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When Ebola broke out last May in Uganda, Isador Lieberman immediately canceled his upcoming KLM flight to Entebbe. He says a KLM agent assured him that, under the circumstances, the airline would refund his nonrefundable $9,188 ticket.
But two months later, KLM gave Lieberman a new assurance — it only owed him $146 for the flight he canceled.
After a failed credit card dispute over the $9,188, Lieberman turned to Consumer Rescue. He hoped I could convince KLM to refund his flight in full, as he said the original airline representative promised.
I agreed with Lieberman’s premise: if a KLM agent promised him a refund for the nonrefundable flight, he should get it. But the crucial word here is “IF.”
KLM says he was actually told his flight was nonrefundable if he canceled at that time. So who is right?
There’s good news and bad news for airline passengers: customer service calls are all recorded. Those recordings can be pulled to prove your case — or tank it.
Let’s find out if KLM owes this passenger $9,188 for that canceled flight to Uganda.
Ebola delays an important volunteer mission to Uganda
Lieberman, an American physician, has been volunteering annually in Uganda for many years.
I lead and organize a medical mission to Uganda every year. I take 15 volunteers per year and we fly through Amsterdam to Entebbe using KLM. For more than 20 years, the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission has brought surgeons, medical colleagues, and neurosurgeons to Uganda to provide free, lifesaving spinal surgeries to patients who would otherwise have little or no access to the care they desperately need.
This year was to be no exception. In April, he and his colleagues booked their flights to the African nation on KLM. They would spend one week in early July on their important medical mission.
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Unfortunately, just weeks after the group booked their flights, on May 16, the World Health Organization (WHO) made an alarming public health announcement. A strain of Ebola called Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD), with no known vaccine or treatment, had broken out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Uganda.
The physicians quickly assessed the situation and made the sensible decision that they would need to delay this year’s mission.
Canceling a nonrefundable KLM flight
Lieberman was soon on the phone to KLM.
“On May 26 I was speaking to a KLM representative who directed me to the online site to cancel my ticket,” Lieberman told me. “He explained that the airline would refund me because [KLM intended to cancel the flight].”
Lieberman says that after they hung up, he logged into the KLM website, canceled his flight, and requested a cash refund. He quickly received a notification that the airline was reviewing his request.
Within a few days the “full refund” arrived. To Lieberman’s shock, it was just $146. He was instantly back on the phone with another KLM agent.
“KLM said I had voluntarily canceled my flight and in accordance with the terms of my ticket, my full refund is just a small amount of taxes,” Lieberman told me. “They say I am not even eligible for a future flight credit!”
Lieberman says at that point he was incredulous that KLM would attempt to keep the nearly $10,000.
We asked KLM to refund the airfare so those charitable funds could be preserved for the mission. When that request was refused, we asked for the most basic alternative: allow the amount to remain as a travel credit so that the team could rebook once the health restrictions were lifted. KLM refused that as well.
So then I attempted to reverse the charges through American Express — and KLM refused that too.
After the credit card dispute was unsuccessful, Lieberman had no idea where else to turn. But scrolling through the internet, he found an article where I had helped someone with an Air France problem. Since Air France Group is the parent of KLM, Lieberman got an idea: Maybe I could help him, too.
Consumer Rescue investigates: Why hasn’t KLM refunded this flight?
As I read through Lieberman’s request for help, I had so many questions. The most pressing: Why would a KLM agent tell him to cancel his flight if the airline was about to cancel it?
I had a suspicion.
During the pandemic, when airlines were being forced to frequently cancel flights, I began receiving unusual requests for help. Passengers were claiming, and I was subsequently able to prove, that airline agents were deliberately encouraging them to cancel their flights pre-emptively.
There was a clear financial reason for that scheme.
Aviation regulations around the world require airlines to refund travelers if the carrier cancels a flight. But if a passenger voluntarily cancels — even one minute before the airline does — then the regular terms of the ticket apply.
By the time Lieberman reached out to me, KLM had already indefinitely suspended all flights into Uganda. Ironically, the airline had made that decision just seven days after he voluntarily canceled his nonrefundable ticket. If he had waited, he would have received a refund automatically.
I still wasn’t quite sure what was going on. And the mystery only deepened when I reviewed the results of Lieberman’s credit card dispute.
Why did the credit card company side with KLM?
The Air France-KLM Group had rigorously fought Lieberman’s chargeback and American Express shared the eight-page rebuttal. KLM provided dated logs indicating Lieberman was informed before he canceled his flight that his ticket was fully NONrefundable. One notation stated that the terms included a €300 change fee, but a 100% cancellation penalty.
That implied that for €300 Lieberman could have received a future flight credit. However, canceling the ticket would result in only the taxes being refunded.
The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) allows credit card users to file disputes under only two circumstances, billing errors and unauthorized charges. Based on what KLM provided to American Express, the charge was neither a billing error nor an unauthorized charge. Amex had no choice but to find in favor of the airline.
After I looked through all of that documentation, I asked Lieberman to reconfirm the sequence of events. I pointed out that the details in the credit card dispute directly contradicted his belief that he was promised a refund.
“I still don’t have any proof that my ticket was nonrefundable,” Lieberman told me. “Also, to be honest, I had trouble understanding what the KLM agent said to me.”
Uh-oh.
My confidence in successfully resolving this case was beginning to plummet.
What did the KLM agent actually say about the flight?
I reached out to our executive contact at Air France to see if he could shed some light on this situation — and pull the recording of that call.
I have an unusual case involving an Air France/KLM customer and the Ebola outbreak in Uganda in May. Isador Lieberman is a physician who was scheduled to fly to Uganda on a volunteer mission on July 4 (YNDY6Y) on flight KLM537. He was flying business class and paid $9,188 for the ticket.
On May 26, after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in Uganda as a significant health concern, Isador called KLM to discuss canceling his trip. He says that during that call the agent told him that he would be eligible for a refund because of the Ebola outbreak and directed him to the website to request it. After the call, Isador canceled his ticket and waited for the refund. When he received it, he was shocked to only receive $146 back. Subsequently, airline representatives have told him because he canceled outright, he forfeited the cost of the ticket — over $9,000. KLM eventually canceled the entire flight and stopped flying into Uganda temporarily (When KLM canceled the service to Uganda, his colleagues on the same flight received full refunds).
He contacted me hoping I can help him get, at a minimum, a future flight credit for the cost of the canceled ticket. However, if an agent did give him incorrect guidance about his ticket’s refundability on the phone, and he relied on that guidance to be true, but it wasn’t, it seems he should receive the refund — especially since the flight was eventually canceled due to significant health concerns.
And very quickly I got the answer to the question we’re all wondering about.
The good news: Here’s your $9,188 refund from KLM, BUT…
My executive contact at Air France pulled the call and it turns out Lieberman’s rendition differed vastly from it.
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for reaching out.
We pulled the recording of the call and Mr. Lieberman was never told his ticket would be refunded, and in fact he was offered a credit for a future flight but advised our agents that this was not acceptable to him. So his claim to the contrary is unfortunately not accurate.
Normally I’d maintain this position, however since flights to Uganda were subsequently suspended, I’m willing to approve an exceptional refund of the remaining USD 9,042.00 back to his credit card. I’ve asked the back office team to process this, so he should hopefully see the refund come through in 7-10 days.
Best regards, Ben
I let Lieberman know that the review of the call did not go in his favor. But despite that, and the fact that Air France-KLM is not known for offering goodwill gestures, he would be receiving the refund for the rest of the ticket.
To his credit, Lieberman thanked me and said I should feel free to share his cautionary story: always make sure you understand what an agent is telling you before making a drastic decision.
The bottom line
If an airline agent tells you your ticket is nonrefundable, believe them. If you’re not sure what an agent is telling you, make sure to get the information in writing.
Remember, the airline will record the call, and it can pull it to confirm what you discussed. In this case, Lieberman got lucky. KLM made an exception for over $9,000 and refunded his nonrefundable flight. But the vast majority of travelers who cancel a nonrefundable ticket do not get their money back.
Related: Why did American Airlines call me a no-show for a flight it canceled?
So before you cancel a flight, always make absolutely certain that you understand the cancellation terms. And if you suspect the airline may soon cancel the flight itself, don’t jump the gun. Be patient and wait it out.
If you don’t, you could lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars — a totally avoidable financial fiasco. (Michelle Couch-Friedman, Chief Fiasco Fixer and founder of Consumer Rescue)
