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.
Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service’s crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.
The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year. Even so, the company’s revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.
Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers — far more than any other streaming service.
The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company’s revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.
The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix’s stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company’s shares so far this year.
The past quarter’s subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch its popular service without paying for it.
The crackdown, triggered by a rare loss of subscribers coming out of the pandemic in 2022, helped Netflix add 57 million subscribers from June 2022 through this June — an average of more than 7 million per quarter, while many of its industry rivals have been struggling as households curbed their discretionary spending.
Netflix’s gains also were propelled by a low-priced version of its service that included commercials for the first time in its history. The company still is only getting a small fraction of its revenue from the 2-year-old advertising push, but Netflix is intensifying its focus on that segment of its business to help boost its profits.
In a letter to shareholder, Netflix reiterated previous cautionary notes about its expansion into advertising, though the low-priced option including commercials has become its fastest growing segment.
“We have much more work to do improving our offering for advertisers, which will be a priority over the next few years,” Netflix management wrote in the letter.
As part of its evolution, Netflix has been increasingly supplementing its lineup of scripted TV series and movies with live programming, such as a Labor Day spectacle featuring renowned glutton Joey Chestnut setting a world record for gorging on hot dogs in a showdown with his longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi.
Netflix will be trying to attract more viewer during the current quarter with a Nov. 15 fight pitting former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson against Jake Paul, a YouTube sensation turned boxer, and two National Football League games on Christmas Day.
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