JerusalemS

Hello all,

I don't often post, but I've been a lurker for a while. Figured out this information could be useful for some of you.
I bought some tickets on Alitalia during the Japanese discount thingie (that I actually paid for, not the 2euro ones), after I got an emailed from Alitalia they were cancelled, I did as I was told and rebooked through the facebook discount, which came roughly to the same amount.
I figured they will cancel the Japanese tickets but they didn't. Anyway, 4 months later, after 3 email chains got broken (I write a complaint, someone replies, asks for details, then ignores me x 3), and 2 call centre complaints weren't taken care of, I wrote to the DOT, with pdf attachments.

Within 24 hours, I got directly contacted by the NYC office, and within a week, a refund was issued. This, after 4 months of call centre/email shenanigans. Apparently the DOT contacted Alitalia for a response, and they quickly dealt with the issue.

Moral of the story, if you've tried Alitalia and didn't get the service you should have, and your flight was in any way connected to US soil, write to the DOT and it will be sorted out in days, not months.

Here is their website in case it helps someone:
http://www.dot.gov/airconsumer/air-t...t-comment-form

raistlin

In Italy there have been similar success stories involving ENAC (the equivalent of DOT).

Italia27

After waiting in vain for almost 6 months for a refund from Alitalia, I wrote to the DOT. The very next day I received an apologetic e-mail from Alitalia stating that they had processed my refund. 5 days later the credit posted to my credit card account. So after waiting 6 months, in 6 days the matter was totally resolved thanks to the DOT.

Harvone

In September 2013, we contacted Alatalia to have our (refundable) tickets refunded to our credit card (Discover Card). Over the course of two weeks, we were told we had to provide the IBAN and SWIFT codes for our bank (see below). When we explained we did not have that information because we used a credit card, we were told, "You need to do the research." We began the disputed charge process with our credit card company and was told of a 15-day waiting period before beginning the process. We then used the DOT link provided in the posting. Two days later, we received an email from Alatalia stating they had received the DOT complaint (a copy was attached) and that they were addressing the issue due to a "system error." One week after that email, the tickets had been credited back to our credit card. In our case, the DOT complaint form worked--and quickly.

FYI:
IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number and is a number attached to all accounts in the EU countries plus Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland. However, the system is flexible enough to be applied globally. The IBAN is made up of a code that identifies the country the account belongs to, the account holder's bank and the account number itself.
The IBAN makes automatic processing of cross-border payments easier and enables the bank to check, immediately upon receipt, whether the account numbers are correct. This ensures a fast credit to the account. At the same time, you avoid fees for manual processing of transfers.
The bank assigns an IBAN to each of your accounts. You cannot automatically calculate an IBAN yourself, as each bank might have different methods of registering their account numbers in the IBAN. The IBAN appears on account statements and in the bank's online systems.
A BIC (Bank Identifier Code) or SWIFT code uniquely identifies a particular bank. The code is used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international wire transfers, and also for the exchange of other messages between banks.

destornillador

I used the form to complain and I got a reply the next business day as follows:

Your correspondence to the DOT has been sent to me for a response. I appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns.

I sincerely regret to learn of the inconvenience you’ve experienced as a result of our flight disruption. I also apologize for any delays in processing your ticket refund. I have alerted our back office to process this refund as soon as possible. Please allow 1-2 billing cycles for the funds to appear on your credit card statement. As soon as I have a copy of the refund notice I will forward it to you for your records.

We greatly value your business Mr. _____, and we will always consider it a privilege to welcome you aboard an Alitalia flight.

Thank you.


Elizabeth Santella
Manager, Customer Relations
Alitalia, Compagnia Aerea Italiana SpA
24 West 40th St. – 4th Floor
New York, NY 10018