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Another case of AirAsia Fraud - who should I contact in the Indian government?

Another case of AirAsia Fraud - who should I contact in the Indian government?

Old Aug 18, 2016, 1:37 pm
  #1  
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Angry Another case of AirAsia Fraud - who should I contact in the Indian government?

(apologies for posting this in 2 forums, but it concerns both AirAisa (based in Indonesia) and AirAsia India (a subsidiary based in India)

This is a request for help or for suggestions:
Any idea which Indian government agency oversees Indian airlines? And who might be able to help me with what appears to be deliberate fraud?

I bought 2 tickets from AirAsia India over a year ago.
AirAsia then cancelled our flight 9 months ago and that very same day I requested a refund. They approved my request for a refund, and even put it on their website as approved.

But after 9 months, still no refund.

Even after scores of promises from AirAsia that they would make the refund "very soon" in emails, Private Messages, AskAirAisa messages, and even phone calls.

But after 9 months, still no refund.


I've also tried posting about this on their Twitter account (and their AirAsia India CEO's Twitter account), which brought immediate private messages telling me to give them "a few more days" over and over.

But after 9 months, still no refund.

I have copies of the multitude of correspondence in which they made these broken promises. And I did some research and found many stories in newspapers about similar fraud, in which AirAsia cancels a flight and promises customers refunds but never makes them. This seems to be an especially big problem for Australian citizens, who fly the airline a lot.

Any ideas what government agency AirAsia in India would have to answer to?

Thanks for any advice.
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Old Aug 18, 2016, 9:34 pm
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Originally Posted by rje444
(apologies for posting this in 2 forums, but it concerns both AirAisa (based in Indonesia) and AirAsia India (a subsidiary based in India)

This is a request for help or for suggestions:
Any idea which Indian government agency oversees Indian airlines? And who might be able to help me with what appears to be deliberate fraud?

I bought 2 tickets from AirAsia India over a year ago.
AirAsia then cancelled our flight 9 months ago and that very same day I requested a refund. They approved my request for a refund, and even put it on their website as approved.

But after 9 months, still no refund.

Even after scores of promises from AirAsia that they would make the refund "very soon" in emails, Private Messages, AskAirAisa messages, and even phone calls.

But after 9 months, still no refund.


I've also tried posting about this on their Twitter account (and their AirAsia India CEO's Twitter account), which brought immediate private messages telling me to give them "a few more days" over and over.

But after 9 months, still no refund.

I have copies of the multitude of correspondence in which they made these broken promises. And I did some research and found many stories in newspapers about similar fraud, in which AirAsia cancels a flight and promises customers refunds but never makes them. This seems to be an especially big problem for Australian citizens, who fly the airline a lot.

Any ideas what government agency AirAsia in India would have to answer to?

Thanks for any advice.
Why haven't you filed a chargeback?
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Old Aug 18, 2016, 9:44 pm
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tweet to the MoS Mahesh Sharma, he tends to keep an eye on these things and cracks the whip on the airline if needed
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Old Aug 18, 2016, 10:19 pm
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1353513636,
Thank you for the advice, which would be normally be a good idea, except in this case AirAsia has strung us along for over a year since we paid, always saying the refund was almost ready to send us, but never sending it, and now it has been too long for the credit card company.

This is clearly AirAsia company policy. They keep making promises and stalling until most people give up, and then they keep the money.
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Old Aug 18, 2016, 10:23 pm
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A2A,
Thank you for the suggestion. Coincidentally I did tweet him just a little while ago at the advice of an acquaintance in India.

Do you know if he has the legal authority to force AirAsia India to live up to their promise of a refund?

Also coincidentally, I read and enjoy your blog!

Last edited by rje444; Aug 18, 2016 at 10:35 pm Reason: additional information added
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Old Aug 19, 2016, 3:29 am
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i've had a couple of instances with airlines in the u.s. when it came to them cancelling flights....getting a refund from them was pretty hard but they were always willing to apply the funds towards a future credit....

i know this is not the ideal solution & these people should not be allowed to get away with something like this but this is just a suggestion on how you may be able to resolve the situation....

if you were based in india however then i would suggest you take them to consumer court....
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Old Aug 19, 2016, 11:08 am
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Keyser
I even wonder if AirAsia India would be legally protected from claims in India, as a subsidiary of AirAsia, based in Malaysia.

Anyway, I've reached out to Dr. Mahesh Sharma of the Ministry of Culture, and will report back as to waht happens.

But since I don't know if that will help, any other ideas are most welcome!
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Old Aug 19, 2016, 11:28 am
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Originally Posted by rje444
Keyser
I even wonder if AirAsia India would be legally protected from claims in India, as a subsidiary of AirAsia, based in Malaysia.
i doubt they would be protected against claims in india....but you would have to be present in court a couple of times to make this work....consumer courts in india have become surprisingly efficient over the last 3-4 years....
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Old Aug 19, 2016, 11:35 am
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Originally Posted by Keyser
i doubt they would be protected against claims in india....but you would have to be present in court a couple of times to make this work....consumer courts in india have become surprisingly efficient over the last 3-4 years....

Hard to do, as we live in New York!

But I have to say, I'm really surprised there is no government consumer protection agency protecting against airline fraud in India. Here in the US we can go to the Department of Transportation or the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission.
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Old Aug 19, 2016, 12:35 pm
  #10  
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Did you pay with a CC issued by a US financial institution? If so, even though even though US law only requires that CC issuers process chargebacks made within 60 days of the incident, most issuers will do so when the reasons for the delay are the merchant's failure to live up to its commitment.

Put simply, have you attempted a chargeback?

Fair warning to others as this is a public forum -- Do not let chargeback deadlines pass. If the deadline was 60 days in this case, file the chargeback no later than the 59th day. There is never a reason to wait more than a short & reasonable period.
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Old Aug 19, 2016, 1:26 pm
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Often1,
Thanks for the advice. Yes, I made the purchase with a Citibank Mastercard. So I called Citibank a little while ago, and even though they said it was over their time limit, I did persist and they gave me an address to write to for an appeal on that decision. So my fingers are crossed that they will help.
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Old Aug 19, 2016, 6:48 pm
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Originally Posted by rje444
Often1,
Thanks for the advice. Yes, I made the purchase with a Citibank Mastercard. So I called Citibank a little while ago, and even though they said it was over their time limit, I did persist and they gave me an address to write to for an appeal on that decision. So my fingers are crossed that they will help.
Did you try calling again to see if you find a different agent.

I don't remember if citi has a message feature from account like chase but if they do, the message might go to a different team.

Atleast with Chase I know that message handling teams generally have more authority than phone CS.
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Old Aug 19, 2016, 10:44 pm
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Originally Posted by vishalgupta22
Did you try calling again to see if you find a different agent.

I don't remember if citi has a message feature from account like chase but if they do, the message might go to a different team.

Atleast with Chase I know that message handling teams generally have more authority than phone CS.
They told me at Citibank that the best way to appeal for a chargeback after their time limit was passed was to write them, so that is what I did. I'll report back with the results.
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Old Aug 20, 2016, 4:37 pm
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Originally Posted by rje444
They told me at Citibank that the best way to appeal for a chargeback after their time limit was passed was to write them, so that is what I did. I'll report back with the results.
Ok, good to know

Good luck!
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Old Aug 26, 2016, 2:25 pm
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Amazing.

I just managed to get AirAsia India to transfer the refund they owed me to my bank account.

And it only took 9 months of polite requests, cajoling, threats, tweets to their account and the CEO, and even emails to the Indian Minister of Tourism.

AirAsia made 27 promises to make that refund over those 9 months. Each time, after not receiving it I'd write to ask where is it? They would often ignore me.

In the end, only extreme action forced their hand.

But what about the thousands of other customers who don't know enough, or are too tired to pursue them so vigorously for their promised refunds, as documented in articles? I wish someone would write an article explicitly exposing AirAsia's unscrupulous practices and warn potential customers of the risk of doing business with AirAsia.
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