Hi,
Apologies if this has been asked before -- I searched a variety of terms on FT and on Google but couldn't turn anything up.
I bought a ticket on avianca.com 4/5 and cancelled it 4/6 (21 hours). The fare class was wrong, not mileage-earning, DH objected sighhhh, the agent couldn't correct it, so DH asked that I cancel and rebook. Route is JFK-BOG-BCN-BOG(stopover)-JFK. Per
Avianca's site:
When you book and ticket a reservation through Avianca's U.S. ticketing locations, Avianca's U.S. telephone reservations line or Avianca's U.S. web site, we will allow you to cancel the ticketed reservation without penalty and receive a full refund provided that you cancel the reservation within 24 hours of purchase and the reservation is made one week or more prior to the scheduled flight departure date.
Great!
Except... nothing has happened. I got an email confirmation -- "Your request of has been created" (request of... what, I hope cancellation). There is a confirmation number and an "order status" link that simply says my request was "RECEIVED."
I called and was on the phone with them for 45 minutes -- it took 7 agent transfers and me speaking broken Spanish on the fly -- still got it, phew! -- before I was told it will take 20-30 business days.
Is this legal?
DOT says:
Refunds processed under the 24-hour reservation requirement must be processed within the timeframes mandated by Regulation Z of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 12 CFR Part 1026 (formerly 12 CFR Part 226), and 14 CFR Part 374 for credit card purchases, and by Department enforcement precedent for purchases using other forms of payment. Those refund processing timeframes must also be disclosed in the carrier’s customer service plan. See 14 CFR 259.5(b)(5).
I tried pulling up all these regulations but I'm not seeing a clear timeframe. Does anyone know if they have to issue the refund in a particular amount of time?
I know I could contest it with Chase if need be, but I also know that could make this all much worse if Avianca shows that a valid ticket was purchased. I have no particular desire to irritate Avianca as I do need to re-buy this ticket but... 20-30 business days is insane.