EasyJet has apologised to a terminally ill mum after they initially refused to refund her because she could not fly during chemotherapy. Katie Warner, 31, who has brain cancer, was wished a "speedy recovery" by the airline who previously told her issuing her a refund for her cancelled flights "would not be fair on other passengers".
The mum had booked a dream holiday to Scotland with her husband and daughter but the trip was called off when the Covid pandemic hit, and the family were issued a voucher instead. Katie paid £178.86 for the flight from Bristol to Inverness and explained she would not be able to fly anymore because she was going back on chemotherapy, meaning her immune system would be affected.
However, she was informed by easyJet that she was still not able to receive a full refund for her trip despite her tragic circumstances and would be given a voucher. When the mum finally tried to use the voucher for a family holiday, she was told that it had expired and she would not be receiving her money back.
The budget airline is now looking into why Katie was not originally offered her money back after her voucher was extended twice due to her cancer treatment. The mum recalled: "We immediately got a refund for the motorhome we had booked. I went on to easyJet’s website and filled out a form for a refund and was sent a voucher."
She continued: "In December, I was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, the doctor told me ‘I had too many brain tumours to count’. As a family, we decided to book to go to Poland in January and have a fantastic time. But when my brother tried to use the voucher, [easyJet] said 'no' and that the voucher had expired."
Still hoping for a refund, Katie argued with easyJet's customer service but their response left her furious. She said: "I just wanted my money back. I told them I was terminally ill and the customer services wished me a 'speedy recovery'. It was completely offensive and insensitive... I want to make memories and not fight with easyJet for the time I have left."
A spokesperson for easyJet said: "We are incredibly sorry to hear about Ms Warner’s circumstances and our thoughts are with her and her family at this difficult time. We have been in touch with her to provide a full refund and offer our sincere apologies for her experience, as this is absolutely not the level of care and understanding we want to show our customers.
"We will always refund customers who are no longer able to fly due to difficult circumstances such as these, and so we are looking into why this didn’t happen for Ms Warner as it should have on this occasion."
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