ece

I have been waiting for months for a refund on a flight that Iceland Air cancelled. By law in the USA and by Iceland Air written policy I am entitled to a full refund because they cancelled my flight. After about two months of asking they finally agreed and sent my application for refund to the refund department. That was mid April. Now after another two months they are giving me a run around. Total is about 3-4 months waiting and refund amount is about $4600. It took them seconds to pull the payment from my credit card last year.

At first they said it would take six weeks. Now they are saying indefinite amount of months more. So much time has passed that I had to contest the charge a second time with my credit card company and I am worried that their time limit is running out again. Not sure they will continue to wait without charging me large interest fees.

Does anyone know where in the Iceland government I can go for help? Is there a consumer watchdog? Is there a consumer watchdog in the USA that can press Iceland Air?

AJPeabody

Try https://www.elliott.org/

HappyTrvlr

When Iceland Air canceled my flight, they sent an email describing our options. Refund was at the bottom, Iclicked the link and received a reply with a tracking number. They said it may take a while but is being processed . This was for a May 30 flight and the letter came a few days prior. I hope your refund shows up soon, mine too.

ece

Thanks. I sent an email to them today.

HappyTrvlr

They canceled both our round trip flight from/ to US and Reykjavik and and another flight to Norway from Reykjavik. This week we received apologies from them for the delay in processing our refunds. They said they are working on them. We will get paid eventually. Each claim has a case number so I am willing to wait knowing what they are dealing with.

ece

I learned of my flight cancellation on March 3 and requested a refund then. That was three and a half months ago. This was early on In the C19 days before the current “backlog”. Iceland Air refused to even consider doing anything early on and I even Got to speak with a human! They waited until mid April Just before my flight to even think about my $4640 refund for a flight they cancelled. They first Offered temporary credits that required we rebook flights within a deadline. It came with deadlineS that would cause me to loose this money because we will never be able to take this trip. All while I am legally due a refund! I refused and continued to request a refund. our laws and their written published policy state a full refund is required. Finally months of writing and asking for third party help they agreed to a refund And would issue it in six more weeks. Those second six weeks came and went. no refund. Our law says they have ten days to issue the refund.

I followed up Yet again and they said my request was Finally forwarded to the refund department and I would need to wait months and months more. I have already been waiting 3 1/2 months and now months and months more. This is deliberate. Not a staffing problem. They have plenty of staff for everything else.

TheY told me that this Airline is not a national Airline. It is owned privately by investors and their government does not plan a bail out. It takes seconds to charge credit cards for flights which they continue To do. It takes the same time to issue a refund. The extremely wealthy people who own the airline have kept my $4640. They demand I keep waiting indefinitely while I keep fighting for my rights and money. If there was intention they would have taken care of that by now. I don’t think their office is so pathetic and poorly run that they cannot take the small amount of time to click the refund button. It has been a long time and I was near the top of the list. they have Plenty of staff for everything else.

i continue to battle this on a few fronts. I already lost $1700 on a hotel that refused a refund and if we have a second resurgence of C19 that Credit will expire too. Not that we will ever be able to take this trip. Fortunately other hotels and tours did the right thing and issued refunds.

janisj

ece: do a credit card dispute . . . no need to hassle with the airline any longer. I assume the credit card won't say you've waited too long.

ece

Tks for your reply. I disputed the charges last Feb when the bill came in but before I had written proof of the flight cancellation. That bought me some time. It seems to me the airline ignored them too. The credit card company Seems to have gotten tired of waiting, they refused my new evidence that became available and ruled in the airlines favor. I contested again with New proof ( they knew what was going on With Iceland air based with a chat I had with their representative). That proof was the actual cancellation that the airline sent to me with my name and confirmation number. So the credit card company reopened my case. The airline continued to drag their feet. I continued to fight it out. Contacted a couple of government offices in Iceland for help. Most ignored me and one is working on it. They gave thIs not government owned airline a deadline and I have heard nothing.

meanwhile the credit card company refused more evidence that I received. The airline sent me written acknowledgement of their approval of a refund and said my claim was sent to the refund department but processing would take six more weeks. Credit card company, said they would not take more evidence Again! Said to just hold onto it. Then I Was advised that I did not prove my case and they ruled in favor of the airline. I could not believe a credit card company would do that. I called again and they at first said there was nothing they could do but I would not take that for an answer. Finally they agreed to reopen the case A third time. I Just reported them to a government watchdog And they sent my complaint to the proper agency. How could a credit card Company sabotage my case and then say I did not prove it? Rule in favor of a company who says In effect that I don’t owe them for a flight they cancelled. The airline has agreed to a refund and the credit card company knows it. But The Card staff has decided To make me pay a bill that I do not owe. Makes no sense. Will they take my money and give it to Iceland Air who I think may not be Issuing a refund because they are in financial trouble? They may not have the funds for all those refunds. If the airline don’t make it Then what? this is on Visa for paying a bill that I did not owe to a company that is not able to cope. Third party assistance is needed because how can I win over two very large wealthy corporations.

in my 50 years of having credit cards I have never had a credit card company not lean in favor of the customer. This is their reputation and over the years they even advertise that cards are a safe way to buy. I use my cards for everything and pay in full each month. Thousand and thousands of purchases. You can count on one hand how many times I recall having contested charges. I just don’t get it.

whitehall

From my experience, some card companies allow you to dispute and appeal (re-open) a total of three times. (Each time you do, they withdraw the funds from the airline’s account since they restored those funds upon the denial). And, then, if still unsuccessful, you may be required to go to arbitration (which I believe most card companies require). That can cost you a couple hundred dollars. It often can be handled in a document only manner. I personally filed four chargeback requests against four separate airlines (three of them EU-based) via two credit cards for flights cancelled by the airlines in early May. VISA ruled in my favor with one of the EU airlines; another one refunded while the dispute was pending; and a third one e-mailed me today to say they have refunded us (I should know in the morning). The latter two are with AMEX, which has just been sitting on them for up to three months, although they helped us get a credit from one hotel which was wrongfully withholding a refund. I suspect some card issuers are torn between serving their customers and ticking off significant merchants. I also know that credit card companies are overwhelmed with similar claims, but I would be asking to speak with a supervisor in your case. ×

ece

thanks for your very informative reply. I just received a letter that one of the third parties has received my letter and forwarded it to the appropriate party within their agency. Also I need to follow up today with the person inIceland who gave the airline a deadline to respond which has Now expired without a reply.

Fodorite018

Our Iceland Air flight was cancelled last week. We were due to fly in mid late August. I sent the form in yesterday asking for a refund, so am watching your story closely. I am giving them two months to do the refund, and if it has not happened by then, then I will take ti to the credit card company. I have printed out every bit of correspondence with them, just to be safe.

ece

Good luck. Let me know how your case progresses. I recommend that you discreetly keep a record of phone conversations with everyone too. They are recording you for A reason. After so much time passes you can have confidence that you are speaking fact.

Fodorite018

ece--I did that too. Whenever I talk to someone o the phone about an issue such as thing, I write down the date, time and name of person I spoke to. I think in this case though, it will simply be a matter of time that will be the determining factor with the credit card company. I do have the emails printed out as well.

ece

I hit the speaker button on the phone and the record button on garage band.

HappyTrvlr

Didn’t you receive letters of apology via email from Iceland Air for the delay in issuing refunds? We have two reservations with them, have case numbers assigned to them and received an apology for each reservation’ delayed refunds. Hang tight! We have thousands of dollars tied up with them.

ece

Apologies are meaningless if they come with promises that are repeatedly broken. The credit card company wants me to pay thousands of dollars of money that I do not owe or I will be charged penalties and high interest rates. They have rejected the airline’s apologies and broken promises in lieu of payment. As noted earlier in this conversation the credit card company will then give my thousands of dollars to the airline for a flight they cancelled, money not owed to them, money for nothing. So I am spending a lot of time with a lot of frustration fighting this on two sides, one with the airline and the other with the credit card company. A long time has passed.

I Have just heard from a third party representing me in Iceland that the airline was given a deadline to issue my refund and that date has passed. Upon their follow up they were told that the airline Issued my refund yesterday. It has not shown up on my credit card but i am cautiously optimistic. I called Visa and they told me to give it a week to see if it shows up.

Fodorite018

ece--That sounds promising. May I ask who you wrote to? We have 5 people traveling, so our dollar amount is almost exactly what you paid as well. Are you planning to reschedule by chance? I ask because we too had two nonrefundable hotels (also non changeable) and the first one answered back immediately that yes, they would let us change the date to next year and they were very nice about it. The other hotel was booked through booking.com so it took a little bit, but the hotel was very gracious as well and offered a full refund and then when I rescheduled I booked directly through them. That way they have fewer fees, which is the least I could do given that they refunded the full amount. Now in our rescheduling, I am only booking refundable places, minus that first one. Every excursion was great and refunded immediately, and Blue Car Rental was great and offered us extras for next year. As long as Iceland Air keeps going, we are planning to be there next summer

ece

I was optimistic and still hopeful but as days tic by and still no refund on my credit card. I am beginning to worry again. It is frustrating. Yesterday I wrote to both the airline and the party who helped me and asked for a refund confirmation other than just the email stating it was issued. In person one gets a receipt and I am asking the electronic equivalent. Any kind of tracking can help. Also yesterday on CNN.com There was an article published about a particular credit card company who double brands with stores, airlines and many others. They have a shockingly high rate of consumer complaints, 4 times higher than the second highest credit card company complaints. People loosing cases involving contested charges in particular were mentioned. That is my brand of credit card Which is double branded with a popular store. So I do not have credit card support on this battle. I mentioned that in an earlier post and now understand why they ruled to make me pay charges that I do not owe even after proof that a refund is due. They have ruled in favor of the vendor and I keep appealing. The last appeal they did not want to process but ultimately did because I would not accept their answer and would not get off the phone. It is my third and last try before arbitration process kicks in.

I am sure that the person who helped me does not want their name published. I originally searched google and found a government directory with contact information. Just picked a person. It is not inEnglish . I Went down the list and eventually got lucky.

i too had a non cancellable hotel. I think that it may be called Ion Or something like that. It is a Marriot brand. Marriott refused to help. The staff at the hotel was not nice and at first Offered nothing. Repeatedly quoted that I have non cancellable reservation. I could not imagine them even sufferinga loss from my cancellation because the reservation was only a couple of weeks old and the hotel was not full. My flight was cancelled! After many communications they Finally offered a credit that I can never use. It will expire before than. $1700.00. And who would fly Iceland air after all of this? Not me. The world is a big place and Iceland can wait until other air choices are available. Every other hotel and tour operator did not hesitate To refund our fare.

AJPeabody

I fear that because the travel industry (air, hotels, cruises, etc) run on cash flow, and because there is no cash flow, there is no money in these companies to pay refunds. The companies are technically bankrupt, their balance sheets are empty, their refund promises are worthless ruses to delay the next refund request, and,there is considerable risk that the companies will expire before their vouchers do.

Only the most persistent and the luckiest will get a refund, so keep trying by all avenues.

ece

Thanks for your encouragement. That is where credit card company usually Protects their customers and win consumer loyalty. They have the power to right this wrong. I have written acknowledgment that I am owed a refund. Acknowledgement from the airline but the credit card company still insists I pay for charges not owed. It makes no sense. My luckI used the only card who does not support their customers, just blindly supports the wrong party. The party who says I don’t owe them for the flight they cancelled. Still no credit.