Oman Air - has anyone received a refund?

[Bighiggy]

Has anyone received a refund from Oman Air for a cancelled reservation? I was told my refund would be processed in late Jan (6 months after the cancellation of my reservation) and 12 months after booking. I've now been told that the refund has been "authorised" and would be "another few weeks for the refunds to come through."

I feel as though I'm getting the runaround and am curious if anyone has actually received their refund?

 

[Mattg]

This thread from last year may or may not be of interest - Oman Air - waiting, waiting

 

[nickykim]

That would be me! I cancelled very early before airline had come to grips with what was going on. I had an email confirming my cancellation and asking for to confirm card was still valid. Charge back via AMEX was successful on the basis there was documentation showing a refund had been approved but not actioned. Had to babysit AMEX CSOs through the codes etc. I am not sure what is going on now but there has been pretty consistent Twitter activity around promises being made and not kept. Sorry I can’t help more than that.

 

[Paul111]

Purchased our tickets 2 years ago, been waiting for a refund for over 12 months. $11k worth of tickets. Oman are doing everything possible to not refund, even started ignoring emails.

 

[Seat0B]

Purchased our tickets 2 years ago, been waiting for a refund for over 12 months. $11k worth of tickets. Oman are doing everything possible to not refund, even started ignoring emails.

Welcome to AFF @Paul111. If you paid by credit card, have you considered starting a chargeback?

 

[Paul111]

Unfortunately wasn't paid by credit card. Oman taking so long is just disgusting. And it's not a small amount either. Won't be using oman in the future.

 

[Bighiggy]

This thread from last year may or may not be of interest - Oman Air - waiting, waiting

Yes it was and I had read it previously. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Bighiggy]

Update on my situation with this refund, is that I pursued the credit card charge back route. I have had the money credited back to my card today via Commbank (albeit they were not particularly keen on processing it, but upon pushing did so).

Oman Air Australia were still advising that,"we do have an unprecedented high amount of refund requests at this time, and the process takes longer than usual" and they would follow up with head office.

My advice to anyone awaiting a refund and if you paid via credit card, is to start the charge back process with your card provider.

Post automatically merged: Mar 23, 2021

That would be me! I cancelled very early before airline had come to grips with what was going on. I had an email confirming my cancellation and asking for to confirm card was still valid. Charge back via AMEX was successful on the basis there was documentation showing a refund had been approved but not actioned. Had to babysit AMEX CSOs through the codes etc. I am not sure what is going on now but there has been pretty consistent Twitter activity around promises being made and not kept. Sorry I can’t help more than that.

Thanks nickykim, your post was very helpful.

 

[hstpctech]

Update on my situation with this refund, is that I pursued the credit card charge back route. I have had the money credited back to my card today via Commbank (albeit they were not particularly keen on processing it, but upon pushing did so).

Oman Air Australia were still advising that,"we do have an unprecedented high amount of refund requests at this time, and the process takes longer than usual" and they would follow up with head office.

My advice to anyone awaiting a refund and if you paid via credit card, is to start the charge back process with your card provider.

Post automatically merged: Mar 23, 2021

Thanks nickykim, your post was very helpful.

Hi Bighiggy,

I referred to this thread by nickykim.

Air Asia has been avoiding me for ticket refund. The payment was in April 2020, then they started to cancel their flights every time until I got on another airline in August 2020. DM Air Asia persistently until they gave their words for a refund in October 2020, told me to wait 16 weeks for it. Now it's August 2021, and the bank hasn't seen any credit back. I chat Air Asia again, only for them to e-mail me pushing the credit flight again.

My question:
1. The bank said they can't help me with charge-back after 90 days past the payment. Is it true?
2. Do you have any information regarding Air Asia's cash refund? I believe there are lots of other people in the same predicament as me, but I don't know how to reach them.

Thank you!

 

[Bighiggy]

Hi Bighiggy,

I referred to this thread by nickykim.

Air Asia has been avoiding me for ticket refund. The payment was in April 2020, then they started to cancel their flights every time until I got on another airline in August 2020. DM Air Asia persistently until they gave their words for a refund in October 2020, told me to wait 16 weeks for it. Now it's August 2021, and the bank hasn't seen any credit back. I chat Air Asia again, only for them to e-mail me pushing the credit flight again.

My question:
1. The bank said they can't help me with charge-back after 90 days past the payment. Is it true?
2. Do you have any information regarding Air Asia's cash refund? I believe there are lots of other people in the same predicament as me, but I don't know how to reach them.

Thank you!

Hi hstpctech

Sorry for the late reply, I've only just seen your questions. I can't comment on Air Asia's refund policy, as my issue was with Oman Air. But in relation to the charge back 90 day question, I used a comment I found on the web about how Commonwealth Bank merchants can avoid charge backs from customers (link below).;

Why do chargebacks occur? - CommBank

Protect your business from chargebacks due to either unauthorised or fraudulent transactions.

www.commbank.com.au

• The merchants promised a credit that has not been processed

I quoted the 6th bullet point back to the Commonwealth Bank (above), that I was promised a refund by the merchant (Oman Air in my case) by a certain date and they hadn't provided it. My credit card used for the booking was a Commonwealth Bank card, so they never tried to deny the claim due to the 90 day limit.

So, my advice would be to go back to your card issuer/bank and ask the question about the promised refund and if this enables them to process the chargeback (especially if it's the Commonwealth Bank).

Hope this helps.

 

[hstpctech]

Hi hstpctech

Sorry for the late reply, I've only just seen your questions. I can't comment on Air Asia's refund policy, as my issue was with Oman Air. But in relation to the charge back 90 day question, I used a comment I found on the web about how Commonwealth Bank merchants can avoid charge backs from customers (link below).;

Why do chargebacks occur? - CommBank

Protect your business from chargebacks due to either unauthorised or fraudulent transactions.

www.commbank.com.au

• The merchants promised a credit that has not been processed

I quoted the 6th bullet point back to the Commonwealth Bank (above), that I was promised a refund by the merchant (Oman Air in my case) by a certain date and they hadn't provided it. My credit card used for the booking was a Commonwealth Bank card, so they never tried to deny the claim due to the 90 day limit.

So, my advice would be to go back to your card issuer/bank and ask the question about the promised refund and if this enables them to process the chargeback (especially if it's the Commonwealth Bank).

Hope this helps.

Hi Big,

Better late than never, right? ^^

In my case, the bank insisted they couldn't process a transaction past 90 days. Meanwhile, AirAsia still keeping me at bay by yet more promises of refund, only this time they'd refund only one of total two legs of flights. The other one, they said will have to wait after Malaysia's court ruling - whatever that is.

I also noticed this point:

The rules from Mastercard® and Visa® allow some chargebacks to be raised up to 540 days from the date of purchase.​

​

Is there a way to bypass my bank and go straight to Visa? It has been a year plus one month since my tickets purchase.

 

[Bighiggy]

Hi Big,

Better late than never, right? ^^

In my case, the bank insisted they couldn't process a transaction past 90 days. Meanwhile, AirAsia still keeping me at bay by yet more promises of refund, only this time they'd refund only one of total two legs of flights. The other one, they said will have to wait after Malaysia's court ruling - whatever that is.

I also noticed this point:

The rules from Mastercard® and Visa® allow some chargebacks to be raised up to 540 days from the date of purchase.​

​

Is there a way to bypass my bank and go straight to Visa? It has been a year plus one month since my tickets purchase.

Hi hstpctech

I don't know if there is a way to bypass your bank, not sure if that would work anyway as I understand that it would have to be them to process the charge back. All I can suggest is to go back to them and ask to speak to an assessor of the claim (not the first customer service person to answer the phone). This worked for me, as the Commonwealth Bank weren't "super keen" to process the claim ,until I spoke to an assessor. If you also quote back to them what you've found out about the 540 day rule and ask them why your claim would not qualify for that exemption (let them give you an answer as opposed to just saying no).

Good luck.

 

[hstpctech]

Hi hstpctech

I don't know if there is a way to bypass your bank, not sure if that would work anyway as I understand that it would have to be them to process the charge back. All I can suggest is to go back to them and ask to speak to an assessor of the claim (not the first customer service person to answer the phone). This worked for me, as the Commonwealth Bank weren't "super keen" to process the claim ,until I spoke to an assessor. If you also quote back to them what you've found out about the 540 day rule and ask them why your claim would not qualify for that exemption (let them give you an answer as opposed to just saying no).

Good luck.

Thank you for the comprehensive reply, Big.

I agree with you the banks wouldn't be interested in processing such claims. The problem is this isn't exactly my bank - I borrowed my friend's card and paid him in cash. It was overseas, so now I can't contact the bank in person.

In my last e-mail I inquired about the Visa's 540 days natural disaster limitation, yet they still respond with the generic 90 days rule.

I'll try if I can contact the assessor instead - big thanks for this tip!