Airline's £328 charge for altering two names 'was daylight robbery'
Iain Savage booked four tickets to fly from East Midlands Airport to Edinburgh to watch England take on Scotland next month in rugby's Six Nations tournament.
But when booking tickets online, he accidentally got the surnames of two of his party wrong.
After realising the mistake, he informed the Castle Donington-based airline and they said they would alter the names, but that he could be charged £25 per ticket.
Mr Savage said he expected a charge because it was his mistake. But he was stunned to be invoiced for £328.90 – especially as the total cost of the two-day trip, including flights, accommodation and match tickets, was only £250 each to begin with.
Mr Savage, 56, who works as a clerical officer in the Derby area, said: "I fully admit it was my error but all they've had to do is tap a few keys on a computer.
"I was speechless when I got the bill. I rang the call centre and said, 'you've got to be joking'."
The error occurred when Mr Savage, who lives in Eastwood, booked tickets for himself and girlfriend Janice Dilks.
They had arranged to go with Janice's brother and sister-in-law – and he had assumed their surnames would both be Dilks. However, they are Smiths.
"I did not see it as a problem," he said. "All I had to do was ring and get it changed. I guessed there would be an administration fee, but that was okay because I made the mistake.
"I thought there had been a mistake, but when I rang back the same call centre, they said it was policy to rebook the flights, which were now more expensive.
"In a nutshell, I have been charged £330 to change two surnames on two flights – that is surely wrong. It was daylight robbery."
Mr Savage said it had put him off flying with BMI Baby.
He said: "I've never had any complaints before and I've flown dozens of times with them. But it makes you think twice about using them again."
A spokeswoman for BMI Baby said: "Before a passenger enters their name details online, there is a prompt designed to ensure that customers check their personal details.
"As per our terms and conditions, name changes to flights for any reason will incur the following administration fee: £25 per passenger per sector, plus any difference in the total cost of the flight applicable at the time the change is made.
"We do not charge a fee for people who have made an error and ring us within 24 hours of booking to make a change."
EXPENSIVE MISTAKE: Iain Savage had to pay over £300 to change two names on flight tickets with BMI Baby.
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