Lastminute.com customers are still complaining that they are being charged for the firm’s full-flex insurance policy – claiming they haven’t given consent to the add on.
The full-flex extra allows holidaymakers who purchase it to cancel their flights without having to give any reason and in turn, receive a voucher worth 90 per cent of the original ticket price.
However, many have said that although they didn’t opt for the policy, they have been charged for it anyway.
After This is Money initially reported on the issue in November last year, a number of readers got in touch to say they had experienced the same problem.
Lastminute.com customers said they have had the full-flex option added on to their accounts
One reader, Mr F, who did not wish to be named, said it recently happened to him.
He was using Lastminute.com, which acts as a middleman between airlines and consumers, to purchase three flights to Africa.
Aware of the full-flex add on problem, he made sure to not add it to his basket as it wasn’t something that he wanted.
However, he later found an email in his inbox saying he had bought the full-flex policy which also asked him if he wanted to cancel it during the cooling-off period.
Mr F said: ‘The wording of the email seems designed to make it look incredibly difficult – to dissuade customer from pursuing this option.’
The email said: ‘If you have changed your mind about the full-flex service, you can ask for a refund within the next 14 days.
‘Just write your Booking ID and request to cancel at [email protected] or BravoNext SA, Vicolo de’ Calvi 2 – CH-6830 Chiasso, Switzerland. Your refund request will be processed free of charge within 24 hours.’
It then says that customers will be refunded 90 per cent of the cost of the ticket in the form of a voucher-code, not even a cash refund.
This is something that is likely to put off customers from pursuing a refund as they won’t get back all the money they have already spent.
One reader found that the insurance policy had been added on to his booking without asking
Mr F said: ‘This is clearly included in the email to give the reader the impression that removing full-flex from their booking is going to be incredibly difficult and they will not get their money back.’
He tried to call both the Lastminute.com customer services number and the new booking number but found it difficult to speak to a member of staff.
He believes this was because it was filtering calls, based on caller ID, from people with existing bookings.
Mr F added: ‘I had to re-dial the new bookings line from a different phone number to get the option of being passed through to a human.’
According to him, the customer services agent said Lastminute.com would never mislead customers and that he must have failed to click on one of the three confirmation boxes during the process flow.
After arguing his case and saying that he definitely didn’t click on it, Lastminute.com agreed to process a full cash refund back to Mr F.
This is Money has contacted Lastminute.com for comment. It has previously defended the practice because a proactive action is required by the consumer to add the product or to continue without it at the end of the purchase process.
However, he is not the only person who has encountered this problem and other Lastminute.com customers have taken to social media to share their frustrations with the holiday site after they too were charged for the policy.
One Twitter user said he opted out of the insurance policy but it was still added on to his order
Another user said the service was added on without permission and he had to get a refund
One user said they felt like that the insurance add on was ‘fraud’ and she was very upset
Someone affected said they were happy with their quick refund but thought it was ‘misleading’
Whilst some said the checkout process was so confusing, they accidentally bought the cancellation cover, many have said it was added on even after they clicked ‘no thanks’.
Lastminute.com are likely to be profiting from this as, if – just a quarter of customers bought the cover – the site could be making more than £6million a year in extra revenue, according to analysis by The Times.
There is no suggestion that the presentation of the full-flex product is in breach of the law but one marketing expert did say it was an example of ‘dark patterns’.
For example, there are ruses used on websites to encourage consumers to purchase products or services against their wishes.
What to do if you’ve been charged?
If you have been charged without permission for the full-flex insurance, you should contact Lastminute.com directly. Ideally, this should be done within 14 days of the booking.
Either call it or fill out an online firm with your complaint, explaining you didn’t mean to/know that the insurance has been added and you want a refund.
Its customer service number is 0871 277 1070 and its online contact form can be found here.
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