Sask. woman still awaiting refund 400 days after booking flight

A Lloydminster resident is frustrated after waiting more than a year for her refund from a flight booking website.

She said it’s a good warning to be careful what you click on.

In October of 2022, Carol Gallant was looking for flights from Phoenix to Mexico online. When she found a good price, she booked it and didn’t become suspicious until she checked her booking with the airline two months later.

“Mid-December I'm getting a little apprehensive, so I tried to input my booking number into the American Airlines site, and it didn't match up at all,” said Gallant.

When Gallant checked her email, she realized the flight was booked through a third party, Myflightsearch.com, and not American Airlines.

“I called them and said, I'm still waiting for E-tickets, what's going on?” said Gallant. “And the fellow said the price went up, so we have to charge you $800 extra dollars. And I said absolutely not.”

After some back and forth, Gallant said she had cancellation insurance and decided to get her 1400 dollars back. Then she booked the exact same flight, this time through the airline directly. But it’s been 400 days and still no refund.

“Somebody will tell me the checks in the mail, somebody will tell me it will be credited to my credit card,” she said. “And sometimes I'm on hold and then they hang up.”

CTV News contacted Myflightsearch.com but did not receive a response.

Shawn Cook works in the Consumer Protection Division of the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority.

“There can be a number of challenges, especially if you're dealing with the online platform, And you don't know what the source of that online platform is,” he said. “Because the internet is all over the world.”

He said the best way to avoid issues with third-party booking sites like this is to confirm your booking with the supplier, pay with a credit card where available, and be mindful of deals that appear “too good to be true.”

“Whenever you're booking your airfare or hotel or car rentals, things of that sort through any service party provider, a good step to take is to make sure you confirm your booking with the actual supplier and a lot of people don't think of that,” said Cook.

If you rent a car, there's nothing stopping you from contacting that car rental agency or third-party supplier that it’s working with to confirm that the reservation was received and that it’s accurate and correct to what you actually asked for. Another good point is to try to always pay with a credit card because it can often be much easier to get a refund through a credit card provider if an issue occurs or something comes up.”

Cook said consumers can contact the FCAA to file a complaint, or if they feel there are unfair business practices that need to be investigated.

“If there has been an unfair practice, that would be where we would investigate and we would get involved,” Cook told CTV News. “Certainly your first step should be to contact the Consumer Protection Division.

Gallant said she’s frustrated, but while waiting for a refund, she’s warning others to click carefully.

“I just want to alert people to this company and just check your browser because, man I didn't know it was happening and now I'm stuck in this,” she said.