A Scots mum and daughter have lost a whopping £3,000 after a nightmare last minute flight cancellation. Fiona Mathers and her 13-year-old daughter were left distraught after their travel agent cancelled their flights to New Zealand in what would have been the the family's first trip home since the pandemic hit.
The 54-year-old mental health nurse, who lives in East Lothian, was gobsmacked after Dream World Travel, a London based travel agents, told her that the booking for her flights home hadn't gone through.
The company informed her just a week before she was due to jet off, reports Edinburgh Live.
Fiona tragically lost her dad last year and was unable to attend the funeral, meaning she was looking forward to flying her teenage daughter out to New Zealand to see her family in an emotional reunion.
The 54-year-old managed to find two seats on flights to Christchurch from Edinburgh costing £2,000 and planned to go for six weeks as any less time isn't worth it due to the high cost of the transatlantic trip. But just a week before their jet off date the mum was left distraught when Dream World Travel revealed they had not booked the flights.
The travel agents said there was nothing they could do so the 54-year-old sought a refund and frantically looked for flights to save the trip. Fiona explained: "I booked at the beginning of May. I have lived here [Edinburgh] for over thirty years but I'm from New Zealand.
"As soon as they opened the borders I booked flights that day, you assume because its a reputable company and ATOL protected it will be okay.
"I have booked many flights over the years to and from home and never had an issue like this.
"I got an email confirmation and ATOL certificate so it seemed fine but as the trip got closer I had not received any E-tickets or information so I became concerned and contacted them.
"I was on the phone for two hours before someone picked up and said they would look into it.
"At 6.30pm, five hours later, I got a call back with a rep telling me 'unfortunately we haven't booked your flights' with no explanation.
"I couldn't believe it, I was so angry.
"I had already sorted internal flights and accommodation so if I cancelled the trip I would lose thousands of pounds and they didn't care at all.
"I was just shouting at them, they didn't offer any alternative flight and I then got an email saying they would refund me the money.
"The last time I was able to visit home was November 2019, usually I only travel home every couple of years but because of everything that has happened over the pandemic it feels about six years since I last saw my family.
"My father passed away last year and I couldn't go to his funeral."
New Zealand was one of the last countries to open its borders on Monday May 2 2022, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcoming the first international travellers in over two years. Flights back have been snapped up quickly with expats from the UK and elsewhere keen to visit family after over two years.
But Fiona has been left counting the costs after having to shell out for new flights home - and still awaiting a refund from the original cancellation.
She added: "The new flights from London to New Zealand cost £4800 plus £500 for flights down there and a hotel overnight so with the refund of the original flights I'm about £3000 out of pocket.
"I don't know what else I would've done if I hadn't booked the flights yesterday.
"Then the day after I had booked the replacement flights, Dream World Travel got in touch saying they had found me new flights from Glasgow but there is no way I would trust them after that and told them I just wanted my money back.
"They then emailed asking 'can we talk?'. I'm still waiting for my refund, they said it would take 48 hours and now they have said it will take a couple more days.
"I checked the reviews afterwards and my heart just sank. They have a terrible reputation, my daughter spent all of yesterday in tears and I was in tears too.
"From now on I will be booking directly even though it is a bit more expensive it's more secure."
The mother and daughter will finally take their holiday to visit the family but are still waiting on the £2000 refund from the company.
Dream World Travel have been approached for comment.
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