Vueling refund Vs flight credit?

frankiejay

Hello! 
I recently got an email about my vueling fights being cancelled, and having the option to change my flight or get a refund. 
I selected a refund, and they have given me credit to use on future flights. 
At the bottom of my email it says to call if I wish to have the price refunded, which I had assumed would have been the case to begin with. 
I called the number but there wasn't an option to talk to an operator or to request the money back. 

Any recommendations on what to do? 


(On a side note, I haven't had the option for a Ryanair refund yet. Will this happen or will I have to claim via my travel insurance?)

Cyril392

Hi frankiejay, I got a similar response from Vueling about ''refunds''. Even worse, in relation to a different flight with  the same company when all the brown stuff started hitting the fan, I tried changing the date of a flight on 14 March. Vueling itself directed me to do this, both through e-mails AND on its own web-site, but after ploughing through the tortuous on-line process, and after well over an hour, finally to arrive at the all-important ''Change of Flight'' screen, the option was disabled and bore the legend ''This  option is not available'' All subsequent attempts to seek re-dress with Vueling have been rejected. It looks as if the only way to force companies like this to adhere to the law, not to mention it's own directives, is to adopt a  corporate approach, e.g via the CMA, and use platforms like MSE to exert pressure in the right areas. If you're looking to get full and proper refunds from these companies as an individual all I can say is, good luck but don't hold your breath. Vueling is into me for over a grand, but so far I haven't had a penny from it. Cheers 
.

lhsecons

Vueling are basically taking the !!!!!!. They cancelled my flight to Rome but gave me the option to select a refund, which I did. Now, weeks later they have emailed to say they have decided to change it to a credit for future flights unless you ring. When you ring up you get the really long boring message about how the credit can be used and then are asked to choose a number depending on when you booked your flight. Doing this enables you to listen to the long boring message on credit again, a message saying they won’t be dealing with those flights until April10th ( it is now May 14th!!!) and the nothing.
Has anybody managed to actually speak to them??

robertebrown

I managed to get through today on the Spanish number in my email about the credit note. After various messages and number selections, I spoke to someone. After insisting on the refund I was told the money will be refunded to the payment card in 8 weeks. This is for a flight from Asturias to Gatwick. So I haven't got the refund yet!

Cyril392

As mentioned in my message of 1 May, here is the extract of an e-mail reply I sent to Vueling on 31 March about the company disabling the "Change of Flight" option on its web-site. Ringing any Spanish number could find you seriously out of pocket - even  if you can get through (see below):

"Dear Vueling Customer Services,

Thank you for your e-mail of 26/3/20.​
I tried to call the number you provided, but it cannot be accessed from the UK. Further investigation has revealed that Spanish telephone numbers beginning with "902" are both premium-rate, and are non-geographic, i.e. they cannot be accessed from outside of Spain.

​I therefore do not understand why you provided me with this number when there was no prospect of a successful outcome.

 ​I have already provided all the necessary documentary evidence to demonstrate that it was not possible to change the date of my flight before the 2-hour deadline due to the mal-function of the Vueling web-site on the day in question (14 March 2020).

I should therefore be grateful if you would arrange for the matter to be expedited.​

I look forward to hearing from you.

​Best regards,"​

 With regard to a different, later flight that had been cancelled (by Vueling), I got through on the London number on 2 April and spoke with "Alberto". After a number of attempts to persuade me to take vouchers, Alberto agreed to a cash refund, but said it would take 8 weeks to make the refund. That makes the due date for this refund 28 May. Looking forward to it!!!

ClareMo

Does anyone have an email for Vueling customer service?  I've tried and failed to get through to anybody on the phone. I selected refund ontheir own website when flight was cancelled but they sent me a credit note... standard practice it seems to make it difficult for anyone to get their money back. 

lhsecons

Sorry, no. I did however eventually get through to the UK number and, after again suggesting a voucher, they did agree to refund me, but said it would take. 10 weeks, so it might be worth persisting on the phone,

robertebrown

Further to my post on the 14 May, I have today been refunded. I received an email and the money is in the Spanish account which was used to pay for it. So that took 2 weeks, no complaints in the circumstances. But this is a Spanish transaction if that makes a difference.