Lan Airlines Won't Give Refunds On Refundable Tickets

[Joe]

Nikad is officially the first BAexpat Superhero[1]
1) She translated the post
2) She was the first (and so far only only one) to share my LAN FB Post (Rant) on her timeline.

Small print like in a LAN ticket [1] since I'm not the owner of BAexpats I can't legally say she is the first BAexpat superhero

 

[Joe]

NEWS BULLETIN.

This morning LAN let me speak to the back office. And I got some curious new information that come full circle back to BAexpats!!!

They said that LAN Argentina sent the money to my old address - the apartment I rented from Matias!

But.... They gave the street address as "YUNBAL" instead of "JUNCAL" The street address and apartment number were correct.
I asked him to repeat twice: Y as in Yellow, .... B as in Bravo

What form was this money send in - he didn't know....

I replied, I always requested the refund be credited to my credit card. I'm a tourist. I don't have a bank account here. I NEVER requested that they send the money to me in Argentina - for obvious reasons.

Honestly, I think this is a story that LAN made up to explain why I never received the refund.

 

[nikad]

NEWS BULLETIN.

This morning LAN let me speak to the back office. And I got some curious new information that come full circle back to BAexpats!!!

They said that LAN Argentina sent the money to my old address - the apartment I rented from Matias!

But.... They gave the street address as "YUNBAL" instead of "JUNCAL" The street address and apartment number were correct.
I asked him to repeat twice: Y as in Yellow, .... B as in Bravo

What form was this money send in - he didn't know....

I replied, I always requested the refund be credited to my credit card. I'm a tourist. I don't have a bank account here. I NEVER requested that they send the money to me in Argentina - for obvious reasons.

Honestly, I think this is a story that LAN made up to explain why I never received the refund.

This must have been a check. They can see it was not cashed, so ask the to resend it

 

[Joe]

Even though large tracts of Latin America and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of LAN Airlines and all the odious apparatus of the LAN Back-Office, we shall not flag or fail.

We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in Argentina, we shall fight in Peru, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our right to refunds, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the internets, we shall fight on the social networks, we shall fight in the call centers and in the sales offices; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our BAexpats beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

However matters may go in with this battle, we in this forum and in Argentina will never lose our sense of comradeship with the victims of LAN Airlines. If we are now called upon to endure what they have suffered we shall emulate their courage, and if final victory rewards our toils they shall share the gains, aye. And refunds shall be restored to all. We abate nothing of our just demands—Peruanos, Chileans, Colombianos, all who have joined their causes to our own shall be restored.

Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation. Upon it depends our own Expat life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Forum. The whole fury and might of the enemy, LAN Airlines, must very soon be turned on us. LAN Back-Office knows that they will have to break us in this forum or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Latin America may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.

But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the likes of the LAN Back-Office. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the BAExpat Forum last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

You should consider writing to http://elliott.org/, who deals with these sorts of issues constantly.

 

[Ceviche]

did they respond to yr post on FB

 

[klookva]

1. Decline the charge on your credit card.
2. They will ask you to provide a pertinent documentation
3. Let them sort it out.

 

[Joe]

did they respond to yr post on FB

They responded to the post I made on their page - but NOT the post I made on my page and which was shared by 4 other people. (PLEASE SHARE!!!!)

Someone in the Flyer Talk forum said they are very fast with responding to posts made on their Facebook page. Ceviche I think you said it's better to post on my page. Well I did both. The new world of Social Network complaining is still in it's infancy.

So on their Facebook page (LANenArgentina) they responded with a link.As of now, I can't find my post on FB LanArgentina. But the link allowed me to enter some information. I was able to talk to someone in the backoffice yesterday - so maybe that is the reason...

I've probably taken up at least two full hours of LAN employee time. And now all this bad press might get one or two people to go somewhere else or at least give some serious thought to buying a full price ticket. And the credit card company might side with me in the dispute. You have to wonder what's going on in the corporate suite at LAN that they would allow such bad customer service.

 

[Joe]

did they respond to yr post on FB

LAN did respond to the post I made on the FB page, but not to the post on my page.

I did get two emails from LAN Argentina a few hours ago. First one said they were going to credit my credit card. The second email, sent a few hours later, said that they were going to do a bank transfer in pesos at the BCRA rate. It looks like they don't want to credit a US credit card. Or they tried and it was denied by higher powers. I've repeatedly told them I want a credit on my credit card and I'm not a resident and I don't have a bank account in Argentina.

I submitted the dispute paperwork with my credit card company a few days ago. It's still probably my best hope.

In hindsight, when I was in Uruguay last month I should have tried to get the refund.

Or maybe when I call I should just say I am in the US.

 

[Ceviche]

anyway, i was the one who had suggested facebook to you, they always respond to facebook complaints