Qantas apologises after rejecting cancer patient's refund request
Qantas has issued an apology for rejecting a cancer patient's refund request after his case allegedly did not qualify based on “compassionate reasons”.
Neil Ross, 62, decided to book a holiday to Cairns with his wife for a couple of weeks, but two weeks later he was diagnosed with face cancer.
“It hit me like a rock,” Mr Ross told news.com.au.
“I wasn’t in the life of me, expecting that news.”
The Brisbane local was initially told he had Bells Palsy, but was later diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo a 13-hour operation to remove the tumour, causing the right side of his face to be significantly disfigured.
He underwent radiation almost every day for six weeks saying it “knocked him to no end”.
“I was very thankful that my wife had helped me and still is helping me to get through this.”
Ross is yet to be given the all-clear and is still undergoing treatments, including rehab following the loss of muscle mass.
He will also undergo plastic surgery to reconstruct the right side of his face.
“I had notified Flight Centre that I needed to cancel my flight due to finding out that I had cancer and that l needed treatment urgently,” he said.
“As I said to the girl at Flight Centre – ‘look at my face, do you think I want to get a refund for the hell of it? I rather be healthy and go on holiday.”
Ross said that the airline issued him a credit note until April 22 of this year, but with his current circumstances, he was unable to travel before that date and applied for a full refund.
He also claims that despite sending two medical certificates - the first which stated that Ross was unfit to fly for 12 months, and the second which included detailed information about his condition - it “did not meet requirements on compassion”.
“I thought ‘what the hell, what more can I do?’ This has done nothing but cause me a great deal of stress that I don’t need," he said.
Ross submitted two different refund requests, one on March 20, which was rejected on the fourth of April, and another on April 9 which was rejected two weeks later.
The email from a Flight Centre representative reportedly said: "They have advised that ‘the attached medical certificate does not fit into the GF guidelines for a refund due to compassionate reasons’."
According to news.com.au, Qantas has since contacted Ross and issued a refund, after an error was made in processing the supplementary material, by not connecting it to the earlier application.
“We apologise to Mr Ross for this experience and have let him know we’re processing a refund for him.”
They have also reportedly apologised for any distress they may have caused and are investigating how the error occurred so that it doesn't happen again.
Images: news.com.au/ Getty