CEMAIR’s refunds to clients
affected by the carrier’s
grounding in December have
been delayed because of the
airline’s suspension from BSP,
while fraudulent claims have
further delayed the process,
says the airline’s ceo,
Miles van der Molen.
Agents have now been sent
an Excel sheet to complete for
each passenger, providing the
passenger’s bank details.
“We are processing refunds,
but it’s going slower than we
had hoped,” said Miles. “We
have a high number
of duplicate and fraudulent
claims, so the verification
process is the issue.”
He added that CemAir’s
suspension from BSP had also
made it more difficult.
TNW understands that is it
fairly standard for airlines to
be automatically suspended
from BSP when they cease
operations.
Anil Varkey Kaithackel,
from Harvey World Travel
Plettenberg Bay, told TNW that
the agency had submitted
eight or nine refunds at the
beginning of January, but on
February 11 CemAir informed
him of the airline’s BSP
suspension, which means
the carrier cannot process
refunds through BSP. Another
agent, who wished to remain
anonymous, also confirmed
that the airline had informed
them likewise.
However, Anil points out that
passengers will now have
to wait another eight weeks
before they will be refunded.
Passengers are frustrated, but
agents’ hands are tied.
One affected passenger, who
was to fly with their family on
December 17 and 27, told
TNW that when they enquired
about their refund six weeks
after the request, they were
told to provide proof of their
bank account. “They now say
that it will take another six to
eight weeks,” the passenger
said. “It’s just unacceptable.”
Yet another agent told TNW
they had lost faith in CemAir,
who has handled the refund
process badly, and said they
would not book the airline if
it resumed services. “They
have now let us down three
times.”
