WENDY KNOWLER | Companies can deduct 'reasonable' penalty for booking cancellations

The issue of booking cancellations is a complicated one, and Covid-19-related lockdowns made them even more so because neither consumer nor supplier had any say in the matter.

But now that lockdowns are behind us, the Consumer Protection Act applies to cancellations in the way the legislators intended.

In short, you can cancel any booking you made in advance for a refund, but the company can deduct a “reasonable” cancellation penalty. The shorter the time between cancellation and the event or service you booked, the greater the penalty.

A Durban man emailed me a few days ago to say he had to cancel a festive season holiday in Cape Town for himself and his wife as she was hospitalised shortly before their departure, and remained in hospital for eight days.

A supplier may not impose any cancellation fee in respect of a booking, reservation or order if the consumer is unable to honour the booking, reservation or order because of the death or hospitalisation of the person for whom, or for whose benefit the booking, reservation or order was made

—  Consumer Protection Act

“We’d paid the tour operator in full but he refused to refund us,” he wrote. “This week he refunded me half the refund due. Is he correct?”

Technically, yes. The Consumer Protection Act’s (CPA) section 17(5) states: “A supplier may not impose any cancellation fee in respect of a booking, reservation or order if the consumer is unable to honour the booking, reservation or order because of the death or hospitalisation of the person for whom, or for whose benefit the booking, reservation or order was made.”

Clearly there was no way the husband was going to abandon his hospitalised wife and head off on a holiday-for-one, but the act refers to the specific person who could not fulfil a booking due to death or hospitalisation, not the travel party.

Clint of Cape Town also contacted me about a cancellation issue, but in his case it was the other way round: Cemair cancelled his 6am flight the day before departure.

“I believe if airlines change flights for reasons within their control, the consumers' rights should be looked after,” he said.

The CPA’s section 46 supports that. “If a supplier makes a commitment or accepts a reservation to supply goods or services on a specified date or at a specified time and ... fails, the supplier must refund to the consumer the amount paid.

“It is a defence to an alleged failure to supply any services if the supplier offered to supply a consumer with comparable services to satisfy the consumer’s request and the consumer unreasonably refused that offer.”

I’ve abbreviated the section in the interests of clarity.

Clint was booked on Cemair’s 6am flight from Cape Town to Durban on Tuesday January 10. I think it’s fair to say that people only book seats on those “red eye” flights, which require waking up in the small hours, if they really need to be at their destination at the start of the work day.

So being told with little notice that the flight was cancelled, and Cemair could only accommodate him on a flight departing five hours later, did not work for Clint.

He booked another “red eye” flight with a competitor airline, at an increased cost, and when he enquired about a refund, he says, he was told he’d have to pay a “cancellation fee”.

“Cemair’s policy is to make a passenger forfeit 100% of their ticket if they are a no-show. In my case, the airline was essentially a no-show for me, but they want to charge me a cancellation penalty,” he said.

I took up the case with Cemair CEO Miles van der Molen, making the point that expecting a ticket holder to accept a substitute flight five hours later, especially on a weekday when people have scheduled business commitments, cannot be regarded as a reasonable substitution, in terms of the CPA. Thus full refunds should be given to those who request them in such circumstances.

Van der Molen responded: “It seems it was an admin fee, not a cancellation fee, that was incorrectly levied to the booking.

Whatever your gripe, raising it with a company in a calm, dignified but assertive way, and ensuring the outcome you’re requesting is appropriate, yields the best results

“It has been added to the refund which is being processed: depending on how the booking was made, the refund can take three to four weeks to be received.”

Clint had apparently demanded the airline pay him a R500 cancellation fee. “This will not be entertained,” the CEO said.

He ended his response with a bombshell. “Our call centre records all calls, and the interaction with [Clint] has been reviewed. “A decision has been made not to accommodate him on any future flights.”

Taken aback, I asked Clint what had transpired in that call.

“I must say I probably did lose the plot on that call and was wrong in that regard. I was just completely dumbfounded by the way it was done, the fee they wanted to charge me and having to arrange a more expensive flight," he said.

“But it does not excuse my anger on that call. The R500 demand was a tongue-in-cheek reaction to their cancellation policy. But thank you for the effort." 

While I succeeded in securing Clint a full refund of his ticket for that cancelled flight, my intervention has led to a reduction of his airline options.

I will be engaging with companies — not only airlines — about such customer bans, how common this drastic move is, and what behaviour gives rise to it.

Whatever your gripe, raising it with a company in a calm, dignified but assertive way, and ensuring the outcome you’re requesting is appropriate, yields the best results.

• GET IN TOUCH: You can contact Wendy Knowler for advice with your consumer issues via e-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler.