I have moved your post into this already existing topic on many of the COVID travel issues. I think reading through the posts may help you find common answers and similar issues to your’s.
Telephone conversations are mostly useless and as one of my fellow members states “it is nothing more than idle chit chat” for all the notice some businesses take on them.
Going formal by writing a formal request for reimbursement is usually best practice when facing what appear as recalcitrant businesses.
Another option is possibly seeking a credit to be used at another time eg next time the Netball Titles are on. Quest Apartments are franchises so having direct contact with the actual Apartment Franchisees is the first point of contact then perhaps tackling the Franchise Headquarters.
I hope you find some good advice here to help you.
Thank you for your response. Many emails have been sent and the problem with a credit is that my granddaughter has to trial for the rep side therefore there is the possibility of her not being in the squad next year. I’ve started reading all the other comments which may help. Thanks again.
An email that does not reference relevant ACCC advice, T&C at time of booking, and what you want is just ‘idle chit chat’. The ACCC advice already linked refers to the T&C as being applicable save for goodwill.
The standard Quest booking T&Cs about cancellations state:
Property Cancellation Policy
A cancellation fee of one night’s accommodation will apply to any booking cancelled within 48 hours of arrival time. If no arrival time is specified, 2pm of that day will be deemed the arrival time. Any cancellation fee will automatically be charged to the credit card details provided for confirmation, or deducted from the reservation deposit. Please note: This excludes advance purchase bookings which are non-refundable, non-cancellable and non-amendable. Any property may at their absolute discretion alter these terms and conditions for specific bookings, and rate types and advise in writing, the terms and conditions that will apply (e.g. to group bookings or for peak period reservations).
Do you know what type of booking it was?
Was it a non-refundable or non-cancellation booking?
Were there any property specific cancellation policy attached to the booking?
If it was a standard booking, then any cancellation within 48 hours of checkin would incur a one night accommodation rate cancellation fee. Outside that time there should be no cancellation fees.
If the booking was non-refundable or non-cancellation booking, Quest doesn’t necessary need to provide a refund.
If there were property specific cancellation conditions attached to the booking, have a look at these too to see what they say.
A final question…was the Quest Apartment in question within a lockdown area and was it impossible to fulfill your booking because of government imposed controls OR was Quest still able to take guests and the booking could still have been taken even though the netball competition was cancelled?
The reason for this question is that if your cancellation was because the netball competition was cancelled and it was chosen to then cancel the booking, even if one could still stay at the apartments, it would be considered a change of mind by the booking party.
If it was impossible to fulfull the booking due to government imposed Covid-19 which also affected Quest’s ability to accept guests, then it could be argued that Quest in effect cancelled the booking (as checkin was not possible) and therefore Quest should be considering a full refund - and ya refund shouod be sought on this premise. An analogy would be if Quest Apartments had a fire and were deemed unsafe, would they charge guests for bookings which couldn’t occur as a result - I believe they wouldn’t.
The consumer guarantee provisions of the Australian Consumer Law are unlikely to apply to cancellations as a direct result of government restrictions. This may impact the remedies available to consumers.
Consumers should contact the business directly to discuss the options available, including a request for a refund, credit or rebooking.
The ACCC encourages all travel and accommodation providers to treat consumers fairly in these difficult circumstances.
It’s one more situation that demonstrates the need for an overhaul of the travel industry regulations to deliver better financial assurances for consumers.
In the interim the financial risk of cancelled bookings or failed delivery hits both the consumer directly through loss of savings, and the providers through lost revenue. Both are at risk. Who is most at risk is where there is the greatest need for change.
"The government-run Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) used to cover consumers in the event that a travel agent went bust, but it was abolished in 2014.
Agencies are now self-regulated, through the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA), which also represents Helloworld Travel.
In a statement, AFTA said more regulation of travel agents was not necessary and its agents had been tireless in their efforts to secure refunds and credits for people who couldn’t travel due to COVID-19."
This shows how aggressive Ryanair is yet still has queues lining up for their cheap tickets. The airline service motto seems to be ‘Proud to FU’. Is there little wonder why the airlines and other ‘service and travel’ businesses so often take the low road? Cheap, low profit per customer, FU, and volume is a successful game.
Hi All. We booked and paid for a cruise in Alaska for May 2020 then Covid-19 hit. Instead of a refund we just rebooked our cruise for the same cruise in 2021. Alas this was cancelled and we now have a cruise credit for around $3000 Aus. We now have to book a new cruise before Dec 2021 to sail before Dec 2022. We don’t want to risk overseas yet, the only cruises with NCL are to NZ, been 3 times already, Tahiti, expensive and Bali, not interested before COVID-19 and certainly not since. These cruises are well over our cruise credits so why are we being forced to pay heaps more for a cruise we really don’t want to take just so we don’t lose any money. We would be happy to go to Alaska in 2023 but the credits are not being extended. I am sure we are not the only ones in this boat but what can we do? At least we are still young unlike some who have lost a lifetime holiday with no time to do it now.
Hello and welcome to the forum. I have moved your post to an existing thread which deals with this issue. If you have a look back you will see lots of others have had the same or similar questions.
In July 2020 I had booked a return flight to Broome with QANTAS ( through Flight Centre) which was cancelled due to COVID-19 and border closures. At that time QANTAS was claiming that no refunds were being offered but credits were being given (which was subsequently changed when challenged for the legality of the “no refund”). On that note several months later I used that credit ( with credit left over) to purchase a return trip to Cairns on the 25 th July,2021 ( which again was cancelled due to border closures). Money owing was $1102.00. As I am reluctant to fly at least till the end of 2022 I asked for a refund , to be told that I cannot obtain a refund, only credit, as it is QANTAS’S policy, re refunds, that only relates to my current booking ( return flight to Cairns) and not to the original ticket issued ( to Broome). Any advice would be welcomed as to where I stand? Helene
Hi @HeOZ, I merged your situation into this topic that has lots of relevant information on cancellations and refunds. One basic reality is that a Qantas policy is not a legally enforceable position if it is counter to law.
If we’ve cancelled your Qantas flight, including your Classic Flight Reward booking, wait to hear from us before changing your booking. We’ll rebook you on the next available flight to your booked destination (if possible), at no additional cost to you. Alternatively, you can choose a Flight Credit or a refund. You won’t be charged any change or cancellation fees. We’ll be contacting anyone whose flight has been impacted as soon as possible.
Note if the pax unilaterally cancels their flight it is different and subject to normal cancellation policies, eg the T&C when the ticket was purchased.
and from the ACCC (posted previously)
I hope information in this topic and those links helps.
As your original booking to Broome T&Cs didn’t allow for a refund and only credit, and credit was used for your second flight to Cairns, credit is the payment method used for the second flight and not cash/money. Generally refunds are done back to the form of payment used for a product or service…in your case back to credit. Which is consistent with the T&Cs for the Broome flight, which apply to the Cairns flight.
Also, most credits T&Cs I have seen indicate that they can’t be converted/transferred into cash - this is standard conditions for credits. It is worth seeing the T&Cs issued with the credits to see what it says. I suspect, non-transferrable (to) or redeemable (for) cash will likely be the case. If Qantas refunded cash for a flight paid for using credits when such T&Cs apply, Qantas would be carrying out the refund inconsistent with their T&Cs.
The only possible solution is to contact Qantas, present your case, escalate if the initial response is no, and see if they will use their discretion to give you a refund. Don’t expect a positive result, but it is worth asking and pursuing and you never know your luck (unless you ask the question).
Hi, I have been trying to get a refund from expedia/Garuda for 2yrs flights were cancelled due to covid. I received a refund from the hotel directly also the transport i am still currently trying to get a refund from Expedia for flights i have consistently sent emails from Garuda stating i can get a refund of taxes they also stated how much i would get and i have credit until 2023 for air tickets. Garuda have tried to be helpful in sending all the ticket info but expedia continue to say it’s Garuda. I have almost given up trying.Also Garuda no longer fly from perth. Any help you can give me would be very helpful. Thanks
That is a rude experience. From the Expedia web site it appears all customer service starts with a phone call.
We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are calling from within Australia, you can reach us on 133 810
Have you been dealing with customer service or have you asked for a complaints line or escalation?
Back to their web site, they don’t make it easy to discover contact information without first signing in. Not having an account I am unable.
Seek a complaint/escalation email address and if one is not forthcoming use their Australian head office address in Sydney and send a tracked formal Letter of Complaint to their principal (see the DNB page linked below) attaching copies of all your correspondence from Garuda. cc the ACCC/your state fair trading office (they will probably not be helpful but it is part of the process).
This web site might or might not be current but might be helpful in some of the formal contact points.
DNB has an entry for Expedia Australia including the principal’s name.
Anyone else struck this? (Amounts rounded off for brevity)
After a flight cancellation initiated by me but due to the pandemic , Jetstar issued a voucher for $1000. Well and good thinks I . I eventually used $900 to rebook but Jetstar cancelled that booking - once again Covid . When they issued a voucher for the second booking it was for $900 . Hang on says I , they owe me a total of $1000 . Not according to Jetstar’s accounting . At no stage was there mention of the odd $100 as a balance remaining . They finally gave me a voucher for $1000 but I had to point out their one-sided maths to them . Be wary .
Hi @unflight, welcome to the community and you are one of many finding using vouchers challenging.
Choice has covered some of the issues…
Is the $100 remaining on the original voucher? If this is the case, you might have one voucher of $100 and another of $900. It is worth checking that this is the case.
Mine isn’t as bad as your experience. I booked flights which Jetstar re-scheduled unilaterally placing me on the worst flights for the same days. Thry offered a refund or an alternative flight of my choosing and I opted for the latter. I should have asked for a refund and re-booked as the alternative flights I was given were significantly cheaper but when I asked to be refunded the difference they said this was not possible. I’m guessing they are able to do this because of some fine print buried deep in one of their contracts somewhere……
Good morning Billie 1,
The worst part is their vouchers-only refund means you have to keep dealing with a company in which you have no confidence or respect for .(sorry to end a sentence with a conjunction , that’s something I don’t usually put up with )
