‘I find it obscene’: Aer Lingus response upsets family dealing with terminal illness
A family dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis has expressed frustration with Aer Lingus after the airline refused to accept a handwritten consultant's letter for a refund request. The airline insisted on a typewritten document despite the family's difficult circumstances.
Why it matters
This highlights the tension between rigid corporate bureaucratic policies and the need for compassionate customer service during personal crises.
F ar too many people reading this will know how hard it is when a family member receives a terminal diagnosis . At the very least we should expect that the companies we have to deal with in the wake of such a diagnosis will be compassionate and supportive. We would certainly expect them not to make things hard. A reader’s recent experience would suggest that, at least on this occasion, Aer Lingus have been found wanting.
“My parents are in their 80s and up until this spring were both fit and healthy,” begins the mail from a reader we shall call Jane – although that is not her real name. “They had travel insurance in place, as an add-on to their home insurance policy, until this March, when the insurance company withdrew it,” she says.
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