Harass Your Way to (Eventual) Refunds

Image courtesy of

If at first you don't succeed, fax, fax again. And again.

If at first you don’t succeed, fax, fax again. And again.

Carole Denford wanted a refund for a flight she never took on European ultra-discount capitalization-challenged carrier easyJet. When she didn’t get a response, she started sending faxes with her request, hundreds at a time.

    “When nothing happened, I sent another 100, and still nothing. My friend was so incensed, he started sending them from his work, too. He sent another 300, then a further 200 on the following two days – between us, we sent about 1,100.”

It worked, eventually, but at what cost? Did she end up spending as much on phone bills as on the ticket she was refunding?

Be careful trying this in the United States. Wilfredo Torres, a disgruntled American Airlines customer, kept calling the offices of the airline’s CEO, Gerald Arpey, to file a complaint. At one point, speed-dialin’ Wilfredo made 200 calls within half an hour. Now the airline is suing him.

Are you receiving us, easyJet? [Guardian] (Thanks, jpacooney!)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.