The refund for the cancelled flight was put into another customer's bank account. Photo / Supplied
The refund for the cancelled flight was put into another customer's bank account. Photo / Supplied
A couple whose flights were cancelled at the last minute have been fighting to get their refund back after it was put into someone else’s bank account.
Idwal and Kathleen Leese were booked with Jetstar to return home to Auckland after a holiday in Christchurch on June 18 but at4am on the day of their departure they were woken by a text message informing them their return flight had been cancelled.
The pair submitted a claim for the cost of a night’s accommodation and car hire until their rebooked flight the next day.
Jetstar agreed to pay $319.60 and said the money would be refunded into the couple’s account on July 29.
“But the payment never came through,” Idwal Leese said.
“As soon as I saw the number I thought that isn’t even our number, they’ve put the money into the wrong account.”
The accompanying letter stated the matter was now closed and Jetstar had met all its legal requirements.
Auckland man Idwal Leese said Jetstar was 'impossible' to deal with Photo / Josh Withers, Unsplash
It stated: “As I previously mentioned, our finance confirmed that your refund has been processed successfully and no bounce back happened. Please see screenshot sent by our finance team.
“I am sorry that you remain disappointed with the outcome that we have provided you.
“Please be aware however that this is our final position and we will not be responding to any further submissions about this matter.”
Leese was shocked by the abruptness of the letter.
“The letter was appalling and just said sorry we’ve done all we need to do and we won’t discuss this with you any further.”
Leese wrote and pointed out the account error but all correspondence since has been ignored.
A phone call to the ASB revealed the branch number of the bank account the money was deposited into was in Upper Hutt - not even close to the couple’s Auckland branch.
Leese wrote to Jetstar to say he had no choice but to try to recover the money through the Disputes Tribunal.
He also wrote to the Herald.
A day after the Herald asked Jetstar for comment Leese received a phone call from the customer care team in Australia.
“All of a sudden I had a phone call and they were very nice and apologetic and said I will get the full refund soon and a $200 travel voucher for the inconvenience.”
Jetstar spokesman Felipe Castillo told the NZ Herald human error in processing the Leese’s bank account was at fault.
“We sincerely apologise to Mr Leese for the delay to his refund, which was caused by an isolated processing error.
“We’ve reached out to Mr Leese to apologise for the inconvenience and to ensure we have the correct details so we can make a successful transfer immediately, as well as a travel voucher as a gesture of goodwill. "
Leese said he was happy the issue had been resolved but said Jetstar needed some training in customer service and resolving issues.
“The hardest thing was then trying to speak to someone who knew what they were doing or had any authority - it was impossible.”
“They really messed us around and that is the polite way of putting it.”
