Icelandair refund issues
Just beware, folks, FI is butchering their customers.
My mother, a Chinese citizen, is supposed to travel to KEF from YVR in about 20 hours. Due to the travel restriction in Schengen and in Canada, she is unable to initiate the journey, not to mention the incredible social irresponsibility of traveling now. I called FI almost a dozen times, and in the few that connected, the agent was very clear: no refunds, no travel credit, only $350 change fee waived. They then proceeded to quote nearly 2k each time to re-issue my mother's Saga Class ticket, even though I explicitly explained that the chances for her to get a new visa for Iceland (via Denmark Consulate in Canada) again this year is virtually nil. I feel extremely bad as one agent was clearly at the verge of tears as she told me it was the case for everyone calling, and she was just a call center agent located in Asia with no power nor ability to escalate. Finally I called the Icelandic number as directed by an agent to look for a supervisor, and the Icelandic lady receiving the call is extremely rude and refuses to consider any other option.
In times like this, with severe travel restrictions everywhere, FI is still holding high prices just to trap rebooking passengers, and refusing even a travel credit. And what made me infuriated is the fact that all attending a certain music festival in KEF was given the chance for refund, while normal passengers somehow do not have it as an option. I am extremely disappointed by the greedy policy and sincerely hope they go belly up.
What can I do now? Should I issue a cc chargeback? Is there any way to file a complaint? Has anyone successfully dealt with FI?