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.
HALIFAX – Chorus Aviation Inc. says its shareholders have voted to approve the sale of the company’s regional aircraft leasing business to HPS Investment Partners.
The Halifax-based company says the $1.9-billion deal was greenlighted by 98.1 per cent of votes cast by shareholders at a special meeting. The transaction needed approval by a two-thirds majority vote.
Chorus also says the waiting period mandated under U.S. legislation has expired and that it has received approval from Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Chorus announced the sale of its plane leasing business to New York City-based HPS in July for $814 million in cash and $1.1 billion in aircraft debt to be assumed or prepaid by the buyers at closing.
The deal marked a one-eighty for Chorus, which bet big on aircraft leasing just two years earlier by buying London-based plane-leasing outfit Falko Regional Aircraft Ltd.
Chorus, which also provides regional service for Air Canada via Chorus subsidiary Jazz Aviation, says the sale remains subject to the other regulatory approvals and customary conditions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.
TORONTO – AGF Management Ltd. says its net income attributable to equity owners totalled $20.3 million in its latest quarter, down from $23.0 million in the same quarter last year.
The investment manager says the profit amounted to 30 cents per diluted share for the quarter which ended on Aug. 31, down from 34 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Total net revenue for the quarter amounted to $102.0 million, up from $84.0 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, AGF says it earned 37 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 34 cents per diluted share a year ago.
The company says its total assets under management and fee-earning assets totalled $49.7 billion at Aug. 31, up from $42.3 billion a year earlier.
Kevin McCreadie, AGF’s chief executive and chief investment officer, says the company was pleased to see early signs of improvement with positive retail net flows complementing its solid investment performance amid an uncertain economic backdrop and significant market volatility.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.
As of January 2024, Canada is home to more than 3,600 recreational cannabis retail shops and this number is increasing annually with a single store to every 10,000 Canadians. The retail sector has been facing multiple challenges and one is surely overabundance of stores within smaller communities. Too many retailers compared to users of cannabis. The use of cannabis has remained relatively the same, while multiple retailers and online sales forces are competing for this marketplace.
Failures within the retail field are not a surprise, as Tokyo Smoke closes its multiple stores, and most shops’ profit margins remain small and diminishing over time. Mass closures may happen within certain provinces such as Ontario where situations of multiple retailers are situated right beside a competitor. Massive amounts of revenue have been collected by provincial governments while these stores remain open to every possible financial flux possible.
The black market remains healthy and profitable. An excuse to legalize pot was to challenge illegal pot sales and make it difficult to sell this pot outside of legal means. 22% of Canadian pot smokers get their supply from the black market. They say the pot tastes better and is slightly less costly. Legal pot management is costly and this cost is passed onto the customer. With gummy sales growing, the cost of management by legal means is difficult and costly too.
It seems the government may need to rethink its policy regarding cannabis and the possibility of legalizing further types of illicit drugs in the future. A total ack of imagination exists within the policy network where old-fashioned prejudice towards addiction and the use of narcotics is seen as criminal and threatening to society. All the while the number of traffic stops due to drivers under the influence of narcotics continues to grow, and the use of drugs by the youthful generation continues to be a problem. A solution to our society’s problems will never come from present-day authorities.
