Wizz Air cancelled flight, EU 261 compensation

Giammy85

Wizz Air cancelled a flight in July, on 29 September they recognised compensation was due. However, since then they say "due to some technical reasons, the bank transfer is still pending. Please wait for the compensation." This is ridiculous. Anyone with similar experiences?

I logged another claim with the Aviation ADR but it has not moved at all since submission on 14 November due to high volumes. Any suggestions?

CKhalvashi

If you've gone to AviationADR there's little you can do other than take this to court, which will invalidate the ombudsman process and require further outlay.

I can only advise contacting Wizz via the complaints forms again or by phone on the openly available local rate phone number for existing bookings (free from my mobile and will be included within your minutes) to re-confirm details, however as this is with the ADR they may refuse to deal with you directly at this stage.

Westin

Do you know what the ‘technical’ issue was?  Did you provide details for a UK bank and submit all the correct banking codes/account numbers etc.?

It seems that you have been patiently waiting.  WizzAir have apparently told the CAA that they will clear the backlog of compensation payments by Christmas.  If you still have not received the due amount by mid-January then it might be worth contacting the CAA to highlight that you still have an issue with WizzAir.

CKhalvashi

Westin said:

Due you know what the ‘technical’ issue was?  Did you provide details for a UK bank and submit all the correct banking codes/account numbers etc.?

It seems that you have been patiently waiting.  WizzAir have apparently told the CAA that they will clear the backlog of compensation payments by Christmas.  If you still have not received the due amount by mid-January then it might be worth contacting the CAA to highlight that you still have an issue with WizzAir.

As far as I'm aware, the majority of the backlog is now cleared.

There was a large operational meltdown for part of the summer season affecting some bases (mainly Gatwick in the UK). The Doncaster base closure (and subsequent cancellations) was as a result of the airport not being able to meet its contractual requirements which will have added significantly to the refund (but not compensation) workload. The latter wouldn't have affected a flight in July though but would have been in the workflow before your claim.

Have you supplied Wizz with all the required details (including your IBAN)? I fear that may be the 'technical problem' you refer to if their card processor cannot refund automatically. That would be your failure to supply details required rather than Wizz's failure to refund. You should get it rather quickly once you've supplied this so definitely to me it's worth chasing.

Giammy85

I called Wizz Air today on 0330 977 0444 but the representative could not find any reason on my PNR/UID file why the compensation has not been paid yet. So he said the relevant department will let me know via email.

I don’t know what the ‘technical’ issue is. Their template response has always been:

Thank you for contacting Wizz Air Customer Service Department.

We are sincerely sorry for the unpleasant experience.  
 
Unfortunately, due to some technical reasons, the bank transfer is still pending. Please wait for the compensation. 
 
If you have any further questions or proposals, do not hesitate to contact us. 
 
Wizz Air wishes you a lovely day.

Kind regards,

------

CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT | Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. (member of Wizz Air Group)

Yes, I provided details of my Revolut UK bank codes/account numbers etc.

Because they said compensation was in EUR, and thinking the issue was with sending EUR to a GB IBAN (unlikely), I even provided them with my alternative IBAN bank account in the Euro zone – however, response has always been generic as reported above.

I have already received the refund promptly on 24 September to the GBP card I used to pay for the flight, once I told them that I didn’t want their Wizz Air Credit. However, in the compensation form, I submitted IBANs that would receive EUR at no charge to me (they cannot oblige me to receive EUR to the card I had used).

I’ll give them a few more weeks.

eDicky

Giammy85 said

Yes, I provided details of my Revolut UK bank codes/account numbers etc.

Because they said compensation was in EUR, and thinking the issue was with sending EUR to a GB IBAN (unlikely), I even provided them with my alternative IBAN bank account in the Euro zone – however, response has always been generic as reported above.

It would be better to provide your Revolut EUR wallet IBAN to receive the compensation amount in euros, the GBP sort code and account number might be the source of the 'technical reasons'. Or cancel payment to Revolut and specify your euro zone IBAN.

Giammy85

Westin said:

Do you know what the ‘technical’ issue was?  Did you provide details for a UK bank and submit all the correct banking codes/account numbers etc.?

It seems that you have been patiently waiting.  WizzAir have apparently told the CAA that they will clear the backlog of compensation payments by Christmas.  If you still have not received the due amount by mid-January then it might be worth contacting the CAA to highlight that you still have an issue with WizzAir.

The CAA website states they can help only if the airline is not a member of an ADR scheme. Wizz Air is member of Aviation ADR.
If you think I still should contact the CAA, please let me know how to do that.

Giammy85

eDicky said:

Giammy85 said

Yes, I provided details of my Revolut UK bank codes/account numbers etc.

Because they said compensation was in EUR, and thinking the issue was with sending EUR to a GB IBAN (unlikely), I even provided them with my alternative IBAN bank account in the Euro zone – however, response has always been generic as reported above.

It would be better to provide your Revolut EUR wallet IBAN to receive the compensation amount in euros, the GBP sort code and account number might be the source of the 'technical reasons'. Or cancel payment to Revolut and specify your euro zone IBAN.

everything was duely provided. I reconfirmed my bank details once again and told them "I will not accept another template response saying “due to some technical reasons, the bank transfer is still pending”. Please reply by confirming which bank account you have successfully made the payment to, or confirm what the technical reason is exactly and how that can be solved."
Still they are just taking the mickey and replied with the same template response:

Thank you for contacting Wizz Air Customer Service Department.

We are sincerely sorry for the unpleasant experience.  
 
Unfortunately, due to some technical reasons, the bank transfer is still pending. Please wait for the compensation. 
 
If you have any further questions or proposals, do not hesitate to contact us. 
 
Wizz Air wishes you a lovely day.

Kind regards,

Westin

Giammy85 said:

Westin said:

Do you know what the ‘technical’ issue was?  Did you provide details for a UK bank and submit all the correct banking codes/account numbers etc.?

It seems that you have been patiently waiting.  WizzAir have apparently told the CAA that they will clear the backlog of compensation payments by Christmas.  If you still have not received the due amount by mid-January then it might be worth contacting the CAA to highlight that you still have an issue with WizzAir.

The CAA website states they can help only if the airline is not a member of an ADR scheme. Wizz Air is member of Aviation ADR.
If you think I still should contact the CAA, please let me know how to do that.

Well here is the link to the issue that the CAA were pulled into and investigating. It was a quick Google search for me. I’ll leave you to explore further on the CAA pages to raise your issue if needed -
https://www.caa.co.uk/news/regulator-raises-concerns-with-wizz-air-following-complaints/