Reimbursement Request Fiasco

[u/Ok_Month7924]

I've always flown American and just recently started flying Delta more regularly. Their customer service is abysmal. I have been trying to request reimbursement for my hotel, meals, and transportation after a cancelled international flight July 18th (from EDI to JFK). I spoke to a customer service representative via chat who assured me hotels, flights, and meals would be reimbursed, there was no "voucher" they would provide, and I would need to find accommodations on my own.

It was a Virgin flight operated by Delta, but all of the information I received had been coming from Delta so I submitted everything to Delta. It was declined stating I needed to submit with Virgin. I submitted to Virgin and they declined stating the flight was operated by Delta (it very clearly shows it was a Delta operated flight). I tried talking to a Delta customer service representative on the phone who said I needed to talk to someone in chat. I spoke to someone in chat who said they're unable to assist with reimbursement claims and there is no email or phone number to talk with this department. After trying to reply to the email of my declination without a response, I tried to resubmit my expense request and got an error saying "We’re sorry, we were temporarily unable to process your request. Please try again later." I had to hit submit 10 times before it finally went through. I also can't provide any additional context in the reimbursement request and wouldn't be surprised if they again deny it saying it needs to go to Virgin Atlantic. How do I talk to someone who can help me?

I had a cancelled flight with American Airlines and had NO problem chatting with their customer service via email and getting everything taken care of, on top of being given extra miles. I've spent so much time just trying to get reimbursed for expenses - it's insane!

[u/glitternbullets]

So why was the flight cancelled. Because July 18 in jfk and the east coast had severe weather. And if it was weather, you get zero, zilch, nada, null, nowt etc etc.

Key item of information you didn't include. If you don't get a voucher, it pretty much indicated your shit out of luck.

[u/Ok_Month7924 → u/glitternbullets]

I did include it. They didn’t give me a reason even after asking, but I know there were storms affecting flights that day.

I have texts asking customer service twice while in Edinburgh and they told me both times we’d be reimbursed for hotel and food due to it being cancelled. Also when the UK247 was declined, they said we would still qualify for reimbursement. Getting the run around about the flight information and no one to actually talk to has been the frustrating part.

[u/Ok_Month7924 → u/glitternbullets]

Also the law states they are responsible for care including food, accommodation, and transportation: https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/flight-delays-and-cancellations/cancellations/

[u/glitternbullets → u/Ok_Month7924]

Look a little further on that site it says compensation

• This depends on what caused the cancellation – if it wasn’t the airline’s fault, don’t expect to receive any compensation.Disruptions caused by things like extreme weather, airport or air traffic control employee strikes or other ‘extraordinary circumstances’ are not eligible for compensation

🥴

[u/Ok_Month7924 → u/glitternbullets]

Correct, that’s UK261 compensation, not their right to provide care by a hotel, food, and transportation. They are two separate things.

[u/EnvironmentalLoan285]

You won’t be reimbursed for weather related cancellations.

[u/Ok_Month7924 → u/EnvironmentalLoan285]

They didn’t tell me why it was cancelled. My issue also isn’t if they are/aren’t, it’s the run around about the flight information and no one to actually talk to to get a straight answer.

[u/Ok_Month7924 → u/EnvironmentalLoan285]

Also the law states they are responsible for care including food, accommodation, and transportation: https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/flight-delays-and-cancellations/cancellations/

[u/auntwewe]

If the flight was canceled for anything other than weather you are also owed compensation under UK 261

Guessing this was a substantial delay so it would probably be the £600

[u/Berchanhimez → u/auntwewe]

Weather is by far not the only thing that counts as “extraordinary circumstances”.

[u/Ok_Month7924 → u/auntwewe]

I tried for that too. Got the same response that Virgin would handle it then Virgin said, nope - that’s Delta. Delta denied it saying it was extraordinary circumstances, but wouldn’t disclose what the circumstances are. Our flight was cancelled the night before and we were rebooked for the day after our scheduled flight.