Gill Charlton has been fighting for Telegraph readers and solving their travel problems for more than 30 years, winning refunds, righting wrongs and suggesting solutions.
Here is this week’s question:
Dear Gill,
On January 1, my wife and I booked premium economy tickets with Virgin Atlantic from Edinburgh to Orlando to attend my grandson’s graduation in April. The tickets cost a total of £3,240. As we are in our 80s, we had paid extra for the Premium Flex option in case we had to cancel.
Unfortunately, due to ill health, we applied to cancel the tickets in early February. Virgin sent us confirmation on February 8 saying that our refund claim had been received and it would take 10-12 working days for the funds to be sent to us.
It is now five weeks later and no refund has appeared. When I have chased Virgin’s customer services I’ve been told that they are short of staff. Please could you help us find out when we will be repaid?
– Richard Edmonds
Dear Richard,
I was interested to learn that Virgin Atlantic offers affordable Flex tickets, as these are a rarity among scheduled airlines. Virgin’s Flex options start from £60 per flight and give customers the ability to make unlimited date changes free of charge, and the option to cancel the flights for a full refund. A Flex option on a premium economy flight to the United States costs around 10 per cent extra – a sum worth paying if you think your plans might change.
However, obtaining a refund appears to take time. While Virgin quickly acknowledged Mr Edmonds’s refund submission on February 8, it only issued an official refund confirmation document on March 16. I asked Virgin why it was taking so long to process.
It claims that while its part of the refund process takes around seven working days, customers should allow up to 21 working days for their payment provider to make the funds available to them.
While this might have been the case some years ago, I find such a comment surprising today when you can transfer funds between bank accounts and credit cards in a matter of seconds.
After I got in touch, a Virgin customer services agent phoned Mr Edmonds in early April to say the refund was now being processed. However, the money only landed back in his bank account on April 13.
Whatever airlines may claim, it is not unusual for refunds to take a month or more. Refunding air tickets is a manual process and requires staff to have a high level of training. While this was a straightforward refund, as Mr Edmonds booked directly with the airline, it can take far longer when the flight itinerary includes sectors operated by other airlines. And if you have booked the flights through an agent, expect a refund to take at least three months, as agencies and airlines work in monthly billing cycles.
– Gill Charlton
Your travel problems solved
Gill takes on a different case each week – so please send your problems to her for consideration at asktheexperts@telegraph.co.uk. Please give your full name and, if your dispute is with a travel company, your address, telephone number and any booking reference. Gill can’t answer every question, but she will help where she can and all emails are acknowledged.