The one and only refund thread [READ MOD NOTE BEFORE POSTING]!

Jake1 wrote: »

Would anyone here have any experience of getting a refund from Air Transat?

I seem to be getting nowhere with them. They claim that I am not due a refund, just a voucher, because of extraordinary circumstances, which, honestly is no good to me after this year.

Their next available flight is next April.

The "extraordinary circumstances" criteria is for compensation not for a refund.

Since they fly out of Ireland they are subject to our old friend EU261 8 1 a cash refund within 7 days.
(Thanks EU, our FG yahoos in Leinster house wanted to sell us out with mandatory crap vouchers.)

Air Transit are registered in Canada so flightrights can only offer very limited help.

Their Terms and Conditions are interesting, it states that they are printed in September 2019.
Yet it manages to have a Covid section, extraordinary clairvoyance!

"Covid: Due to COVID-19, portions of your vacation package to be provided by third-party suppliers (such as flight, hotel amenities/services, excursions, ground transport etc.) may be different than advertised, including being reduced or unavailable. By booking, you understand and accept the foregoing and you agree that Transat cannot be held liable for such changes."

The Cancellation policy would make even Michael O'Leary blush.

"In the event of a cancellation, the Customer must book a new Package with their travel agent, and this new Package must be fully used in the 12 months following their initial return date. "

Bottom line chargeback is your best and probably only process.
You have a very good chance of success.

Take a look at the sticky for guidance.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058073208

Chargeback updates on :

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058069347

paddy19 wrote: »

The "extraordinary circumstances" criteria is for compensation not for a refund.

Since they fly out of Ireland they are subject to our old friend EU261 8 1 a cash refund within 7 days.
(Thanks EU, our FG yahoos in Leinster house wanted to sell us out with mandatory crap vouchers.)

Air Transit are registered in Canada so flightrights can only offer very limited help.

Their Terms and Conditions are interesting, it states that they are printed in September 2019.
Yet it manages to have a Covid section, extraordinary clairvoyance!

"Covid: Due to COVID-19, portions of your vacation package to be provided by third-party suppliers (such as flight, hotel amenities/services, excursions, ground transport etc.) may be different than advertised, including being reduced or unavailable. By booking, you understand and accept the foregoing and you agree that Transat cannot be held liable for such changes."

The Cancellation policy would make even Michael O'Leary blush.

"In the event of a cancellation, the Customer must book a new Package with their travel agent, and this new Package must be fully used in the 12 months following their initial return date. "

Bottom line chargeback is your best and probably only process.
You have a very good chance of success.

Take a look at the sticky for guidance.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058073208

Chargeback updates on :

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058069347

Thanks for that paddy.

I wasnt aware of EU 261/81 , had heard of EU 261/2004 alright.
I booked it with an Ulstre Bank debit card, does that make any kind of a difference?

One other question if I may? would the small claims Court be an option for me also? Im unsure as the company dont seem to have an office in Ireland

obi604 wrote: »

hi, how do you get the chat option on Ryanair, is it hidden?
or do they even operate on a Sunday

Found it

Waited until the relevant amount of days etc and did a chat with Ryanair earlier.

This was more a less the outcome of the chat from the Ryanair rep.

“We have completed your cash refund request, you will receive confirmation email in 48 hours. The voucher was sent out as a good will gesture. You are more than welcome to a full cash refund, but until you receive the refund your voucher will remain valid for you to utilize.“

Is this positive or just ‘plamas’?

Jake1 wrote: »

Thanks for that paddy.

I wasn't aware of EU 261/81 , had heard of EU 261/2004 alright.

I booked it with an Ulstre Bank debit card, does that make any kind of a difference?

One other question if I may? would the small claims Court be an option for me also? Im unsure as the company dont seem to have an office in Ireland

Sorry my shorthand is causing confusion.

It's EU261 /2004 section 8.1.a

The Ulster have two different flows for credit and debit chargebacks.

Weirdly the debit card flow in goes into the British refund schemes which doesn't apply here.

for
"Tell us about the transaction
These details will help us when we investigate things for you.
Is your flight or package holiday covered by ATOL, ABTA, or CAA? If you have already had confirmation from ATOL, ABTA, or CAA that they are rejecting your claim then please select 'no'. * "

select no.

SCC does not apply Transit are registered in Canada.

Caranica

obi604 wrote: »

“We have completed your cash refund request, you will receive confirmation email in 48 hours. The voucher was sent out as a good will gesture. You are more than welcome to a full cash refund, but until you receive the refund your voucher will remain valid for you to utilize.“

Is this positive or just ‘plamas’?

That's just copy and paste from a script

Caranica wrote: »

That's just copy and paste from a script

Right. So are you saying a complete waste. And won’t be getting a refund based on this.

Caranica

obi604 wrote: »

Right. So are you saying a complete waste. And won’t be getting a refund based on this.

You're in a refund queue with 20 million other people. I've been in that queue 95 days and counting. All you will get in the next 48 hours is confirmation that you are in the queue.

Caranica wrote: »

You're in a refund queue with 20 million other people. I've been in that queue 95 days and counting. All you will get in the next 48 hours is confirmation that you are in the queue.

Noted. Better than nothing I suppose. So now I am in the Refund queue - can I start a chargeback scenario yet?

Mars Bar

paddy19 wrote: »

You don't have to take an Airline voucher.

The EU261 8 1 a law is clear. If they don't fly you are entitled to a cash refund within 7 days.

Now getting the money is whole different ball game but we need to remain very clear on the law
because that becomes the basis for getting a refund through other channels.

Chargeback and PayPal seem to be the best options.

Yeah but they've muddles the phrasing so they have given you the option but mislead you in to "agreeing" to the voucher. The terms and conditions say once you've accepted the voucher then you can't get a refund.

They are being very sneaky.

obi604 wrote: »

Noted. Better than nothing I suppose. So now I am in the Refund queue - can I start a chargeback scenario yet?

Yes you have requested a refund.

Technically you should wait for x days but given all the statements from Ryanair that you get your money when MOL decides the pandemic is over, there is no point.

Nicetrustedcup

So I am due to go to Bali in a few months,

However by the looks of things it won’t be reopened for tourists by the time i am due to go,

So I pre booked the hotel and paid in full and have since contacted the hotel and they have refused to refund the booking or cancel the booking,

Is this going to be a case of me claiming back via my travel insurance or via a charge back on my card ?

This hotel was fully pre paid before anything COVID-19 happened

paddy19 wrote: »

Yes you have requested a refund.

Technically you should wait for x days but given all the statements from Ryanair that you get your money when MOL decides the pandemic is over, there is no point.

thanks , what is the technical X number of days? 3 or 33 etc?

limabromac

obi604 wrote: »

thanks , what is the technical X number of days? 3 or 33 etc?

A chargeback can happen once the goods that were to be delivered are not delivered ...
My advice is that because RA are not being straight then you can technically decide to a chargeback once you request a refund... Chargeback is going to take anywhere between 10 and 30 working days so there is no worries stating the process...ring your credit card team and they will let you know what their process is...and post the info here so you can share it on...
: )

limabromac wrote: »

A chargeback can happen once the goods that were to be delivered are not delivered ...
My advice is that because RA are not being straight then you can technically decide to a chargeback once you request a refund... Chargeback is going to take anywhere between 10 and 30 working days so there is no worries stating the process...ring your credit card team and they will let you know what their process is...and post the info here so you can share it on...
: )

thanks, I am with AIB and Ryanair flights. so I think the odds are against me

limabromac

obi604 wrote: »

thanks, I am with AIB and Ryanair flights. so I think the odds are against me

No the odds are not against you...I've got my money back through a chargeback with AIB...if you can see my posts I gave lots of specific info on how to do it ...

Ring them up
Start process
Write letter include all info and if you have a printer, print off all correspondence with RA...
Follow up in a week and if you don't have a printer ask them can you email all the info into them as you've already sent a letter ..

Aib will honour the chargeback and will send you a letter to say that it has been successful however if ya undo use the voucher in the meantime then they will take back the refund...

obi604 wrote: »

thanks , what is the technical X number of days? 3 or 33 etc?

X depends on the bank. Check their terms and conditions.

Nicetrustedcup wrote: »

So I am due to go to Bali in a few months,

However by the looks of things it won’t be reopened for tourists by the time i am due to go,

So I pre booked the hotel and paid in full and have since contacted the hotel and they have refused to refund the booking or cancel the booking,

Is this going to be a case of me claiming back via my travel insurance or via a charge back on my card ?

This hotel was fully pre paid before anything COVID-19 happened

If the hotel is open chargeback could be problematic. Chargeback normally works where the service has not been delivered.

Travel insurance is worth a try but you are still few months away so I don't think they will do much for you until nearer/after the holiday date.

Gael23

How can I find out if my Ryanair flight has been cancelled without a booking number to hand?

Gael23 wrote: »

How can I find out if my Ryanair flight has been cancelled without a booking number to hand?

https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/travel-updates

This will show cancelled flights by route and date.

This gives you about a two week window.

Gael23

That only is showing this week for my flight

So the plot thickens with one of my Ryanair flights. See the below message.

I did not request this flight to be moved. It surely didn't fly as it was in late March at the start of the pandemic. I wonder what their game is here?

Just on the live chat now so will see.

I thought it was strange as I hadn't received a voucher offer for this one.

"Dear Customer,

We acknowledge your recent refund request.

Unfortunately as your cancelled flight was subsequently changed by you to a flight which operated without disruption or to a flight that is scheduled to operate in the future a refund is no longer a valid option.

Yours sincerely,"

Mr rebel

I see Ryanair have got rid of change of travel date fees for all new bookings until the end of the year but those of us who booked our flights before the pandemic still have to pay the €45 fee which isn’t fair at all.

Roanmore

WasBornToBoogie wrote: »

So the plot thickens with one of my Ryanair flights. See the below message.

I did not request this flight to be moved. It surely didn't fly as it was in late March at the start of the pandemic. I wonder what their game is here?

Just on the live chat now so will see.

I thought it was strange as I hadn't received a voucher offer for this one.

"Dear Customer,

We acknowledge your recent refund request.

Unfortunately as your cancelled flight was subsequently changed by you to a flight which operated without disruption or to a flight that is scheduled to operate in the future a refund is no longer a valid option.

Yours sincerely,"

I got this as well as I used my cancelled flight to book flights in Sept.
I'm still waiting to get a refund on a flight cancelled around Easter.

WasBornToBoogie wrote: »

So the plot thickens with one of my Ryanair flights. See the below message.

I did not request this flight to be moved. It surely didn't fly as it was in late March at the start of the pandemic. I wonder what their game is here?

Just on the live chat now so will see.

I thought it was strange as I hadn't received a voucher offer for this one.

"Dear Customer,

We acknowledge your recent refund request.

Unfortunately as your cancelled flight was subsequently changed by you to a flight which operated without disruption or to a flight that is scheduled to operate in the future a refund is no longer a valid option.

Yours sincerely,"

This is bizarre. Moving passengers flights without their permission could be a new low for Ryanair.
More likely it's a screw up.

Chargeback could be a good process since the banks are well used to seeing evidence of how online agreements are documented, ip address, time and dates etc.

crustybread

Hi, this may help someone.

I was due to travel aer lingus outbound to alicante on July 6th. I wanted to cancel as travelling with parents who have undergone cancer treatment and too much uncertainty. I thought I would be forced to accept a flight change to later in year but just off the phone and its looks like all flights to alicante have been cancelled up until 19th of July (they said this was announced yesterday but I did not receive any correspondence). They have processed a full refund for me. May take up to 14 working days.

Might help someone else who was worrying about flights.

limabromac wrote: »

A chargeback can happen once the goods that were to be delivered are not delivered ...
My advice is that because RA are not being straight then you can technically decide to a chargeback once you request a refund... Chargeback is going to take anywhere between 10 and 30 working days so there is no worries stating the process...ring your credit card team and they will let you know what their process is...and post the info here so you can share it on...
: )

I have taken screen grabs of the stuff I have been doing over the last month, chat transcripts etc

Latest email from ryanair after my chat says the below.
When I start the chargeback process with my bank and show them proof of what ive been doing and specifially below (to prove ive asked for a refund etc) -- will they just say f3ck off, you are in a queue for a refund with ryanair, nothing we can do for you.

"I acknowledge that you do not wish to accept your refund in voucher format at this time and have requested to remain on the cash refund queue. Please note that until such time as you receive your cash refund, your voucher will remain valid and can be used to purchase flights and ancillaries for any future trip you might wish to plan. Please note that our refund processing has been negatively affected by the Covid19 crisis however we will process your refund as soon as possible."

paddy19 wrote: »

This is bizarre. Moving passengers flights without their permission could be a new low for Ryanair.
More likely it's a screw up.

Chargeback could be a good process since the banks are well used to seeing evidence of how online agreements are documented, ip address, time and dates etc.

What makes it more bizarre Paddy is that it was a flight for late March which I am 100% sure did not fly.

I started a charge back for this about 3 weeks go. I have got monies back for 2 other Ryanair flights via chargeback with TSB.

crustybread wrote: »

Hi, this may help someone.

I was due to travel aer lingus outbound to alicante on July 6th. I wanted to cancel as travelling with parents who have undergone cancer treatment and too much uncertainty. I thought I would be forced to accept a flight change to later in year but just off the phone and its looks like all flights to alicante have been cancelled up until 19th of July (they said this was announced yesterday but I did not receive any correspondence). They have processed a full refund for me. May take up to 14 working days.

Might help someone else who was worrying about flights.

That is indeed great news but you will probably be waiting a lot longer than 14 days for your refund.

Roanmore

WasBornToBoogie wrote: »

What makes it more bizarre Paddy is that it was a flight for late March which I am 100% sure did not fly.

I started a charge back for this about 3 weeks go. I have got monies back for 2 other Ryanair flights via chargeback with TSB.

Are TSB now doing chargeback?