WilcoRoger

I also gave EZY 28 days before filing a chargeback. My local Amex says it may take up to 5 weeks to resolve it, let's see who moves first - EZY or AX.

Good that I had screenshots, etc to attach.

PS - we were NEVER contacted by EZY about the cancelled flights.

ft101

If they have 2,000 times the usual number of refunds to make and the workforce is halved due to Covid, don't you think it's reasonable to allow them a bit longer than 7 days?

90 is maybe pushing it a bit especially as they've now had a couple of months to address the resource issue, but it seems obvious it's going to be impossible to meet the usual timescales.

dhuey

There doesn't seem to be any IT problem for airlines when you select the voucher option. That they can handle straight away. I can't see how processing a refund is any more technically challenging than a voucher. This is a financial challenge, not an administrative resources one.

ft101

According to one airline boss interviewed on UK TV recently, all refunds require manual involvement and resources are severely limited. There may be a financial challenge for some, but the manpower one is what's limiting processing of refunds.

WilcoRoger

Well, if they still use rulers and pencils, yes. AirBnB managed to refund in 2 hours (!)

Given the very high handed approach of EZY, the fact that you could claim refund only by calling during the whole month of April (and them not answering the calls) I see absolutely no sympathy towards EZY. Of course they want to delay refunds as long as they can, it's free cashflow for them but I am interested in my cashflow.

I gave them in total 6 weeks after the cancellation. When they made online refund option available (but still well hidden) I gave them the benefit of doubt and waited 28 days before initiating the chargeback. Today I got the chargeback approved by Amex. (for the record - Amex stated in their letter to me, that EZY hasn't replied to their inquiry)

Leeski

My dispute seems to already be closed in my favour, two days later.

DYKWIA

I just checked mine, and found the status had changed to "Awaiting Customer Information - please provide supporting evidence". They'd not contacted me to let me know the status had changed.

I'm not sure what really to provide, so I just sent a print of the refund email, and a print of the EC261 regulations

Let's see...

dhuey

I call BS on that airline boss. Over the years, I've had to cancel scores of refundable air tickets. The refunds have been processed almost instantly, and I doubt very much that there was anything manual about it. Why in the world could this not be automated? I could probably write the code myself, and I haven't written code in over three decades.

Leeski

Mine still closed, but my one against Ryanair from over a month ago is still open but I haven't been asked to submit anything. It is only for around Ł24 so no huge deal.

ft101

I think that's reasonable It's the "7 days or I'll see you in court" responses that I think are OTT.

As if none of his tens of thousands of employees and ex employees wouldn't have contradicted him to the press if it was lies.

dhuey

If you're working in IT at an airline right now, why exactly would you say to a reporter that it's actually quite easy, technically, to process refunds? The only reason I can think of is that you hate your job and like being summoned to the HR department.

ft101

Do reporters never use anonymous sources? Or ex employees as already mentioned?

WilcoRoger

Here they asked for the original booking, proof of cancellation and proof of having tried to solve the issue with the merchant directly (which is not a requirement according to local law, but be it)

wingnuthead

I'm gonna give EZ a couple of weeks to get their act together. Their whole 28 day (up to 90 day) thing is clearly a panic reaction dating from the beginning of this whole Covid hysteria when every travel company was shellshocked, and their workforces were decimated and productivity crippled. As each of these companies have started to adjust, things seem to be moving more smoothly from a refund perspective. They all seem to be working through their queues in whatever order their internal processes and systems are organized around.

AirBNB got SLAMMED for March and most of April by literally everyone, until they adjusted and started refunding quickly. I got mine in about 5 days, but tons of people are still not refunded. Norwegian tried pushing "vouchers" from the beginning, but eventually did refunds based on extreme pressure. It took me 3 weeks to get fully refunded from Norwegian after cancellation, but they did the right thing eventually. Jetblue forced vouchers, as did United. I was OK with Jetblue and no OK with United, but the flights were cancelled and I'll likely use both those airlines again.

My initial EZ refunds were submitted 8 days ago (day of cancellation of early June flights), and I still have a couple more flights I expect to be cancelled in the next 24-48 hours. I'll give them their 28 days, but not more. They've had our money for 5 months, and we're fortunate that another few weeks won't matter.

I don't think that anyone did anything maliciously here, and the hyper negative tone around all these companies "lying" "stealing" etc isn't really valuable or even rational. Everyone is frustrated here, not just us (those pesky customers). The travel company employees are exasperated and also scared of being let go, and in many cases have in fact been either furloughed or outright sacked. This includes the management layers that tried to arbitrage customer monies (ie the 28-90 day wait) to avoid being fired or the company collapsing. And in most cases, they still got fired and the companies became insolvent.

The whole thing is a mess. So many of us who are "experienced" travelers are exhausted by the airlines behavior over the years, even though we tolerate it so we can get where we're going. So it makes these arbitrage efforts seem like sleazy games, when in fact, the airlines are trying to survive. So our instinct is to think they are being malevolent, but in fact, its just a panicked and clumsy reaction to the chaos of Covid.

DYKWIA

That's my feeling. It was obvious flights wouldn't be going anywhere for about 6 weeks before my flight. After they cancelled I gave them 28 days before doing the chargeback.