Flight Cancelled - No Refund for 20 weeks
I booked a ticket for my niece Ayesha Patel-Rogers on Continental Airlines Newark-Mumbai-Newark CO48 departing Newark on 26 Dec 2010. I booked online on the Continental Airlines site and paid by international credit card (Visa). The ticket confirmation number was CY2DGY, and the e-ticket number was 0052 1669 57580.
The flight was cancelled because of snowstorms in and around Newark.
I have still not got my refund (this is posted 16 May 2011). Complaints at the toll-free number are very sweetly handled, but all I get is yet another ticket number, and nothing happens.
If, as Continental claims, the refund has been made, could they please get me a written confirmation of this from Visa? Because wherever the money may be stuck, it has certainly not re-entered my credit card account. In that account I am charged interest at 2% per month (compounding) on delayed payments. Shouldn't the same apply to delayed refunds from Continental Airlines?
It is I who paid Continental Airlines, using my credit card. Isn't it Continental Airlines' responsibility to ensure that the refund comes back to me? Their responsibility cannot end with the claim that they have repaid the credit card company (if indeed they have).
Shirish Patel (Mumbai)
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