An Auckland woman almost gave up on a $1000 refund, which ended up “lost” between an airline and a bank for more than a year.
Tina Tan booked flights to Singapore in January 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic put an end to travel plans. Following subsequent lockdowns, Tina opted for a refund from Singapore Airlines, which the airline agreed to, in November 2021.
However, Tina’s $1114 airfares had been purchased using her son's credit card, which by that time, had expired. At first, a Singapore Airlines agent told Tina that meant the airline couldn't refund the old card, so she asked what new details were needed instead.
But when she got a response back, Singapore Airlines’ requirements had changed. Now the company said it would refund the original credit card and suggested Tina check that her bank could then transfer it to a new card.
Tina went to her local Bank of New Zealand branch and confirmed that the money could be transferred.
In February 2022, a Singapore Airlines agent told Tina her refund was on its way. But four months later, it still hadn’t shown up. Each time Tina got a response from the company, it was from a different person - 10 in total.
“I'm in the middle, stuck between Singapore Airline on one hand and Bank of New Zealand, both saying that they don't have the money and then it’s back to the other party,” Tina exclaims.
BNZ explained to Fair Go that credit card brands like Visa or Mastercard typically require refunds to be sent back to the original card used to protect against fraud.
"If a card has expired, the customer's bank usually processes the refund to their new card. If there is no new card, for instance, because the customer has closed their account, the funds are then returned to the company that made the refund.
"If the customer has closed all their accounts with the bank, they should talk directly with the company making the refund about alternative ways to process it, as it is not an issue the bank can resolve."
In Tina's situation, she should have been able to pass on new card details to Singapore Airlines without issue.
The Fair Go programme raised Tina’s case with Singapore Airlines, prompting an investigation which established that the airline was indeed still holding her money.
Singapore Airlines Public Affairs Regional Manager Karl Schubert explained its agents hadn’t followed usual protocols when it came to handling Tina’s case.
“Unfortunately the process of handling the information that they needed to properly service Tina on her next call or next engagement with us simply wasn't put in correctly.
"So then it was taken by an agent to mean one thing, when actually, it was another."
Karl says since the pandemic, Singapore Airlines has refunded nearly 40,000 Kiwi tickets, and that “the vast majority of those we got right”.
“Unfortunately in the unique cases, like Tina's where we've got it wrong, we are sincerely sorry and we are using those to ensure that we can train our agents to be better in the future."
Singapore Airlines has refunded Tina her $1114 - for real this time.
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