NBC 7 Responds helps Encinitas grandmother recover hundreds of dollars

A San Diego grandmother says a few months ago she flew in from New York with tons of great memories, but she also returned to lots of frustration after a plane ticket refund somehow vanished. She told us that recently with a smile, but recalled that’s not how she felt months ago.

According to Mary Ann Depuy from Encinitas, the East Coast in the fall is just beautiful. 

“It was a birthday trip in New York City with my girlfriend,” DePuy said.

Depuy said she bought her ticket well in advance and paid extra to make it refundable. It was a smart move, especially when considering that the airline changed its schedule a month before the trip, a change that didn’t work for her travel plans.

 “So I notified them that I needed to cancel, which I did, and they immediately said I’d get a refund,” DePuy explained .

Depuy received a receipt from the airline company indicating her $700 was refunded to her Citibank credit card, then booked her flight from San Diego to New York on another airline. DePuy told NBC 7 she had a great time with her friend in the Big Apple but when she returned, she said, she noticed the refund never made it to her credit card. So she contacted Citibank, she said, with her refund receipt ready to back her claim. 

“I told them they had issued it, and I even sent them a copy of the letter,” DePuy said. 

After several months of phone calls and letters, Citibank told her they were unable to get the refund from the airline. They then closed their investigation and would not respond to any further inquiries on the matter. 

“One person says one thing, the other person says something else — I’m not getting my money,” said DePuy with frustration.

DePuy told us the $700 refund seemed to be gone as the airline or her credit card could not account for it. 

“I was so frustrated... that's when I contacted Channel 7,"

Mary Ann DePuy

“I was so frustrated,” DePuy told NBC 7. "There were a couple of tears, and that’s when I contacted Channel 7."

NBC 7 Responds contacted Citibank to find out what happened to DePuy's refund. They told us in an email: “We've reviewed the customer's inquiry and our customer care team has reached out to the customer directly with more information on the resolution.”

The customer care team contacted DePuy and, she told NBC 7, “said, 'I’m so sorry this has taken so long. We’ve put the money back in your credit card,' and that’s when I knew instantly it had to beCchannel 7 because nothing I did worked."

DePuy then received her $700 credit back into her card.

It wasn’t just about the money, DePuy said, explaining that it became more about the principle of it all that didn’t allow her to let it go.