Asked to cancel ticket for mistake in name!!???

[anoukm]

Hi,

 

I bought 4 flight tickets in Jully for my family (husband and children of 2 and 5 years old). The ticket was bought online, and involve 4 different airline.

 

A mistake was made in my surname when I booked the ticket which was issued with the mistake (my surname is shorter).

 

I have called the travel agency and I have been told that the name on my ticket can not be amended and that I should either cancel my ticket with no refund (I have no insurance), and buy a now one, or take the chance to travel with a mistake on my name on my ticket (It says Malboeuf instead of Malboeuf-Saint-Cyr)

 

If I cancel my ticket I will loose a lot of money (full price of the ticket) and they will not be able to book me a new ticket with the same flight as the rest of my family!! My husband will than have to travel with our two young child from Gaborone (Botswana) to Montreal (Canada)...

 

On each carrier website, it is mentioned that it is possible to amend name for a small fee. But the Travel Agency have to make the change and charge me... I would have no problem with that.

 

But the travel agency refuse to amend the name because it involve 4 different airlines...

 

What can I do? Please, your help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Conniff]

The name isn't actually wrong. Whose error was it, yours when applying or theirs when issuing the tickets?

[anoukm]

Hi,

Good question... It is in fact our mistake because in every day life I only use Malboeuf and not Malboeuf-Saint-Cyr... it is just to long.

 

We are ready to pay administrative fees since it is our mistake ... but we cant believe they can not amend the name ?!

 

We have been booking ticket online so many time and it is the first time this kind of situation happens.

 

[BankFodder]

When is the date of the flight?

[BankFodder]

Also, are you in Gabs now?

[anoukm]

Hi again,

The flight is the 15th of December and yes, we are in Gaborone. The plane tickets are to visit our family in Montreal we haven't seen in 2 years. I do not want to mess it up my taking the chance of being refused on my flight because on the name on the ticket!

[BankFodder]

Where is the travel agency. Who are they? Presumably you have used a Botswana address and it maybe that you will have to rely on the Botswana court system which we don't have very much experience of .... well none at all really!

[BankFodder]

And by coincidence:-

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/holiday-companies/229030-air-malta-travel-republic.html#post2536285

 

 

Same principle applies. If they refuse to honour the ticket, then the ticket is invalid and you are dealing with the recovery of money paid under a mistake. I expect that the law of mistake is the same in Botswana as it is in UK as it is a Common Law system. However, your court system will be different and of course the travel agency probably has no presence in Botswana if you bought the ticket online.

 

Let me warn you that you are dealing with a pretty unscrupulous business which no one had seriously challenged yet. They have established cultures such as ticket cancelation penalties which allow them to make substantial profits on people's errors or difficulties. Generally, I would say that in these respects the travel industry does not act lawfully but as they are never challenged, their customers now believe that they have few rights in the matter.