Grounded: Thai AirAsia denies ticket fraud, blames airline app

[Hawaiian]

3 hours ago, milesinnz said:

I wonder how make people are aware of credit card "charge backs" ? I have only used it once on an Aliexpress purchase where they sent like xxx size and clearly it was not even M ... contacted my Bank's Visa department - seems most people at the Bank did not even know what I was talking about, then sending me in a few circles - but I got my money back from Visa. I don't see why this would not work with someone like AirAsia ?

Whenever I have had a problem with my Capital One card, charge back is one of the first options they mention.  They also have been very good at notifying me of any suspicious activity on my account.

Plus their foreign currency exchange rate is excellent and no fee involved.

[sikishrory]

 

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The airline explained that the app was operated by its supplier company

 

Made in Malaysia by "Move Travel Sdn Bhd" formally "AirAsia Travel Sdn Bhd" as far as I can tell. 

Like so many apps and websites made in this region.

It's garbage.

If I had one of the most will known airlines in the world I would probably get someone capable to make the app.

 

[Kinnock]

3 hours ago, BB1955 said:

They cancelled one of my flights before covid . I had a hard time getting a refund from them 

I still haven't got my refund for 2 flights they cancelled during COVID.

 

How did you get this dodgy company to give you the refund?

[Ctkong]

My experience is not good too. I have issues with their  ASEAN PASS which deny me flights even though I can book the same flights thru their normal Airasia MOVE mode. Literally a scam like problem. 
moreover, once their app kept buffering and suggesting I use a different payment card as current one kept on buffering. Finally I ended up with three charges on three different  bank cards. The Chat bot is useless to resolve this issue nor was the local online Airasia customer service in Bangkok able to help. They said their service is solely for overseas customers not local Thai ones even though my flight is overseas from Bangkok. Finally I was able to resolve the refund issue with the service counter desk in Bangkok airport. No cash refunded. Instead they credited the refund into a credit account which took me months to use up even though I travel monthly. 
Nowadays I do not book blindly thru their apps without comparing prices of their tickets with third party provider like Agoda, trip.com, sky scanner, kiwi.com and other air travel apps. You would be surprised that even with the same flight ,you can get offered cheaper tickets thru third party apps instead of using Airasia MOVE app or even thru their ASEAN PASS. price gouging at work ? Will not likely buy their annual pass too as it is literally not money saving with their rules and conditions. 

Once bitten, twice shy. 
sad really. Airasia was once a great airline before Covid. I travelled extensively before Covid t(us had a few outstanding flights that were cancelled during Covid lockdown.
I selected the option for my flights refund to be credited into my account instead of cash refunded as Airasia was cash strapped during that time. After Covid, I contacted 

 their office and was told their claim processing office is now located in India. Numerous emails to said office with no acknowledgement and finally gave up the chase. When Airasia came back online with new apps, I checked my account which is still existing. In the credit account , there is ‘zero’ amount credited. 

[The European]

I had an interesting experience towards the end of COVID. I wanted to fly back from Singapore to Bangkok with another airline, but flight got cancelled and I had to buy a new one-way ticket. Couldn't get one for the same day, so went to a hotel and tried to book one for early next morning. So I booked AirAsia for around 9am the next day, paid but didn't get any e-ticket. I tried to call, send messages, everything under the sun, but nothing, didn't get anything. Operator said it can take up to 18 hrs which would be AFTER my flight. When I still didn't get it 2hrs before the flight, I decided to book a new flight with another airline which worked well.

Believe it or not, I got the e-ticket from AirAsia just shy of the 18hrs, i.e. about 6 hrs after (!!) my flight. When I tried to get the money back, the message I got was that I didn't show for the flight, which is ridiculous because I didn't have an e-ticket at the time of the flight. Regular channels led to nothing, so I tried search for any executives on LinkedIn and connected with 3-4 of them and wrote to them about this issue. Luckily, one of them actually cared and managed to get me my refund (after a few weeks).

Agree, AirAsia booking app is really bad and if you want to get a refund, good luck!

[tomazbodner]

Thank you for this topic.

 

I used AirAsia Move and it offered me a seat on airline that I knew from that airline was no longer available... well, I was booking for 4 people in 2 separate bookings, first booking went through, but second one - that seats were gone. Air Asia Move wasn't aware, and tried to make a booking anyway. I did put in details for billing but within seconds of that I received an email that "Booking failed. You were not charged". I thought nothing of it and booked another flight, which was successful.

 

But just after reading this, I went to my credit card statement and realised that Air Asia charged me for both flights, and there was no refund of the first flight - basically that "you were not charged" was not a factual statement, so I could say Air Asia robbed me for 7000 baht or so.

 

Hence, thank you for this. Question is - now what. I've already paid the bill. Unsure bank would be interested...

 

EDIT: this is how their email looked like:

 

Edited yesterday at 03:50 AM by tomazbodner

[Jonathan Swift]

6 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

That's why I book tickets only via reputable aggregator websites like Agoda. Also, to avoid the annoying $5 credit card fee charged by most Asian airlines.

 

 

 

Use one of those websites yes, also use a credit card which will charge back payments in cases of fraud. All that said, I had AirAsia refuse a refund, priceline gave me a runaround along with false information, in which case I had my bank claw back the money, on top of which I sued priceline for my time and trouble - their corporate office is near my American address in Connecticut. I got $1,000.00 out of priceline

[Jonathan Swift]

56 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Thank you for this topic.

 

I used AirAsia Move and it offered me a seat on airline that I knew from that airline was no longer available... well, I was booking for 4 people in 2 separate bookings, first booking went through, but second one - that seats were gone. Air Asia Move wasn't aware, and tried to make a booking anyway. I did put in details for billing but within seconds of that I received an email that "Booking failed. You were not charged". I thought nothing of it and booked another flight, which was successful.

 

But just after reading this, I went to my credit card statement and realised that Air Asia charged me for both flights, and there was no refund of the first flight - basically that "you were not charged" was not a factual statement, so I could say Air Asia robbed me for 7000 baht or so.

 

Hence, thank you for this. Question is - now what. I've already paid the bill. Unsure bank would be interested...

 

EDIT: this is how their email looked like:

 

If you used a credit card your card should be willing to claw back your money under the circumstances. Call them. It's usually pretty easy. The credit card bank contacts the airline to see if they have a defense. They will use the same customer service number that doesn't work. If the bank hears nothing back you win by default

[Jonathan Swift]

2 hours ago, Hawaiian said:

Whenever I have had a problem with my Capital One card, charge back is one of the first options they mention.  They also have been very good at notifying me of any suspicious activity on my account.

Plus their foreign currency exchange rate is excellent and no fee involved.

It works very well in Asia, since they are unlikely to respond at all you will win by default. 

[milesinnz]

3 hours ago, ravip said:

You mean to say, you by passed your bank (card issuer) and claimed from Visa direct?

I don't know who paid in the end.. I was eventually handed to my Banks Visa department. They told me to contact Visa International (gave me an email address), then I got my refund - but it could have been the Visa International department of my Bank - I don't know for sure - but I kept the email address !!!

[Patong2021]

The  OTAs do not provide lower airfares than  Air Asia.The cost savings are due to different products being sold.  The seat purchase, meals, priority boarding options are available with Air Asia's website. It is not available  from many OTAs. The baggage allowance default is different too.  Air Asia uses negative option selling. i.e. it  charges for options that the consumer may not want like  "insurance". It is up to the  consumer to opt out. I find that annoying.

 

However, the fact remains that Air Asia has no customer service. I had to eat 10,000 baht on some domestic flights because I could not get through to anyone to change my flights because of a delayed connections. Thankfully I was able to book Thai Lion at the last minute. Better experience too. I haven't gone near Air Asia in 2 years and won't if I can avoid them in the future.

[StayinThailand2much]

This scam has been going on since 2020. Explains why my bank's debit card refused bookings on that website. 

[malibukid]

AA has s*** for customer service.  recently i could not check in online nor change by flight with them which required a trip to the airport.  this has happen many times.  their online app. is useless.  they use to have city offices but they closed them. 

[Burma Bill]

7 hours ago, BoganInParasite said:

I prefer to pay in cash at a 7 Eleven when booking Air Asia.

 

Yes indeed, when I lived in Thailand, that was the method of payment I always used. I just showed the printed booking reference from my home computer and it was immediately confirmed on cash payment. Never any problems then and now. I live in Cambodia and still use Air Asia however I cannot pay at a 7-11 and have to use my Cambodian bank's VISA debit card. Again, never any payment problems via the Air Asia website on my personal computer. I do not own a smartphone.

[pjmorton]

Yes, I have had problems with both the app and the airline, but fortunately I live pretty close to the airport, so when I need to deal with them I go direct to the ticket window. At least for the time being that's one way to talk to a human. I'm sure they will invent some kind of robot soon to cover that loophole.

[orchidfan]

Another Airasia annoying experience :

 

I tried yesterday to book a flight from Hong Kong to DMK for my wife on AA.

 

The MOVE app was a nightmare ~ defaulting to Thai language constantly etc.

Agree with others that their chat bot is useless.....no other "contact us" options provided!

 

Finally got to the Payment page.

Entered my BBL Be1st Debit card details, got an OTP from BBL, submitted it and got the "proceed" message.

 

BUT AA app just went into "loading " mode forever. Finally cancelled and called BBL Customer Help line.

Nice lady with good English checked what I had done and confirmed no funds had been deducted .

She then dug deeper to find the problem and ,after a few minutes " advised me that the "merchant"....AA do not accept the BBL Debit/ Mastercard!!!......a fact never mentioned on their Pathetic Move website !

 

BBL Customer helpline were most obliging and helpful.

 

I then proceeded with a new booking using a BBL Mastercard Credit card....

This worked fine and payment was made and ticket issued!

 

What a bloody waste of time !

 

Only used AA as they land at DMK,. .... nearby to our house.

Using BKK means  B600+ taxi fare and 1hr ride home.

 

Btw....checked bank accounts online later and nothing was taken from my account for the first abortive booking attempt.

 

Also, add ons, like insurance were NOT automatically added but required customers to tick these IF you wanted them.

 

Last time with AA.

 

 

 

[brfsa2]

This is the one airline I will never ever book a flight and strictly can't let anyone in my family circle do it.

Relatives lost 35,000 baht during covid, never got back. I used credit card for a cheap flight and I managed to get my money back via my bank.

 

Do you know why Airsasia has always charged crazy fees for Credit card? because they dont want customer using credit cards, and they have to pay a high fee to process credit cards as well due to risks of chargebacks.

 

If you use credit card, you are protected by the card brand when they can cancel the flight or delay, you can certainly get your money back.

but if you pay by other payment methods, you are the mercy of the Airasia AI chatbot, meaning, you will never get back.

 

[QPRFC]

I was a regular flyer with Air Asia for many years but then it all fell apart post-Covid as their Customer Service declined to unacceptable levels and constant App / Web Server issues when trying to book flights.

 

The App maybe the cause of the problem but ownership is with Air Asia !!

Air Asia chose the software house to create the App and they should have tested / QA it independently and Air Asia should be held accountable.

 

I rarely consider Air Asia nowadays when planning flights. The only reason I would fly with them is if they were the sole airline having direct flights between my destinations.

[Hawaiian]

4 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

Use one of those websites yes, also use a credit card which will charge back payments in cases of fraud. All that said, I had AirAsia refuse a refund, priceline gave me a runaround along with false information, in which case I had my bank claw back the money, on top of which I sued priceline for my time and trouble - their corporate office is near my American address in Connecticut. I got $1,000.00 out of priceline

I had one bad experience with Priceline and complained to Capital One who took care of the problem.  They also chewed out Priceline for not being truthful.  Since then I have continued to use Priceline without any hiccups.

[sambum]

"The application kept buffering for several minutes during the payment process,....."

 

I had a similar experience with Air Asia a few years ago when booking a ticket online - after a bit of "buffering" the system eventually said that my card had been denied.  I checked with my bank and there was no problem with the card. I tried again and it was accepted, but the original booking payment had been taken, although I was told that my card had been denied. So I had two bookings - in my name for the same flight, but trying to get a refund from Air Asia was like trying to pull out a tooth with  a pair of tweezers! After a few attempts direct with Air Asia's Office, I was told that as I booked online, I had to claim online, and after constant "buffering" I had to give up in the end and lost my money - not a lot as it was a one way domestic flight, but (a) it's the principle, and (b) it makes you wary of booking online with Air Asia! 

[sambum]

10 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

If everyone blacklisted the airline, I'm sure they would take some action ..............LOL

 

Yeah - file for bankruptcy, and set up under a different name - maybe Air Asean? 🙂 

[oldestswinger]

On 12/3/2024 at 3:08 AM, Kinnock said:

I still haven't got my refund for 2 flights they cancelled during COVID.

 

How did you get this dodgy company to give you the refund?

Same here. I haven't used that airline again.