On July 6th, I attempted to book a flight from Istanbul to New York with a layover in Frankfurt. The price was around 23,000 TL. During the payment process, I received an error message asking me to double-check my payment information. Upon verification, I found that my information was correct, but the bank had already placed a hold on the 23,000 TL. I immediately contacted customer service through the website's chat box, and they assured me that my reservation was confirmed and the payment would be processed. However, when I called the next morning, customer service was unresponsive. The following day, they informed me that my reservation had been canceled and they could not honor the 23,000 TL price. I was directed to share my concerns in writing, and the issue was passed around without resolution.
On July 18th, someone from customer service called me. They acknowledged that the representative I had initially contacted through the chat box had provided incorrect information and apologized for the confusion. However, they blamed me for the error, stating that the instructions for resolving the payment issue were clearly outlined in the error message. When I expressed my frustration with the incorrect information provided by their customer service representative, they apologized again and offered a small amount of compensation in miles. However, the ticket prices had increased from 23,000 TL to 32,000 TL, and the mileage compensation they offered was only 3,000 TL. I simply wanted the ticket at the promised price, but they refused, claiming that I did not have an agreement with Lufthansa due to the unsuccessful payment.
Furthermore, my blocked funds had not been released. They assured me that the funds would be returned to me 14 days after the transaction, which meant that I would receive them on July 20th. However, on July 23rd, when I tried to purchase a ticket for 29,000 TL through Lufthansa, I discovered that my funds were still blocked. In desperation, I attempted to pay with a credit card, but encountered the same error, resulting in a total block of 52,000 TL. I immediately contacted customer service and explained the situation. They instructed me to send another email regarding the blocked funds. When I spoke to my bank, they informed me that Lufthansa had not initiated the cancellation process yet, leaving me in a state of distress. I urgently request the immediate return of my funds as I am responsible for paying taxes and my credit card bill.
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