Brussels Airlines. Anyone gotten a refund?
Aug 30, 2020, 4:54 am
#61
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 1
My flights scheduled for early May where cancelled back in March.
I trusted Brussels Airlines and waited for them to start accepting refund requests in June. They told me over the phone that it would take up to six weeks. After waiting for two months and hearing promises that never materialise, I called Amex to initiate a chargeback. Unfortunately, Amex informed me that because 120 days from the cancellation email had elapsed, they could not do anything. They will only intervene if the company goes bankrupt / into administration.
I found information online that I can ask for help via the Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme. Brussels Airlines is a member of söp (check soep-online, I can't post links here yet, because I just registered). Their rules say that I have to first make an official complaint in writing. Even that was hard with Brussels Airlines! You have to somehow (via Google) find their 'Voice a concern' page and fill in the information, then they email an automated response with a reference number.
They then have 2 months to respond. If the consumer is not happy with the resolution, they can request a deadlock letter with the Airline's position. If the airline does not respond at all, or in the event that a deadlock letter is not provided after the 2 months of the written complaint, the consumer can then open a case with the ADR. It will be a very lengthy process, but I'm hoping I'll get my money back.
I don't know what else to do. It is extremely frustrating. The excuse they are using about extreme workload to process the refunds surely cannot be true at this point. Even if they were filling paper forms to send to their bank for the refunds, they would have caught up by now.
I trusted Brussels Airlines and waited for them to start accepting refund requests in June. They told me over the phone that it would take up to six weeks. After waiting for two months and hearing promises that never materialise, I called Amex to initiate a chargeback. Unfortunately, Amex informed me that because 120 days from the cancellation email had elapsed, they could not do anything. They will only intervene if the company goes bankrupt / into administration.
I found information online that I can ask for help via the Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme. Brussels Airlines is a member of söp (check soep-online, I can't post links here yet, because I just registered). Their rules say that I have to first make an official complaint in writing. Even that was hard with Brussels Airlines! You have to somehow (via Google) find their 'Voice a concern' page and fill in the information, then they email an automated response with a reference number.
They then have 2 months to respond. If the consumer is not happy with the resolution, they can request a deadlock letter with the Airline's position. If the airline does not respond at all, or in the event that a deadlock letter is not provided after the 2 months of the written complaint, the consumer can then open a case with the ADR. It will be a very lengthy process, but I'm hoping I'll get my money back.
I don't know what else to do. It is extremely frustrating. The excuse they are using about extreme workload to process the refunds surely cannot be true at this point. Even if they were filling paper forms to send to their bank for the refunds, they would have caught up by now.
Aug 31, 2020, 11:53 am
#62
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: BRU
Programs: A3 *G & FB G
Posts: 640
You need to call to raise a claim and start the process:I called customer service in Brussels and explained the situation. Having found the original charge from Brussels Airlines, the claim was accepted and I was then given a reference number to send with all supporting documentation to [email protected]
I had read a lot of experiences on Flyertalk from people who tried to get their refund from LH through Amex but those chargebacks were not executed, so I didn't bother trying with Belgian Amex. It seems that Belgian Amex service is more flexible in this matter.
Sep 5, 2020, 3:13 am
#64
Join Date: May 2020
Location: BRU
Programs: QR Silver, AC Silver
Posts: 50
Brussels Airlines accelerates process to resolve refund backlog
Brussels Airlines has worked on a solution to speed up the process of the refund handling and is now paying out several thousands of refunds per day.
Full official press release here.
- 31% of refund requests filed so far have been processed
- Pending refund requests expected to be resolved by the end of October
Brussels Airlines has worked on a solution to speed up the process of the refund handling and is now paying out several thousands of refunds per day.
“We are well aware that the last weeks and months have been extremely difficult for our passengers affected by schedule changes or flight cancellations and we sincerely apologize for the inconveniences caused by overloaded call centres and delays in terms of our response time, especially for the processing of ticket refunds. But rest assured, every passenger who is entitled to a refund and who applied for it, will be reimbursed within the coming weeks”, explains Dieter Vranckx, CEO of Brussels Airlines.