Couple hit with 'ridiculous' £700 fee to change surname on holiday booking
A woman has claimed her travel agent "had me by the neck" after she coughed up a £700 fee to change her surname on a holiday booking.
Sharon Barrett, from Sunderland, planned a trip to America with her husband and was contacted by her travel agent after she changed her name. They got in touch less than two weeks before the newly married couple were scheduled to fly to New York last December.
Sharon says she was told by her travel agent, Hays Travel, that to change her name she would need to pay almost £700 [£698.50] and if she didn't pay the fee she would lose upto 99 per cent of her already paid £2,200.
Newlyweds told to pay up to half her travel budget to make name change or lose the holiday entirely (Sharon Barrett)Having originally being told the change would cost £55 by Hays Travel, the total fee for the name change being quoted to her was half of the couples budgeted travel spend. Sharon, 58, told ChronicleLive last year: "They've charged us this absolutely ridiculous price without an explanation of what the fee was for.
"I thought I was hearing things when they told me the price on the phone. I paid it just so I could go on holiday and I didn't lose the money I had already paid but obviously I'm skint now. They had me by the neck really, I either had to pay it or lose 99% of the £2,200."
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The issue arose after Sharon's passport - which was in her maiden name - was mislaid after being sent off to to HMRC to complete the VAT registration for her business. Once the new one was issued the after the couple's wedding they immediately updated their travel agent.
Sharon said she has been back and forth between the travel agent and the airline and both are giving her different information, with Hays Travel saying they would provide a break down for the charge but not having provided one at the time she shared her story. Sharon said: “I don't understand what the charge is."
The issue was being batted between Hays Travel and Air France, with Hays Travel claiming the fee was issued after information from the airline.
Information on the Air France website states: "The name indicated on your ticket cannot be modified. If it contains a typo or if you have changed names, please contact your point of sale or the sales department by phone."
However, Sharon was told she could by Air France, and that it is free to change the name on her booking up to 72 hours before travel. So was confused after Hays Travel said the reason for the charge was because her ticket had been printed.
Sharon was given several other reasons for the charge including the "ticket type," and "the type of contract" Hays Travel had with Air France. After all the fuss, Hays Travel eventually issued a refund to Sharon.
A spokesperson for Hays Travel said at the time: "We have already looked into this matter for Mrs Barrett and it has been resolved.
"At the time of changing the name, we were obliged to go with the information provided to us by the airline and apply the fee they required for a name change.
"However we picked this up again on behalf of Mrs Barrett and, as ultimately the airline did not apply the charge, we have been able to fully refund the fee to Mrs Barrett."
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