EasyJet cancelling replacement flight booked with a voucher

CKhalvashi

eskbanker said:

CKhalvashi said:

For a refund under Article 8 where no compensation is due, I personally consider a refund to the original payment method to be satisfactory, which may result in a part and part voucher/cash refund being given. Whilst not explicitly stated in the regulation, if no cash refund were to be offered for a fare paid in cash (or part of a fare paid in cash), there would be a decent likelihood of success in a court, but given a strict reading of the word 'reimbursement', I'd consider it to only be this part if relevant, as there is no loss to the consumer in this case.

So, to summarise the differing interpretations, in the context of a ticket purchased using a voucher where the flight is cancelled by the airline.

My interpretation is that "reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought" commits the airline to pay the customer the full cost of the ticket (regardless of original method of payment) via non-voucher means unless the customer agrees to accept those.  If the customer paid with a voucher valued at, say, £200, the full cost of the ticket is priced at £200 and so that's the value of the refund, to be paid via the means in Article 7(3).

As I understand your interpretation, the use of the word 'reimbursement' brings implicit connotations of loss recovery and/or reapplying the original method of payment, so if the customer paid with a voucher valued at, say, £200, the full cost of the ticket is specifically a £200 voucher and so that's what needs to be refunded/reimbursed, regardless of the provisions of Article 7(3)?

Apologies, you are correct, my brain wasn't working this morning.

My interpretation would have been that a voucher may have been acceptable as it's via the original payment method (and I'd assumed that some terms within the voucher would cover this). I'd also argue that it's partly covered in Easyjet's terms and conditions (however I do feel that in this case, a judge may disagree with Easyjet as it's very ambiguous in the following wording, which is all I can find on their website).

• Vouchers are non-transferable, non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for cash.

Having just had a quick read of Easyjet's terms and conditions and other pages, I unhelpfully can't see the exact terms that were agreed in relation to the voucher.

Most importantly, I do acknowledge that in this case I may be incorrect having had a second chance to look into this. As stated above, flights are not my specialist area.

If paid in cash, there will be a right to a cash refund, we don't dispute this at all.

If OP has a copy of any documentation or additional terms issued with the original voucher, I'm more than happy to take a read tomorrow evening, as the contents will dictate the legal position, including whether Easyjet automatically would have the right to refund in the form of a voucher in this situation (with advance consent as part of the original voucher issue). I believe reasonably that such a large company will have terms and conditions for this, however as the last 12 months have shown, nothing is certain.

If there is nothing further, for the cost of going to court, having taken a further look, I feel (subject to OP getting back to us) that this is possibly going to be one that's worth taking to court for clarification, especially with wording as ambiguous as above.

eskbanker

CKhalvashi said:

If OP has a copy of any documentation or additional terms issued with the original voucher, I'm more than happy to take a read tomorrow evening, as the contents will dictate the legal position, including whether Easyjet automatically would have the right to refund in the form of a voucher in this situation (with advance consent as part of the original voucher issue). I believe reasonably that such a large company will have terms and conditions for this, however as the last 12 months have shown, nothing is certain.

I'm coming at this from a different perspective - if the regulations say what they seem to say, then they can't be overridden by airline terms and conditions, so the Ts & Cs won't dictate the legal position if they conflict with statutory rights, even if some form of advance consent is purported.

CKhalvashi

eskbanker said:

CKhalvashi said:

If OP has a copy of any documentation or additional terms issued with the original voucher, I'm more than happy to take a read tomorrow evening, as the contents will dictate the legal position, including whether Easyjet automatically would have the right to refund in the form of a voucher in this situation (with advance consent as part of the original voucher issue). I believe reasonably that such a large company will have terms and conditions for this, however as the last 12 months have shown, nothing is certain.

I'm coming at this from a different perspective - if the regulations say what they seem to say, then they can't be overridden by airline terms and conditions, so the Ts & Cs won't dictate the legal position if they conflict with statutory rights, even if some form of advance consent is purported.

This is true, however I can see a court agreeing with an airline if there was (for example) a clause in the original voucher paperwork stating that vouchers can only be replaced with vouchers. This would likely be an argument revolving around specific wording, use of PNRs and possibly other details.

I fully accept every point you've made, but I'm trying to look at this in the same way as the airline will look at this, not necessarily the way a consumer would.

Of course, until this is tested in court, there is no definitive answer, however I accept that this particular case is likely one where there is a greater chance of success in court than many we've seen here. The question needs to be asked whether OP is willing to take the 12 month + wait time to get it this far.

eskbanker

CKhalvashi said:
I'm trying to look at this in the same way as the airline will look at this, not necessarily the way a consumer would.

Given that it's clearly in their interests to do so, airlines will naturally be keener to reissue vouchers than to offer cash refunds when cancelling flights booked with vouchers (and I do accept that refunding to original payment method is common practice), but I was just exploring whether customers actually have the right to insist on a cash refund, and, based on what's been posted thus far, there doesn't seem to be anything that definitively contradicts the rights that are apparently granted in the regulations.

However, I agree that it's one thing to have a right and another to actually enforce it!

Debbaxter

I am so grateful for everyone who has taken the time to give me so much great advice on this - you have given me a glimmer of hope that it's not totally the end of the road on this - I have not accepted the voucher yet and I will definitely give it another go - I hate feeling bullied by these large corporation!

Andrewrainey

I have read the replies here which talk about a refund being made the same way the booking was made i.e Voucher to Voucher however surely any refund should be made to how the original booking was made, particularly as Easyjet cancelled both flights and this lady wanted to go on both flights. My understanding is she paid by credit card originally and was then offered a voucher on the first cancellation. This surely should not prevent her from having a cash refund based on the original (Easyjet cancelled) booking. She should at very least be offered the option of a voucher or cash refund. If not, this would be the immediate death of vouchers...why would anyoner EVER opt for a voucher again??