FlyerTalk Forums - TK refuses to honor 24 hour reservation policy

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TK doing something good for the customer? I am shocked. LOL.

Anyways, they probably assumed that you'd file a complaint with DOT as well dispute the charge on your CC so they just didn't want to go into a battle they knew they'd lose.

At least that's my opinion. This refund was not issued to make you happy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Basar (Post 27759262)

This was not easy and became a 4 prong battle with TK. I first submitted a complaint to their Customer Contact Center and was rejected (They are useless). I also contacted TK sales office in LA. Next I filed a complaint with DOT. Finally I disputed the charges with my credit card company. It was in response to the DOT complaint that they agreed to refund the tickets.

To all the folks saying a 24 hour hold policy is sufficient and TK doesn't need to provide an actual refund, I just read the actual doc and came across this text:

It also considers the failure to offer a passenger a full refund in the original
form of payment in the event of a cancellation request covered by the 24-hour reservation requirement to be an unfair and deceptive practice.

For any online cancellation that is covered by the 24-hour reservation requirement, in deciding whether to pursue enforcement action, the Enforcement Office considers it to be a violation of 14 CFR 259.5(b)(4) and an unfair and deceptive practice for a carrier not to offer consumers the
option of receiving a full refund in the original form of payment before the cancellation request is submitted. Carriers may offer other refund options, such as, for example, carrier-issued credits, but such offer should not be pre-selected as the default choice of refund form or appear as the more prominent refund option.

Similarly, for any telephone or in-person cancellation request that is covered by the 24-hour reservation requirement, section 259.5(b)(4) requires carriers to offer the requester a full refund in the original form of payment.

My interpretation is that regardless of a hold, if a pax makes a purchase, they're entitled to a refund in the original form of payment, if said request is made within 24 hours. Does the collective wisdom of FT agree?

You are wrong.

You need to read the entire DOT Guidance document from beginning to end, not just the small section which you believe helps you out. Here is a link to the entire document:

https://www.transportation.gov/sites...20130530_0.pdf

The Guidance document makes it very clear that the carrier has the option of offering a full refund or a hold. That is right at the top of the document.

The section you refer to makes the point that while a carrier is free to offer refunds in forms other than the original form of payment, e.g. a credit for later use, that the carrier must first clearly offer the original form of payment. By way of example, if you pay with a credit card, the refund goes to a credit card unless you elect to have a refund to some form of coupon. But, the carrier may not do that for you.

For what it is worth. In the particular case at hand, OP spent more time than necessary. Make the request to the carrier when the online function did not work. When that was denied, file a DOT complaint immediately. Include the screenshot. Make sure to calendar this for 55 days (OP has 60 days to initiate a chargeback. While some CC's will permit more, the statute does not require this and it is best not to push the limit if you can avoid it). Chances are that you will hear back fairly quickly. At 55 days, dispute the charge.