Flight refunds taking too long? Air India (via Flightcatchers)

MrsTMP

Hi - apologies this is a long one !
I am getting nowhere trying to get a refund for Air India flights that were cancelled in August.
The flights were booked via Flightcatchers (UK online travel agent) also known as Polani Travel.
I was due to fly LHR to Mumbai 18th August and return on 2nd Sept.
Air India changed the flight to 19th August with just 9hrs notice of the date change.  This didn't work for me, so I immediately booked alternative outbound with Vistara on 18th Aug.  I attempted to instigate the refund for outbound whilst in India itself, however was told that I would have to cancel the return also (they cant refund partial ticket).  So, I did this, and travelled on a different return flight with BA instead.
Now I am still awaiting my refund, 3 months on.....
Air India have stated I have to get refund from Flightcatchers.  I am e-mailing and speaking to them every week - they assure me it is being escalated but problem is that  Air India haven't yet paid them, or even acknowledged the claim.
I just want to know - is this normal timescale?  Air India website says 5-6 weeks.  How can I get my money back quickly??  Because I'm now also paying stupid amounts of interest on my credit card too, which shouldn't be incurred by me - is there any way I can request their refund will cover this interest? 
(BTW - Air India payed up for the EU flight compensation pretty much immediately)
Thanks for reading

eskbanker

This is a recognised side-effect of booking via intermediaries, in that you need to obtain the refund from the agent, but they won't do so until they've been refunded from the airline, and so this effectively means that you have no control over how long that takes (and may have to pay a fee to the agent for processing this on your behalf).  Unless there's any breach of Ts & Cs going on here, all you can do is to keep asking - you won't be able to claim anything to cover card interest....

rigolith

Contact your bank and ask about a chargeback.

Voyager2002

rigolith said:

Contact your bank and ask about a chargeback.

Waste of time. The card payment went to the agent, who did their job and provided the ticket. Of course, if the ticket had been bought directly from the airline it would have been a different story...

MrsTMP

Thanks all.
A minor breakthrough today - Air India have acknowledged the refund to Flightcatchers, but it still wont be processed until start of December.