Kiwi.com refuses to refund for canceled flights, only giving them credits to buy tickets
The credit for the purchase of another ticket will be valid for two years.
The ticket seller, Kiwi.com, will set aside 60 million crowns from its own resources to solve the problem of refunds for canceled flights. People do not get the money directly, but as a credit to buy the next ticket valid for two years.
The company, which is based in Brno, stated this in a press release. According to its director Oliver Dlouhý, the company decided to take this step because it improved the market situation. He also said that it would no longer be possible to get the money back from some airlines. Many are still waiting in vain for money and some complain about the chaotic communication with the company or the reluctance to solve their situation.
“The effects of the pandemic on the travel industry and our customers have hit Kiwi.com and me hard. The flow of refunds from airlines has been a complete mess, and while it can be difficult to understand from the outside in which we have made these refunds with detailed complications, we have done and still do everything in our power to get our customers back. But it is not always possible,“Said Dlouhy.
For example, Kristina Vurmová Labohá bought a flight with Ryanair via Kiwi.com and decided to leave the company to collect the money in the Czech Republic, even if she doesn’t get them all. Although the electronic account on the company’s website has been stating for some time that the carrier had already returned the money, she did not receive it and received a voucher to buy the tickets. If she wants to use it, the reservation system still wants the payment card number. “I do not agree with this procedure“Vurmová told ČTK.
According to Nina Černá, who communicates on behalf of the company, the company passes on all refunds it receives from the airlines as quickly as possible. She added that customers do not have to accept credit vouchers and can ask for a refund.
According to the data available to the company, confidence in travel is rising and customers are returning. At the height of the pandemic, 97 percent were canceled, 32 percent last summer and four percent this summer.
Last December, the company also drew a loan of approximately CZK 1.2 billion covered by the Covid plus program guaranteed by the state credit insurance company EGAP. The competition was opposed by the competition, which did not like the fact that the loan is obtained by a company majority owned by the American fund General Atlantic.
The company was founded in 2012 by Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi. It handed over tickets of various, even non-cooperating airlines. Today, more than 800 carriers combine flights and ground transportation. Over 100 million searches take place daily on Kiwi.com. The company employs 2,000 people worldwide.
CTK
24.9. In the evening, an e-mail from the media representative of Kiwi.com arrived at the editorial office, which we bring in the complete version.
Good evening, Mr. Sůro, I would like to recommend for your article https://zdopravy.cz/kiwi-com-odmita-lidem-vratit-penize-za-zrusene-lety-poskytne-jim-pouze-kredity-na- nakup-letenek-92340 /, which you published with reference to information from čtk, for your case I have already sent the position of Kiwi.com to the editorial staff of the passenger, but I do so even if you used in the article (and its title) wrong information – so I ask you to correct it immediately.
First of all, this is a statement in the title of your article, namely that Kiwi.com refuses to return people for canceled flights, which is a lie. If the airline returns money for the canceled flight, Kiwi.com also passes the money on to the customers. So far, the company has paid out millions of euros and continues to make refunds, both in the form of money and vouchers.
Further information relates to the specific case of the passenger, which you refer further.
Where possible, Kiwi.com always seeks a cash refund because it is the customer’s preferred option. However, in this case, according to the conditions of the carrier (ie Ryanair), the airline refunded in the form of a voucher. Many airlines have implemented changes in refund conditions and, depending on the situation and their operation during a pandemic, only provide credits or vouchers. This was also the case – we handed over the voucher to Mrs. Vurm, which she was also aware of, because the email with all the information we provided her, ie the form of the refund and instructions on how to use it, was reopened. Although we understand her outrage, the voucher she received is the way the airline chose the refund, and as I mentioned earlier, Kiwi.com presents customers with what the airline does – in this case, the voucher.
At the same time, Ms. Vurmová claims in her complaint to the editorial office that Kiwi.com received money from the airline. This is not the case, Kiwi.com received a refund in the form of a voucher and passed it on to the customer. (We assume that the word refund automatically means a cash refund. However, refund is a general term for compensation, in this case from airlines, and can take various forms from credits to vouchers to cash, depending on the conditions of the particular carriers. it was therefore a voucher refund).
The voucher provided by Ryanair expired on September 1, 2021, which means that it is no longer valid, which is probably also the reason for its current complications when booking a ticket and also the reason for the credit card number.
Although Mrs. Vurm probably did not initiate this situation all along, we spoke again, but still did not respond. We are continuing our attempts to explain the situation and conditions of Ryanair and suggest further action.
To sum it up, Kiwi.com took the necessary steps and handed over to the customer everything it had received from Ryanair, a voucher for the next flight.
I would therefore like to ask you to update these facts, specifically the information that you have not been available from Mrs Vurm (and, of course, not yet from us).
I would like to add that the Kiwi.com credits currently offered to passengers, such as refunds, have not yet been processed, have nothing to do with this case. (Although I do not agree with this procedure, which does not apply to her, as she claims in the quote you have taken over).
I hope that I have succeeded in clarifying the situation for you and, if necessary, in the future to shed light on the refund process and the conditions that are observed in it.
Thank you in advance for the quickest possible correction.
Nina Černá
Nina Černá
The best communication
Všehrdova 560/2
110 00 Prague 1
39 comments