Threatened them with this and explained we were told by their staff at the airport, and with some consistent pressure via phonecalls chasing updates on the complaint from them.. eventually got most of it back.
This is key, raise a complaint and keep the pressure on. If that doesn't work then take it to the ombudsman. They want to avoid that anyway as it costs them money either way, so if anyone is in the same position still I'd say to just keep the pressure on them and don't roll over. They try and make it as laboured and awful a process as possible, because they're scumbags, but just don't let up.
