Wizz Air Thread

SavingThomas

I booked a holiday for myself and 7 friends to Georgia in June and the outbound flights have now been cancelled. This was obviously expected as a possibility.
Wizz Air prompts on the site explain to get a refund you must:
1. First convert into Wizz Air Credit at 120%
2. Then apply for this credit to be converted into cash (knocking off the additional 20% you've been credited)
I did this as advised for 1 booking (all 8 of us are spread across 3 separate bookings I made) but the message that follows this application is as follows:
Thank you for submitting your conversion request, please note that it might take more than 60 days to process the refund.
Over 60 days to process my refund!? - This seems an unseemly amount of time to hold onto my money, is this within their rights?
My suspicion is maybe they've duped me somehow by converting my funds into credit first somehow in order to delay me getting my money back. Could this be the case?
If so, is there a way to request a straight refund for my other 2 bookings and avoid having to wait 60+ days for my money back on these?

Browntoa

As per many other similar questions.

Customer service centres are working on a skeleton staff because of covid.

Repatriation etc are their priorities.

And then customers will be dealt with in date order , yours is June so well down the queues

Streaky_Bacon

If they have agreed to a refund, and simply cannot process it quickly due to manpower, then, if you paid by card, you should consider making a charge back request to your card provider. Wizz Air should have no objection as they have agreed that the money is yours, and the charge back is simply another way of getting the money back to you.

The conversion to Wizz Air Credit seems likely to be a delaying tactic and certainly has the potential to complicate any charge back.

If you paid by credit card then a s75 claim may also also be appropriate. It may not speed things up, but it will at least be in progress if Wizz Air were unfortunately to go bust. Start with a charge back and if the cad provider refuses, move to a s75 (if applicable).

SavingThomas

Streaky_Bacon said:

If they have agreed to a refund, and simply cannot process it quickly due to manpower, then, if you paid by card, you should consider making a charge back request to your card provider. Wizz Air should have no objection as they have agreed that the money is yours, and the charge back is simply another way of getting the money back to you.

The conversion to Wizz Air Credit seems likely to be a delaying tactic and certainly has the potential to complicate any charge back.

If you paid by credit card then a s75 claim may also also be appropriate. It may not speed things up, but it will at least be in progress if Wizz Air were unfortunately to go bust. Start with a charge back and if the cad provider refuses, move to a s75 (if applicable).

Thanks - a helpful response!
I did book with my credit card so an s75 claim would be possible.
Naturally I acknowledge that administratively and otherwise this is a hard time for the airlines, but I'm also keen to get the money back to all my friends who would appreciate it back quickly given the uncertain economic times ahead!

Streaky_Bacon

Yes. It's perfectly reasonable for you to take any steps you can to recover money owed to you.

I'm of the opinion that it is best to move all options along as quickly as we can, because it is certainly possible that the government may agree to voucher refunds soon, binding us to suppliers who may not exist in a few months, or who may not offer the best deals going forward.

Want to book those cheap flights with BA? We'll, tough, because you've got Wizz Air vouchers. 

GP2015

"Moving all options along as quickly as we can" is a great idea (no sarcasm), but in practice, banks are never happy (and, now, obviously, even less happy) to act swiftly on behalf of their customers, when there is no benefit/profit to the bank. When customer requests charge back, the bank demands to see proof that wizzair refused a refund, and when presented with proof that wizzair actually promised a refund, albeit "in over 60 days", the bank will kindly "advise" the claimant to wait until this period expires, write to wizzair again to remind them, AND THEN get back to the bank (and it's, kind of, hard to blame the bank for passing the buck). And, if the laws / regulations have changed half-way, i.e. service providers, such as airlines WILL BE ALLOWED to offer credit in lieu of refund, the bank will be "unfortunately very sorry". That said, if you don't ask, you don't get, no harm asking asap.
Regards,
n.

Alan_Bowen

Warning: it sounds as though you used your card to pay for others, who in turn paid you? If that is right, they are not protected by s 75 as they did not use a credit card to pay for their tickets, you and your immediate family will be protected but that is all

mattyprice4004

I'd imagine banks and credit card companies are just as swamped with claims - even a 'smooth' S75 claim can take well over 2 months. 
I'd just let them go through the motions for now; it's unlikely there's a mechanism you can use to get the money quicker. Just wait it out  

Streaky_Bacon

GP2015 said:

 That said, if you don't ask, you don't get, no harm asking asap.

I agree with all the points you made, but also agree that if you don't ask you don't get.

The banks may well refuse, but they may also take the view that if the retailer will have to refund eventually an interim charge back is appropriate.

Anybody thinking of applying should also consider that with these long delays, they may fall foul of the charge back deadlines if they don't move reasonably quickly.

For example, with Virgin saying that they will take 30 days to respond and then 90 day to refund, that would already take a cardholder past the 120 day charge back deadline (or 75 days in some cases), if the refund then doesn't appear.

Mahsroh

Out of curiosity, has anyone successfully received a refund from Wizzair yet? I'm roughly half way through my 60 days since applying. A couple of weeks after requesting the refund I had an e-mail with an invoice / credit note and was pleasantly surprised assuming that had meant they'd processed it but so far nothing has landed in my account. 

I'm not desperate and appreciate repatriations etc. are a greater priority. Just curious as to whether anyone has actually received a refund yet and how long it took relative to the quoted 60+ days? 

da326

53 days and counting... no refund yet