Is there no end to the appalling customer service disasters conjured up by United Airlines?
The company is now in even more
trouble after employees allegedly “destroyed” a custom wheelchair belonging to
a 24-year-old French man who suffers from a severe spinal condition.
Valentin Duthion set off on a flight
to New Jersey on 2nd July with a group of friends and he left his custom-made
$42,000 wheelchair in the care of airline employees. But bizarrely, the chair
was somehow wrecked by the company’s staff.
Duthion has spinal muscular atrophy
and requires the use of the wheelchair to get around. The Duthions and a group
of their friends had been planning the 27 day American trip for months before
setting off, and they even documented their plight on Facebook.
In a statement, United Airlines said
they have been in touch with the group, arranging for the chair’s repair and
upgrading the group’s return flight. “We have been in contact with our
customer, and have provided him with a loaner wheelchair to use during his vacation,”
However, the friends said that the
replacement chair does not meet Duthion’s needs. “Val will not have his chair
until the end of the day,” the group wrote in a Facebook post. “We have a loan
chair, but Val doesn’t fit in that. He can’t drive it.”
His sister Lucie added: “If we
refused, we had to sign a waiver stating that we refused the help of United
Airlines.”
The group noted on Facebook that
Duthion would be unlikely to have his repaired chair until the end of their
trip, making the group’s travels difficult.
Despite this experience, the group has
been determined to enjoy the trip. Duthion and his friends have shared photos
of themselves near the Empire State Building (see above) and enjoying fireworks
on Independence Day.
This is now the FOURTH article we have
featured on this blog about United Airlines within the space of just a few months.
What on earth is going on in their customer service department?!?!
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To see hundreds more articles click here to visit our archive