Exactly my point, they entice people with 15% more, then they shall jack up the prices & can even use the money for free when some people will go for a refund after 12 months !!
Guess this coronavirus has revealed a lot about some companies.
Not a fan of ek, but they deducted a small 20$ fee & refunded the money straight away.
Can't imagine klm being worse.

Vouchers are a sucker's game. If KL has cancelled or substantially changed your flight, you are due a refund, both under EC 261/2004 and, to the extent that you are ticketed to or from the US, US DOT rules.

If you happen to have a ticket to/from the US, the DOT process is very quick and efficient. While DOT does not enforce individual matters, it does forward complaints to the carrier with the requirement that they respond to the passenger with a copy to DOT. Given that one is due a refund under US law, there is only one response possible and that is, "we have refunded the passenger's ticket...."

Make the request for a refund, do not waste time arguing with KL, and then wait 7 days. On the 8th day, file the complaint and also initiate a chargeback (presuming that KL has not initiated a refund). Make certain to include a copy of your e-ticket receipt, the notice of cancellation, your request for a refund, and any denial of a refund or a note that you have not heard back. The easier you make this, the faster it gets processed and the less stress you endure.

KL cancelled flights, submitted refund request, nothing heard. One week later I submitted chargeback request, dispute reviewed by credit card company, no response from KL. Chargeback approved.

Now six weeks later KL responds to credit card company claiming that ticket was voluntarily cancelled, which is a downright lie. Airline is now spewing bald faced lies in an attempt to keep customer's money. I have never been so disgusted by a business in all my life.

KL has asked me to have patience? They cannot be serious. On one of the emails that they sent me, they stated that they had already sent me the vouchers that I requested. From day one, I told them that I wanted a refund only. I do not want your worthless paper vouchers. I’m hoping the European Commission will stand firmly with the current laws. Good luck.

You are not alone. There's a whole Facebook group of people sharing your experience. Not to mention Twitter...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2539386469633337

They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

I literally grew up with KLM, have been flying them for over 60 years, and I've generally been a pretty satisified customer. These refund shenanigans have now seriously hurt my opinion of the airline, and that despite the fact that I have not been personally affected. That kind of behavior is simply not on. One of the world's best known legacy cariers, with a 100-year history, purveyor to the royal court of the Netherlands, is behaving like some dodgy online retailer of illicit anabolic steroids or sex toys: "you pay and we won't deliver".

Johan

So just a datapoint: just received a 24-hour cancellation refund for two tickets purchased on april 10. But I did put in a complaint with the DOT a couple of weeks ago and I'm pretty sure I would still be waiting if I had not done that.

Some context: on april 10, I requested DL to refund a reservation for may that had it's intercontinental flights changed a couple of times and finally cancelled. While on the phone with Delta, I looked for an alternative later in the year, and found a nice fare in C return AMS-LAS. The fare on klm.com was a bit lower than the fare on delta.com, so I decided to book it there. Both Delta and KLM just published new flexibility rules back then. On Delta, this was reflected in the fare conditions, that clearly stated penalty free changes. KLM just listed "Flexibel boeken" on the banner on their website with a short explanation stating that newly bought tickets could be changed without penalty, but there was no formal, longer explanation on the page where that banner pointed to if you clicked on it. I assumed it would be the exact same rules that Delta had published and went ahead and finalized my reservation. On screen during the reservation, the KLM website stated the tickets could be changed but did list a EUR 300 penalty in their standard text.

However, as soons as I got the confirmation it said non-changeable. So I called them and asked what the exact rules were. I then got told that the website banner had no meaning and these tickets could not be changed. So I immidiately filled out the 24-hour cancellation form and rebooked the same itinerary with Delta. Slightly more expensive ($100), but with the penalty-free changes clearly listed in the fare conditions (which you can actually read on Delta.com prior to booking).

KL's customer service commitment states that 24-hour refunds for credit-card purchases are refunded within 7 working days.

At that point in time, I had almost $10000 invested in these tickets. About $3500 for the original tickets, bought back in september 2018 with Delta and cancelled on april 10 2020 (refund still processing as of today). Replacement reservation for about $3000 with KLM that was to be refunded under the 24-hour rule. And then finally the subsequent replacement reservation with Delta, for another $3100, which is the one I'm actually going to fly.

After more than a month, I contacted KL by phone. Was told the refund could take several months, if processed at all. That response was unacceptable and I then proceeded to put in a complaint with the DOT. They forwarded my complaint to KL on May 12. KL auto-acknowledged receipt on May 25. One June 1, I got a human reply to that complaint, stating that my refund request would be submitted for immediate analysis. On june 3, I got a message from the company handling their refunds (ISCITS) stating that the refund had been processed. Today, june 4, it was credited to my card.

I keep wondering how long this would have taken if I had not put in the DOT complaint. While I do understand that complex ticket refunds must be manually checked and can take time, a 24-hour cancellation is as simple as it gets and should be processed automatically, just as every other airline does.

The key word is should. There are losts of things KL should be doing, and could be doing, but isn't doing.

They ought to be ashamed of themselves, but aren't.

Johan

Time to strike up the band! This morning at approximately 03:30, KLM refunded me my money. I am so happy, but not too happy with all of the hoops
that I had to jump through to get my refund. I’m not planning on flying anywhere soon, but in all honesty, KLM is NOT on my list to make a reservation
with unless they have a fare I can’t refuse. I saved about 5% of the ticket by doing a bank transfer. FIRST and LAST time that I will ever do that again.

I thought I would post my own experience. Hope it is of use to others.

I booked a short haul trip back in January for travel in April for HEL-AMS-LBA. Notification of flight cancellation came at the end of March. I requested a refund but KLM replied a few weeks later refusing and only offering a voucher. At this stage I did a chargeback, I had paid for this using an Amex plat charge card. To support the chargeback I uploaded a short summary of what had happened along with copies of a few relevant emails. This was my short summary:

A few weeks later Amex agreed with me and credited the ticket price back to me. Any that's where I thought it would finish!

Cut to late June, and I spot a charge on my card for the ticket. I called Amex and they told me KLM had provided evidence I was not due the money on the basis they had offered me a voucher and that the fare was non-refundable. I must admit I was absolutely livid! At my request Amex re-opened the dispute. I was slightly annoyed that they wanted me to actually upload the EC261 Regulation itself, but I did it.

I also got a copy of the KLM evidence they sent to Amex. This comprised a copy of the internal system showing the fare rules and that it was non-refundable and that I accepted that when I booked. Additionally a copy of their Covid 19 guidance which shows for cancelled flights they were only offering a voucher for non-refundable fares - something which is clearly in breach of Art 8 EC261.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/skMMm5.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/04KoBP.jpg

Anyway, I did some new notes and uploaded for Amex to support the chargeback and I hope the notes may be of use a a template for others should you need it.

• Notes uploaded in June [pdf version]
• Notes uploaded in June [word version]

Links to documents also used in support:
- EC261 Regulation downloadable as pdf here https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-cont...LEX:32004R0261
- Interpretative Guidelines on EU passenger rights regulations in the context of the developing situation with Covid-19, issued 18 March pdf here
- COVID-19: Commission provides guidance on EU passenger rights, issued 18 March press release here
- Tourism and Transport Package, European Commission, issued 13 May, pdf version downloadable at bottom of page


The good news is this week Amex again found in my favour and again credited the charge back to me.

KLM's atrocious behaviour during this period makes me loathed to ever fly with them again. Their short term attempts to preserve cash, and frankly their action over this case, have just served to deprive them of any future revenue from me.

Glad that you persisted & prevailed!

There is unfortunately no consequence to KL for having provided incomplete and misleading information to Amex.

For the benefit of others and going forward, many people who submit the backup data with their initial chargeback, find that the carriers do not even bother to respond. In the case of tickets covered by either or both EC 261/2004 or US 14 CFR (DOT), it pays to provide a copy of the cancellation notice (screenshots will do), your request for a refund (dated after the carrier has cancelled), the carrier's response (if any) and a copy of the relevant section of the EU or US rule with the specific provision highlighted. In both cases, the law requires a refund at the passenger's option.

To be frank, Amex should know this by this point and it is also worth a note to Amex complaining.

Yes I was surprised about that. It seemed Amex's attitude was you need to provide evidence for everything including uploading the regulations.

sounds like it should have been Finnair/BA that refunded you!
:D

Haha, whoops yes it was HEL-AMS-LBA. Post corrected ;)

My refund request with # was sent to my email on April 27th - I believe I requested it earlier but so be it.
I contacted the WhatsApp KLM site last week to inquiry what is happening - never spoke to a live agent just the BOT requesting information and they would get back to me.
Friday, July 24th - received confirmation from KLM my refund has been processed. I anticipate a few business days before I see it on my card.

If anyone is still awaiting a refund, I'd suggest reach out to the WhatsApp BOT to at least get you into the processing queue as who knows how long I would've waited.