There was a striking headline the other day: “Customer dies, but refund for ticket refused”.
At first I thought this was an odd and eye catching lead in to something completely different…so I read on. To my amazement, it was the story of a true situation by Christopher Elliott, ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Elliott posted an email he received and his thoughts and actions in response.
David Walters (I use his name since his email was signed in the newspaper) had booked a flight for his wife and himself through Expedia on American Airlines. I am sad to report that his wife died before the trip took place. Being a rational human being, Elliott sensibly furnished the death certificate and other documentation to Expedia and requested a refund.
Imagine his surprise and disgust when speaking with them he heard that American Airlines had refused the refund but did offer his deceased wife a credit for a future flight. I am not making this up!
He ends by emphatically announcing that he will “never darken the door of either Expedia or American Airlines again.”
It seems they forgot about paying attention not to mention basic human compassion and decency. And then there’s the culture that makes this seem like a reasonable response to the refund request. Need I mention the fact that this story has been plastered all over the place leading to who knows how much bad publicity for these two companies.
Luckily Elliott is one smart fellow…with the right access. In his commentary he even mentions that “someone just wasn’t paying attention”. To their credit, when he contacted American Airlines they immediately refunded the fare and apologized for this bizarre behavior saying it was the first they heard about it.
If I had to guess, I’d say that Expedia is the guilty party but unfortunately the ticket was on American so they got caught in the same vise.
Beware of those you allow to use your name and represent you. How do they operate and what’s their idea of good customer service. Do they know what you expect…and agree to provide it?
Or do they really think your idea of good customer service is upgrading the deceased to first class.
