David Grogan thinks he’s on the first leg of a flight to Oaxaca, Mexico, with visions of kicking back and drinking margaritas poolside at his hotel. Then his Delta Air Lines flight is canceled and he’s unable to make any other flights. Can our advocates get him a refund?
Question
I booked a trip
through Priceline last June for a Delta Air Lines flight from Baltimore to Detroit and then a connecting flight on Aeroméxico to Oaxaca via Mexico City. Then Delta canceled my flight and I couldn’t make the other flights.
When I tried to get the $357 charge on my credit card refunded, I got the runaround. Delta claimed Aeroméxico had my money; Aeroméxico said Delta had my funds. Priceline said it was the airlines’ responsibility.
Everybody pointed fingers and I just gave up. Until now. I hope you can take my case and straighten this out. David Grogan, Monkton, Md.
Answer
Sorry for your troubles, David, but your first contact should have been with Priceline. The rule of thumb is when you book a flight through a travel booking site, such as Priceline, refund requests must be made through them, not the airlines.
By contacting Priceline initially, perhaps you could have avoided unnecessary aggravation with the airline customer service reps who blew you off. When you contacted Delta, it punted your request for a refund to Aeroméxico; when you contacted Aeroméxico, it punted back to Delta.
Apparently, neither airline rep pointed you in the proper direction. Or maybe they just didn’t care.
I can empathize with your ordeal. All of us have been there.
What about that email to Delta Air Lines?
However, you didn’t help your cause when you fired off that scathing email in September to a Delta Air Lines customer service rep who informed you Aeromexico had already processed your refund when it had not.
“I have never booked anything with a Mexican airline for this exact reason,” you wrote. “There is no one to contact there. You can’t speak with a human! I am absolutely furious that this issue is still in limbo. I will never use Delta again because this has been such a nightmare…thanks for nothing.”
Yikes!
David, this is not the way to persuade a customer service rep to help you get a refund after Delta canceled your flight. You are familiar with the old adage that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, aren’t you?
Try being a tad more polite the next time you encounter an airline customer service rep.
Can we help with a refund?
Fortunately for you, we have executive contacts at Priceline, Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico. Too bad you were not more familiar with our website.
Nevertheless, you eventually contacted our consumer advocate, Dwayne Coward, who suggested you send an email to Priceline and try to resolve the issue. When Priceline didn’t respond to your email within a week, you circled back to Coward, who contacted Priceline himself.
A satisfactory resolution
Priceline subsequently agreed to an 80 percent refund of your $357 airfare. You decided not to pursue the remaining 20 percent.
