EU261 Regulator
 

If filing a EU261 complainant about SAS who is the who the regulator to complain to? My flight was an IAD-CPH-LHR would it be Sweden or Denmark?

My complaint is regarding the lack of a timely refund for involuntary flight cancellation and not for compensation. Is there a way I send a complaint to the airline as well. I have tried over customer service channels without luck, only being told that it will be four to six months. The online SAS EU form seems to only give options for compensation, is there an online option to file a complaint?

Don't have their online details, but the Danish authorities would be

Trafikstyrelsen
Danish Transport Authority
Edvard Thomsens Vej 14
DK-2300 København S
Danmark

According to this - https://tbst.dk/en/Civil-aviation/Pa...ellation-delay - the Danes don't handle these complaints. I would guess it may be the British consumer authority which handles it given the final destination is Heathrow. I'm not 100% sure if UK is still included saying as it's not in EU any more, but I would get in contact with the Civil Aviation Authority - https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Res...-compensation/

There is also the alternative dispute resolution body, of which SAS is a part. If you aren't satisfied with SAS answers, you can go through them - https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Res...te-resolution/

Failing all that, on the SAS website there is a form where you can actually write something - https://www.care.flysas.com/SelfService/ClaimSAS/

It also outlines the alternative dispute procedure etc. Hope this is useful.

Why bother with sorting EC 261/2004, when you appear to be US-based and US law requires a refund for a cancelled flight? File a complaint with DOT and then pursue the chargeback avenue below (both at the same time and both properly documented).

Presuming that you made your reservation and ticketing arrangements through SK and that you have made a request for a refund and it has not been initiated within 7 days, simply initiate a chargeback on the 8th day with your credit card issuer (bank). Supply or be prepared to supply a copy of the e-ticket receipt, the cancellation notice, your request for a refund and the denial or simply note that you have not heard back,

Most US card issuers will issue a temporary credit for a properly documented chargeback and it will become permanent in short order. The DOT complaint simply assures that DOT is aware of SK not abiding by its 2011 rules.

Since your trip originates in the US, you can and should file a complaint with USDOT.

Thats in addition to the European regulators.

Just a reminder, that the complaints themselves do almost nothing for the individual. They may result in fines and other sanctions against the carrier, but not for individual cases.

You can sue SK easily in a British court via the MCOL process.

MCOL requires UK residency. At least a UK address. OP could file in small claims (which does telephonic hearings),

But, all a but silly as OP can have his funds back in hours through the chargeback process.

I'm in the same boat as OP. I have a cancellation/refund request as of March and believe I should've been refunded already. As my flight originated in EWR (which was cancelled and they rebooked via different routing) - I called in and cancelled/refund just waiting for it to happen.
The SAS website indicates 'The processing of your request takes longer than usual at the moment, as a lot of customers are affected by cancellations due to the Corona virus, but please be patient with us. You will receive a confirmation from us when your refund is made.

Did you find this information useful?"

This is difficult for all but I also would like my money back.

Not having much luck with the chargeback as the issuer is being difficult. I filed a US DOT complaint but as others have noticed it is unluckily to result in an individual action. I will try the UK route. Thanks, everyone!

This is true. However, there are two benefits of doing it this way:

• When I filed my USDOT complaint, USDOT submitted a request to the airline on my behalf, requesting a refund. I was copied on the correspondence. It is still pending (while credit card chargeback has become permanent).
• Further, USDOT can slap airlines with fines and penalties, depending on the number of complaints. The airlines cannot screw passengers by violating their own contracts of carriage (imagine if we violated contract of carriage).

Have you heard back from SAS yet? USDOT might be filing a request with the airline, and you should be copied on it.

Not yet.

I personally never had a problem with SK (perhaps status helps?). I would definitely not bother with the legal case on such minor issues, but would just call them again. In the worst case in my history of dozens of refunds with SK, I had to call twice, to get that through. It is actually the best airline I know when it comes to refunds. Even in these messy times, they were the fastest of the three airlines I had open claims with. The slowest so far is Lufthansa, with no progress whatsoever. You might prefer the legal way - good luck. Out of pragmatism, I recommend calling once again to figure out where the thing got stuck.

No status on SAS or any other *A airline. I called a few times with no luck, it does not help that is a travel agent booked ticket. The travel agent has tried a few times as well with no luck. The travel agent will not refund the ticket without SAS's approval.