zznoname

Boy.

One Month and counting after receiving United's cancellation email.
First excuse was, "It didn't go through."
Who know what they'll say now. I disputed the charge weeks ago.

Is there any penalty people can levy against United?

Thanks.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

You can dispute the charge on your CC.

zznoname

So... United agent lied.

"There were holidays"
You're saying there were not seven business days between December 25 and January 22?

"It may have taken longer"
"May"? The ticket was canceled on December 25, today is Jan 22. I'd say it definitely took longer.

No mention the refund was not process originally. And I was talking to the refund people. Certainly, they had all the details easily accessible.

AA gave the refund back with-in the week.

Okay. Zero problem really. The money will come. But this will keep United as a last choice.

Didn't even offer courtesy miles.

Yep.

Often1

So, this is all about UA not sending you a freebie, e.g., "courtesy miles"?

If you are due a refund, wait 7 business days and then on the 8th day, file a dispute with your card issuer (bank). Should take less than a minute. If you are calling back, you are wasting your time. Unless it's all about the "courtesy miles".

zznoname

read what you want into my post. I though it was fair and balance.

Just to say. If I didn't call back the first time, they would not have caught the processing error. So, calling back at least once is a must. Of course the CC dispute would have covered that (eventually), but I was originally hoping not to use the dispute.

AA gave me the money with-in a week. Tidy and clean. Nice.

Kacee

UA is now pretty good about processing refunds within 7 business days, which is what the law requires. Occasionally there's a processing error. I've found that a quick email or phone call usually resolves that.

If you've now disputed the charge, that has become your remedy, and there's not much point following up further with UA (or indeed, starting a thread here). UA is not going to issue a refund while the chargeback is pending.

zznoname

Okay. Then a CC dispute on the 8th day after the 24 hour cancel would not have worked in my favor, if, as you suggest, it stops the refund form United's side.

I waited until this week to CC dispute. About 14 days AFTER United resubmitted the refund after the original, December 26, processing error. Thought it was my only option. I mean, seemed like I waited a fair amount of time.

Thanks for your reasoning. Although I'd dispute your inference that United is "pretty good". What's most annoying, is the BS that comes out of some agents mouths. But, you come across that now and then across all airlines customer service. I mean, one month, and the agent calmly says, "It's being process." And only after "reminding" the agent of the facts (as outlined in my OP) did I hear an apology.

One month seems like a big deal to me.

In any case, I figured posting United "delayed" a refund for around a month, and basically kept telling me it was "being process", would be a "safe" FT post. Ops!

Sure wish there was something more I could do about "punishing" United. Seems unfair. I mean. If United "broke the law", what's the punishment?

Thanks.

Kacee

It was very difficult to follow your narrative.

You can complain to DOT. They fined UA several years ago for not processing refunds timely under Reg Z. Since then, in my experience UA has been pretty good about complying with the seven day requirement.

zznoname

Ahah!
So United has a history of messing with refunds (albeit in the past).
Nuff said.

Appreciate your help today.

threeoh

I once had to fight with AA to refund a (fully refundable) ticket I had cancelled. Multiple phone calls over 30+ days. I was very annoyed because it was kind of an expensive ticket and I was hoping the refund would clear before my statement cut.

I don't think one or two anecdotes is really going to settle whether UA or AA is better at giving refunds promptly. Probably they both do a good job normally and occasionally something happens and it takes another phone call or two.

P.S. You can check your refund status here: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...ds/refund.aspx

mduell

DOT complaint while not generally acted on individually, may be acted on for a pattern of behavior.

14 CFR 259.5 (b) (5) Where ticket refunds are due, providing prompt refunds, as required by 14 CFR 374.3 and 12 CFR part 226 for credit card purchases, and within 20 days after receiving a complete refund request for cash and check purchases

TomMM

Continue flying AA?