# Irish Government backs airlines in battle over customer refunds



## Brendan Burgess (29 Apr 2020)

Coronavirus: Irish government backs airlines in battle over customer refunds
					

IRELAND is one of 12 countries that have put their names to a letter calling on the European Commission to change the rules on refunds for cancelled airline flights.




					www.independent.ie


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## Baby boomer (29 Apr 2020)

Alarming news.  So the ordinary consumer, suffering from the financial hits of Coronavirus, is expected to extend interest free loans to airlines with multi-billion Euro cash reserves.  Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert (hope you don't mind me mentioning the competition, Brendan!) is strongly recommending that customers contact their card issuer and look for a chargeback on the basis that a product/service was bought and not supplied.  UK card issuers appear to be doing so.  Seems like the way to go and cut out the messing around by the airlines.


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## Wahaay (29 Apr 2020)

Baby boomer said:


> Alarming news.  So the ordinary consumer, suffering from the financial hits of Coronavirus, is expected to extend interest free loans to airlines with multi-billion Euro cash reserves.  Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert (hope you don't mind me mentioning the competition, Brendan!) is strongly recommending that customers contact their card issuer and look for a chargeback on the basis that a product/service was bought and not supplied.  UK card issuers appear to be doing so.  Seems like the way to go and cut out the messing around by the airlines.



Not sure the banks and credit card companies in the UK are doing that - lots of press stories suggest otherwise.


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## Baby boomer (29 Apr 2020)

Wahaay said:


> Not sure the banks and credit card companies in the UK are doing that - lots of press stories suggest otherwise.


Here's the link:


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## Wahaay (29 Apr 2020)

Baby boomer said:


> Here's the link:


I'm aware of the legal aspect of this but my point is that news reports suggest not all banks are acting on this.









						Coronavirus: Banks criticised for 'patchy approach' to COVID-19 cancellation refunds
					

People unable to get refunds from airlines, tour operators or event organisers should be able to turn to their card company.




					www.google.com
				












						Banks must clear up confusion over Covid-19 refunds
					

Consumer group slams industry for ‘an inconsistent and confusing approach’ when dealing with refund claims




					www.independent.co.uk


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## Baby boomer (29 Apr 2020)

Wahaay said:


> I'm aware of the legal aspect of this but my point is that news reports suggest not all banks are acting on this.


Yeah, fair point, you're quite right.  I'm not affected myself, but if I was, I wouldn't be waiting on the likes of Ryanair.  I'd be into the bank straightaway.  Be the squeaky wheel!!


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## RedOnion (30 Apr 2020)

Part of the inconsistency in the UK is unique to the UK. There is additional protection under Section 75 for credit card purchases (over £100). So chargeback on debit cards and credit cards is different.

Section 75 doesn't apply in Ireland, so you're relying on the card scheme rules, and your bank to process a chargeback.

The chargeback rules are set by the scheme (Visa/MasterCard, etc). Part of the rules are that you have to have tried to resolve the issue first directly with the merchant. The banks ask that you declare you've tried to resolve the matter directly. The bit that I'm not clear on is if the merchant offers you a credit note / voucher, is that it 'resolved' from the chargeback point of view? AIB for example have updated their chargeback claim form to say that if you've been offered a voucher / credit by merchant, then they cannot currently accept a chargeback claim.

It must be remembered that with scheme chargeback the merchant can dispute a chargeback, and when they do, there is automatically a fee charged to your bank. This is about 40 euro per transaction, so they'd add up with high volumes, and in practice Banks very very rarely pass this charge on to the customer. It's one of the reasons that banks are becoming selective in processing chargebacks, and looking for more evidence to support them now. You must have exhausted your options with the merchant before using chargeback.


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