Hi everyone,
In a previous post in a different thread on compassionate cancellation charges, i wrote of some of my experiences.
Not wanting to hijack the OP thread anymore, i thought i would ask advice here.

I originally was due to fly 8th January this year, but had to cancel the flight due to emergency health needs of family member here in UK.
I cancelled 3 days before the flight, and on the phone was told of the 200GBP deduction and that i would still get a 900GBP refund for the balance. i was told this would be back on my credit card within 4 weeks.

having given it 7 weeks, i tried calling Cathay Pacific last week. A couple of times the phone was picked up but put down on the desk, I could hear people talking in the background and general office sounds.
No one replied to the phone call. I was a bit surprised.

Today, i called again, and instant pickup of call. talked with a very helpful lady and she said the original ticket was never refunded, she was surprised at this.

I only fly CX long haul, and i won't change airlines, but it is not a good feeling this level or customer service.
Especially losing the 200GBP already (which i do understand, i guess), and now due to the lack of refund costing me 40 - 50GBP in Credit Card interest payments for two months, due to someone not doing their job.

I mentioned this to her, and she was very apologetic. in fact i was impressed with her level of service helping me.

is there a CX policy on covering interest charges in lieu of a refund that was stated as being done, but never was?

I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem with CX.

I am heading back to HK again in the summer and can't wait to be there for a few months.

thanks for any help in this,
Ian

Interests aside, are you sure you will be charged the cancellation fee too? Some airlines waive such fee in case of health emergency of family members

Do a chargeback with your credit card company.

In this case, you will force CX to respond.

The UK has rates so high that you can pay 50 GBP on 900 in two months? That's 33 1/3%, wow.

I use a travel agent for all refundable fares as they just offset payments to the airline with from the airline and the money's back in 48 hours.

hi, finally an update.
Two weeks ago i called CX and was promised a refund, but it did not happen. this week i called on Monday, and the lady i talked to on the phone, confirmed a refund was authorised. Thursday i checked and 902GBP was refunded.

Apparently there is no direct contact to take things to a higher level, i was told the same thing would be said to me over the interest i was losing over two months.
I was told the only way to do anything, was to write on the feedback section on the website and see what happens.

I would of thought a manager would have discretion, as the whole thing is their fault in the first place. even if no help with direct interest costs, some inflight vouchers would of been nice

Now i have proof of refund, i can pursue with the travel insurance company, i hope.

Still can't say i am too impressed over their lack of compassionate grounds, as i could prove emergency health reasons.

The travelling experience is why i won't change airlines, the FA are fantastic each time i fly, and the check-in smoothe, even a standard Green MP.
And i did get business class upgrade once, so that kind of makes up for this.

ah well, back to Hong Kong in the summer, and i can't wait to be there.

JALPak, it has been confirmed as policy for no compassionate grounds even if someone is dying, like a parent. i know some here seem to have had this refunded, but they say it is not so.

garykung, i should of thought of that, maybe could even have got the whole fare back as it was two months.

ricktoronto, it was the overall interest charge, bumping up the interest over the whole card. even so, it was not far different, if you add in cost of phone calls and my time trying to get something so simple taken care of.

takecare everyone, enjoy all your flights

thanks for the update. glad that you eventually receive the refund.

At least they gave you 2 GBP more than they were suppose to

That's pretty awful advice, even if it's often voiced on FT. There is no grounds for a chargeback. When CX first charged OP's card, it was with OP's permission in exchange for a service OP intended to use. From that moment on, this becomes a matter between OP and CX. The bank isn't interested in getting involved because a.) the bank has no insight into original terms of OP's contract with CX, including any terms governing refunds, and b.) the bank has better things to do than mediating what is essentially a commercial dispute between OP and CX over whether CX is honoring that agreement by refunding in a timely way.

In the best case, initiating a chargeback is a waste of time. In the worst case, making a habit of it can get people branded as problem customers. It's best to save the chargeback for what it's intended for: Fraudulent use of the card, or instances where the merchant entirely fails to deliver a service and the customer really has no other recourse. Here it just took another call or two to CX.

Afraid you're also going to be out of luck on this one. I haven't looked, but I'd be surprised if they did not include a clause somewhere in the conditions of carriage or some other legalese that absolves them of responsibility for consequential damages such as this. Makes sense -- they can't be held responsible if a particular customer's credit card balance results in a higher interest rate in this kind of situation.

Although it might not be much comfort, I'd look at it this way: Over the years you've been flying (whether on CX or other carriers), you have probably saved an amount by buying restricted discounted tickets that you flew as planned that is far greater than the amount you've lost in this one unfortunate incident where things went awry.

Garykungs advice is definitely irresponsible and rxtremly BAD!
Especially in the US there is a direct correlation b/w your credit rating and the amount of chargebacks you have

Actually there is - failure to refund.

In any situations (not only CX), if you think a refund is due and you don't get it, you can dispute and request a chargeback from your credit card company. As a fact - you can give a call to your credit card company and mention it, see what they will say and you will know if this is the right approach. FWIW:

1. How the credit card company or the merchant to respond is up to them. No one knows if the merchant will provide the response or not. Remember - in order to get a successful chargeback, a credit card holder must prove that a credit should be due.

2. Usually the purpose of disputing and requesting a chargeback is create an avenue with the merchant for discussion.

It may be an awful advice in your opinion. But what is more awful, a merchant that fails to respond a refund request, or a credit card holder filing a chargeback?

I am glad it was resolved. I am closing this thread as discussions are getting irrelevant and personal.

cxfan1960
CX Mod