Virgin getting very HEAVY re completed credit card refunds. Sad to see.

[ozstamps]

Virgin getting very HEAVY re completed credit card refunds. Sad to see. Had the correct flights PNR, and card dispute file number, so was not Spam or a hoax etc.

A couple weeks back I asked my credit card company to credit back to my card account, some domestic flights we had made on Virgin for May. Very many $100s.

Virgin cheerfully add on a credit card surcharge, on all bookings, but I always use one, and not do a fee free direct transfer BECAUSE the card company is there as a security backdrop, in cases exactly like this.

Virgin had cancelled the flights, and had not advised us in any way of that, or re-routed us even a week later, and they had never generated a Velocity travel bank credit.

Very poor form, but strange days for all of us, and no way to phone them of course, so simply asked card company to process a full credit, which they did, weeks back. Fast and easy and final. My life moved on.

No WAY did I want a travel credit “IOU” from a carrier I feel pretty certain is doomed by June 30. I hope they pull out of it somehow, but it is my hard earned money, not Virgins, and I wanted it back in cash, to spend how I choose, and not an IOU that might very likely be worthless.

If they do come out the other side, I’ll choose to book and pay at that time for any flights we take. We are both long term Velocity Platinums, so yes Virgin/Velocity emerging the other end will be nice to see, even if is a heavily reduced version of what we now have. But standover heavy emails will get them no business or loyalty.

Get an email today from Virgin with some very heavy wording - allegedly from Spring Hill Brisbane, but the sightly mangled English makes me feel it might have been from offshore typing fingers. Who knows right now? The totally stuffed up ‘’Status Extension’’ email yesterday, showing no actual status extension period, shows many staffers do not have their eye on the ball in there right now, and nothing is being checked carefully.

“your Bank dispute raised date must be withdrawn and should it progress to a Chargeback (bank finding in your favour) then we will be in touch to organise collection of the funds owing.” (Verbatim and unedited Chinglish (?) posted here.)

You gotta be kidding - “must be withdrawn” or “we will be in touch to organise collection of the funds owing.” They are basically conceding their IOU offer to others is ultimately worthless.

Well guess what Virgin, the charge credit has been processed over a week back, and your uncalled for aggressiveness here, and clear desperation, will not win you any fans. OR get it overturned.

“we will be in touch to organise collection of the funds owing.” Good luck with that folks - send in Rumpole of The Bailey, as you will definitely NEED him! A LOSE-LOSE situation. They will never get any of the money back, AND they will p!ss off a LOT of once loyal clients. It was MY money, no service was provided, the booking was cancelled with no advice, and I simply moved decisively and got it credited back - end of story.

Heavying ANY passenger who has had a credit charge refund processed is dumber than dirt. It is a done deal - banks will not budge on it once processed. Goods or services not supplied - case closed. Threatening to then chase the CLIENT for that money, that is not theirs, is dumber still. Especially Elite level flyers.

Smacks of total financial desperation and panic to me. Any others getting heavied in a similar fashion?

If they are resorting to this standover stuff, I really doubt they will last to June 30, as the cash clearly is running out rapidly.

Maybe they can cancel my million+ Velocity points - oops they are all transferred weeks back. Or maybe they can take away my future Platinum Upgrades for flights I am not booked on. The dumbest email I received all year.

 

[hydrabyss]

Sorry I tried reading your post but gave up halfway.

 

[glasszon]

Sorry I tried reading your post but gave up halfway.

Not OP, but the tldr version is VA is threatening its Platinum customers with collection for credit card chargeback on a flight that was cancelled.

 

[hydrabyss]

Not OP, but the tldr version is VA is threatening its Platinum customers with collection for credit card chargeback on a flight that was cancelled.

Try doing a chargeback with Hilton and see what it does to your status.

 

[glasszon]

Try doing a chargeback with Hilton and see what it does to your status.

Totally, but there's a difference between account cancellation and collection.

 

[ozstamps]

Try doing a chargeback with Hilton and see what it does to your status.

I'll keep this reply short for you, as clearly your attention/comprehension span is very limited, based on your earlier post.

Hilton have never cancelled a hotel room on me. For any reason.

And whenever I have cancelled (probably 100 times, for many reasons) I click the little button that says CANCEL BOOKING and I get 100% of sum paid, back in cash to my card - not a Hilton IOU. No email threats. It is called CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I have been a Hilton Diamond for 10 years, so this has had no bearing on my status.

 

[Must...Fly!]

This was always a distinct possibility to occur as I think I highlighted several weeks back.

As I keep reiterating but some do ignore , if your ticket was not originally refundable then you are not automatically owed a refund because COVID-19 is an event out of the control of the airline.

My flight, cruise or tour has been cancelled. Am I entitled to a refund?

• If your travel is cancelled the ACCC expects that you will receive a refund or other remedy, such as a credit note or voucher, in most circumstances.
• However, if your travel is cancelled due to government restrictions, this impacts your rights under the consumer guarantees.
• You may still be entitled to a refund under the terms and conditions of your ticket.
• You should contact the business directly to request a refund or other remedy such as a credit note or voucher.
• The ACCC encourages all businesses to treat consumers fairly in these exceptional circumstances.

Now what is and isn't fair is another matter, but on the face of it the ACCC says you are not automatically entitled to a refund.

COVID-19 (coronavirus) information for consumers

English and translated into Arabic لعربية, Chinese simplified 简体中文, Chinese traditional 繁體中文, Greek Ελληνικά, Hindi हिन्दी, Italian Italiano, Korean 한국어, Macedonian македонски, Punjabi पंजाबी, Spanish Español, Turkish | Türkçe, Vietnamese Tiếng Việt.

www.accc.gov.au

I'll keep this reply short for you, as clearly your attention/comprehension span is very limited, based on your earlier post.

Hilton have never cancelled a hotel room on me. For any reason.

And whenever I have cancelled (probably 100 times, for many reasons) I click the little button that says CANCEL BOOKING and I get 100% of sum paid, back in cash to my card - not a Hilton IOU. No threats.

I have been a Hilton Diamond for 10 years, so this has had no bearing on my status.

That's great stuff, but as @hydrabyss clearly said

Try doing a chargeback with Hilton and see what it does to your status.

Admittedly closing your hhonors account does not equate to threats of collection but if Virgin believe they are legally in the right, and that you have not followed proper process in requesting a chargeback, then they are within their rights to defend themselves.

 

[glasszon]

Just curious, can a business engage a collection company straight away after a chargeback? Would they have to file a claim in xCAT to get a judgement first if the customer disputes their claim?

 

[juddles]

Although the OP can be a bit snarly, I get the basics of their thread - this apparent approach by Virgin is essentially a path that can only result in a lose/lose situation. Perhaps if their email started with something sane like "Hey, we see that you have opted for a charge back. Perhaps instead we can....... " this could go better?

 

[N860CR]

I've noticed this does seem to be a bit of a common trend of late. I initiated a chargeback recently after a non-travel related company stuffed up by double charging.

Yada yada yada, they don't respond to the bank and it is awarded in my favour, then I get a letter saying "you disputed this, call us to pay it back or we'll send in the debt collectors".

I have no idea how it's meant to work... but I would have thought that part of their merchant agreements would stipulate that they have to participate in the chargeback process?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

With Virgin it looks like it all comes down to the conditions of your fare. Did you purchase a fully refundable fare?

If yes, you are entitled to your money back.

If your fare is not fully refundable, then it looks like Virgin can offer you an alternative, such as a credit as Covid-19 is outside their control. And that is supported by the ACCC.

This differs from Qantas where their conditions of carriage state they will give you a refund regardless of whether the cancellation was within or outside their control.

 

[scottff]

Virgin have lost the plot, they are not even trying anymore.

The airline is unlikely to make it to next month, I too have tens of thousands of dollars tied up with them - no way to contact, no way to recoup, just a bunch of sloppily put together emails and false “gifts”.

They are not even honouring their own terms, there is no way (that I have seen) to enact a genuine refund, even if the terms allow.

Kudos to you OP for actually getting your money back, what did you say to the CC provider to make that happen?

 

[davidj]

VA should have challenged the transaction dispute at the time it was raised and saved everyone the hassle.

No point doing after the horse had bolted.

Did they lay off too many folk from their finance dept? Folk can't WFH?

 

[p--and--t]

Absolute lose/lose approach by VA.

They should be focusing on their big problems and let the minutae go by

 

[Must...Fly!]

Just curious, can a business engage a collection company straight away after a chargeback? Would they have to file a claim in xCAT to get a judgement first if the customer disputes their claim?

I'm not clear on the chargeback method/process for airlines. There has been a lot of talk about CC companies withholding funds from airlines until travel is complete before then releasing the money. While I'm not clear, the business does obviously have a right to investigate the chargeback and respond accordingly. I wonder how this might impact the timeframe for a response from VA? Were they given 5 business days for example, and the bank then just reversed the transaction given no response? But I'm sure VA would argue 5 days wouldn't be a fair timeframe in the circumstances either. I think the visa/mc standard is 30 days?

It was known that VA's call centres were overwhelmed and to wait for a later date to contact about future travel. While I am sympathetic that getting in touch was not easy, the member appears to have jumped straight to a chargeback without contacting the merchant who themselves said please be patient while we deal with more immediate queries first - I.E. those who needed to fly home today or tomorrow. If I was the merchant, I might also be seeking to defend myself. But if they were already given the opportunity to, then this obviously isn't the best look for VA.

 

[Matt_01]

......As I keep reiterating but some do ignore , if your ticket was not originally refundable then you are not automatically owed a refund because COVID-19 is an event out of the control of the airline.

As far as I am aware the decision for VA to stop flying domestically was a business decision.

 

[Must...Fly!]

As far as I am aware the decision for VA to stop flying domestically was a business decision.

It is a bit chicken and egg in my mind. Demand fell off a cliff which is a direct result of the unforeseeable event and therefore meant the business had no choice but to cease operation, even though they in theory could put a plane in the air.

Such a unique set of circumstances and events - though it's worth noting Virgin Australia aren't the only airline providing only travel vouchers for non-refundable fares.

 

[odysseus]

As far as I am aware the decision for VA to stop flying domestically was a business decision.

But they haven't stopped flying domestically .

However, the reduction in domestic services occurred once various governments put restrictions on travel due to covid19. It was not just of their own business scheduling but travel restrictions had been imposed. Hence out of their control.

 

[straitman]

I think the point of the OPs post is that VA cancelled the flights and not the OP. This puts a different perspective on it IMHO.

We are in the same boat (though our ticket is short haul International) but our ticket was paid for from a travel bank from a previous issue so is different again.

 

[Matt_01]

@Must...Fly! and @odysseus while I respect your comments at the moment VA is looking for every excuse not to hand back money and I get that. On the other side of the fence VA has charged my CC every time I have made a change be it small or large or any of my unforeseen travel changes through no fault of my own.