Question:
My wife was flying by herself with baby, and in the airport they wouldn't let the baby check-in because she needs an ETA.
A person standing nearby saw the situation and offered my wife to do it on his phone. As he was filling it out on his phone, he asked my wife 'you know that it's expensive, right?', not having any other option (and thinking he meant around 30GBP), she said yes.
In the end the ETA didn't come through fast enough, but my wife went to another desk and they didn't make a fuss, letting her through without it.
They exchanged contact details, and a few days later he messaged saying that it cost 151.9 GBP!
I was surprised at the steep price, so I checked online and saw that it only costs 25ILS.
What happened was that there are (scam) companies which serve as middlemen and charge you a hefty price for supposed 'extra fast' approval (which isn't true, they just fill out the same form), and he had just clicked on the first result, landing on one of these companies instead of on the official Israel government website.
Am I obligated to pay him back for making a mistake (albeit whilst trying to help out)?
Answer:
Hello,
It seems you would be obligated to pay him. The reason is that he told you it was expensive and you accepted it. True, you didn’t think it was that expensive; you thought it was only 30 GBP, but it was more. Nevertheless, you agreed to pay an expensive price, and he didn’t do anything wrong in this regard, as he warned you about it.
Best wishes
