Complaint Review: JetBlue - Internet

There is something not right here.  I did some checking and Jet Blue has stated that they will refund fares on flights affected by Hurricane Irene.

The link below is the actual Press Release and if you fall within these dates and airports you should be able to get your fare refunded.  The link below is the actual press release

http://investor.jetblue.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=131045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1600037&highlight=

If for some reason this site redacts the link here is the basic text, I have put in bold the section about the refund.

NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --Due
to the expected impact of Hurricane Irene, JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq:
JBLU) will waive change fees and fare increases to allow Customers that
booked travel prior to Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011 to or from select cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions to voluntarily rebook their travel through either Wednesday, Aug. 31 or Friday, Sept. 2, 2011.

Press Releases

NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --Due to the
expected impact of Hurricane Irene, JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) will
waive change fees and fare increases to allow Customers that booked
travel prior to Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011 to or from select cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions to voluntarily rebook their travel through either Wednesday, Aug. 31 or Friday, Sept. 2, 2011.

Eligible cities include:

Rebook through August 31
Rebook through September 2

Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU)
New York Metro (JFK, EWR HPN, LGA, and SWF)

-- Original travel date: Aug 27
-- Original travel dates: Aug 27-29

Richmond, VA (RIC)
Boston, MA (BOS)

-- Original travel dates: Aug 27-28
-- Original travel dates: Aug 28-29

Washington DC Metro (BWI, DCA, IAD)
Hartford, CT (BDL)

-- Original travel dates: Aug 27-28
-- Original travel dates: Aug 28-29

Portland, ME (PWM)
-- Original travel dates: Aug 28-29

Customers may rebook their flights for travel
between the same cities through the dates indicated above by calling
1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583) prior to the departure time of their originally
scheduled flight. Customers with cancelled flights may also opt for a
refund to the original form of payment by calling 1-800-JETBLUE
(538-2583). Original travel must have been booked on or before the
original booking date noted above.

All customers traveling to/from the airports listed above are
encouraged to check the status of their flight online prior to leaving
for the airport. Customers with web-enabled cell phones and PDAs may check the status of their flight at mobile.jetblue.com.

They can decide how and when to refund your money. You agreed to their terms on conditions, one of them being the ticket is non-refundable. have they offered you credit towards a future flight? That is the normal procedure in a case like this. Go pulll jet blue's refund policy and see what it states, because that's what they are going to follow. Your example on the gap? The gap could have a store policy that they only issue refunds as store credit and it would be perfectly legal. So long as this was disclosed to the consumer. Jet blue offering credit towards  afuture flight is the same thing as a clothing store offering store credit for a return. Its perfectly legal.

Thank you for the comments. No, you are not missing anything. The response I received from Cheap Tickets stated: JetBlue has denied your refund. Please contact them for further information and for POSSIBLE credit towards future travel.

As you can imagine, I was thoroughly upset. I called and emailed everyone that I could locate a number and/or email for within both cheaptickets and JetBlue.

Bottom line: the flight was cancelled due to conditions outside of anyone's control. I understand that. But it is not up to JetBlue to decide to hold my money and issue me credit (or possible credit) for future travel. I didn't buy a shirt at the GAP for $9.99 and decide to return it without a receipt, in which case I would be issued store credit. Something has to give and the laws have to change. These big companies can not decide that they will issue you a refund in a way that they see fit.

    Unless we're missing a critical piece of the story, JetBlue should still be on the hook.    They can't just cancel a flight and keep all of the money.   They need to compensate those on the cancelled flight according to their policies.   Whether that is rebooking the flight or refunding depends on the policy.  

   The reason I think we're missing a piece of the story is that the OP has not indicated that JetBlue didn't offer compensation, they just wouldn't refund the cash (which may be their policy for weather related cancellations).

Their policy states "Non-refundable"

not "Non-refundable except in the case of a hurricane"

Does that help explain it? Have you spoken with them about getting credit towards a new flight? Often they won't issue you a refund, but they will credit your account for a future flight.

Consumer, thank you for the response. However, cheaptickets refunded their portion of the package which included hotel and car rental. JetBlue refused to issues the refund and stated that the customer can contact them directly for further assistance.

Thank you again for your "bolded" information. However, my family and I did not cancel the trip "just because". JetBlue cancelled the flights due to hurricane Irene. So please explain to me how this is not a situation where I should be fully refunded. Especially when JetBlue also advertised that they would be issuing refunds due to hurricane Irene.

I am not sure if the hurricane passed you by, but it did a lot of damage in my area.

They sold you the tickets with the following conditions (from their website):

Fares are oneway, Fares incl. all fuel surcharges, ad valorem tax and our service fee and gov't. taxes.
Tickets are non refundable, non transferable, non-assignable.
Name changes are not permitted.
Fares are subject to change without notice.
Fares subject to availability.
There is a higher probability of seats being available at this fare on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday & may require a Saturday night stay at your destination.
Lowest fares may require an advance purchase of up to 21 days.
Certain Blackout dates may apply.
Holidays & Weekend travel may have a surcharge.
Other restrictions may apply.
$15*Applies only to the service fees.
Our terms and conditions of purchase

I bolded the above and underlined the refund policy.

Sorry you got caught up in this.