Marko Grdesic contacted me in April because Travelocity owed him $4,747, but there was no sign of the money. I assumed a polite inquiry would shake it loose. Wrong.
Grdesic just got his refund. The story of how the money was taken and then returned more than six months later contains some valuable lessons for you do-it-yourselfers who book your own airline tickets. And yes — there are ways of accelerating a refund. I’ll get to that in a moment.
First, let’s hear from Grdesic:
I paid for a set of multi-destination tickets and we wanted to change one of the dates on a flight from Chicago to Washington. When I was on the phone with the Travelocity agent, I thought I agreed to a $300 fee. Instead my credit card was charged $4,747, since they re-issued all the flights again, and this included a transatlantic flight.
The agent was nice but her English was not all that great. We did not understand each other, and I guess I should not have agreed to what she offered. I asked that she send me an e-mail with the numbers. An e-mail arrived, but without numbers. This flight would have cost not more than $200 to $300 if we bought the tickets separately, as we ended up doing.
Alright, let me just jump in here. When it comes to rescheduling flights, changing dates is almost always the less desirable option. Why? Because an airline will charge a change fee, plus a fare differential, driving up the cost of your trip. You’re better off taking the credit and booking an entirely new flight.
Eventually, they offered that if I cancel the remaining flights I would get a refund, which I agreed to. The refund was to appear on my credit card in one to two billing cycles. I re-arranged my travel plans and bought the tickets I needed elsewhere.
After that, I tried to get an e-mail confirmation that a refund will indeed be placed. I did not get it. Instead, I got a “past dated” receipt. I called the Travelocity agents again to check what that means. They said that this is the only kind of e-mail they can send and that they do not send e-mail confirmations that specify that a refund will be placed.
But I was repeatedly re-assured that my refund has been placed and that I will receive it.
Long story short, the refund didn’t come in one to two billing cycles. Or three. Travelocity eventually told him it was “unable to refund” although it didn’t explain why.
What now?
Well, the Transportation Department says you should get your refund within seven days.
Payment by credit card provides certain protections under federal credit laws. When a refund is due, the airline must forward a credit to your card company within seven business days after receiving a complete refund application. If you paid by credit card for a refundable fare and you have trouble getting a refund that you are due, report this in writing to your credit card company.
However, most have interpreted that rule to apply only to refundable tickets. Quite a loophole, isn’t it?
I suppose it’s possible to argue to your airline and travel agency that the rule should be applied to all tickets. Heck, even citing the rule may be helpful in speeding things up. I can’t guarantee it.
The other way of accelerating a refund is through your credit card company. Invoking the Fair Credit Billing Act, which protects you from fraudulent purchases or “charges for goods and services you didn’t accept or weren’t delivered as agreed,” might persuade your credit card company to issue a refund long before your airline or agency gets around to it.
I think the bottom line is simple: Your agency took the money in a few seconds. Why shouldn’t it return it in a few seconds?
Travelocity took considerably longer than that. I heard from the agency only last week. A representative sent me the following update:
It took way too long, but good news on this one – the customer did receive a refund for both tickets totaling $4,747. From what I can tell, there was just an unfortunate lag in our dealings with United to see this one through.
I’m happy Grdesic got his money back, but troubled that it took so long. If this ever happens to you, consider applying a little pressure to your agent or airline in order secure the prompt refund you deserve.
(Photo: Sea Turtle/Flickr Creative Commons)
✓ Get the latest travel news, tips and commentary from Elliott’s E-Mail, the subversive newsletter from industry gadfly Christopher Elliott. You’ll travel like a pro. Sign up here. It’s free.
Sign up for my 
{ 1 trackback }
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
“there was just an unfortunate lag….”
Perhaps they can refer to the Grand Canyon as a small inconvenience to get across?
I am sure others will say this as well: This is why one avoids third-parties in purchasing tickets.
Well guess all the big three are outsourcing; from now on if have a complicated trip; will consult a reputable travel agent; for a simple ticket shop around the airlines and book with them;and hofefully find an American to work with; with our economy is really a shame to be sending so many jobs overseas.
Hello from Travelocity. Chris, just for the record, the refund was processed almost a month ago. My apologies for not making that clear to you when I emailed you last week to update you on this case. We realize, ff course, that such a delay is still too long. Have a great day.
Claims that refunds take “1-2 billing cycles” are very disingenuous — when I return something (even an expensive something) at my local Home Depot, Lowes, etc, the credit is processed while I wait, and appears on my credit card’s online site the next day. There’s no reason a refund can’t be processed just as quickly as a charge (as Chris points out).
Monte Carlo Casino Hotel in Vegas takes a one night payment immediately when reserving a room but when you cancel without penality it takes 7 to 10 business days to return the credit to the card? I don’t understand….
@Joel from travelocity: Regardless this refund was processed almost a month ago DOES NOT matter. This customer was promised a refund and should have promptly been given one. I am so sick and tired of companies like you giving the run around to customers who are owed money. Your intent is have them forget about it and poof! your company banks the money. So taking in account your “processed almost a month ago” would still put this customer waiting for a refund for OVER 5 MONTHS. What don’t you people get at travelocity/orbitz/insert any travel company here? You are losing customers by the minute because of your poor customer service and lack of caring. This disgusts me. $4,747 may not seem like a lot of money to you, but for us folks it is a lot of money to be held up on a credit card.If this customer didn’t have the money to pay off the credit card, are you paying for the interest this charge incurred since it took 5 or 6 billing cycles? Yea, I didn’t think so. It’s all a scheme to keep people’s money and you have lost yet another customer for life.
Ok, deep breath……that’s my rant for the day.
nice rant, but what he says is very true. when you are able to take someones money in just a couple of seconds, you should be just as able to return it in a couple of seconds. The foot dragging does nothign except hurt your reputation and costomers will start going elsewhere.
I think if they keep your money over one month, they should pay interest and penalties. After all, YOU have to pay the interest and fines on your charge card until it is paid off. Why shouldn’t the company holding your money hostage?
I may be wrong, but is it because Travelocity wanted United to refund them first before Mr. Grdesic in turn?
Of course, that potentially means revealing a part of their business they might not want others to know. But…what do I know?
As a computer programmer, I approve of the picture used for this post! :-)