I cancelled 2 business class tickets SYD-EZE back in November, due to work commitments. At that time LAN said refunds took upto 45 working days to process. I have patiently waited for that period - it expired 2 weeks before the earthquake. I've spoken to and emailed now 3 different agents -all promise to come back with an answer about why the refund has not been processed... none do. How can I esculate this. I accept they are busy with the earthquake - but mine is a straight forward refund issue and nothing happened within their own timeframe before the quake. Any suggestions??

My experience with a LAN refund for a no-penalty full fare business class ticket has been the worst and lengthier I have ever seen; LAN is known to have a less than stellar ground service.

My case: Initially LAN insisted on charging an 'administrative fee' to reimburse for costs associated with their admin work, which they decided that imposing a 25 usd with be fair. Either their way or they could not assess when my refund might be processed, well documented by e-mails back and forth.

It evolved up to a point where I simply passed it over to the credit card admin who gladly took it over, reversed the charge and negotiated with LAN a no-penalty refund, by the rules.

With or without earthquake, that's standard service for LAN; If possible have your credit card negotiate on your behalf.