United Airlines and Business-class.com Fail a Disabled Customer
In October 2023 an elderly, disabled Englishman living in Thailand booked a business class ticket with business-class.com from Bangkok to Orlando.
The customer booked a business class ticket with wheelchair assistance for all stages of the, two stopover flight, for the 24-hour each way trip, safe in the knowledge that if his health deteriorated any further he would be insured, or could cancel the ticket and receive a full cash refund.
The cost of the ticket was $4,390 and was paid for by his Thai bank VISA card.
Sadly surgeons decided to operate on the client and provide hip replacement surgery in December 2023. They also discovered that the customer, needed lumbar spinal surgery to relieve acute stenosis (a narrowing of the spinal canal impinging, or pinching, the spinal cord/nervous system) and to remove two cysts from the spine.
Walking without crutches or a walking frame became impossible and the patient is meeting with the hip and spinal surgeons on the 26th of February to schedule a further detailed operation where they effectively rebore the lower lumbar vertebrae, allowing the spinal cord room to move freely. He will obviously be out of action for the rest of the year at best, at worst he will never walk again.
As soon as the customer was aware that he might not be able to travel on March 22ndhe contacted business-class.com
On 15th February Terrence Lee sent an email asking to speak to the customer on the telephone. He called and tried to coerce the customer into accepting a credit for the ticket which had to be used on the same route at some time in the future.
This was not what the disabled Englishman wanted to hear as the only reason for even thinking of travelling to the US from Thailand was to say a final farewell to his only daughter and grandchildren. He did not want a credit and requested a full refund. He had requested this well before a month of the travel date.
Terrence Lee started assertively stating that this was United Airlines policy and that they were the owner of the tickets.
The fact that the entire journey was all with ANA – All Nippon Airways seemed to be lost on the booking agent. Now the customer had to plead his case with United Airlines who had absolutely nothing to do with the outward or homeward journey?
Unfortunately for business-class.com, United Airlines, All Nippon Airways the customer is an international magazine publisher with journalist friends all across the world that will on request from a friend, publish this rather damning experience.
The moral of the sorry is DO NOT USE business-class.com, United Airways, All Nippon Airways to travel internationally because even if you book a business class ticket you will not be guaranteed a full cash refund. They will try and impose conditions and unacceptable terms on you as a customer.
The customer will wait for 24 hours before he instructs his international lawyers in Bangkok, publishes this on all of his sites/platforms, those that he works for as a contributor, and disseminates the account to his journalist friends internationally.
