no-frills airline wont refund a flight fare

[markfox]

The airline I am travelling with informed me that the flight timing had been changed and brought forward by more than 6 hours. There would be no way I could get to the departure airport for that (now) early morning flight. After a long wait on the phone, they told me to rebook and then try to reclaim from them afterwards. There was no other flight with them from the same airport so I changed my departure to another airport, still under my original booking reference. They now say that they would only refund the original flight cost if the departure airport remained the same, but there is no reference to this in their terms and conditions when applied to a flight time brought forward so substantially. Do I have grounds to pursue them for a refund?

[mushroom25]

Which airline? Ryanair, who are not often known for their customer-friendly approach, permit full refund or travel credit in the event of schedule change by 3 hours.

[tiggerblue10]

Get in touch with ATOL or ABTA.

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=27

[markfox]

mushroom - I wont give the name of the airline, but their conditions make no mention of this particular set of circumstances. I guess they are free to make up the rules as they go along. I was just wondering whether a claim on the grounds of "unreasonableness" might be worthwhile. By the way it is only a 2 figure amount we are talking of, but it's the principle of the customer - who should be their livelihood - being an inconvenience that really gets to me.

[mushroom25]

you may have grounds - however since you say that it is only a two-figure sum, you are likely to find that the fee for administering the refund will almost certainly cancel out your claim.