"Women apply for full refund of tickets due to epidemic quarantine to defend their rights" continued: Okay Airlines has refunded the full amount
On January 23, 2020, Ms. Jiang from Changsha, Hunan Province, due to the COVID-19 quarantine, returned six tickets purchased on the Okay Airline App, but was identified by Okay Airways as a “voluntary refund” and charged a high refund fee. Years to no avail.
After The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) reported on the matter, on March 29, 2021, Ms. Jiang received a full refund from Okay Airways.
In December 2019, Ms. Jiang bought six tickets from Okay Airways departing from Changsha, planning to go back to her hometown in Guangdong for the New Year. The six tickets total 8580 yuan.
However, I did not expect to encounter the new crown epidemic, and on January 20 and 21, 2020, Ms. Jiang had close contact with relatives from Wuhan's epidemic risk area.
On January 23, the day before New Year's Eve, Wuhan was "closed" due to a severe epidemic.
Ms. Jiang also stays at home in accordance with the policy.
Therefore, Ms. Jiang decided to refund the six tickets that will depart on January 24 and return on January 29.
She applied for a refund on the Okay Air App for the reason of "involuntary refund".
On the second day of Ms. Jiang’s refund, on January 24, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a document: Starting at 0:00 on January 24, 2020, passengers who apply for a refund can refund their tickets for free, regardless of whether the passenger is "voluntary" or " "Involuntary" refunds.
However, on February 20 and February 25, 2020, Ms. Jiang received a text message from Okay Airways, telling her that the refund will be deducted from the handling fee because "the ticket does not meet the requirements for a full refund."
Afterwards, Ms. Jiang’s “involuntary refund” information was changed to “voluntary refund”, and Ms. Jiang was also charged a handling fee of 798 yuan per ticket.
For a total of 8580 yuan, only 3792 yuan was refunded and 4788 yuan was deducted.
Ms. Jiang said, “For more than a year, Okay Airways first asked for the isolation certificate from the community and the public security. I submitted it and then asked for a blood test certificate from a tertiary hospital. The rights protection has been without results. I was isolated at home and did not go. A blood test in the hospital, the hospital said that the blood test certificate cannot be reissued, and the quarantine certificate applies to the compulsory quarantine of the new crown pneumonia virus."
After The Paper reported on the matter, on March 17, 2021, relevant Okay Airline personnel contacted Ms. Jiang and said that they understood that the refund was not due to personal reasons. “You can give several free tickets valid for unlimited flight segments within one year. As a care." But Ms. Jiang said that she only wanted to get back the refund fee that was deducted.
Relevant legal experts believe that if the passenger does have a quarantine, it is in accordance with the situation of involuntary refund, because this is "force majeure refund, rather than the subjective wishes of the passenger."
On March 29, Ms. Jiang told The Paper that she had received a refund handling fee of RMB 4,788 deducted by Okay Airways. So far, Ms. Jiang received a full refund for the refund application due to the epidemic quarantine.
The Paper News intern Li Rong and reporter Tan Jun