Ryanair accuses online travel agents of failing to pass on customers’ refunds

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Ryanair has accused some online travel agents of blocking direct contact between the airline and customers and, in some cases, “refusing” to pass on refunds for passengers. Europe’s leading budget carrier said companies such as Opodo, Lastminute.com and Kiwi routinely fail to pass on customers’ card details, meaning the agent gets reimbursed instead of the consumer when a refund is issued. “In many cases these unauthorised screen scrapers are scamming customers by overcharging customers and then booking on Ryanair’s website with fake customer contact and credit card details, then claiming customer refunds directly into their own accounts, and in some cases, refusing to pass this money onto customers,” said Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson. Boris Johnson says life 'cannot go back to normal' “While we are successfully refunding cash to millions of customers who booked direct, meaning we had genuine customer email contact and payment details, we have been unable to deal with thousands of customers who booked through these unauthorised screen scraper websites because they provide false/fictitious customer contact and payment details when booking on Ryanair’s website,” added Wilson.