Air Transat cancellation - no refund?

jem16

Rayban666rabbit said:

I had the cancellation email yesterday for our Gatwick to Vancouver flights in August. What was their response Jem16? jem16 said: 

I've just joined the fight for refunds now. My flight was from Glasgow to Toronto on 23rd July and no cancellation email at all so I assumed my flight was happening. Phoned today to change it to next year as per their new flexibility offer and after being on hold for 2 hours I get told my flight is cancelled and I can use my credit voucher to rebook. I told her the website doesn't make it clear that the Glasgow flight isn't resuming till 26th July and that I had received no email about cancellation and that I would not accept a voucher.

Their response was that it was company policy to issue credit vouchers and not refunds. I now have that in writing via Twitter DM and will be moving to start a chargeback with my credit card company. I will also email a complaint to the CAA - the more complaints they get, the more likely that they will do something.

Rayban666rabbit

Their response was that it was company policy to issue credit vouchers and not refunds. I now have that in writing via Twitter DM and will be moving to start a chargeback with my credit card company. I will also email a complaint to the CAA - the more complaints they get, the more likely that they will do something.

Thanks. They still haven’t replied to my email or messenger so will try Twitter and then get on to my credit card company.

thechalkface

Similar situation here: Had flights for August 2020 LGW to YVR.  Got the cancellation email on 11th June, and contacted via Twitter on Friday to request either a refund or a partial refund (don't like the terms and conditions for vouchers that won't refund me the difference if I don't spend them all, and not sure I'll use them within 24 months).  Heard back today (Monday) from them, but with the standard message: 
Hi, my name is Joanny. I'm sorry for the late reply. We have taken exceptional measures in an extraordinary situation of force majeure by offering our customers a credit valid for 24 months. We are confident that you and all of our customers will be able to travel in the near future once the crisis is behind us. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) statement issued on March 25, 2020 also supports this approach and recognizes that it is "a solution that would be suitable in the current context " In this regard, we refer you to the Section concerning the credits that you will find here: <i>https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/statement-</i><i>vouchers</i>
Interestingly, if you look at the FAQs for the website they sent me to, it includes the following:

If you think that you're entitled to a refund for a flight that was cancelled for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic and you don't want to accept a voucher, you can ask the airline for a refund.

Sometimes, the airline may offer a voucher that can be converted to a refund if the voucher hasn't been used by the end of its validity period. This practice reflects the liquidity challenges airlines are facing as a result of the collapse of air travel while giving passengers added protection in the event that they ultimately can't take advantage of the voucher.

Since Air Transat's last response, they've emailed me with a voucher for each of the four passengers, so I've started a claim through my credit card company (Nationwide Visa Credit) this evening (Mon 15th June) for a full refund - I'll update here as things happen in case anyone else is doing similar things.  

jem16

thechalkface said:

Interestingly, if you look at the FAQs for the website they sent me to, it includes the following:

If you think that you're entitled to a refund for a flight that was cancelled for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic and you don't want to accept a voucher, you can ask the airline for a refund.

Sometimes, the airline may offer a voucher that can be converted to a refund if the voucher hasn't been used by the end of its validity period. This practice reflects the liquidity challenges airlines are facing as a result of the collapse of air travel while giving passengers added protection in the event that they ultimately can't take advantage of the voucher.

Yes Air Transat are good at providing the March statement from the CTA whilst ignoring the April statement from them which clearly states "The Statement on Vouchers suggests what could be an appropriate approach in extraordinary circumstances, but doesn't affect airlines' obligations or passengers' rights."

EC261/2004 is the law which is above anything Air Transat wants to provide as "policy" and the Force Majeure that they like to quote plays no part in it.

bignred05

some good news here, had a text message off one of my two credit cards whom I've done a charge back with.
(don't ask how or why I used 2 different cards, even I don't know)
anyway the main purchase of the flights money has finally been refunded i'm informed, although Air Transat has 45 days to challenge this, if they do its a Section 75 to follow. Either way I'm getting my money back.

Credit Card, Tesco, charge back submitted on the 10.May.2020, although I have since been told they never actually received it until the 18.May.2020 due to the backlog. 

_BeerMatt_

Thanks Big Red, that's useful to know. I've just submitted my dispute to Barclaycard, so fingers crossed they'll refund too. I've not bothered contacting air transat as yet. Their email and screenshot of faq's from their website should hopefully be enough evidence they're not refunding people.

Has anyone else used Barclaycard to seek a refund?

jem16

_BeerMatt_ said:

Thanks Big Red, that's useful to know. I've just submitted my dispute to Barclaycard, so fingers crossed they'll refund too. I've not bothered contacting air transat as yet. Their email and screenshot of faq's from their website should hopefully be enough evidence they're not refunding people.

Has anyone else used Barclaycard to seek a refund?

You need to contact them to show that you've tried to resolve the situation with the merchant first. Contact them by DM on either Twitter or Facebook and ask for your refund as per EC261/2004. Once you've got that then you can go to Barclaycard.

Did you phone Barclaycard or use some other method? I'm just about to go down that route with them now that I have written proof that I have tried to solve it with the merchant.

jem16

bignred05 said:

some good news here, had a text message off one of my two credit cards whom I've done a charge back with.
(don't ask how or why I used 2 different cards, even I don't know)
anyway the main purchase of the flights money has finally been refunded i'm informed, although Air Transat has 45 days to challenge this, if they do its a Section 75 to follow. Either way I'm getting my money back.

Credit Card, Tesco, charge back submitted on the 10.May.2020, although I have since been told they never actually received it until the 18.May.2020 due to the backlog. 

Good to hear you've made some progress. Amex seem to be the best so far as my son contacted them on 8th May and the refund was in his account that day. Hopefully he should hear soon whether it's been successful or not as his account now says In Progress whereas before it said Closed although the letter he received did say Air Transat could dispute. I guess they have now done so.

bignred05

jem16 said:

_BeerMatt_ said:

Thanks Big Red, that's useful to know. I've just submitted my dispute to Barclaycard, so fingers crossed they'll refund too. I've not bothered contacting air transat as yet. Their email and screenshot of faq's from their website should hopefully be enough evidence they're not refunding people.

Has anyone else used Barclaycard to seek a refund?

You need to contact them to show that you've tried to resolve the situation with the merchant first. Contact them by DM on either Twitter or Facebook and ask for your refund as per EC261/2004. Once you've got that then you can go to Barclaycard.

Did you phone Barclaycard or use some other method? I'm just about to go down that route with them now that I have written proof that I have tried to solve it with the merchant.

Both of my Credit Cards had an online form to fill in, pretty sure both required a copy of the cancellation email along with details of purchase (dates/amounts etc)
however what I would advise is to put a covering letter, detailing the same details in the form along with contact email/phone number.
once you submitted my forms they didn't appear to have saved the details, hence why I did the covering letter as well.

Good luck

_BeerMatt_

jem16 said:

_BeerMatt_ said:

Thanks Big Red, that's useful to know. I've just submitted my dispute to Barclaycard, so fingers crossed they'll refund too. I've not bothered contacting air transat as yet. Their email and screenshot of faq's from their website should hopefully be enough evidence they're not refunding people.

Has anyone else used Barclaycard to seek a refund?

You need to contact them to show that you've tried to resolve the situation with the merchant first. Contact them by DM on either Twitter or Facebook and ask for your refund as per EC261/2004. Once you've got that then you can go to Barclaycard.

Did you phone Barclaycard or use some other method? I'm just about to go down that route with them now that I have written proof that I have tried to solve it with the merchant.

I
 I used Barclaycards online form, they then send you a docusign link to fill in the details and upload evidence. I'll try and get the response from air transat via twitter now.