Malaysia Airlines - Refunds on Cancelled Flights

[dylarr]

Hi all,

Has anyone had any luck obtaining a refund (rather than flight credit) for flights cancelled by Malaysia Airlines? If so, how did you go about this? I have some bookings that were originally for next month (TPE-KUL-MNL/KUL-TPE-MNL) but obviously they've now been cancelled and Malaysia Airlines is being very insistent about a flight credit being the only option available.

Mavcom (the aviation regulator in Malaysia) has given their blessing for airlines to absolve themselves from having to provide refunds even if this was in the original conditions due to force majeure.

As the tickets were sold by their Taiwan entity (point of purchase and the trip originates in Tapai) and arriving / departing Manila, I've been checking to see if there is anything in the Taiwan or Philippines Consumer Protections would cover me.

Obviously if flights are to/from the EU/US then they are obliged to offer refunds under EU261/2004 or US DOT regulations regardless of the Mavcom guidance so interested to see if there is anything similar for Taiwan or the Philippines.

 

[Tonkatough]

I've been successful in obtaining refunds except for one.
What I'd like to know is how long have people waited for refunds?
In March I was advised 6 weeks, then in April 3 months. Now in June, it's 3 more months.
Have spoken with managers who have phoned the finance department, and its'.....in the process!
Any suggestions?

 

[dylarr]

Hey Tonkatough, would you mind sharing the circumstances around how you were able to obtain their agreement to process refunds with them (even though they still haven't actually processed them)? I'm still hitting a brick wall.

 

[Tonkatough]

At the time, there was a similar page to: Malaysia Airlines Extends Booking and Travel Flexibility
It had all the different fare rules / fare types. It helped that Malaysia had put up a restriction that did not actually allow us to fly into their country.

 

[dylarr]

Hi all, thought I'd post an update on how I ended up (eventually) getting a refund from Malaysia Airlines. Despite them trying their hardest to weasel out of providing a refund I managed to succeed with a lot of perseverance and about 7 months of back and forth with different parties. Here's the condensed(!!) timeline of events.

1. April 2020: Flights cancelled by MH.
2. April 2020: E-mailed and called MH requesting a refund; was declined per ticket rules and due to "force majeure" and told I could have flights held in credit for rebooking by 31st Dec 2020 and fly by 30 June 2021.
3. May 2020: Flights were to / from MNL, Philippines. The Philippines has an "Air Passenger Bill of Rights" which provides for refund if airline cancels flight including for force majeure so I sent this info to MH and persisted with my request for a refund.
4. May 2020: MH declined to honour Air Passenger Bill of Rights as itinerary does not originate in the Philippines and their interpretation was that the itinerary needed to originate in the Philippines to be eligible, not just have sectors in the Philippines.
5. May - August 2020: This back and forth went on for a few months until August.
6. August 2020: Lodged Visa transaction dispute / chargeback with bank.
7. September 2020: Malaysia Airlines declined the original chargeback, sending back a 30 page response of screenshots from Amadeus, interaction remarks and heaps of other cough in what appeared to be an attempt to try and bamboozle the bank.
8. September 2020: Case officer at the bank believed their response was invalid under the Visa rules so they lodged a second dispute without me even asking.
9. September 2020: MH responded saying that under Visa rules they were not required to provide refunds in instances where borders had been closed by governments, so at this point the bank closed the dispute in MH's favour.
10. September 2020: I e-mailed Civil Aeronautics Board in Philippines about MH's interpretation of the Air Passenger Bill of Rights and it not being applicable due to the itinerary "not originating in the Philippines". Was directed to and provided an e-mail address for the CAB Legal Department.
11. November 2020: After a bit of back and forth with the Civil Aeronautics Board Legal Department providing all the info they requested, they e-mailed Malaysia Airlines Station Head in Manila, CC'ing myself asking for a "please explain" within 3 days.
12. November 2020: Station Head replied back within the hour and advised she would liaise with MH head office.
13. November 2020: A few days later, they replied with an e-mail requesting my back account details for a refund.
14. November 2020: Refund landed in my bank account 2 weeks later.

The amount of goodwill they burned during this process was insane especially when they're going to need customers to return as things return to normal!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Well done dylarr! Good angle to find a piece of law that could support the refund.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

"Malaysian Hospitality"

Glad to see it worked out for you dylarr.
Who knew that doing the right thing would be a battle in 2020.

 

[Tonkatough]

That's amazing dylarr. Great it finally worked out. Persistence.
For my situation above, I eventually lodged a formal complaint with MH in July, and received the remaining refund in August....6 months after the initial lodgement.