Battling Turkish Airlines – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

(WSVN) – A South Florida woman bought a ticket to Istanbul and another ticket to another city in Turkey. Then the battle began. She lost the fight with the airline, so when she got back to South Florida, she called Help Me Howard and Patrick Fraser.

Pamela loves to travel. Her favorites? Foreign countries.

Pamela Bedeau: “The architecture. You get nice, good food. The culture is so great.”

Pamela works two jobs, and every year rewards herself with a trip to Europe.

Pamela Bedeau: “Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Greece, and this time Turkey.”

Notice Pamela’s reaction, because she has traveled a lot, but not like her trip to Turkey.

Pamela Bedeau: “One trip ticket from Miami to Istanbul and then from Istanbul to Nevsehir.”

Pamela had two separate tickets. The $1,277 round-trip ticket from Miami to Istanbul, and a $223 ticket from Istanbul to Nevsehir.

Pamela Bedeau: “Where they have the hot air balloon, and I really, really wanted to do that.”

The cost of both tickets showed up on her credit card, and then this $114 charge from Turkish Airlines appeared.

Pamela Bedeau: “I call and say, ‘What’s the $114 for?’ They said they don’t know. Turkish Airlines denied that they ever charged me $114.”

Pamela says an airline employee told her to dispute the $114 charge. She did, and her credit card company returned the money.

Then she got an email from Turkish Airlines.

Pamela Bedeau: “We’ve suspended your ticket until you withdraw the complaint.”

Pamela’s daughter replied: “The dispute was over the $114, not the $223 plane ticket.”

So Pamela headed to Turkey.

Pamela Bedeau: “You will love Turkey. Istanbul, the city, is so nice.”

After a few days in Istanbul, she headed to the airport for her trip to Nevsehir and was told she didn’t have a ticket.

Pamela Bedeau: “The system canceled your ticket, so I showed her my receipt with the ticket, and she said, ‘No, you don’t have a ticket.’”

Pamela was stranded because all the flights to Nevsehir were booked.

She couldn’t cancel her hotel in that city, lost that money, and had to buy a more expensive ticket to fly home to Miami.

Pamela Bedeau: “I had to pay about $700 to come back early.”

The confusion over the ticket, that’s no longer a ticket, cost her over $1,000 and a trip to Nevsehir.

Pamela Bedeau: “That was, I think, the most disappointing part, that I was not able to go in a hot air balloon.”

There is a lot of confusion here. So, whether it’s a U.S or foreign airline, legally, what can you do, Howard?

Howard Finkelstein: “Usually, when you are dealing with foreign companies, it’s extremely difficult to get any kind of resolution, but you can file a complaint with the Federal Department of Transportation. Also, the United States and Turkey have signed the Montreal Convention Treaty, which allows someone like Pamela to sue the airline in small claims court in South Florida. If she wins, she will get reimbursed for the cancelled ticket, the lost hotel, and any other money she had to spend because of their mistake.”

I contacted Turkish Airlines in Istanbul over and over. They didn’t respond.

I even tried talking to the Turkish Embassy in Miami to see if they had any contact information. They didn’t respond.

Pamela Bedeau: “Not surprised, just disappointed because that’s the same thing I was going through when I was calling them.”

Pamela has filed her complaint with the Department of Transportation and is going to sue Turkish Airlines in small claims court to get back what she feels she deserves.

Pamela Bedeau: “I think I should get a free ticket since they cancelled my ticket. I think that’s the best thing to do. An accommodation.”

And Pamela is adamant she is going to sue the airline in small claims court. I can’t wait to be there to show you what happens.

Now, if you have any troubles with an airline you can’t work out with them, the link to file a complaint with the Department of Transportation is below.

Give them a few days to respond because of the government shutdown.

Once flying high, now feeling grounded? Wanna be airborne again? Plane and simple, take a seat with us, cause that’s the ticket to a first-class ride.

With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.

Department of Transportation complaints.

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Reporter: Patrick Fraser at [email protected]
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