Elderly couple ‘banned’ from Flight Centre after troublesome $47k holiday

An elderly Aussie couple were left gobsmacked by an email sent from their local Flight Centre after a $47,000 trip went wrong.

An elderly couple were told not to come back to their local Flight Centre after spending about $47,000 on a trip littered with problems.

Avid travellers Mary Johnson, 79, and Cliff Johnson, 81, booked three tours across Canada, the US and Turkey this year.

However, the latter two were cancelled, meaning they were left scrambling to make other arrangements and found themselves staying in locations they didn’t want to be for extended periods of time.

Flight Centre initially told the couple they had chosen “non guaranteed departures” for the tours which meant they were “accepting the risk of the tour being cancelled by the tour company”.

But Mrs Johnson says they had “no idea”, were “never told”, and they would not have spent $26,000 on tours that weren’t guaranteed.

Mary and Cliff Johnson were told by their local Flight Centre to use another store in future after a $47,000 trip went wrong. Picture: Supplied

While Mrs Johnson said the four-month trip turned out to be “a very big disappointment” and was followed by months of stressful back-and-forth with Flight Centre trying to get refunds, it was an email the couple received in October “that hurt more than anything”.

She told news.com.au the local Flight Centre they had been going to for about a decade had effectively “banned” them from booking future trips at the store.

The email from a senior member at Flight Centre Tweed City said the team felt it would be “best for all parties” if Mrs and Mr Johnson used their credit – a $1000 store credit given “out of good will” – at another store.

“ … so unfortunately the team at Tweed will be unable to help any future bookings,” it said.

Mrs Johnson said the email came as “an absolute surprise” as she and her husband had not been to the store since arriving home from their trip in August.

All their communication with Flight Centre had been via email and phone.

Mrs Johnson said she believed she and her husband were being discriminated against.

Flight Centre staff told the Johnsons they would be unable to help them in the future and then claimed it was a misunderstanding. Picture: Supplied

When news.com.au approached Flight Centre for comment, Mrs Johnson soon received an email from another senior member at the Tweed City store backflipping on the decision not to help the Johnsons going forward.

“I’m sorry if there was any confusion on you being able to book in store with us – we thought that you would prefer to deal with another store but we would love the opportunity to help you with your next booking,” the email read.

The team member introduced themselves as the travel agent who helped the Johnsons book their last trip to New Zealand, but Mrs Johnson said the couple had never been to the country.

Mary, 79, and Cliff, 81, said they had been going to Flight Centre Tweed City for about a decade before they were unexpectedly told not to come back. Picture: Supplied

In a statement, Flight Centre Australia general manager Brent Novak told news.com.au the Johnsons had been contacted to clarify the company “value them as customers and would love the opportunity to book their next holiday”.

“We have sincerely apologised on behalf of the staff member who had directed them to book their future travel with another Flight Centre store,” he said.

“This is not our company policy, Flight Centre would only bar people from a store in exceptional circumstances. We regret that this communication was made and the hurt that it understandably caused the Johnsons.”

Adam Glezer, a consumer advocate, helps Australians in disputes with big companies in the travel industry. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Adam Glezer of Consumer Champion who has been advocating on behalf of the Johnsons, told news.com.au he had “never seen anything like this”.

He said it was “extremely disappointing” that Flight Centre only reached out to them when contacted by news.com.au and he found it “disconcerting” the workers at the store claimed the Johnsons had been confused.

“Treating anybody like this, let alone elderly people, is unconscionable,” he said.

“They have spent a significant amount of money on a trip and all they wanted was answers.

“They have been loyal to the Flight Centre store for 10 years and out of the blue were told they were not welcome, for no good reason. They haven’t stepped foot in the store since their holiday which makes this even stranger.”

Mr Glezer said he wanted Flight Centre to do a full investigation.