I had a flight scheduled for 18th February with AirAsia. The flight was cancelled last week. As soon as I received notification of the flight being cancelled, I went through their online portal to process a refund. I received confirmation of the refund request.
AirAsia rejected my refund request, because they decided to re-book me onto a later flight (5+Hrs). This was not an authorised change.
I have tried to contact AirAsia on multiple occasions, but as they have re-booked me onto another flight, they keep rejecting my refund request on the basis that the flight isnāt cancelled.
I supplied Monzo a dispute with
Initial Booking e-mail
Confirmation of Cancellation of flight
Confirmation of Refund Request
Rejection of refund
However Monzo are rejecting my dispute. Please can somebody advise on what I need to do next? If this was with a credit card, my experience is that this would have been handled by them without issue as there is an additional level of protection. This experience has made me very wary of booking flights again with Monzo (or any debit card).
They are providing you with an alternative, I wouldnāt say that is reason for a chargeback. It will be in their terms (and industry standard) on how far they can move you to an alternative.
You need to check your contract with the airline to see what the fine print says. What you want it to say is that the airline will offer you the choice of a refund or a rebooked flight. What it may actually say is that the airline will only refund you if they canāt rebook you (or something similar).
That, I think, will be why Monzo have rejected the dispute. The airline has shown them the contract hasnāt been broken. Which is deeply scummy of them, but, unfortunately airlines gonna airline.
Depends where the flight is from/to - as thatāll have different rules etc. I think if itās originating from or arriving into the UK then itās bound by the UKās rules too which state that you have the choice & can refuse the rebook, and get a refund.
But yea, Monzo have rightly rejected this as itās normally reserved for service not delivered (after the fact) etc, not for āoh, I donāt like the plane Iām booked ontoā.
Contact Travel Insurance, or the Airline (relentlessly till you get through to someone)
Your flight times, or flight schedule, can be altered until two weeks before departure without the airline facing consequences. If they choose to change the flight schedule less than two weeks before departure, you could be entitled to compensation for loss of time and extra costs made.
Surely we need to know the place the OP is flying to/from? As well as perhaps where the plane is registered as AirAsia are all over the place. Then we can look at local regulations, which vary.
Iām more familiar with UK/EU261 Legalisation which would mean that iād be entitled to a full refund. This is a flight originating in Singapore and Terminating in Thailand, therefore I am less familiar with the local legalisation.
The airline did inform me I would be entitled to a refund, however then re-booked me onto another flight.
The terms and conditions of AirAsia state that
9.2.1 For International Routes:
(1) Scheduled Services
carry you at the earliest opportunity on another of our scheduled services on which space is available without additional charge and, where necessary, extend the validity of your booking; or
retain the value of your fare in a credit account for your future travel if you choose to travel at another time, provided that you must re-book within ninety (90) days therefrom.
refund the value to your bank account or credit or debit card if you choose not to proceed with your trip due to a flight cancellation and/or rescheduling that occurs three (3) hours or more before or after the original scheduled departure time. For avoidance of doubt, no refund will be issued when a flight is delayed, cancelled and/or rescheduled at the airport on the day of departure for which you may not have been accepted on the flight.
I should therefore be entitled to a full refund under their terms and conditions, they are refusing.
Travel insurance is my last resort. In the many times iāve had this happen previously I have had my CC Provider handle this without me having to go to my insurance.
Ah, I think the difference here is that the CC provider would be processing this as a section 75 claim, while Monzo (unless you have Flex and used your Flex card directly) would be processing your claim under the much less powerful chargeback rules.
What exactly are Monzo saying when you submit the dispute?
I do think this is more of an insurance/Section 75 claim though, which is why you should ideally either have the insurance or book through a credit card.
Surely section 75 would also be rejected as the airline (assumed) acted with their terms?
Iāve never claimed 75 so not sure, but common sense follows similar chargeback rules, and if a refund was given, it could likely be taken back as there is no fault.
Could well be - which isnāt a problem. Monzo have just kept rejecting it asking me to provide them with the documentation that I described in the opening post. I spoke with someone at Monzo over the phone just now who was much more helpful and has now passed this onto a separate team.
Not a problem at all if itās rejected and I understand why so that I can then provide this information to my Insurance.
Monzo rejected the claim on the basis that I hadnāt supplied them with the requested information, despite doing so. This happened 3 times - the agent on the phone agreed that this seemed incorrect so hopefully now get some traction.
Support isnāt stellar so I can understand the frustration. I am having a similar issue with another company at the moment who are similar to Monzo support (a new person every interaction who almost restarts you at the beginning of the process asking for information youāve already provided).
I would add that if you have accepted the flight change (however sneaky this might have been done by the airline) then you wouldnāt be able to get a refund. Often airlines are fairly cheeky and consider pressing a button that you might not realise is accepting the change, as accepting the change. BA used to be a little like this but they have since improved and are clear that you can accept, change, or refund a flight change (I had to do this recently).
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