17th February 2009 Be Careful! Air Europa Are Contract Respecting Thieves
This is to warn all passengers of any airline and the clients of the Spanish Air Europa in particular. On 1st September 2008 I was away in Chile and my wife, still working in the Dominican Republic where I had to return, bought me an Air Europa flight to Madrid, Spain from SantoDomingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. She paid local cash for the fare in the Dominican branch of the airline. Next she purchased a flight of Copa Airlines from Santiago de Chile to Santo Domingo and, for the European part of the journey, a connection of LOT Polish Airlines from Madrid to Warsaw, Poland. Soon afterwards Air Europa called off the flight between Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Madrid, Spain. Unfortunately for my wife and me, the news was bad and quite significant: Air Europa flight the next day didn’t suit us in any way, and thus the connections of Copa Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines had to be moved. The penalty was US$ 220. But our worries didn’t end there at all. We immediately applied to Air Europa for refund. Apparently, the airline showed understanding. But in fact, the Dominican branch started creating problems from the very beginning. After many e-mails and long-distance phone calls, the objection was the proof of the purchase. Some brilliant head in Santo Domingo was competent enough to tell us we needed confirmation of sale in the form of a notarial deed to reclaim the money. In this situation, we had no choice but to turn to the head office in Spain. We e-mailed Madrid several times but what came back were automatic replies with no particular content. Finally, by courtesy of an ex Air Europa staff member in Warsaw, we managed to get through directly. Obviously, the procedure was very slow, and the airline showed little motivation to make things move. Things were made worse by a problem with my bank account. Even though we didn’t sue them for the US$ 220 penalty for the rebooking, which they made us incur, they refunded the money, interest-free, as late as on 16th January 2009. Much to our surprise – only about 2/3 of the amount. I asked the people in Madrid to pay up. The reply was the amount was correct, as the airline applied the exchange rate as at 1st September 2008, i.e. as at the date of purchase. They did so because the clause in the contract left them quite a lot of room to manipulate the terms of reimbursement. As a result, they dawdled for more than three months and chose the exchange rate that suited them best: the Polish zloty had gone down and we lost about 30% of the fare on the deal. Little wonder: our foreign exchange loss was their gain. So, to make a long story short, from our bad experience try to learn three lessons. Lesson one: Air Europa are undercover thieves. Press them fast and hard, and don’t give up or they will refund you nothing. Sue them for every single penny they made you lose. Have no pity and no understanding; in relation to you they certainly won’t show any. Two: pay attention to terms of the contract and focus especially on your rights. If only you can, negotiate before buying the ticket. And lesson three: for any refund try to choose the currency that is the best for you, not for the airline. Good luck! Michal Obrebski Warsaw, Poland michalDOTobrebskiATyahoo.com
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