Virgin, easyJet and Flybe. British Airways aren't technically signed up but do allow consumers to rectify errors made in the booking," he says.
He says many north American airlines offer a 24-hour cooling-off period. He adds that the European Commission is understood to be looking at this area, and may bring in rules forcing airlines to let customers rectify mistakes. If the Money postbag is a good barometer, British air passengers would give such a move a warm welcome.
? This article was amended on 7 March 2011. In the original, it said bailiffs were called to bmibaby's headquarters. This has been corrected.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/mar/05/bmibaby-court-defeat
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