The airline cancelled my flight but the travel agent hasn’t refunded me

theguardian.com:

In April last year I booked a £486 flight from Newark to Kuala Lumpur for June 2022 through the online travel agent Opodo. A month later Opodo informed me the flight was cancelled by the airline, All Nippon Airways.

I booked a different flight and my holiday went ahead as planned. Since then I have still not received a refund from Opodo.

On its app, the refund is at the “pending airline authorisation” stage, and when I email Opodo customer services, their replies are a generic template, vaguely blaming the airline.

Originally it talked about a refund within three months, which meant I didn’t dispute the payment with a cashback charge and I am now out of time.

I feel very helpless, since the consumer advice seems to say that I should have been refunded long ago. I have no idea what to do.

JM, by email

What is it with the online travel agents and issuing refunds when a flight is cancelled way ahead of schedule by the airline? We’ve seen so many letters like this in recent years. The agents blame the airline, and the airline says the consumer has to deal with the agent, and round you go.

Happily in this case Opodo has now got its act together, and your refund has been found. It has not gone back to Nippon, which it says had failed to authorise the refund, and the money will be in your account in seven days.

Next time, book direct. It’s so much better, particularly when there is a problem. And always pay by credit card, not debit card. It’s baffling that people still don’t.

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