e Dreams travel company Booked airline tickets with them. Tried to change or cancel and they have just stonewalled me. I cant even get refunded.

E Dreams is an absolute nightmare. Do not ever use this company. I have been trying to get any sort of help using their customer service centre, their app, emails, phone calls and I have had zero help with regards to changing or cancelling my flights.

They say they have escalated my case and I should wait for feedback within 72 hours. Well, my flight is tomorrow and I have still heard nothing. I have collected all the evidence and I will be taking this to the European ombudsman and will be taking legal action. Their substandard service and blatant stonewalling is pure fraud.

18 July 2022

Timeline of events regarding e dreams shocking service

Jenna Viljoen e Dreams reference: 9363785606

Jenna Viljoen Virgin e ticket number: 9326993844150

Price of ticket: R13578.34

Outbound Johannesburg to London 5 July 2022

Return London to Johannesburg 19 July 2022

Paid for and confirmed through e Dreams with standard service on 16 May 2022.  As per e Dreams and Virgin, this ticket may be changed or cancelled at no cost and is refundable.

Robyn Viljoen e Dreams reference: 9341139354

Robyn Viljoen Virgin e ticket number: 9326993873688

Price of ticket: R14282.27

Outbound Johannesburg to London 5 July 2022

Return London to Johannesburg 26 July 2022

Paid for and confirmed through e Dreams with standard service on 17 May 2022.  As per e Dreams and Virgin, this ticket may be changed or cancelled at no cost and is refundable.

Please see tickets as attached as well as the Virgin email to e dreams attached.

Due to the fact that our visas were not issued in time, we needed to postpone the trip.  I have tried without success to get any help whatsoever from e Dreams.  I have tried their app, their phone service centre, emails and the customer portal, as well as numerous attempts on their help centre chat service.

Below is a timeline of events showing the best intent I had to change our bookings instead of just cancelling but due to the total lack of interest by e dreams to help in any way I now sit with a situation of having to try and get a refund from this fraudulent company.

Monday 4 July: Tried to postpone flight at 1pm on 4 July using the ‘manage my booking’ platform. It said that I could no longer change or cancel my flight online, even though I was well within the timeframe allowed.  I tried to call the customer service centre using the number the app suggested (011 468 6148).  I was on hold for almost 3 hours, without at any point speaking to any agent, at which point I was then cut off. See the screenshot of my phone showing the duration of the call to this number.

Tuesday 5 July: I got hold of a lady called Mpele at Virgin Atlantic trade call centre and told her the story and that we were due to fly out but hadn’t been able to get any help from e dreams re postponing the tickets for the flight out.  She cancelled the 5 July tickets so that it wouldn’t show us as a no show (because if that is the case, then you lose your money). 

She kept the return tickets as open and confirmed and then sent an email to e dreams detailing what she had done and asking them to urgently contact me.  See attached email.  Of course e dreams did not contact me at all.  I then sent them an email on the same address that Virgin had used on their email to e dreams.  I was then informed by email that I needed to use the customer portal, which I duly did.  I then received a case number.  See attached screenshot. See also email from myself to e dreams.

Wednesday 13 July: Having heard nothing back at all from e dreams I then tried on the online chat service and managed to get through to a service agent who said he would escalate the issue of the 5 July tickets as well as the change of booking date for the return flights. 

I had again tried to change the return flights online on the ‘manage my booking’ app and it said I could no longer change the flights, even though the return flight for Jenna was 19 July and mine was 26 July, way more than the 1 day prior to departure blurb that they put on their ‘manage booking’ section.  He said he would escalate and I would have an email answer within 72 hours.

Please see attached screenshots of the conversation with the service agent for 13 July 2022.  I also tried the same thing using my computer.  Please see screenshots of the computer chat call.

Saturday 16 July:  Having heard nothing from e dreams I again contacted a service agent on the online chat platform. Name of agent was Muskan.  He said he could see the issue had been raised with the relevant department and that they were waiting for the airline to respond.  And that they would get back to me.  See screenshots of the conversation and the email I sent to them.

Sunday 17 July: I tried to just cancel the tickets on the ‘manage booking’ platform and it said I could not.  I tried again with the online chat agent, this time it was someone called Mrinalini Shukla.  Explained situation again. He/she said they would expedite and to wait for feedback within 24 hours. She/he also said I could not cancel my tickets and that if I did I would not get a refund.  When I asked why, I got no reply.  See screenshots of conversation on 17 July.

It is now the 18th of July and I have had zero feedback or contact from e Dreams.  I do believe that this deliberate stonewalling is a tactic they use for everyone who books with them and then needs to change or cancel.  Please see screenshots of the numerous horror stories from many dissatisfied clients. This organization needs to be stopped.  It is blatant fraud.  

My tickets are still not cancelled or changed and I have tried my utmost through every single channel available to me to get help from e Dreams but none has been forthcoming.  I think that they do this in the hope that their clients just give up and then that money spent just never gets refunded.