Cumberland County widow struggles to get airline refund after husband's death

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Cumberland County widow struggled to get a refund for a flight credit that belonged to her late husband.

The flight credit dates back to 2020 during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We bought plane tickets in 2020 for a wedding we were going to and they canceled on us due to COVID," Laura said. The flight was with Southwest Airlines. "At first they were giving us a year to use the tickets as time went on they turned into a lifetime credit."

Laura said she and her husband Joseph were happy with and planned to use the credits at a later date. But then tragedy struck and Joseph died.

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"When my husband passed away I started calling them and asking them about the credit. They were very sympathetic and said we would credit your credit card back," Laura said.

She was told to wait 30 days for the credit, but after a month, she still had not received it. So she called Southwest again and said she was promised again that she'd get the refund within 30 days.

She waited another 30 days, and still nothing.

That's when she turned to Troubleshooter Diane Wilson.

"They made promises they weren't keeping and I was like, 'you know what? I'm going to do this a third time and a fourth time, and I'm still going to be in the end with the same result.' So I just said I'll call Diane."

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Wilson got everything off to Southwest, and a representative got right back to her and said the company would expedite Laura's late husband's credit. Within days, Laura had the refund to her credit card.

"One less thing to worry about, and I appreciate that Diane," Laura said.

The best advice in cases where an airline owes you a refund is to keep documentation of everything. Plus, if you're promised something, get that in writing. If it's all done over the phone, ask for an email confirmation.