A grieving widow was left in tears after Ryanair demanded her late husband request a refund for his plane tickets himself even after she explained that he had passed.
Her husband died in April
Colin Shields, who was a tetraplegic, had booked flights to Venice for September to represent Scotland at a powerchair football match.
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He died from a brain bleed in April, and when his widow Yvonne tried to get a refund on the tickets, Ryanair customer service refused.
He had booked for himself and carers
Shields had spent £827 (around $1,104) on tickets for himself and two essential carers.
When Yvonne tried to get the money back, Ryanair customer service initially told her they could only refund the amount for his ticket, despite the fact that he had paid for all of them. But even that amount was not refunded to her.
Then they told her he had to be the one asking
When she spoke with the airline again, they told her they couldn’t do anything unless they could speak to the original booker, her late husband whom she had explained was dead.
“Colin passed on April 12th and I contacted them in April. I filled out the form to get a refund for Colin and the carers. They authorized part of the refund but they didn’t send it,” Yvonne said, per GB News.
She even sent them his death certificate
“I sent the death certificate and proof I am the will executor. They said a refund would come in the next 24-48 hours. They said their policy is to refund only Colin’s ticket, not the carers’. But I’ve not had it, there’s nothing,” Yvonne went on.
Even her sister contacted them about it
The widow added, “I emailed them to say I haven’t received the refund and it’s been over 48 hours. They said that they have to speak with the booker.”
“My sister contacted them and said the booker is dead. It’s so upsetting and trivial. I told them back in April that he passed so there should be no reason why they can’t refund it.”
The whole ordeal was too much for her
The widow explained that she couldn’t get in touch with her late husband’s carers as their ‘contract had ended’.
She was upset by the airline’s ‘lack of empathy’ which led her to ‘burst into tears’ for having to deal with the ordeal while grieving her husband.
Ryanair have since apologized
The airline has since apologized to Yvonne, saying she had been ‘regrettably incorrectly advised wrongly’ by a customer service agent.
A Ryanair spokesperson clarified: “Mr Shields was due to travel from Edinburgh to Venice on 16 September but passed away prior to this flight.”
They explained what happened
“Mrs Shields attempted to submit a refund request (26 April) and was advised to submit a death cert and proof of executorship,” the airline’s spokesperson added.
“On 30 June, Mrs Shields was informed that a refund was issued and was regrettably incorrectly advised by a customer service agent who wrongly believed that the other two passengers on the booking were not entitled to a refund.”
They said they’d be happy to help her further
“Our Customer Service Department would be happy to further assist this passenger to correct this customer service agent’s error and assist this passenger with their refund,” the Ryanair spokesperson concluded.
