A woman from Arlington, Massachusetts, spent more than a year trying to get a refund for a cancelled flight.
Frustrated with the airline, Eliza Tadley says she filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation, called the Attorney General’s office, and -- as a last resort -- contacted our NBC10 Boston Responds team for help.
Tadley had planned to visit Germany in 2020, traveling on TAP Air Portugal through Lisbon.
“Early March, COVID hit, so we ended up postponing trying to book the flights back because it seemed like we wouldn’t be able to go on the trip,” Tadley said. “Late June, the airline did cancel the flight, then I knew I could get a refund for that, so I started going through that very long process. “
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Tadley says she was told she would get a refund in 30 to 90 days, but the months came and went and she never received her $740.
“I called them several times,” she said. “I always spoke to some customer service representative and they were never able to tell me anything. Just, 'we see that you’ve requested a refund, it’s processing, it’s high priority, we can’t tell you when you’re going to receive your money.'”
After a year of trying, Tadley contacted NBC10 Boston Responds for help.
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“I totally thought I’m never gonna see that money again,” she said.
NBC10 Boston Responds contacted TAP Air Portugal and they told us:
“Although we have experienced significant delays in the processing of refunds due to the number of customers whose travel was disrupted as a result of Covid-19, this delay is unusually long therefore we have escalated this case to our Refunds team to look into this delay and give priority to the processing of this refund. We sincerely regret this delay and the inconvenience to Ms. Tadley. “
Tadley says she was refunded a few weeks after our outreach.
"I can only assume that was the push that they needed because a few weeks later, the money was back in my account,” she said. “I really appreciate all the help you all did for me.”
NBC10 Boston Responds has helped dozens of viewers who were in a similar situation get their airline refunds. And we can try to help you. Reach out to us about your consumer problems by calling us at 1-888-521-NEWS or visiting https://www.nbcboston.com/consumer-form/.
We are the only local station committed to answering all of your calls and emails.
