I booked flights back in December, tried to change them w/i 24 hours, and the system tried to charge me a change fee for each ticket. Rather than call and flight with UA, I just cancelled the flights. Since I was rebooking, I then tried to use the "credit" from the tickets, but the system said they had no value, so I just booked (and recharged my CC) again.
Then I waited for a credit or refund to show up. Never did. I was just going to raise with AMEX, but since it was multiple tickets (each ticket required its own dispute) that was a pain, so I tried to deal with UA. But their system would not take the issue, saying that it did not apply to 24 hour cancellation. No way to contact them other than the fill in form, and it did not apply. GRRRR. After 30 minutes of fooling around, I gave up and filed a DOT complaint.
Unlike UA, DOT got back to me the next day, said they were forwarding, and then a few days later, UA refunded my $$$$
Moral of the story, DOT complaints are much easier than dealing with United's dysfunction.
Originally Posted by
Globehopper
Today: I learned that the chargeback to my credit card was not processed. Call UA to inquire. They claim that because of the flight change in Step 2 I was not eligible for a full refund.
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Question: Since all flights were cancelled within 24 hours of the first flight booking, shouldn't I be entitled to a full refund?
If not, shouldn't I receive some residual airfare credit for a future flight?
They are in violation of their own written policy, not to mention DOT regulations. File a DOT complaint.
Originally Posted by
PQDproblems
I encountered a somewhat similar problem. I canceled reservation "ABC" on Dec. 3 (within 24hr cancellation window and for travel on Dec 20), but elected to take the refund as "credit toward future travel." Reservation ABC was then stored as Inactive. To use the credit, I had to book new flights using the same reservation, ABC, and I incurred $200/ticket change fees. I spoke with a United rep who explained this was a system glitch and change fees should not have been charged against an itinerary originally canceled within 24hrs and asked that I submit a refund request. United Refunds denied my request and responded,
"I regret that Refunds didn't approve your request to issue a refund for the changes you paid on December 03, 2015 to reissue your ticket credits.
When you elect to cancel your ticket itinerary within 24 hours and have the ticket credits available to be reissue for future travel all penalty fees will apply."
So it appears that if I had used a certificate or elected a credit card refund, the full value of the tickets would have been refunded (without penalty). However, if you elect "credit toward future travel", there are change fees? I can understand the UA system might not correctly apply the 24hr rule with respect to travel credits (because the system categorizes the reservation "inactive" not cancelled), but I did not expect this interpretation from the Refunds dept.
They are in violation of their own written policy, not to mention DOT regulations. File a DOT complaint. Note in the complaint that you raised with United and this was their fraudulent response.