Wizzair cancelled our flights and gave wizz credit

jk3nny

Wizzair left me and my family without a flight home last Saturday. We were due to fly from Palermo to Gatwick and were told without two hours notice that the flight was off.

At the time we were offered a refund or wizz credit. Speaking with their online CS and social media team it quickly became apparent that nobody was going to talk to me. The only thing CS would say was please file a complaint with our complaints dept. So I decided that when I got home I would write a full complaint and insist on compensation for the additional night in a hotel and our expenses. 

On Monday morning I received an email from Wizzair to say that we had automatically been awarded Wizz credit (as if I'd even consider flying with them again!) as we hadn't applied for a refund on the Sunday. We tried to contact Wizzair to convert the credit into GBP but the website stated that our booking wasn't eligible for a refund. Surely this isn't allowed?

It seems as though I now have to wait 30 days to even get a reply. Judging by twitter there are hundreds of people in the same situation. What are my options if any?

Thanks in advance

eskbanker

jk3nny said:

I decided that when I got home I would write a full complaint and insist on compensation for the additional night in a hotel and our expenses.

Worth clearly differentiating between compensation and reimbursement of accommodation and other qualifying expenses in any claim, as they're two different headings, albeit you should be entitled to both, unless the cancellation was due to circumstances beyond the airline's control, in which case you wouldn't qualify for compensation, but would only be covered for out of pocket expenses.

jk3nny said:

On Monday morning I received an email from Wizzair to say that we had automatically been awarded Wizz credit (as if I'd even consider flying with them again!) as we hadn't applied for a refund on the Sunday. We tried to contact Wizzair to convert the credit into GBP but the website stated that our booking wasn't eligible for a refund. Surely this isn't allowed?

They are obliged to offer you the choice of a cash refund (unless you accept credit) or rerouting (via another airline if necessary) - if the latter is more expensive than the original flight then you should seek that higher cost rather than just the refund of the Wizzair one.  There is no requirement for you to claim your legal right to a refund within 24 hours!

jk3nny said:

What are my options if any?

Worth familiarising yourself with the EC261/2004 regulations as to what you're entitled to and in particular articles 5, 7, 8 and 9 at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=celex:32004R0261 or the cancellation-related parts of the MSE piece at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays/