cc licensed flickr photo by danielgenhart.com
There is joy in Mudville this morning (=my inbox and some people claim it is not worth it to check email first thing, phooey), as in response to my battle with Icelandair a trace of humanity has been detected- they are offering to refund my money for unused tickets due to their delays (which they say still do not exist, but I shall no longer quibble…, well not too much).
To quote:
Dear Mr. Levine.
I refer to our previous communication and apolgise for the delay in getting back to you.
I am really sorry that you missed your connecting flight from Boston and I reiterate my sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and additional expenses caused.
Having checked our records, flight FI631 blocked in at 6:13 on November 29 and we do not have any records of bags being delayed that evening. Please note that when travelling on through tickets the tickets can not be issued unless the connection time is legal. The minimum connection time between flights is decided from the airport authorities and after the delivery of your luggage the connection time you had left still was legal. Mr. Levine I am sure that you are able to appreciate that we would not be in a position to refund your expenses caused as neither our flight nor your luggage was delayed.
Since your tickets were issued on Icelandair paperwork we are willing to authorize a refund on unused coupons and ask you to please send the original unused coupons to the address below and for my attention. The amount will be around USD 400- This is done on exgratia basis and without prejudice.
Once again, I would like to extend my very sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused and annoyance caused on this occasion. I do very much hope that you will not be deterred from travelling with us again.
Yours sincerely,
Harpa Johannsdottir
So we would not be in a position to refund your expenses means they are not willing to refund the $900 I had pay out of pocket for a USAirways flight to get home, but they are going to give me $400 for the tickets I bought from them that I did not use.
They are returning what they had previously pocketed.
I am happy with a partial victory… I cannot say if the blog helped or persistent emails, but it is worth it to keep barking at the door until someone pays attention.
Woohoo! Small victory = better than none. Way to go!
Congrats on the victory! The only odd part I found about your whole ordeal is that Icelandair didn’t provide you with a boarding pass for your BOS-JFK segment on American Eagle since they have an interline agreement with American and it was all on the same itinerary. But, glad to hear they decided to refund the unused segments!
Congratulations, Alan. That’s better than nothing.
What I am always amazed about when reading such letters is the slang they use, e.g. “the connection time you had left still was legal”, “Icelandair paperwork”.
A small victory but some satisfaction! They were pretty careful to not say they were at fault to head off any further suits or claims…