Amex Travel called me back and said that they would process a refund. They said that Qatar were waiving cancelltion fees. After I pointed out that the fees only applied if I were the one who initiated a voluntary cancelation, they still insisted that Qatar were doing me a favour and that I was supposed to pay the fee but I would not because of the generous policy of the airline. This came from a supervisor. I now question the competence of these travel agencies if they think that fare rules apply even when the airline cancels the flight. Still no confirmation about the refund but I hope it will go through.
Originally Posted by
Coffeeonaplane
On a separate note, this whole experience has put me off from booking again with Amex Travel. I spoke to American Express asking about a charge-back if my request for a refund failed. I was told that as Amex Travel was a part of American Express, they would side with Amex Travel thus charge-back is not possible. Plus, the fact that I used a charge card (not credit card) to pay meant that I wasn't protected under section 75 of the consumer credit act (UK law). And here I was thinking that booking with Amex travel would provide better protection when in-fact the opposite is true.
Same here. I called AmEx (the credit card arm) to initiate a charge back and was told that they would always trust their travel department and would not go ahead with the chargeback. Surprisingly, a different agent did initiate a chargeback and I can even see a conditional credit on my account, but it is bizarre. The credit card arm should be ringfenced from the travel department. Otherwise it means that the travel department can do whatever they want with no responsibility.