Refunds taking over 30 days to process??

[Valerie87]

I received a text from Southwest saying my flight was canceled. I immediately called and asked to be refunded. I was asked if I instead wanted to rebook, and I said no I would like the refund. The rep then told me that she would cancel the flight and then ask for a refund so it would temporarily look like it was credited back to travel funds but assured me that it would be refunded. But then said it could take 30 days OR MORE to process the refund!! According to the US Department of Transportation, airlines must process a credit card refund within 7 days. How will Southwest ensure that the refund is credited back in a timely manner?

[SWDigits]

@Valerie87 yours is the first report I've seen stating to expect a 30 day time period, I hope it's not the start of a trend.  If I were in your shoes then I'd get back in touch with Southwest via Twitter or Facebook private message to ask again to make sure the agent wasn't misinformed.

[bwallet]

I had a refund a few days ago. It took about three days. 

[Valerie87]

Good to know. Do you know if the refund process for you was first turned into a travel credit and then submitted for a refund? My rep assured me that was the way she had to do it, but it just sounds odd to me since SW was the one who canceled my flight. 

[Blubratz]

I messaged southwest today due to a similar issue and was told I would receive a credit back to my card within 1-2 billing cycles.  My credit is currently showing up as travel funds so hopefully that is true what they told you and it's just the process.    

[Rhmason74]

In Southwest's own contract of carriage, it states refunds will take up to 7 days. If the representative you speak with says it will take longer, I would download the contract of carriage and send them a screenshot of their own policy. Also, in the past I've requested a refund when my flight was rebooked to dates I wasn't available. It had to call back 2-3 times after waiting 7  the days before between calls before the refund was properly processed, and when it was properly processed it only took about 2 days to show up on my account. Hope this helps! Just be persistent and set reminders to continue checking on it until you've received your $$.