A frustrated travel agent is still waiting on a $15,000 refund from Vietnamese airline Bamboo Airways, after the carrier pulled out of Australia in October 2023.
Travel agent Helen Rolton, part of TravelManagers, booked the $15,000 flights from Melbourne to Vietnam for a family of six (two adults, four children) back when Bamboo Airways was still functioning in Australia.
Given that Bamboo Airways was then a full-service airline, accredited by IATA, with a great business class reputation, Rolton thought she would be safe paying for the flights upfront. However, sadly this was not the case.
“Around the third of October 2023 they canceled [the clients] flights,” she told Travel Weekly. “There was no alternative, they just said they were pulling out of Melbourne and Australia and that refunds would be forthcoming so you should submit them in the usual way.”
Unfortunately, despite submitting the refund request through IATA’s BSP system, that was the last Rolton heard from Bamboo Airways.
“Our BSP people have been following up, everyone’s been following up, but Bamboo are just ghosting everyone.”
Rolton is not the only person to be hung high and dry by Bamboo Airways since they left Australia. On Facebook, a poster revealed that her parents, who had booked flights from Sydney to Vietnam in 2023, are also still waiting on a refund.
“Parents purchased two return tickets from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh last year via a travel agency but Bamboo Airways ended up axing their Australian routes before they could fly, ” she said. “They’ve been trying to get a refund since October last year but the travel agency has been no help. Is there anything else we can do?”
On Reddit, a user who had also booked flights from Australia spoke about being ghosted by the airline.
“They have redirected people to email or call,” the frustrated customer wrote. “I’ve done both, no email reply and the number is constantly engaged.”
They went on to express bewilderment that the situation had not been picked up by the mainstream media.
“There’s no news in the media about this which is a shame because I’m sure lot of people are affected by this. It’s a foreign company but it impacts every day people. I’m not sure how to get the company to refund the money.”
Whilst some customers who paid by credit card did receive the funds back via charge back, this is not available to Rolton.
“The client paid by EFT and transferred the funds. The ticket time was a Saturday and, because I couldn’t get a credit card from accounts as they don’t work Saturdays, I didn’t pay with credit card. I used the BSP cash,” she said, adding that she now always books flights via credit card.
What happened to Bamboo Airways?
Bamboo Airways, which entered the Australian market in early 2022, is still functioning but largely only in a domestic capacity.
The financially-troubled carrier withdrew from long-haul markets in October 2023 – including London and Frankfurt – following a $700 million loss for 2022. They now operate mainly in the Vietnamese market.
Frustratingly, because Bamboo Airways is still functioning, Rolton can’t claim on insurance.
“If they’d gone bankrupt, I could have applied to our TravelManagers in-house insurance and it would have paid out. But I can’t claim, because it’s just a change of schedules.”
As they are no longer accredited by IATA in Australia, the refund cannot be processed via BSP, she added.
“I’ve been told they need to be ‘reinstated to IATA’ in order to process the refunds,” she said.
Is the agent liable?
Whilst Rolton’s clients have been extremely patient and understanding, the question has to be asked as to whether an individual agent could be liable in such instances?
ATIA CEO Dean Long says “absolutely not”.
“[An agent] is an independent contractor, working within a group – in this case TravelManagers. The actual agent of record will be TravelManagers, not this individual,” he told Travel Weekly.
A ‘disgusting situation’
Whilst Long assured agents that are personally safe, he didn’t hesitate to call out Bamboo Airways.
“It’s a disgusting situation where you’ve got an airline who was selling into Australia, ran into financial difficulties and has now effectively done a runner. It means the Australian consumers are out of pocket.”
Situations like this is why the Australian government is currently in the process of introducing an aviation industry ombuds scheme, he added.
Government Aviation White Paper puts customer first, introduces industry Ombuds Scheme
Whilst the situation is rare, it does show that the Australian market is dependent on international bodies such as IATA, he said.
“It’s fair to say, like it’s not a common occurrence. There’s 150 carriers in the BSP selling into Australia. So it’s a minority circumstance, but we are reliant on IATA who has the ability to bond airlines within the BSP and look at the financial risk”.
The only way agents can completely avoid this type of risk is to use a credit card and move it through the airline’s virtual facilities, however he did add that not all agents like doing that.
Another way agents can protect themselves from supplier risk is to use the combine buying power of their group or consortium.
“[Agents]need to be working with their groups and consortiums to ensure that the full full might of their buying group is being applied to activate and achieve those refunds.”
ATIA will also get involved way they can from an industry point of view.
“Situations like this impact the reputation of the wider travel industry”
TravelManager’s chief operating officer, Grant Campbell, shared Rolton’s frustration that agents and their clients are still waiting on a refund.
“We’re extremely disappointed that after exiting Australia in 2023, we are still waiting on client refunds from Bamboo Airlines. In some instances, we’re approaching 16 months since clients have requested refunds on paid air travel tickets that were unable to go ahead as a result of the airline no longer servicing Australia, which we feel is unfair to both the clients waiting for their money back, and the agents working tirelessly to retrieve the funds.”
Campbell highlighted that Bamboo Airways was IATA-accredited at the time of sale, meaning strict controls should have been in place.
“As members of IATA, we’re working with the industry body to recover these outstanding funds, however the situation is frustrating given members are expected to adhere to strict codes of conduct and financial criteria. Situations like this impact the reputation of the wider travel industry, so we are eager to find a solution.”
Whilst Rolton’s clients did still go on the trip in the end, on flights booked by credit card, Rolton said the case has given her multiple “sleepless nights”.
“It just can’t go on,” she said.
Bamboo Airways has been contacted for comment.
Please contact sofia@travelweekly.com.au if you have also been impacted by Bamboo Airways.
