Recent 2022 refund experience ?
 

At the start of the pandemic, when flights were first suspended, I had several itineraries booked and ticketed on CX.
Given that CX cancelled all segments, I received prompt refunds (within 4 weeks) for the cancelled tickets. However I had a LAX-HKG-MNL which was the return leg of a flown segment MNL-HKG-LAX. This is a D class paid business ticket.

During 2020 and 2021 CX kept rebooking the flights on a quarterly basis, as they CANCELLED flight after flight. The last rebooking was for Dec 2021 and CX sales informed me that the can no longer rebook and I could either take CX credits to get a refund (Fare was slightly over $4 K for the roundtrip) I chose the refund and they promptly sent me a form dated in early November stating the refund will be issued within 4 weeks. No refund was posted in 4 weeks nor in 10 weeks as of now. Calling Marco Polo, even as a Diamond, reaches the Philippine call center. They spend time verifying ticket number, credit card, etc, and then they promise a call back within 48 hours that never comes.

I know they are hurting, but I want take every possible step to secure the refund they owe. I have been patient almost 3 months. It is difficult to charge them back via credit card because the ticket was first paid in 2019. (Though they have reissued the return segments multiple times). While this ticket originated in MNL, I believe jurisdiction is in the US. It was purchased in the US with a US credit card and was for travel to a US destination with the return from a US destination.

While I filed a DOT complaint, there is little that the DOT can do other than instruct CX to respond. I am contemplating just filing a small claims court lawsuit in California for 50% of the ticket value, so I get the time rolling on a deadline. They will either show up to defend, pay what they owe or ignore. If they ignore, and I prevail, I can likely get a writ of attachment for the judgment even if the fail to engage, and CX has US assets so the likelihood of collection is good.

I have been a happy customer for decades, and sympathize they are in a horrible situation. Yet, they are basically ignoring the refund they committed to and I believe they are required by law to pay. All flight segments rebooked were cancelled by CX.

Anyone has a recent refund experience ?

Thanks

Groan. You’re off the 540 day chargeback limit if 2019.

Have you tried sending them an email?

I am, but not past the statue of limitations in CA from the date of their last breach.

I am, but not past the statue of limitations in CA from the date of their last breach.

That’s a matter for SCC rather than your card co.

Yes - I emailed them a couple of times, but just get the canned answer back "Thank you for writing to us. We'll get back to you shortly"
There is no follow up

.

Correct. Easy enough to file. Can do this by Fax.
I mailed the required demand letter - and will file.
In normal times one could get a hearing date in a month or so, let's see how long it takes. I hope I can resolve the claim before, should they file for chapter 11.
I would think they would try to preserve my company's business account for a valid refund, in normal times we buy quite a few business class tickets. No one from the sales office seems to still be there.

I booked a ticket through Amex Travel UK, cancelled it earlier this month (as several sectors of the itinerary had been cancelled) and was informed by Amex Travel that they had received a refund within a fortnight.

Fully cancellable booking for CNY refunded on 18 Jan on Canto 2747 3333 and posted to credit card yesterday.

Granted, OP had a partially used ticket, so the refund needs to be manually calculated. I'm not saying CX should have taken that long - CX shouldn't have. However, cases of immediate refunds on wholy unused tickets are somewhat different. I also believe, though, that CX is just being slow and not intentionally withholding cash.

I agree that is likely they are slow. But they are completely unresponsive. The only way I can think of putting a deadline on it is filing a small claims court suit with a set trial date. They will either resolve before then, but will be on the hook for the court costs if I prevail even if they refunded, or they will have to show up for the hearing.
If they would just respond they need more time, I could understand, The only communication I had said 4 weeks and that was on early November.

So if OP win the case, are we looking at reposition of any CX aircrafts? :D, cause if they do, I want to be there. ;)

Not seizure of aircraft, would be hard to park. Though a Judge did order to take in custody a Crystal passenger ship for unpaid fuel. Diverted to Bahamas to prevent this. What happens if you get a writ is the Marshall seizes an asset, more than likely a freeze for the amount of judgement plus Marshall fees in bank account. I have received acknowledgement from CX for the DOT complaint. They have 60 days to deliver “meaningful response”. I also sent them a demand notice, a step encouraged before filing in small claims with a reasonable period to cure. Absent action on both, I will file.

UPDATE: Received the refund. My DOT complaint and Demand Letter (prequel to legal action) both reached an effective and friendly manager that verified and expedited the refund. Too bad I had to go through hoops to achieve this.
Having been a Diamond for more than a decade, with many flights in First and hardly ever an issue, I feel for CX and their staff. I do plan to resume travel later this year (4 to 6 transpacific RT flights a year), but unlikely to be CX, given the HK situation.
I still have about 200K Asia miles that I will try to redeem on AA or BA