A woman was left "heartbroken" when she found out she couldn't use her dad's final gift to "remember him".
Joanne Bloor, from Dingle, was supposed to go to see Westlife with her sister in 2019 but the concert was delayed because of the pandemic. The tickets were bought by her dad Francis, who died from covid in 2020.
The concert was re-arranged twice before a date was finally set for late 2022. However, Joanne was unable to attend and was issued a refund from Ticketmaster. However, she then found out she couldn't use the refunded money as it had been used to pay off a debit on her dad's credit card.
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Joanne was left "heartbroken" to learn that she could not access the money from M&S Bank as he had an outstanding balance still to pay on his card.
She told the ECHO: "Going to see Westlife was a big deal for me and my sister, I always used to take her when she was younger. It was also the last thing my dad had bought for me.
"Unfortunately I was busy and could not go and was heartbroken. This just seems so wrong."
Joanne's dad bought the tickets through Ticketmaster, who said company policy states that refunds are automatically made to the cardholder. However, Joanne was told that she could claim the money back from her dad's bank.
Joanne said: "I was devastated as it was my last present from him and I wanted to go. I would have kept the tickets and given them away if I knew this was going to happen.
"I wanted a refund so I could buy something else with the money, so I could at least have something to remember him by."
Ticketmaster told the ECHO that they will refund the price of the tickets again to Joanne directly as a gesture of goodwill.
A spokesperson for M&S Bank said: “We never underestimate how difficult it is for bereaved family members and we have a dedicated customer care team available to support customers during this difficult time.”
"In general terms, in circumstances when a customer passes away with a balance owing on their account, any subsequent refund would be credited to the balance owed. It’s only if a refund places an account in credit that this would be refunded back to the customer’s estate.”
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