Hundreds of thousands of customers are constantly waiting for money back from SAS. Hasse Gaupset has been waiting for half a year.
In May, Hasse Gaupset (75) was going to his grandson’s confirmation in Kirkenes. For the long journey, he had booked SAS flights from his hometown Kristiansund, via Oslo to the city furthest east in Finnmark. After the corona eruption in March, it became clear early on that both the journey and the confirmation were in danger.
– I received an email on April 6 that the plane had been canceled. Then I had to choose between the credit note and the money back, and chose to get the money back.
It should go pretty fast, Gaupset was informed by SAS, by email. The money was to arrive no later than July. But then came the news that they were coming in August, and then came another postponement.
After almost half a year, the retired nurse has not yet seen anything of the reimbursement from SAS:
– It makes me so pissed off!
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No one came to the confirmation
After a couple of months with the corona, the airline promised in May to refund tickets during June to everyone who had booked before the closure in March. That promise has thus been broken by more than three months for Gaupset.
The planned confirmation was postponed until September. New flight was booked. But there was no confirmation at Hasse Gaupset. This time the flight from Oslo to Kirkenes was not canceled, but it was the flight from Kristiansund to Oslo.
Because the relatives live scattered around the country, far from Oslo, none of the invited family members managed to get to Kirkenes, where Gaupset’s son has lived for 24 years.
– They were sitting alone and eating sausages. It was no fun.
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Impossible to talk to anyone
– What makes me most annoyed is that it is impossible to get someone who can explain why this happens. There is always a Swede or Dane who picks up the phone, and if I ask them to hand over to someone who can answer my questions, it is impossible. It is also not possible for them to get someone to call me back, Gaupset stated.
The pensioner is strongly provoked.
– At the same time, they send emails where they somehow thank me for my understanding and encourage me to send an email if there is anything they can help with.
He has been informed of the latest outlay that it will take three to four months to get it back. SAS now owes Hasse Gaupset more than NOK 8,000.
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Hundreds of thousands are waiting
– Why do people have to wait up to six months to get their ticket expenses back, when it is SAS itself that cancels the flight?
– I understand his frustration. But we are unable to give any time estimate, unfortunately. Now one million customers have been refunded, but there are also hundreds of thousands waiting for money back, and the cases continue to come in, says John Eckhoff, press manager at SAS.
SAS now solves 5,000 cases daily, Eckhoff states. The simplest cases have now been automated, but a partial automation of some of the processes does not imply a general acceleration of the case processing, he points out. According to Eckhoff, a complicated system shared with 300 other companies makes it impossible to repay directly to customers, even if it had been desirable.
MANY ARE STILL WAITING: – We are unable to give any time estimate, unfortunately. Now a million customers have been refunded, but there are also hundreds of thousands waiting for money back, and the cases continue to come in, says John Eckhoff, press manager at SAS.
Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen (NTB scanpix)
– But why do customers have to meet Swedish and Danish customer service representatives who can not answer any questions?
– We have scaled up customer service, so that there is now only a three-four minute waiting time. But there is not much the customer service representatives can say. They can not provide any more specific information about when the money will be refunded.
– Half a year is much longer than you previously promised this would take?
– Even if it has not been half a year, we can guarantee that everyone has got their money back. But some will get their expenses reimbursed before this, and everyone will get what they are entitled to. If you choose a voucher instead of a refund, you get NOK 350 extra per passenger, says John Eckhoff.
Hasse Gaupset believes that many will now turn their backs on the Scandinavian fighter:
– They will lose a lot of customers. I will not use them anymore, if I have any choice. I have been advised to go to a lawyer and send debt collection claims. But it costs me 13,000 kroner, and I do not expect SAS to pay the outlay.
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