Air Transat cancellation - no refund?

mrbg07546

I had flights Toronto In early August. AT changed the date on them. But only gave me 2
options, voucher or accept change. I did a card charge back through lloyds. Who told me just it got disputed (due to service provided)on day 43. I then had to provide evidence, I provided a email saying flights have changed and I only have 2 options, and a Twitter DM conversation where I demanded a refund and wasn’t given one. Lloyd’s told me I need to wait another 45 days and if it gets disputed it’s up to MasterCard to decide...

Marmaduke123

I'm partway through my second 45 days with a Lloyd's group Mastercard chargeback. They have told me that if AT challenge it again there is another 30 days wait before arbitration, which itself takes several months! They were apologetic about the timescales, but have to follow Mastercard rules.
I believe Visa only allow one round of dispute, challenge and rebuttal before arbitration, whereas Mastercard allow two, as we have both discovered.

mrbg07546

Marmaduke123 said:

I'm partway through my second 45 days with a Lloyd's group Mastercard chargeback. They have told me that if AT challenge it again there is another 30 days wait before arbitration, which itself takes several months! They were apologetic about the timescales, but have to follow Mastercard rules.
I believe Visa only allow one round of dispute, challenge and rebuttal before arbitration, whereas Mastercard allow two, as we have both discovered.

Thanks so similar boat. When they disputed did they ask for evidence? I was asked fo evidence . I provided email of flights change and a conversation from twitter where I demanded a refund but was refused. You?

Marmaduke123

I had provided all the information in the first place. Lloyd's didn't  ask for anything additional before they issued a rebuttal.

bignred05

after Air Transat challenged my Chargeback (for luggage & seats) I have been informed tonight that my credit card Company have,

have rejected the challenge. They now have up to  7 November to ask MasterCard to make a final decision. We will debit your card so financial adjustments take place on your account.**

** Not sure what this bit means

Marmaduke123

All over for us now it appears. We passed the second 45 days (Mastercard chargeback) last week, and have heard nothing from Lloyd's, who told us we would be informed if AT challenged again.
We have today transferred the chargeback amount back to our current account. Chargeback credit first received on 9th July, so a long process.

Russ46

For jem16- have finally been given my refund after sending another email complaining. As for my credit card provider (*esco bank) I haven't had a single word from them since submitting my refund/clawback request on 22nd June. My thanks to you jem for the help you gave, and as far as AT are concerned I will never be using them again- I'd rather pay more and get better service. Good luck to everyone who hasn't been refunded yet.

edy84

Hi, I can see that there is a huge debate here regarding AirTransat refunds and I wanted to add my story and ask for your advice.
My airtransat flight to Vancouver was booked and paid for at the beginning of this year. We meant to fly out from London in April, but obviously due to Covid19, our flights have been cancelled. The company at the time refused to provide a refund, but suggested travel vouchers instead - we accepted them, as they left us with no other option. 
Then around the beginning of August, Air Transat have emailed me to say that the refund option is available and it will be issued to the account that I've used to pay for my flights.  The issue here was that I switched my bank accounts in April and my old bank account was closed; so I've contacted AirTransat to provide them with my new details, to which they responded that they will issue me with a cheque instead. The company also added that refunds will be processed in order of departure date. (That was on the 22nd September )  Despite my further correspondence, I have not heard back. 
Should I be worried ? 
Judging by some posts included here, people who booked flights after me, have already received their money back.
How should I follow that up, considering lack of response and nearly 7 months waiting time ?
Any advice would be much appreciated. 

jem16

edy84 said:

Judging by some posts included here, people who booked flights after me, have already received their money back.
How should I follow that up, considering lack of response and nearly 7 months waiting time ?
Any advice would be much appreciated. 

As your flights were in April and include Vancouver I would have expected your refund to have been processed by now. Most posting here have gone down the chargeback route as only Vancouver flights are due to get a full refund.

I would suggest one last email to Air Transat saying that you expect to receive a full refund within 7 days. If you hear nothing from them then proceed to a chargeback.

AngloLargs

An update from my chargeback.... . Today I received confirmation from my bank that it was successful and the matter is considered closed. My First Direct VISA card had been credited back for the AT flights on 7th Aug, their bank had disputed on 23rd Sept & FDirect refuted it. No further communication has been received from AT or their bank and the timeframe for doing so has now lapsed, a long process but a happy outcome. Good luck to everyone else going through the process !
Thanks for all the tips I got from people on this forum 👍