FAKE COMPANY!!! SCAMMERS. BEWARE. PLEASE READ MY FULL EXPERIENCE
Using the website pricenfly.com, a search engine, we attempted to book two tickets from London Heathrow to Detroit, Michigan, for travel between Sunday, 8 September 2024, and Thursday, 19 September 2024. The website redirected us to an agency called travelfro.com, which provided a quote of £1071.96. As this was the best price we had found, we decided to proceed with the booking. Please note that the website did not include any additional information regarding seats, meals, or baggage; it simply stated that the booking was for two economy seats.
After completing the payment and receiving a confirmation email, we received a call from the agency shortly thereafter. The caller informed us that our initial payment had not gone through due to technical errors on their side. He said he would send us a separate link to complete the transaction, after which we would receive our booking confirmation. He reassured us that all flights between London and the US come with a 7kg baggage allowance. We told him we would make the payment after confirming with our bank that nothing suspicious was happening. The bank confirmed that the payment had indeed not gone through, so we proceeded with the transaction using the link provided by the agency, which redirected us to another website called travel-hut.co.uk.
We called the agency back to confirm this redirection, as we had been dealing with Travelfro, not Travel Hut. They assured us that Travel Hut is simply their merchant and that we could proceed with the transaction. After completing the payment, the agency representative said we would receive the Delta Airlines confirmation within the next hour. After waiting two hours with no confirmation, we called the agency again. This time, another representative informed us that our tickets did not include seat prices, meals, or baggage, and that we needed to pay an additional £800 for these services. Shocked, I requested a refund, as this information had not been disclosed prior to booking. They refused, citing their policy against refunds.
I called the bank again to report the situation and found many reviews indicating that others had been scammed by this company. The bank advised me to contact Delta to confirm the booking. Delta informed me that there was no confirmation under my name and that they had never heard of this agency. They flagged the company for fraud on their side. The bank then cancelled my credit card and instructed me to email Travelfro and Travel Hut to request a refund and to document the situation.
When I called Travel Hut, they denied any association with Travelfro, despite the partnership being stated on Travelfro’s website. This led me to believe that the scam was more elaborate. Soon after, I called Travelfro for a refund. They said they would keep a large fee if I insisted on a refund. I informed them that the bank had given me two options: get the refund directly from Travelfro/Travel Hut or let the bank dispute the payment after 15 days. The agency then promised to issue a refund by 2 PM the next day (Friday, 5 July), but we received no call or refund.
We informed the bank of the ongoing situation. They advised us to email Travel Hut directly to create a paper trail and to request their terms and conditions for the bank to use in disputing the case. However, our email to Travel Hut, sent to the address on their website, bounced back with a message saying the address was not found. Travel Hut also stopped answering our calls. The good news is that the bank did get our money back.
PLEASE DO NOT BOOK ANY TICKETS WITH THIS FAKE COMPANY!!