Hello fellow travelers,
I've never had a single issue with flights in my life. I don't fly a lot (thank God), but when you gotta do it, you gotta do it.
I booked through ZUJI Hong Kong for a round trip from Hong Kong to Luxembourg, with a stop in Heathrow. Connection time was more than acceptable (around 3 hours), so I was happy to book. I booked end October 2014 for flights departing end May 2015. Plenty of time!
2 weeks later, the Heathrow-Luxembourg flights are rescheduled. To my horror, even though the rescheduled flights are 1-2 hours early/late only, they make connection impossible (60 and 20 minutes only) both ways. As this was obviously not acceptable, we denied this change.
The only suggestion from ZUJI was to ask us to accept being moved to the immediate next flight, which means 12 hours waiting time both ways. 24 hours total sitting in the airport at Heathrow! Once again, obviously not acceptable, so I did some research and found several flights which allow me to depart on the same day or on the day before, for similar prices, and for similar connection times as I had originally paid for.
ZUJI insist they can only put me on that flight with 12 hours waiting time, nothing else. They mentioned twice that the ticket is not refundable - even though I had not even started mentioning about asking a refund. I guess they saw it coming, given that even an idiot would have jumped off his seat with such a ridiculous proposal.
According to Cathay Pacific's conditions (I booked through ZUJI but the ticket shows under Cathay Pacific, even though the rescheduled leg is handled by British Airways), tickets are non-refundable, except under some conditions. If you check their general conditions of carriage, under chapter 10 and 11, if a flight is rescheduled and leads to a missed connection, and you do not accept the replacements flights you are offered, you can get a full refund.
- ZUJI told me 1400 times the ticket is non-refundable. I know this, but under certain conditions, it is. My case falls well under these conditions.
- They told me I should refer to Cathay's rules, as my booking is made with their name. I did, and found I can get a refund.
- Then they say the rules of my ticket are different, and are not the same as those of Cathay's conditions. I told them I checked ZUJI's, Cathay's and British's conditions, and I undertand I can get a refund. It's written black on white. They have yet to show me these mysterious conditions which would make my ticket unrefundable.
- They kept on refusing a refund, but today changed their mind and said they can, but only the taxes. The fare won't be refunded. This is a joke and I said I don't accept it. They are not nice enough to reschedule me 6 months in advance for a ticket that has been paid, and I'm not asking to change because I want to but because I have no choice and the problem is not mine. And now they won't even offer a full refund.
Question is: I understand I am entitled to a full refund because of the specific conditions of my case. So what can I do *quickly* to get a refund? I just want to book another flight. I don't even want a refund, but ZUJI will not offer anything else than 24 hours of total waiting time in Heathrow.
Cathay's conditions of carriage (chap. 10 and 11): (http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/legal-and-privacy/data-privacy-and-security-policy.html)
ZUJI conditions (chapter 5.3) mention the ticket is under the carrier's conditions, which here would be Cathay: http://www.zuji.com.hk/en-hk/general/terms-and-conditions
I don't understand how they can refuse a refund even though all I see is that I can ask for a full refund at no charge and no fee.
Your help is much appreciated,