Two years after the pandemic ruined their travel plans, several frustrated WestJet customers say they’re still waiting for refunds — or confirmation they even qualify for one — after the airline cancelled their flights or vacation packages in 2020.
The customers complained of difficulties trying to communicate with WestJet about their cases and suggested the airline was trying to make it hard for them to collect their cash.
“I think they’re just trying to hang on to our money,” said Sue Andrews of Mississauga, Ont.
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Andrews and her husband, Jim Scott, paid $7,031 for a vacation package for themselves and two family members to Cancun, departing in April 2020. Due to the pandemic, WestJet cancelled the trip and gave the couple a travel credit.
They wanted a refund instead and have been trying to collect it for almost two years.
“We feel completely ripped off,” said Andrews. “They don’t care about us.”
Effective Monday, November 2, we will begin to provide refunds to guests whose flights were cancelled by WestJet as a result of COVID-19. Learn more – <a href=”https://t.co/PSV4bxcYn0″>https://t.co/PSV4bxcYn0</a> <a href=”https://t.co/97939lpSlD”>pic.twitter.com/97939lpSlD</a>
When the pandemic was declared in March 2020, WestJet suspended all international flights and provided affected customers with credit for a future trip. Following public outcry, the airline changed its tune in October 2020, announcing it would offer customers refunds for flights the airline had cancelled.
“We are an airline that has built its reputation on putting people first,” said then-CEO Ed Sims in a statement.
In July 2021, the airline extended the refund offer to people whose vacation packages had been cancelled.
WestJet apologizes for long delays
Andrews and her husband initially applied for a refund in June 2020, but it was rejected. They reapplied in November 2021.
Andrews said the couple has reached out to WestJet numerous times, and when they finally made contact with the company on social media, they were only told that their application is in the queue and has yet to be reviewed. WestJet told CBC News this week that’s still the case.
“I’ve been in the customer service industry my whole life and have never seen anything like this,” said Andrews, a semi-retired insurance agent.
WATCH | WestJet apologizes after failing to provide refunds:
Customers frustrated after WestJet didn’t give refunds for cancelled flights
8 months ago
Duration 1:51
Customers are frustrated that WestJet is offering only credits when the airline cancels or reschedules flights, despite the air passenger bill of rights requiring refunds for cancelled flights. 1:51
In an email to CBC News, WestJet acknowledged it has “a backlog of refund requests,” and blamed the pandemic and a busy holiday travel season. It offered an apology to customers who have experienced long delays.
“We recognize the frustration being felt by some of our guests as we work to expedite outstanding refund requests,” said Madison Kruger, a WestJet spokesperson.
Airline ‘just playing games,’ says waiting customer
There’s no question Julie Jalbert of Minnedosa, Man., is entitled to a refund for a cancelled round-trip flight from Winnipeg to St. Maarten that was supposed to depart in October 2020.
She initially received a travel voucher for the $769 she paid for the flight. Instead, Jalbert applied for a refund in November 2020, and one year later WestJet confirmed by email that she would be reimbursed.
Julie Jalbert of Minnedosa, Man., is entitled to a refund for a cancelled round-trip WestJet flight to St. Maarten, but she says she can’t get through to the airline by phone to claim her cash. (submitted by Julie Jalbert)
But in order to claim her cash, Jalbert was told she would have to call WestJet customer service. She said she tried to do so numerous times, but her call always got disconnected, sometimes after she had waited on hold for hours.
“I just believe they are trying to take advantage of the client and hoping that we just give up because this is too complicated,” said Jalbert, who eventually reached out to CBC News for help.
WestJet told CBC News it has prioritized the urgent hiring of contact centre agents and that call wait times have “drastically improved.”
The airline also asked for Jalbert’s phone number and said it would “contact her urgently.”
On Tuesday morning, CBC provided WestJet with the number. By Friday afternoon, Jalbert said she was still waiting to hear from the airline.
“To me, they’re just playing games.”
Neil Tucker of Edmonton is still waiting for a refund for a $4,000 vacation package to Cancun that WestJet cancelled in 2020. (submitted by Neil Tucker)
Refund requests in holding pattern
WestJet customer Neil Tucker of Edmonton is also in a holding pattern.
The airline cancelled a $4,027 vacation package from Edmonton to Cancun that Tucker booked for his family. It was supposed to depart on March 24, 2020.
In October 2021, after learning that WestJet was offering refunds for cancelled flights, Tucker applied for one and is still waiting for his cash.
“Why is it taking so long?” he asked. “I think they want me to use their credits that they offered.”
WestJet told CBC News on Monday that it appears Tucker’s refund request is missing some details and suggested he should resubmit his request form.
When CBC informed Tucker of this information, he was surprised and called the situation “absolutely ridiculous.”
“What more information do they need from me? They have my contact information.”
Tucker said he contacted WestJet on Tuesday and waited four hours on hold before he was able to speak with a customer service agent. He said the agent told him his form had no missing information and that his case has yet to be reviewed due to a backlog.
“I’m sick of the time I’m spending without compensation trying to get this sorted out,” said a frustrated Tucker.
“I really just want this to come to an end.”
Other options
Daniel Tsai, a consumer advocate and Toronto-based business lawyer, said the long delays are unacceptable.
He said customers can pursue other options to try to get a refund such as filing a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency, disputing the charge with their credit card company or disputing the charge under consumer protection legislation in their province.
But Tsai said those options may also involve a lengthy or cumbersome process, or, in the case of credit card disputes, customers typically face a strict time limit for filing a claim.
Customers should be able to “get their money back for flights that never happened … without making them go through onerous procedures,” said Tsai.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
