Icelandair refund issues
Dec 10, 2020, 9:25 am
#106
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SEA/YVR/BLI
Programs: UA "Lifetime" Gold, AS MVPG100K, OW Emerald, HH Lifetime Diamond, IC Plat, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 9,488
Flight credit received
This morning I finally received the flight credit Icelandair had promised me and the DOT in mid-April, good for three years for the full amount of my purchase of a March flight we had cancelled.
In summary, it comes after many emails to Icelandair, the Icelandic Transport Authority, and the DOT. I also spent hours with Ingenico, the company that supplies credit card terminals around the world, after Icelandair claimed Ingenico was somehow responsible for the delayed confirmation of my charge back cancellation. I also spent hours on the phone (largely on hold) with Chase Visa. Our Chase banker managed to generate a personal letter from Chase Visa confirming we had cancelled the charge back and repaid the amount.
The final act in this farce includes two emails from Icelandair saying my case was closed and that they had approved my charge back - Huh?!? They sent a copy to the DOT in their email the other day, and I replied to both very factually, explaining very politely that this made no sense by asking for an explanation of what it did mean. The credit arrived this morning.
As Mrs. Fredd says, I now need a new pastime until we can get traveling again. I wish similar success to others, but without the stress and nuisance I've had to deal with over the past five months.
In summary, it comes after many emails to Icelandair, the Icelandic Transport Authority, and the DOT. I also spent hours with Ingenico, the company that supplies credit card terminals around the world, after Icelandair claimed Ingenico was somehow responsible for the delayed confirmation of my charge back cancellation. I also spent hours on the phone (largely on hold) with Chase Visa. Our Chase banker managed to generate a personal letter from Chase Visa confirming we had cancelled the charge back and repaid the amount.
The final act in this farce includes two emails from Icelandair saying my case was closed and that they had approved my charge back - Huh?!? They sent a copy to the DOT in their email the other day, and I replied to both very factually, explaining very politely that this made no sense by asking for an explanation of what it did mean. The credit arrived this morning.
As Mrs. Fredd says, I now need a new pastime until we can get traveling again. I wish similar success to others, but without the stress and nuisance I've had to deal with over the past five months.
May 23, 2021, 7:46 pm
#107
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 66
Refunds still taking forever?
Travelling on IcelandAir soon, and while I originally bought a fully refundable EconomyFlex ticket, the trip is close enough and my schedule fixed enough that I'm willing to forgo flexibility and rebook for $250 less on an Economy Standard ticket, cancelling my Flex.
Best as I can tell from the website, there is no simple "cancel" button like say, Southwest, but an "apply for a refund" form. And then I saw this horror story thread about refunds, even from refundable tickets, sometimes taking 4 months and many many headaches in 2020.
Does anyone know if the process has improved? If getting my $250 will require hours on hold and filing DOT complaints and ccard chargebacks, that's probably not worth it.
Best as I can tell from the website, there is no simple "cancel" button like say, Southwest, but an "apply for a refund" form. And then I saw this horror story thread about refunds, even from refundable tickets, sometimes taking 4 months and many many headaches in 2020.
Does anyone know if the process has improved? If getting my $250 will require hours on hold and filing DOT complaints and ccard chargebacks, that's probably not worth it.
May 23, 2021, 8:06 pm
#108
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 66
Apologies for the self-reply, but I just realized after fruitless clicking, and then using FI's "help chat" feature, that it is IMPOSSIBLE to request a refund of a fully-refundable fare via the website. You MUST call the 1-800 number and speak to a customer service representative to get your money back.
From the website you can only request a travel voucher, not a refund.
This also seems to imply that if for some reason you needed to do a last-minute cancellation of what was sold as a fully-refundable up to time of departure fare, you might be stuck -- the voucher request form says it may take "several days" to process the booking cancellation, and the 1-800 number is not 24/7.
Not happy about this.
From the website you can only request a travel voucher, not a refund.
This also seems to imply that if for some reason you needed to do a last-minute cancellation of what was sold as a fully-refundable up to time of departure fare, you might be stuck -- the voucher request form says it may take "several days" to process the booking cancellation, and the 1-800 number is not 24/7.
Not happy about this.