Unable to get Refund or Voucher from TAP Air after months of a cancelled flight

maranassy

Hi,
I am looking for some advice on best way to gain success on a chargeback & other options on a cancelled TAP Air flight where I am being offered neither a refund or a voucher.
TAP Air are fobbing me off every time I ask for the payment.   Here is the background, my plan & question:

Background:
Very early this year I booked 4 air tickets to go to Madeira.  The return (31st August) from Madeira was booked via TAP AIR.   I tried to request a refund from them & I kept getting replies back saying my refund was getting processed.   Its now been 6 months since I have been chasing - I have logged a complaint, contacted them on Twitter & on facebook and they just get back every time saying the same thing.    Getting fed up,  I thought I would then just accept the voucher from them.   So I go on their website and enter the booking ref & ticket numbers and get an error message saying my refund is already being processed.   Then I tried to go and find out the status of my refund - however they've never given me a reference ID for the refund so its not possible for me to do even that!
Having looked at TAP Air's complaint record & especially all the comms on Twitter there appear to be many people who are wondering when TAP Air will give them their money back.   Some people are very angry with them.  In my case I have spent £750 on services not received and have not been able to get a refund or even a voucher.
I have now complained to TAP Air yet again - and once again they just say 'my refund is still under analysis'. I replied demanding that they give me proof that the refund is being processed & also time-scales within 2 days.  I have also phoned my bank to start the ChargeBack process.

Plan:
If TAP don't get back to me yet again then I will go ahead with my Chargeback claim.  I am going to make the case that TAP Air have taken money unlawfully as there is no access to a refund/voucher for my cancelled flights,  no updates since 6 months & no reference number from them to suggest my refund is even being looked at.    Is there anything I should do to increase my chance of success?  Also what are my options, if any, if the chargeback fails.

What is upsetting is that I have a lot of sympathy for airlines & would have accepted a voucher of the same value (as the refund route is failing).  The fact I don't seem to be able to get anything from them - money, communication, something resembling the truth - is something I feel is unacceptable.   From what I can see, TAP have an awful record and their twitter page suggests that after many months since Covid became an issues they are not really paying anyone any money.  Some people have lost out a lot more money than I have - but still £750 is a lot to me and I'd rather try and get it back.

Many thanks.

eskbanker

maranassy said:

Plan:
If TAP don't get back to me yet again then I will go ahead with my Chargeback claim.  I am going to make the case that TAP Air have taken money unlawfully as there is no access to a refund/voucher for my cancelled flights,  no updates since 6 months & no reference number from them to suggest my refund is even being looked at.    Is there anything I should do to increase my chance of success?

Their taking the money in the first place obviously isn't unlawful but it is unlawful for them to fail to refund you within seven days of them cancelling, under article 8 of the EC 261/2004 regulations, so concentrate on claiming your rights under those.  You mention that you've been chasing them for six months but that the flight was three months ago - chargeback has to be initiated within 120 days so you'll need to be clear on timescales....

Westin

As above, but can you clarify the reason for the refund. It to me at least is not clear if TAP Air Portugal cancelled the flight (in which case I can see the claim) or if you just could not take the flight. Please can you clarify as the reason will determine if a cash refund is due or not.

maranassy

Hi.  Thanks for replying.  The flight was due to take place on the 31st August - it was cancelled by TAP Air in June.  I phoned the dispute chargeback team with my bank and they said the claim would still be within time-scales.  I have been told to wait until they send me a letter.   I will tighten up wording & refer to EC 261/2004 regulations as part of the charge back claim.  Is there any other authority I should be talking to?.  TAP AIR did get back to me again this evening on Twitter to give my a reference number for the refund & that my refund is still being reviewed' but without giving me the time-scales I requested.  
Many thanks again.

Butts

maranassy said:

Hi.  Thanks for replying.  The flight was due to take place on the 31st August - it was cancelled by TAP Air in June.  I phoned the dispute chargeback team with my bank and they said the claim would still be within time-scales.  I have been told to wait until they send me a letter.   I will tighten up wording & refer to EC 261/2004 regulations as part of the charge back claim.  Is there any other authority I should be talking to?.  TAP AIR did get back to me again this evening on Twitter to give my a reference number for the refund & that my refund is still being reviewed' but without giving me the time-scales I requested.  
Many thanks again.

You could have initiated a chargeback 7 Days after the flights were cancelled if you were not in receipt of the monies back.
Is the procedure not done online ?
All I needed was a receipt showing I paid for the flights, a confirmation of the cancellation and proof I had requested a refund that had not been granted.
Took less than a week  after the claim went in to get the money back, as with yours it's an open and shut case.

Westin

Thank you for the clarification on the cancellation.

I think the advice provided by eskbanker is very valid. Reference their breach of the EC 261/2005 regulations regarding a refund on a flight cancelled by the airline.

maranassy

Thanks everyone.  It is 100% a cancellation from TAP Air.    I didn't do a chargeback sooner as I thought TAP Air would refund me.  Once I realised that a refund looked unlikely, I assumed I would still easily be able to get the voucher.  The chargeback is via Santander as I paid for the flights using their visa debit card.  They don't have an online form option - it would be easier if they did.  I had to phone, go through a triage & they said the claim was valid (at least for investigation) so they would send forms.  Anyway thanks for the advice.  I will reference the breach & keep my fingers crossed..

mgfvvc

Good luck with that. I disputed a credit card payment to TAP with Partnership Card (John Lewis) who took 3 months to request further evidence and another 3 months to reject the dispute. They also rejected it under section 75. I have now filed a complaint with the ombudsman, but I don't expect much.

maranassy

Ok thanks - that doesn't fill me with much hope but I will try.   I used a debit card so its a charge back with Santander so its different but I know reject rate is high.  How TAP Air is getting away with what they are doing I don't know?  Its not that they aren't offering refunds but they aren't even giving vouchers as compensation.   There is a facebook page with 1000s of complaints about TAP with similar complaints to mine.  Some are owed many thousands. From the replies I am getting from TAP they really don't care and are not going to pay back the money.  If the chargeback does fail, I will complain to the aviation authority & may consider claiming back money in court.  There should really be an inquiry into this.   TAP must owe millions.  I understand its a bad time for the industry but TAP were bailed out & should not be allowed to do this. :-(  Lastminute had to pay back all the money it owed after an investigation. 

eskbanker

maranassy said:

Lastminute had to pay back all the money it owed after an investigation. 

That doesn't quite tell the full story - Lastminute, like TAP and many others, reneged on their obligations to refund cancelled packages (not flights) within mandated timescales but after sustained pressure from the CMA, finally agreed last week to comply with their legal obligations.  They reluctantly accepted the principle of refunding but will be staging this over the next couple of months, so it's not all over yet....

maranassy

I understand its not over  At least there is an investigation and potential time-scales.  If there was the same investigation for flights as there was on holiday packages I'd be happy.      Anyway my chargeback forms have arrived so I will focus on maximising my chance of success & if that fails will look at other channels.  If my money has gone for good I will have to accept it eventually - but feel I have to try everything possible.   Right now it feels like airlines can just cancel flights and get away with it.  I am extremely sympathetic to the situation Covid has put airlines in - and would accept a voucher from TAP (which they refuse to offer also).   However TAP do seem desperate at the moment to bite off the hand that feeds them...   Trying to communicate with them is like banging your head against a wall.   

Anyhow thanks everyone for the responses. Very much appreciated.  I'll update here on the outcome.   If there is anyone else trying to get money back from TAP I'd like to help them with my experiences.