WestJet Vacations customer endures long battle getting refund after COVID cancellation

For close to two years, Linda Romaniuk says she faced an uphill battle trying to get a refund from WestJet for a vacation package cancelled by the airline due to the pandemic.

“What is WestJet doing with our money?” she said.

Back in February 2020, the Armstrong, B.C., resident and her husband booked a WestJet Vacations package to Aruba which was eventually cancelled by the airline weeks later.

In September 2020, Romaniuk received an email from WestJet stating the trip had been cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and that executives had decided to implement a “non-refundable cancellation policy” where refunds on vacation packages would be returned as WestJet dollars valid for 24 months.

“This is not what I asked for,” said Romaniuk.

Frustrated by the airline’s decision, she filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency.

After months of waiting, she said she was shocked by the outcome, with the CTA stating: “Despite our efforts, WestJet is not willing to address your complaint through the Agency’s informal dispute resolution processes.”

4:17 Consumer Matters: Know your rights when they change your flight

Romaniuk eventually contacted her credit card company and requested a chargeback. However, she said she was told she didn’t have the right type of credit card coverage and was out of luck.

She said she repeatedly reached out to WestJet for help, but couldn’t get the matter resolved on her own. “This isn’t fair to consumers. It isn’t fair to people.”

Consumer Matters reached out to WestJet on Romaniuk’s behalf. Within two days, the airline had contacted her to say she would be refunded $5,243.38.

“…These guests are eligible for a full refund. We do have two refund request submissions on file, submitted Sept. 26 and Oct. 6, 2021, and we sincerely apologize for the error in communication and for the delay Mrs. And Mr. Romaniuk have endured in receiving their refund,” WestJet said in a statement to Consumer Matters.

“In July 2021 however, we updated our schedule change guidelines to ensure all guests, including WestJet Vacations guests who had been impacted by a WestJet initiated major schedule change qualified for a refund to original form of payment. It is under these updated guidelines that the Romaniuk’s qualify for a refund to original form of payment.”

President and advocate of Air Passenger Rights Gabor Lukacs said a consumer who paid for services the merchant did not deliver is entitled to a refund in the original form of payment.

“It is your money and it belongs to you. The whole corporate-centric language of ‘We decide whether you the consumer is eligible to a refund,’ — I’m finding it appalling,” said Lukacs.

Consumer Protection BC is reminding residents that while it does not regulate the airline industry, the province does have laws in place that may help consumers seeking a refund. If you booked online or by phone, which is a distance sales contract, you have the option to pursue a refund. However, it only applies if the airline cancelled your flight or vacation package.

“If the consumer traveller cancelled themselves regardless of whether there was a travel restriction or anything like that, they cancelled voluntarily – this does not apply. It’s only if a business cancels, “ said spokesperson Tatiana Chabeaux-Smith.

Eligible consumers will have to go through a series of steps outlined on Consumer Protection BC’s website.

“I don’t pretend that this process we are offering people is really fast and really easy. There are a lot of steps. We try and outline them on our website so people really understand what to expect from it,” Chabeaux-Smith said.

Lukacs said going through those steps also helps the organization enforce the law.

“This is important to ensure that these corporations understand that they cannot do everything to consumers, that there are limits and the limit is the rule of law,” he said.

“If no one ever stands up to these corporations, nothing is going to change.”

More information regarding refunds can be found on the Consumer Protection BC website: https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/questions-about-travel-plans-and-covid-19/

Editor’s note: This is a corrected story. A previous version reported a type of booking as a direct sales contract, rather than a distance sales contract.