COVID canceled her vacation. Years later, she still doesn’t have her money back. In fact, she can’t even be sure who has her money. It’s a mystery. Watch and see if you can figure out who has it in Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
You remember Covid. The pandemic, the masks, closed stores, and of course for Ingrid, the canceled vacations.
Ingrid Alfaro: “We purchased tickets to go on a cruise in Europe, and, the pandemic hit. Obviously, everything got canceled.”
The cruise line returned Ingrid’s money. The airline they were flying to Europe had an idea.
Ingrid Alfaro: “British Airways, who bought the tickets from, said that they were going to give us a credit for a year, pending on the situation.”
A year later, people were still not flying, so Ingrid tried to get her $2,300 back from the airline.
Ingrid Alfaro: “I was able to contact someone from British Airways, and they said, ‘Yes, we’ve refunded the money and it was refunded to the credit card used on file.'”
If you thought the pandemic was crazy, listen to this. The credit card Ingrid used was Synchrony. She contacted them.
Ingrid Alfaro: “They told me that all of the files were closed because of the merger of the credit cards. They couldn’t access it anymore.”
Synchrony’s files were closed because they sold their credit card line to Barclays.
Ingrid Alfaro: “And then when I called Barclays, they said they didn’t have any access to the previous credit card files.”
Is your head spinning yet?
Ingrid Alfaro: “Barclays is saying they don’t have it. Synchrony says that they don’t have any record of receiving the money from British Airways. British Airways says ‘Yes, we sent the money.'”
One of three companies has Ingrid’s $2,300. All three say ‘Not me.’ The only one who definitely doesn’t have it is Ingrid.
Ingrid Alfaro: “And I don’t, I don’t know what to do anymore because this is a little crazy.”
Well Howard, legally, who is responsible for returning the money to Ingrid.
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “It’s actually simple: whoever she gave it to. She paid the airline through her credit card, the airline got the money and they have to find it and return it. If they can’t find it, they still have to refund the money to Ingrid.”
I contacted British Airways. They didn’t respond to me but they got in touch with Ingrid.
Ingrid Alfaro: “And then a few days later, they called me and said that they found the money.”
A few days after that, Ingrid got this email from British Airways, returning the money.
Ingrid Alfaro: “I’m just happy they finally realized what they did, thanks to you, and they gave us our money back.”
The head-spinning mystery was solved.
Ingrid Alfaro: “Yes, I’m so thankful I called you. Thank you. It took four years of my life trying to get that money back.”
Glad we could help you out Ingrid.
Now, if a company has your money and won’t return it, be the squeaky wheel. Contact the owner, the board. If there is a federal agency that regulates them, file a complaint. Just never give up, it’s your money. And of course, if nothing else works, that’s why we created Help Me Howard 26 years ago.
Been grounded and need someone to fly in? Contact us cause it’s not a mystery what we do. Try to be money in the bank for you.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
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