Was I scammed by BoraJet? They cancelled the flight, promised to pay for another ticket - it didn't happen
This is about the Turkish airline BoraJet. I was going from Istanbul to Ankara via BoraJet, but when I arrived at the airport, the flight was cancelled by the airline. The manager of BoraJet told me that I could buy a new ticket from another company and that they would pay me the difference (which was >600% more than the original ticket).
I have sent them all the necessary documentation (receipt), but still haven't received any response (nearly two weeks later.)
Was I scammed by BoraJet?
What can I do?
Best Answer
If you bought the ticket using a debit/credit card, the easiest way of solving the situation is to file a chargeback with your bank, stating that you did not receive the product you've paid for and haven't received any compensation. It should be easy to prove the flight was cancelled and BoraJet won't be able to prove they've arranged alternative flights, so you should get your money back.
In my experience filing a chargeback forces the merchant to react quickly, as they don't want to be penalized by the bank.
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What is an airlines obligation if they cancel your flight?
But in a routine cancellation, you have two basic contractual rights on any airline, subject to minor variations: either (1) a seat on your original airline's next available flight, or (2) a refund for the unused portion of your ticket. Some airlines go beyond those bare-bones rights.Can you get money back from canceled flight?
Cancelled Flight \u2013 A consumer is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel.Do airlines have to refund due to Covid?
Airlines and ticket agents have a legal obligation to provide refunds to consumers if the airline cancels or significantly changes a consumer's flight. However, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines had difficulty processing the significant volume of refund requests that they received.Can an airline cancel a flight and not refund you?
You are entitled to a full cash refund if the airline cancels, makes a significant schedule change or significantly delays a flight, so wait as long as possible to cancel. Unless a new law is passed, airlines won't be required to give you a refund if you're the one canceling.Airline Refunds - Flight Cancelled? Know Your Rights!
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Answer 2
What can I do?
In addition to the answer by @luchador, keep contacting the airline, asking about the status of your complaint. In some countries you just send a complaint/request one time and then wait to be contacted again. That is not how it works in all countries. In many countries (including the one I live in) you often have to fight to get a proper response.
Contact them many times. Always ask for the name of the person you're talking to (and write it down). If you get rejected or stonewalled multiple times, ask to speak to their supervisor. (Also, if you get this far without being reimbursed: To answer your question: Yes, by that point this would per definition be a scam by BoraJet.)
Email a link to this question to BoraJet
If such repeated contacting and complaining doesn't work, email a link to this question directly to BoraJet and explain that it's written by you due to said case and the fact that previous efforts have failed. (You can also leave other negative reviews online and include them too.) Show them that their policy/cheating is having a negative effect, however slight, on their reputation. It's actually not as innocuous as it may sound. Imagine if this question hit the Hot Network Questions here and got 10.000 views. This question has now hit the Hot Network Questions here and has a lot of views and upvotes.
Also:
If [SE says] a question has 1,000 views it probably has at least 2x real world views, and potentially as many as 5x real world views.
It could end up showing up does now show up in Google when people search for BoraJet (and could even end up being is now the second hit for "is BoraJet reliable." (I tested this in incognito mode.) This is not something BoraJet wants. It's very bad publicity. BoraJet may actually take notice and choose to reimburse you, asking you to update the question.
You could even find what common searches bring this result up and include those links in the email.
As @Willeke suggests in a comment, you could also post a link to this question elsewhere online, like social media, travel related sites, etc. Anything to get attention to the case helps you when you've already tried and failed while contacting BoraJet directly.
It is, however, difficult. I'm assuming you don't have the name of the manager who promised you to pay for the ticket. (If you do, you can call customer care and refer to him directly.)
As @JonathanReez says, if all of this fails your last resort is indeed to complain to your credit card company and accept the 85% loss.
In the future, when someone makes a promise like this, ask to get it in writing.
Answer 3
In my opinion you were likely scammed by BoraJet. While oral promises such as "the manager of BoraJet told me that I could buy ticket via another company and they would pay me the difference" are typically legally binding, proving that such a promise with such a meaning was made would be very difficult. From a couple reviews I found online about them this seem to be typical for this company.
What you can do is to file a written complain within the airline; make sure you have the record of it. Give them some time to respond. There is a small chance they would stand up to this promise, but I wouldn't count on that.
Next step you can try to sue them in a court. Not just for the promise, but also because your flight was canceled the last minute, you incurred additional expenses, and BoraJet is liable for them. Talk to a litigation lawyer before that to find out what's your chance the Turkish court agrees with you, and whether you're ok with that.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ono Kosuki, Ono Kosuki, Samson Katt, Samson Katt