Dear Travel Troubleshooter: I bought two GotoGate airline tickets for my wife and son in late 2020. The tickets were for a one-way flight with SriLankan Airlines from Guangzhou, China, to Kigali, Rwanda. Unfortunately, the airline canceled the flight. I bought new tickets with Qatar Airways for my family to go back to Kigali.
You have requested a refund. It’s been eight months, and I still haven’t gotten my money back. I called SriLankan Airlines, and a representative asked me to contact GotoGate, my travel agency. But it seems that both GotoGate and SriLankan Airlines are not keen on a refund. I would appreciate your help with my $2,718 refund. Thank you very much.
Joseph Obiora Ezoe, Maiduguri, Nigeria
Answer: This shouldn’t be complicated. When an airline cancels your flight, the refund should be automatic. You shouldn’t be chasing after your money, even if it’s in the middle of a pandemic.
SriLankan Airlines should immediately return your money to your travel agent, GotoGate. It must have passed the money or refunded to you without delay. As I mentioned before, you might have expected a short delay during the initial outbreak, but this happened at the end of 2020. The planes were flying. Internet agencies were accepting reservations. There is no excuse.
so what happened? Well, it looks like you made the reservation through a third party, a German online agency called MyTrip. It appears that the agency then contracted with GotoGate to purchase your tickets, which then made the reservations through SriLankan Airlines. This is a lot of parties involved but it is not uncommon.
I get a lot of emails from readers asking why people bother doing business with third parties. Why not book directly through the airline? In your case, that would have greatly simplified the refund process. But others may want to work with a trusted travel advisor or access special deals that an online agency may have.
I have kept a comprehensive paper trail. You have an email from MyTrip to verify that SriLankan Airlines processed the refund in December. This is a major clue, and my team and I needed to solve this issue.
The question is, can you do it yourself? I think so. You could have appealed to a GotoGate executive (we publish the names, numbers, and email addresses of GotoGate customer service managers on the consumer advocacy website, Elliott.org).
You may also have thought about contacting your credit card issuer to start a dispute. The Central Bank of Nigeria allows credit card refunds under certain circumstances, and you may be able to secure a full refund even without the cooperation of the airline or online agent.
It took a while, but GotoGate finally responded and sent you the full refund.
Christopher Elliott is Chief Advocacy Officer at Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Contact him at elliott.org/help or [email protected].
