[PointyMark]

Does anyone know of a UK or EU body I could write to to complain about the time it takes airlines to refund cancelled ticket monies?
Because of ill health I’ve recently had to cancel several First and Business tickets. QR said I’ll get the money in 4 weeks, SQ between 4 and 6 weeks, and MH 6-8 weeks. Why does it take so long?!
The worst by far is LATAM, who still haven’t given me a refund for a cancellation I made back in April. And they refuse to tell me the exact amount they’re refunding, to stop me asking my credit card company to recharge it from them.

[anyonebutba]

[quote quote=954860]Does anyone know of a UK or EU body I could write to to complain about the time it takes airlines to refund cancelled ticket monies?

Because of ill health I’ve recently had to cancel several First and Business tickets. QR said I’ll get the money in 4 weeks, SQ between 4 and 6 weeks, and MH 6-8 weeks. Why does it take so long?!

The worst by far is LATAM, who still haven’t given me a refund for a cancellation I made back in April. And they refuse to tell me the exact amount they’re refunding, to stop me asking my credit card company to recharge it from them.[/quote]

Sadly this is normal industry Practice, there is little point in complaining, refunds are usually processed within 1-3 months, however they can take as long as 6 months, depending on the amount of refunds said airline has to process, as for Latam, south american carriers are by far the worst at processing, along with most African carriers…as for the body to write too…the refund time is not something the CAA for instance governs…just have to be patient I guess

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PointyMark

[capetonianm]

Have to reluctantly agree with the above. Standard practice, or I’m tempted to say ‘malpractice’ with airlines.

Refunds are complicated as some fares are fully refundable, others partially or not at all. Taxes may be refundable or not. If a ticket is partially used then that adds another layer of complexity.

Many airlines use automatic ticket change/refund processes but not all tickets are always eligible for automated refunds.

One airline I worked for carried out robust – and for good reason – fraud checking processes before refunding any ticket.

The bottom line is that once the airline has your money, processing a refund is pretty low priority.

I remember one instance where I put through a refund on a KLM ticket and that took over 3 months, and they are one of the better ones.

[SimonS1]

A starting point would be the CAA. They do get involved in consumer protection but not sure how much clout they have.

You could use MCOL as well.

Or chargeback on your card.

Of course airlines love to delay this, millions of pounds of cash sat around which is set off against their borrowing cost.

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PointyMark

[Inquisitive]

You have to consider airlines point of view as well. Once someone buy a ticket via credit card, the airlines receive the real money after anywhere from 30 to 60 days. If it is bought via third party like travel agent or Expedia type companies the days could be even more.

So airlines have to be sure that they have received the money before any refund.

So I would say 4-8 weeks after cancellation is not that bad.

Another point, if the journey could be rebooked to another set of dates, that can be done fairly easily, although one may has to pay hefty rebooking fees.

Note: I am no way connected to any airlines.

[capetonianm]

Once someone buy a ticket via credit card, the airlines receive the real money after anywhere from 30 to 60 days.

Unless things have changed, credit card (Visa, Mastercard) transactions are treated as immediate credits, charge cards such as Amex, Diners, UATP incur higher costs and a further payment lag.

If it is bought via third party like travel agent or Expedia type companies the days could be even more

Yes, and in these the customer has to deal with the agent, which introduces further delay, cost, and aggravation.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=954910]You have to consider airlines point of view as well. Once someone buy a ticket via credit card, the airlines receive the real money after anywhere from 30 to 60 days. If it is bought via third party like travel agent or Expedia type companies the days could be even more.[/quote]

Nothing remotely like it. 24 to 72 hours is the norm. And a business the size of BA will have negotiated the shorter end of the scale.

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ASK1945, PointyMark

[mkcol74]

[quote quote=954899]A starting point would be the CAA. They do get involved in consumer protection but not sure how much clout they have.

You could use MCOL as well.

Or chargeback on your card.

Of course airlines love to delay this, millions of pounds of cash sat around which is set off against their borrowing cost.[/quote]

Concur with @SimonS1 – chargeback to the hilt!

[thebigseats]

No, no no, never heard of such nonsense! Companies paid by Credit Cards are themselves paid within 24-72 hours, dependent upon the card issuer.

[Inquisitive]

Whatever time duration noted for disbursements on credit card payments as noted by few posters is incorrect and you can check with credit card companies. These amount are held as account debit but not disbursed to Merchants as credit card companies cannot pay that until they get money from the credit card holders.

And credit card holders pay to card company anytime between 20 to 45 days after purchase.

One of the main sources of income (and rewards system)for credit card companies is a huge volume of money they hold for a while.

[capetonianm]

Whatever time duration noted for disbursements on credit card payments as noted by few posters is incorrect and you can check with credit card companies. These amount are held as account debit but not disbursed to Merchants as credit card companies cannot pay that until they get money from the credit card holders.

This is not correct. As I mentioned earlier, Visa and Mastercard credit card payments used to be banked and credited immediately. The system now is a bit more streamlined.

With travel agents it works slightly differently and there are a couple of options depending on how the ticket is remitted. If the travel agent uses an EPOS machine to take payment, it’s an immediate credit to their bank account, and the ticket sale, as far as the airline is concerned, is ‘cash’, and if you look at such a ticket issued by an airline, it will show FP NONREFAGT or similar, or in some cases FP CASH.

If the airline accepts the payment by CC the FP on the ticket will show FP CCCA 5221 xxxxx ….. and in that case, it reflects on their BSP (airline sales reporting system) and the commission (if any …) reflects as a credit, which is what they have earned.

[manxman123]

I’ve had problems in the past with Latam (over missing Avios points) and got nowhere until I posted on their Facebook page. Resolution was fairly swift thereafter

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PointyMark

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=955075]Whatever time duration noted for disbursements on credit card payments as noted by few posters is incorrect and you can check with credit card companies. These amount are held as account debit but not disbursed to Merchants as credit card companies cannot pay that until they get money from the credit card holders.

And credit card holders pay to card company anytime between 20 to 45 days after purchase.

One of the main sources of income (and rewards system)for credit card companies is a huge volume of money they hold for a while.[/quote]

I have checked it, the company I work for collects about 20,000 payments a month on card and settlement with us is 48 hours. So you are talking complete cobblers I’m afraid.

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thebigseats

[LuganoPirate]

My refund for Swiss / Lufthansa tickets have been made within a week to ten days of the cancellation. This sometimes arises where I’ve booked, paid, then cancelled withing 24 hours due to a change of plans (or mistake with the dates). When I rebook I have to pay again in order to purchase the new ticket. Even though the fare is the same they will not credit the old ticket for the new one.

In the old days, Swissair would refund out of Jamaica – don’t know why – and that could take up to a month or more, so I would swap it for an MCO instead. I don’t even think they exist anymore??

[AJDC]

@Inqusitive: You are not correct. That may have been the old days of processing credit cards, but payments to merchants by credit card companies are done within 24 – 72 hours. It could be a little longer for a lower cost, but not much longer. Merchants do not have to wait until the cardholders pay the credit card banks. That’s absolutely not how it works. And I know this, because I work in the credit card payment business.

To the OP – I suggest you call your credit card company and create a dispute for “credit not received”. You may be able to do it online with your bank, but there’s no need to mess around with companies. You will then get a temporary immediate credit to your account while the airlines sort it out with your credit card company.

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ASK1945

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