Dear Travel TROUBLESHOOTER: Lufthansa canceled a flight for my wife and me from Orlando, Florida, to Budapest, Hungary, by way of Frankfurt, Germany, past year. The airline promised a comprehensive refund. 4 months later on, I acquired a refund for one of the tickets.
I’ve been trying to get a refund for the 2nd ticket. I have manufactured quite a few cellular phone phone calls and sent email messages. I’ve tried using to communicate to a exceptional and retain obtaining slash off. Lufthansa owes me $1,583. A representative explained to me the circumstance experienced been “archived,” and I’ve read practically nothing more. Can you assist?
— Raymond Menna, The Villages, Florida
Response: I’m sorry Lufthansa canceled your flight. Less than Division of Transportation rules, you should have acquired a refund to the original type of payment inside of a week — not 4 months later. I need to note the timeline on this scenario. Lufthansa canceled your flight in April 2021, and you been given your to start with refund in August. So, this is not a person of all those early pandemic instances wherever the total planet was turned upside down.
By the way, “archiving” a grievance is just a well mannered way of indicating they are performed with you, and no one particular will respond to your inquiries.
But your scenario is a tiny far more difficult. It appears to be like like you booked these flights as a result of Orbitz. Lufthansa didn’t terminate your authentic flights it built a program change. Underneath EU purchaser protection guidelines, you could have obtained a refund or a credit rating. You selected a credit. Lufthansa then canceled your subsequent flight.
That indicates Lufthansa wanted to refund your ticket credit history instead than challenge a complete refund. As an alternative, it appears Lufthansa refunded just one of your tickets, but not the other. As I said, it is a small puzzling.
A circumstance like yours is an important reminder to normally study the relevant principles and customer protections — and also, to continue to be off the mobile phone. Dependent on your documents, Lufthansa just retained hanging up on you or placing you on a very long hold. Alternatively, preserve your interaction to email so that there’s a paper trail.
Try to remember, I listing the related executive contacts for corporations like Lufthansa on my purchaser advocacy site at www.elliott.org/organization-contacts/lufthansa-airways/. A transient, polite e-mail to just one of them could have assisted, even though, as I famous earlier this thirty day period, Lufthansa has been fairly unresponsive lately.
But not this time. I reviewed the paperwork on your circumstance and arrived at out to the airline. A agent contacted you and provided to refund your next ticket, which you approved.
Christopher Elliott is the main advocacy officer of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that can help people resolve their difficulties. Elliott’s newest guide is “How To Be The World’s Smartest Traveler” (National Geographic). Call him at elliott.org/aid or [email protected].
