Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic have been rated the worst airlines for customer service by people who tried to get a refund after their flight was cancelled in 2020.
Both airlines are said to have scored “abysmally low” in a recent survey carried out by consumer watchdog Which? The results of the survey, carried out in September of 2020, showed that as many as eight out of 10 customers were dissatisfied with the refund service they received after their flight was cancelled in 2020.
Millions of flights around the world were grounded in 2020 as a result of the global pandemic, leaving passengers scrambling for refunds – which they are legally entitled to receive within seven days of a flight cancellation.
The Which? survey also found that a third of passengers surveyed who had a flight cancelled by Ryanair or Virgin Atlantic waited more than three months for their refund. None of the Ryanair passengers surveyed received their refund within the legal time frame of seven days.
A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic this week acknowledged that refunds were delayed at the height of the pandemic but said it returned to dealing with them within the required timeframe in November 2020. A statement from the airline read, “We recognise that at the height of the pandemic, the huge volume of refund requests we received, combined with the constraints on our teams and systems, meant that refunds took longer than usual to process, and we sincerely apologise to our customers for this. As planned, we completed the backlog of remaining refunds in November 2020 and returned to processing refunds within a normal timeframe, which we continue to do. Since 1 March 2020, we’ve processed £550m worth of cash refunds to Virgin Atlantic customers, comprising 245,000 refund claims.”
Of the six airlines Which? included in the survey, Jet2 came out as best for customer service with a satisfaction score of 76%. Eight out of 10 Jet2 passengers (83%) told Which? they received their refund within 28 days, with 34%receiving it within seven days. None reported waiting more than three months.
Tui had the second highest satisfaction score, at 57%, followed by British Airways with 50%. Easyjet scored 45%.
Half of British Airways passengers received their refund within seven days, which was better than any other airline in the survey. However, in separate research conducted more recently, Which? found that both British Airways and Ryanair are refusing to offer refunds on flights that continue to operate, despite people not being able to travel due to national lockdown rules. Which? asked five airlines about their policies. Jet2, Tui and easyJet said customers could claim a cash refund, even if the flight went ahead. British Airways said passengers had to rebook. Ryanair didn’t respond to Which? but its website claims that passengers can rebook.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “As the UK approaches the anniversary of the first nationwide lockdown, it’s vital that lessons are learned from the previous handling of refunds and cancellations. Airlines cannot be allowed to continue to behave in this way, so the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) must be ready to act if any are found to still be breaking the law on refunds.”
The CMA is now investigating whether airlines have broken consumer law by failing to offer cash refunds for flights people could not lawfully take because of lockdown restrictions.
Boland pointed out that many people whose flights were grounded at the start of the pandemic rebooked for this year, little knowing that they might face the same problem in spring 2021 if travel restrictions have not been eased.