PUEBLO – More than a year after the coronavirus pandemic first closed parts of the world, some travelers are still fighting for refunds after their trips were canceled through no fault of their own. U.S. lawmakers urged domestic airlines to reimburse in cash, News 5 Investigators found this had little impact on international travel booked through third-party websites. KOAA Kim Guerrero speaking with chief investigative reporter Eric Ross Kim Guerrero was eagerly awaiting a family trip to Greece last year. She booked her trip through the third party “Kiwi” site — spending over $ 4,500. His flights were then canceled. due to COVID-19. Guerrero thought getting a refund would be relatively easy since she wasn’t the one who canceled the trip. Sadly, Guerrero says she has had to overcome a lot of obstacles and frustrations along the way. to this business, ”Guerrero said. “They have no morals, no integrity, no responsibility.” Guerrero said for months, she patiently waited for a refund. However, all she says she received was apology after apology. “When you ask for a refund they say to be patient, it could take up to 3 months,” Guerrero said. “3 months had passed and they told me they needed more time.” Its history is not unique. A Facebook group called “Victims of the Scam Kiwi” had more than 4,000 subscribers as of April 2021. The world has raised concerns about getting their money back after their trip was reportedly canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Better Business Bureau Kiwi BBB Rating The Better Business Bureau gave Kiwi an “F” rating for its business practices. The company has registered 184 complaints in the last 3 years. 165, or almost 90% were filed just in the last 12 years. “They say if we (the client) make a change or cancel our trip, we would come back like 10 euros out of $ 4,500,” Guerrero said. “They would refund $ 10 per ticket.” Guerrero believes this isn’t a fair refund – especially since the trip was canceled through no fault of his own. She filed a refund request with her bank which initially ruled in favor of Kiwi due to their repayment terms.After Guerrero contacted News 5 Investigates and a few days before our on-camera interview with her, we learned that Guerrero’s bank overturned her decision and she finally got her money back. to withdraw from our scheduled interview, but she still wanted to tell her story. “This is the first time anyone from the media has taken an interest,” Guerrero said. “Anything News 5 can do I appreciate and even though I was healed I still wanted to participate so we could try to help some of these people as well. What about those 3,900 other people (in the Facebook group). I have read almost all of the reviews from this group. In a statement to News 5, the CEO of Kiwi apologized for the frustration of getting customers’ money back. Refund policies. Kiwi also blames the airlines, saying the majority of them are not everything. just unwilling to act quickly on refunds We’re told refunds should take 6 weeks to 3 months, but Kiwi recognizes there are customers waiting If you’re having trouble getting a refund? working directly with your booking agent first on a resolution. If you booked through a third-party travel website, calling the hotel or airline directly can be a waste of time. Most airlines and hotels will ask you to work directly with your booking company if there is a problem.If you have placed your entire purchase on a credit card, you can open a dispute with your company credit card. Most credit card companies offer “contingent credits” pending official investigation. If you plan to travel in the near future, getting a travel voucher will usually be easier than a refund. he company you have done business with is not. Be fair and honest, file a formal complaint with your state’s consumer protection agency. In Colorado, the attorney general’s office has an online form for filing complaints. You can also call them at 720-508-6000. You should also make your complaint known to your local Better Business Bureau. Kiwi’s Full Statement: As I’m sure you are well aware, the border closures and restrictions have had a huge impact on the entire travel industry. At Kiwi.com, we have dealt with hundreds of airlines (621 in total), all with different refund policies, to obtain monetary refunds for our customers. Unfortunately, the majority of these airlines are just not willing to act quickly as they run their business during the recession and the hundreds of thousands of refund requests, and in some cases they only provide vouchers or are not. able to pay until the trip recovers. We are of course extremely sorry for the impact on our customers and the slowness of the process. When customers make a reservation with us, these flights are purchased at the time of booking – we do not hold customers’ money, so we cannot return it immediately without asking the airline or booking partner to return what was purchased. In the pre-pandemic period, the refund process would be a relatively straightforward procedure, we would request refunds for flights purchased for the customer, a response would be expected from the airline or booking partner within a short period of time, we would spend then full refund. to the customer and everything would be resolved quickly. However, with airlines being overwhelmed, it soon became clear that the usual process would not be the case. All airlines implemented new and different processes to get refunds and with different solutions (not always cash) and we found that many refund requests required multiple follow-ups and searches in the system. This has had an impact on international travel providers across the globe and, unfortunately, we are not alone in the impacts of these delays affecting the experience of previously satisfied customers. Additional Questions Kiwi Answered: Question: For travel canceled by an airline or hotel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are customers who booked through Kiwi entitled to a full cash / card refund? , OR to a credit only? “As mentioned in the background, we are seeking refunds for our customers from over 600 airlines following the impacts of the pandemic causing cancellations and dramatic schedule changes. The policies the airlines have in place to manage their activities mean that some airlines only offer vouchers or open tickets rather than cash refunds. Our first priority is always to ask what a customer is eligible for in cash form, but what is currently returned to us depends on airline. “Question: What is the average time it takes for Kiwi to issue customer refunds?” At the start of the pandemic, we expected the refund time to be much longer than usual due to cancellation volumes that airlines and booking partners had to handle and our prediction, which we made public , was that it would be between 6 weeks and 3 weeks. month. While many cases are now being reimbursed within that time frame, there are unfortunately some that have spread far beyond what we could have imagined at the start of the crisis and this was exasperated by the impacts of the second and second. third wave of the pandemic. For any customer who has had to wait for this extended period of time for what they are eligible for, we are very sorry and would like to ask them to continue to wait while we continue to research what is owed. “Question: What are the issues with issuing refunds?” As explained in a previous answer, the issues are the significant delays and these depend on the individual booking partners and airline processes that we have to manage. Unfortunately, this can be made worse when a chargeback is filed, as it means our refund request must be put on hold while the investigation is being carried out by the finance organization (sic) – which adds about 3 months to the process. ”Question : For customers who are entitled to a refund, what is the waiting period to receive their money? “I wish I could provide an exact answer to this question but every case is different, now we have reimbursement requests that are implemented quickly, just like the process was before the pandemic. Unfortunately, we have other cases where the airline can handle their business during the recession and we won’t see quick refunds until travel recovers and they no longer need to manage their financial situation so carefully. “Question: How Kiwi works it to resolve customer refund issues? We hear a lot from frustrated customers so any ideas you might have would be greatly appreciated. “We are of course devastated that the impacts of the pandemic have meant that our customers have not had the experience they expect from us. We would like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who has had to wait, who is still waiting or who has not received the support she was looking for. We have implemented automated processes in-house to expedite the application process and continue to work tirelessly to continue these applications through third-party processes. Deployment vaccine already having positive effects on travel, especially in Europe, we will look to the future positively when people can feel confident to travel again, because we know that this will increase the activity of airlines and therefore the speed of refunds. ”Got an idea for a story you’d like News 5 Investigates to review? Email us: [email protected]



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