You’re well acquainted with butterfly theory, I presume. You know that if a butterfly flaps its wings in China, Godzilla might march down Fifth Avenue and bite a chunk out of the Empire State Building? That if Archduke Ferdinand’s chauffeur hadn’t made a wrong turn into an assassin’s mum’s cul-de-sac, the first world war might never have happened? That if Archbishop Pole hadn’t died on the same night as Mary I, we might all be Catholic? In short, that one seemingly insignificant cause might have several epic effects. That one.

Well, it was will rather than might for Sunday Times journalist Bob Tyrer one fateful night in January. The cause was a typo; the effect, three lost flights to New Zealand. By typing “FR” instead of just “R”, he found himself out of pocket to the tune of £2,270.70. (Not quite the first world war, but that’s only because he didn’t mention it to his wife.)

Bob had been booking a family trip down under. His wife was travelling separately, so he just had to get himself and his two children, Caspian and Daisy, there and back.

After trawling the net, he thought Travelbag’s fares with British Airways and Qantas looked the best available, and booked. Over the next three days, he received a series of confirmations. But the last stated: “ . . . the booking is showing the name as Mr Robert Tyfrer, whereas on the client field it’s showing the name as Robert D Tyrer”. It asked him to contact the airline.

He called BA, which said it couldn’t help because the booking had been made with an agent. So he called Travelbag’s customer service — which appeared, on a scratchy line, to be a woman in an Indian call centre. He explained that BA was refusing to help and asked her to have a go. “She called back a while later and said she couldn’t do anything either, because the flight was through LA, and the Americans were sticklers on security,” explains Bob. “She said I would have to cancel the booking ... and, as I was cancelling my ticket, I would have to cancel the children’s too, as they were minors.” A supervisor then told him it was his fault and that he wouldn’t get any money back.

One typo. £2,270.70. Ouch. But with more than two months until the holiday, surely common sense could prevail. Surely if companies expect us to book through the internet, they can have systems in place for human error? Or does the age of internet bookings and bureaucratic call centres not allow for the slightest slip-up? Will people like Bob be left to fall between the cracks? Are the machines taking over?

When Travel put this fundamental philosophical point to Travelbag, it was unmoved. It offered no apology for its abandoning of Bob. Instead, it reiterated that it was his fault and that it would be easier to try to rectify by talking to the airlines direct.

We called the BA press office, threatened, begged and cajoled, then waited. After a couple of days, BA and Qantas agreed to reissue the e-tickets with the correct spelling. A few days after that, Travelbag confirmed the change with an apology. Said Scott Bowen, Customer Relations Manager: “I sincerely apologise for the difficulties encountered with having the name amended and for the lack of communication from our service team. This has arisen as a result of the initial approaches made by frontline service staff resulting in a rejection of the request for the amendment and the matter having to be escalated to our Air Supply Account Manager who raised the matter directly with the airline.”

So, that clarifies that, then. But what happens if you don’t work at The Sunday Times? Travelbag wasn’t prepared to take up Bob’s case until we waved our press credentials around. But what about BA? Why couldn’t it help when he’d called?

“On BA-only services, we would be able to amend a minor misspelling for a small fee. However, this booking involved changing onto Qantas and we are unable to make changes in other booking systems. We may contact the other airline or they may contact us to ask for an amend, and we will do all possible to assist. However, this is by no means a guaranteed process, and we would urge all customers to double-check before submitting their details.”

So, you might be all right if you have a keyboard slip but you might not be. Perhaps it’s best to call: “Thank you for calling Travelbag. This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes. Please select one of the following options, and remember you can also book online at www.travelbag.co.uk.”

Oh God.

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