EasyJet refusing to refund

macman

Sunnie15 said:

Thanks Jon Combe. That is really helpful. Same city or not. LTN and LGW are 70 miles apart!  EasyJet have done it again with flights in May 2021 and pulled our return flight forward 24 hours which means we are due to fly back on the evening of a wedding we are going to (hopefully) so again unusable flight for us. 

Has the flight number changed? If so, that is your remedy.

eskbanker

Sunnie15 said:

I have sent EasyJet proof that my first contact with them about this booking was a refund request but they refuse to accept it. I emailed them back rejecting the voucher and telling them I had asked for a refund in the first instance. 

Sunnie15 said:

I did ask EasyJet for an explanation of the refund but they didn’t give one for 2 weeks. But they were pretty quick to give a voucher and are denying ever receiving the original refund request even though I have sent a PDF of their response to it.

Sunnie15 said:

I received a refund for £3 and queried it. I said that if this was the only refund I was entitled to them could I have a voucher instead. EasyJet took that to mean that I wanted a voucher and without any explanation of the £3 issued a voucher.  They are refusing a refund of my full booking saying I accepted a voucher which I never have.

Re the bolded text, much will depend on exactly what wording was used, but it does look from that like you did ask for, and receive, a voucher, albeit under protest - the fact that you'd previously asked for a refund doesn't alter this, as the voucher effectively overrides the refund request.  If you'd stuck to your guns about the refund it should have been different, but it's probably too late to reverse things now....

CKhalvashi

macman said:

Sunnie15 said:

Thanks Jon Combe. That is really helpful. Same city or not. LTN and LGW are 70 miles apart!  EasyJet have done it again with flights in May 2021 and pulled our return flight forward 24 hours which means we are due to fly back on the evening of a wedding we are going to (hopefully) so again unusable flight for us. 

Has the flight number changed? If so, that is your remedy.

In this case it may have been, until OP requested a voucher.

Easyjet have refunded in the way that OP asked them to, and therefore they have no right to a cash refund. If they were to proceed with Chargeback/S75, they would be lying to the bank if they didn't inform that they had asked for and received a voucher.

If this wasn't informed and a refund were to be successful, this would be a clear case of Fraud by False Representation, which could leave the OP with a criminal record and potentially a 10 year jail sentence.

OP asked for a voucher, OP received a voucher, OP therefore has had this matter dealt with in the way that they are happy.

macman

So, if you subsequently purchase a new flight using the voucher, the clock is not effectively reset, thus allowing you to request a cash refund should the 2nd flight also be cancelled?

The OP would only be committing fraud if they were to conceal that they had received a voucher already for the second flight against which they are now claiming?

CKhalvashi

macman said:

So, if you subsequently purchase a new flight using the voucher, the clock is not effectively reset, thus allowing you to request a cash refund should the 2nd flight also be cancelled?

The OP would only be committing fraud if they were to conceal that they had received a voucher already for the second flight against which they are now claiming?

If the second flight is cancelled, under my interpretation of the rules a refund would be an entitlement, but not necessarily in cash if that's not how the flight was paid in the first place. Airlines usually refund to the original payment method, which in OP's case would be a voucher.

The second part of your post is correct to a point. The wording of the legislation is where OP would seek to cause a gain for themselves or a loss for another. Gaining a refund that they are not entitled (and know that they are not entitled, as they have already received a refund as it was asked for, in the form of a voucher) from the card issuer would cause OP to be reimbursed twice, as they would have a voucher and their money in cash. This therefore would be a straightforward charge if one of the parties involved were to push it.

The legislation is here and covered by section 2, parts 1a and 1b, on both subsection 1 and 2, however I accept that it would be the case only if the card issuer asked the question regarding refunds (which it's highly likely they would as part of their investigation), of which OP must answer honestly (and I have no reason to believe they wouldn't). The matter was simply brought up as a result of someone stating a likelihood of success if taking the matter up with a CC issuer.

eskbanker

CKhalvashi said:

macman said:

So, if you subsequently purchase a new flight using the voucher, the clock is not effectively reset, thus allowing you to request a cash refund should the 2nd flight also be cancelled?

The OP would only be committing fraud if they were to conceal that they had received a voucher already for the second flight against which they are now claiming?

If the second flight is cancelled, under my interpretation of the rules a refund would be an entitlement, but not necessarily in cash if that's not how the flight was paid in the first place. Airlines usually refund to the original payment method, which in OP's case would be a voucher.

I posted an alternative interpretation of the customer's apparent legal rights in this situation at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78041906/#Comment_78041906 - are you aware of anything that overrides these from a legal/regulatory perspective?  Actually getting the money out of the airlines is potentially a different story though....

CKhalvashi

Answering you over there now.