There has been lots of trouble with passengers obtaining refunds from Lufthansa for tickets that the airline cancelled on them but then refused to return the money since March.
I decided to make a test run and file a chargeback for one Lufthansa ticket purchase made through my U.S. issued American Express card and the case was finally decided in my favor today.
It usually takes two months for Amex chargebacks to reach their final stage of either acceptance or denial, even though the disputed amount will first be placed back in the customers account as a “pending” item which means you won’t pay interest on the disputed amount and it won’t become due for payment before the case is finally decided.
I had purchased a ticket with Lufthansa for a family member but the airline cancelled that flight and has since refused to process a refund. As we’ve covered here multiple times Lufthansa currently owes customers in excess of 5 Billion Euro in refunds since spring of this year and the number continues to grow with each day.
Here was my original purchase from Lufthansa:
I requested the refund twice on the phone and once via email to which LH replied that they won’t do any refunds “at the moment”. OK then, I just filed the chargeback with Amex in response to that.
It took them two months to complete the process:
Lufthansa and other European airlines have been put on notice multiple times including from the EU Commission that passengers are due CASH refunds yet Lufthansa continues to ignore this, using the customers funds as a free loan to fund the daily expenses of running the company.
Conclusion
It’s truly criminal how these airlines behave with the customers money and no authority, be it the national government or the EU Commission is going to take them to account.
Passengers who got scammed this way should do everything in their power to get the money back as soon as possible and under no circumstances accept any kind of vouchers. Either file a dispute with the credit card company or if the bank refuses escalate this as a complaint to the national financial regulator.
I also have two friends who have now started legal proceedings against Lufthansa in German court in order to recoup their substantial investments in the form of Lufthansa tickets that cost them in the medium 5 digits, all of which have been cancelled.
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