Questions Of Cash: 'I'm confused about getting an airline refund'

Q. My son was due to fly to Gatwick using easyJet on Saturday 17 July. He was returning early from a family holiday to get back to work. At Toulouse airport we found the flight had been cancelled.

The easyJet office at the airport offered us a flight for the following Tuesday, or told us we could get an Air France flight the next day and seek reimbursement for this from them.

We paid €547.35 for the replacement flight, plus a €30 ticketing fee. On returning to the UK, I phoned easyJet and was told to send the Air France receipt to the easyJet office. Meanwhile, they refunded the cost of the unused ticket for the cancelled flight. But they then said no compensation could be paid since the cancellation has been due to air-traffic control so it was not their fault. My written application to easyJet for reimbursement of the Air France ticket was ignored, as was an email. When I phoned, easyJet promised to investigate, but I have heard nothing more. SS, London.

A. EasyJet says it has not ignored your requests and has not rejected your claim. It needs the receipt of the Air France flight by email in an acceptable format, such as a file in PDF, HTML or JPG format. It promises to make the refund when it receives this.

Q. I booked two flights from London to Milan with Alitalia for April this year. They were cancelled by Alitalia due to the Icelandic ash cloud. Alitalia agreed in April to refund the cost, but over three months later has not yet done so. I emailed in May, but had no reply. Am I going to have to take this to the small claims court? RM, Reading.

A. You contacted us in July about this problem, and we unfortunately, had the same problem as yourself – Alitalia has not responded to our communications either. Your refund of £328 was eventually credited to your card account in October, six months after you made your claim. It is unclear whether the refund was the result of our intervention, or whether this is simply how long customers of Alitalia must wait for refunds.

Questions of Cash cannot give individual advice. But if you have a financial dilemma, we'll do our best to help. Please email us at: questionsofcash@ independent.co.uk.