Hawaiian Airlines refuses to refund our tickets

[eightfingers2.0]

This was for a trip to New Zealand/Australia, which ended up during the Covid19 quarantine.
The credit card company will not issue a refund for our flights, because Hawaiian says we cancelled the tickets for a trip to Australia which we didn’t. 

We even have an email from Hawaiian saying the flight was canceled because of the Covid19 restrictions there.

Looks like we’ll have to go to small claims court next.

[terracore]

Start shaming them on social media and encouraging the readers to share. That usually prompts businesses to do the right thing.

Also, I've had luck with the BBB.

But if you're going to sue, here's a robot lawyer that can do most of the work for you: https://donotpay.com/

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

If you can work with Hawaiian in the ways terracore suggested, shaming, social media, etc, it’s probably your best bet.  Businesses are low on cash right now so even if you win a court judgement, it could be months or years until they pay.

I would try submitting a claim again with the email from Hawaiian stating they canceled the flight.  Make it obvious in your submission.  Credit card companies tend to find in favor of the buyer (not always but generally) so make sure they see the proof in writing.

[terracore]

Before suing most states require that the plaintiff issue the defendant a demand letter. Often times that is all one has to do because they would rather settle the dispute than go to court.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/...30105.html

[kalakoa]

Airlines are required to issue refunds if they cancel the flight. DOT published clarification on 4/3, followed by unusual "second clarification" notice 5/12:

https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot...020%29.pdf

Online DOT complaint form here -- apparently a very effective means of changing the airlines' attitude:

https://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/...erForm.cfm

[Chas]

Seems like Kalakoa's link is probably the place to go, but if not, I've had great success with several different State's Attorney General's offices. If they are based in Hawaii, go here:

https://cca.hawaii.gov/ocp/consumer-complaint/

It's usually a simple process to file a complaint. They will send a letter to the offending company to ask them to explain the situation. This has always resulted in a quick refund and a letter where they act like they were going to do the right thing all along.

I think just the thought of a government agency getting involved is enough to make them decide it's not worth it to try and keep your money.

[Obie]

They refunded a $3500.00 ticket to Japan for my wife but we didn't cancel the ticket, they were not flying there when she wanted to go. We asked for a refund because the event she was going to attend was cancelled and wasn't going to rescheduled.

If you cancelled your ticket you may be out of luck.

I would contact Hawaiian via their website. Don't waste you time calling !!

[eightfingers2.0]

We never cancelled our tickets. We filled out their form to request a refund.
Two weeks before that, we received an email saying our flights were cancelled. It included the option of a full refund with no penalties.

[eightfingers2.0]

What bugs me is Hawaiian Airlines got $654 million in bailout money.

https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/04/ceo-ha...from-feds/

[Chas]

We never cancelled our tickets. We filled out their form to request a refund.
Two weeks before that, we received an email saying our flights were cancelled. It included the option of a full refund with no penalties.

Did you send those emails to the credit card company? I'm pretty sure that would be enough.

I was told once that in order to accept credit cards, merchants must agree that the burden of proof falls on THEM, not the consumer.