‘I find it obscene’: Aer Lingus response upsets family dealing with terminal illness

Far too many people reading this will know how hard it is when a family member receives a terminal diagnosis. At the very least we should expect that the companies we have to deal with in the wake of such a diagnosis will be compassionate and supportive. We would certainly expect them not to make things hard. A reader’s recent experience would suggest that, at least on this occasion, Aer Lingus have been found wanting.“My parents are in their 80s and up until this spring were both fit and healthy,” begins the mail from a reader we shall call Jane – although that is not her real name. “They had travel insurance in place, as an add-on to their home insurance policy, until this March, when the insurance company withdrew it,” she says.The couple planned to travel to the Algarve in April to spend a month at a friend’s apartment, something they did every year for a long time. They booked their flights almost exactly one year ago and paid a total of €450, Jane explains. Just a week before their trip, her mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and was unable to travel as her treatment had to start immediately. Four days before the scheduled departure date, the family submitted a claim to Aer Lingus, including a letter from the consultant. READ MORE“The letter was on hospital headed paper, handwritten and included the consultant’s registration etc. Aer Lingus responded the same day confirming a voucher would be offered subject to provision of supporting information (which we had already submitted). Unfortunately in the turmoil we missed the email – we had submitted from my mother’s email address, which was no longer being monitored,” Jane continues.[ Paula was ‘disappointed with Ireland’s premier airline’ but Aer Lingus followed the rulesOpens in new window ]The family called Aer Lingus and it “kindly agreed to reopen the case [but], following resubmission, demanded that the consultant’s letter be typewritten. As reluctant as we were to disturb the busy public consultant for a second letter, we did so, and it was duly issued, however this time with the date of dictation rather than the original date,” she says. The new date on the new letter was past the travel date. “We were then refused a refund or voucher, with reference to the date of the letter being after the date of travel and on the basis that the people on the booking were not the same people referenced in the medical certificate. However, when we replied, we got an auto response to say the case had been closed.”So the family called Aer Lingus and explained the situation and again it was confirmed that the case would be reopened “and an email would be sent. We didn’t receive an email, so I called again and I was told the only option was to make an online complaint to customer service.”Jane says that at this point Aer Lingus clarified that there was an issue with her mother’s name. “My mother is typical of her generation, her passport shows her given name whereas her medical information shows the name she is known by. Despite being instructed to follow the customer service link online, I was unable to submit anything as the original booking reference number no longer worked. I had to call again – each call involving lengthy wait periods and explaining the whole thing from scratch each time.”[ A ‘cold, spreadsheet-driven’ Aer Lingus response to a young woman’s ‘freak accident’Opens in new window ]She says she was “eventually” given an email address and resubmitted the entire set of details including the two letters from the consultant – the handwritten one which was dated prior to travel and the typed version that had a later date. There was also a copy of her mother’s passport, and confirmation that she is one and the same person. “I can’t fathom how much time was spent trying to sort this out and while I realise Aer Lingus is not under strict obligation to refund, they had agreed to do it on the first contact. I would have preferred to spend all that time looking after my mother and father, who are going through a terrible time. She is very ill. So it was the worst kind of sickening response to get Aer Lingus’ newest request: that I provide proof that my mother’s diagnosis is terminal. They even felt it worth writing this in bold,” she points out. She includes the quote from the airline which reads: “A doctor’s letter confirming you are unfit to travel again for the foreseeable future due to a terminal diagnosis.”Jane tells us that it is “difficult to convey why this is so upsetting – money aside, just how callous Aer Lingus is to ask us to go to her doctors and ask for this. It seems that they have come up with a series of new reasons at every turn and I find it obscene that they have stooped this low. I replied to ask whether this new requirement was just because I had indicated that a refund if possible would be preferable over a voucher, as I didn’t see a scenario where she would be able to travel again in the future, but I haven’t had an answer since September 18th.” She contacted Pricewatch in the “hope you can share the type of ‘customer care’ we have received from Aer Lingus with your readers,” she concludes. We contacted the airline and a spokeswoman said Aer Lingus “recognises the difficulties experienced by our customer in this case and is sincerely sorry that these circumstances arose during an already challenging time”.She said the “documentation requirements for such requests are to ensure that refund applications can be assessed fairly and consistently. While we understand that obtaining documentation from medical professionals can sometimes be difficult, particularly during periods of illness, these documents are required so that our teams can assess requests.”She added that “having reviewed the circumstances of this case, we will provide a full refund. We sincerely regret the upset and frustration caused and extend our best wishes to our customer and their family during this difficult time.”