Lufthansa REFUSES TO GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY ON CANCELLED TICKET New York New York
I schedule an international flight and paid on a Thursday morning (May 9, 2009) and got a large, unexpected bill in the mail a day and a half later on Saturday morning and saw that I have no choice but to stay in America and keep working to generate income to survive. I called Lufthansa and told them this and cancelled the airline ticket. They told me it was 'nonrefundable' even though I do not remember being told this. They said they can only return my $400 in taxes back to my bank account (which they have not done yet) and they REFUSED to return my money to me even though I will never use the ticket. My point is that how can they ethically do this to people with no conscience after I paid $1,812 and yet I will NEVER receive any product or service? They just get to pocket this huge amount of money??!?? And taking from a single woman who has nobody to help her, alone in the world, in a horrible economy.
Lufthansa does not seem to care about customers but just profit, regardless of the damage to a person's life.
How can it be legal to take someone's money and just say it's their "policy"?!?
I never received a product, so I am completely blown away by this cruelty. Just because something is considered 'policy' does not mean it is correct, or more specifically, justified. It used to be 'policy' of many public places, in fact a previous 'law' that black people had to use separate restrooms, etc...that does NOT MAKE IT 'RIGHT'.I do not understand. I could never treat someone like that.
I even begged for 30 minutes and was crying.
I will never fly Lufthansa, ever, in my life. NEVER AGAIN.
M
Woodinville, Washington
U.S.A.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Steve
Mesa,Arizona,
USA
Airline Fees
#6Consumer Comment
Mon, April 02, 2012
I never heard that Airlines are free to set the amount of fees. Fees are supposed to be government imposed but I am under the impression that it is an instrument to bs consumers. Since different airlines charge different amounts of fees for exactly the same flight it seems to be true that they can take whatever they want.
Karl
Clovis,New Mexico,
U.S.A.
No Reason Except Greed
#6Consumer Comment
Mon, April 02, 2012
Back before deregulation when airline fees were set by the CAB, airlines competed on amenities. Fares were identical say between New York and Chicago on both American and TWA but you flew one or the other based on customer service you experienced, the meal, or other amenities.
After deregulation airlines were free to set their own fares and felt that fares were the only major reason people took one airline over another. The amenities - meals, free checked baggage, refunds, etc went by the wayside. Advertised fares are virtually all non-refundable. There is no reason for it except simple greed. Good luck complaining and getting an eventual refund. It may work but in the small print somewhere is an agreement that you made when you bought a ticket that the fare is non-refundable. Too bad Southwest doesn't go to Europe. They are the last player standing for customer service.
Steve
Mesa,Arizona,
USA
Non refundable flights
#6Consumer Comment
Sat, March 24, 2012
I can understand it if an airline does not give a refund if the specific seat on that flight remained vacant. A vacant seat means a loss for the airline because they could have sold this seat to someone else.
What does not make sense to me is that they won't give a refund if a flight was completely booked out and someone else paid for this seat. Now in these days airlines usually overbook a plane so most of the time even the last seat is occupied. So it seems to be the best imaginable business: a passenger who can't fly. that means that the airline gets twice as much money for that specific seat and what is even worse and almost at the edge of fraud is that they won't refund a large chunk of what they call "Fees":
When my wife could not fly, they kept the airport tax (why does a passenger who stays at home have to pay an airport tax ????), the fuel surcharge (does the plane use extra fuel when loaded with passengers who never board the plane ?????) and other taxes. When I went without her I thought that I would get more room for my ellbows since i had paid for 2 seats but Lufthansa put someone else onto the seat that I had paid for. There was not a single vacant seat on that flight but they would not refund a penny.
Dsperin
Salem,Oregon,
U.S.A.
B.S.
#6Consumer Comment
Thu, May 14, 2009
If you complain loud enough, long enough, and to the right people, you WILL get your money back!
I once booked a non-refundable 5 day stay at a hotel, only to find out afterwards that I would be required to put down a $100 a night refundable deposit ($500) upon check in. It didn't state that on the website, so I hollered to every phone number I could find on the internet until they refunded my money.
Policies aren't written in stone. Check out the website and call everyone you can until the money is refunded.
Karl
Clovis,New Mexico,
U.S.A.
What Part of Non-Refundable Don't You Understand?
#6Consumer Suggestion
Thu, May 14, 2009
Virtually all of the low fares advertised on Travelocity, Expedia, etc. are NON-REFUNDABLE. This means exactly what it says. If you cancel there is NO REFUND. Most airlines credit the fare and let you travel within a year of the time you paid for the first ticket but they will charge a change fee (except for Southwest). If you cancel altogether it doesn't matter if you are Mother Teresa. You lose your money. Obviously the airline cares about profit. It needs to make a profit to stay in business. If you even remotely think that you may have to cancel an airline ticket you need to buy a refundable full fare coach ticket next time.