EASYJET has been accused of "relying on people to forget" about money the airline owes to them for cancelled Newcastle flights.

The airline, which has been previously criticised for delays to its refunds, has again been slammed by customers who claimed they are still waiting almost one year on.

Customers who had booked flights in Spring 2020 said they were yet to receive their money, despite raising requests more than ten months ago.

easyJet have since apologised for the delays experienced in the process and have confirmed it has issued full refunds.

One County Durham woman told The Northern Echo that she had been waiting for her money, despite confirmation that she would be getting a full refund.

The Croxdale woman, who asked not to be identified, had paid around £110 for return flights between Newcastle and Belfast departing in April.

But after learning her flights had been cancelled, rather than opt for a voucher she asked for a full refund due to uncertainty over the Covid pandemic.

'We've had no response since'

She said: "I had asked for a refund and got a response from them the day after saying 'we are working hard to process your refund as quickly as possible, we will try our best to complete it within 28 days'.

The Northern Echo:

"It's just annoying, I understand that it's a difficult time for them but it would be nice to be able to get a refund without having to stay ages on the phone to customer services."

The woman, who said she had no reason to believe her refund would not be issued, said she had not received any further communication since her refund request on April 20. 

She added: “They say don’t get in touch with them for 90 days after requesting a refund and I thought OK they would just do it."

Meanwhile, a Northumberland woman accused easyJet of "deliberately" holding on to customers' money after waiting almost 11 months for her refund.

Mary Percy, who was originally due to fly from Newcastle to Alicante along with her husband in March, was given a voucher after the flights were cancelled.

Opting to "support easyJet" instead of requesting their money back, they rebooked the same flights in May 2020 using the vouchers.

She said: "We wanted to support easyJet, we had used them for the past 20 years and then we were told we couldn't have a refund as we weren't eligible."

Mrs Percy claimed that customer services had repeatedly told them they could not receive a refund as they had accepted a voucher.

She said: "They kept saying over the phone 'you are not eligible for a refund, you are not eligible for a refund,' and wouldn't budge past it."

'They are relying on people to give up'

But taking to emailing customer services again, Ms Percy said the firm this week finally agreed to release her money as an "exception to the rule."

SEE MORE: easyJet provides update to those who paid with vouchers for cancelled Newcastle flights

She said: "They are relying on people to give up - people who are 70 or 80-year-old may not be able to deal with all of this hassle or have the capacity to do it.

"Nobody should be taking vouchers from them again, I booked with TUI and Jet2 and got my money back instantly.

"I would urge people not to accept no for an answer and fight for your money back, you are eligible to get your money back."

'We are sorry for the delays'

In response, easyJet apologised for the delay and said that it had actioned a refund for the customer from County Durham.

A spokesperson said: "We are sorry for the delay experienced in receiving her refund for her flights, which we have now provided in full. 

"Any customers whose flights are cancelled are notified and informed of their options which include transferring their flights free of charge, receiving a voucher or requesting a refund via our dedicated online refund form, and the quickest and easiest way for customers to manage their options is via Manage Bookings on our website or via the mobile app.

"She requested a refund via email which was unfortunately missed as a result of an isolated manual error and so we have contacted her to apologise for the delay and provide her with a refund in full.

"Following the decision in August 2020 that easyJet would be closing its Newcastle base, any customers with flight vouchers who have no longer been able to use these as a result of the base closure are able to receive a refund.

"We have provided Ms Percy with a refund for her vouchers and we are very sorry for the delay experienced in receiving this.”