Grieving woman, 22, slams Jetstar for demanding she pay $700 to change flights after her mother's death from cancer
- Young woman has slammed Jetstar after she was refused a refund by the airline
- Ashlee Brown and mother Pauline unable to fly due to latter's worsening cancer
- They were given a voucher but Mrs Brown passed away in August of last year
- Her daughter and friend had to rebook the voucher but told to pay hefty fees
- After hearing her story Jetstar have ultimately waived all fees and charges
A woman has slammed Jetstar after she was refused a refund by the airline despite her mother being unable to fly because of a terminal illness.
Ashlee Brown, 22, told the airline the two would have to cancel their flight because her mother Pauline's liver cancer had got worse and she had significantly deteriorated.
But instead of being offered a refund for their flight from Newcastle to the Gold Coast, the pair were given vouchers which needed to be used in six months.
Ashlee Brown has slammed Jetstar after she was given a voucher rather than a refund by the airline despite her mother being unable to fly because of a terminal illness (right with friends Teeghan and Jess pictured left and centre, who ran into difficulty trying to use the voucher)
Ms Brown told staff, who she had already liaised with for a 'prolonged period', her mother would likely be unable to use the vouchers because of her declining health.
Pauline Brown passed away in August and three months later her daughter and friend Jessica Carson remembered the expiration date on their vouchers was fast approaching.
Their next experience added insult to injury, Ms Carson said.
Pauline Brown passed away in August and three months later her daughter and friend Jessica Carson remembered the expiration date on their Jetstar vouchers was fast approaching - but when they had to make changes to the voucher they ran into trouble (stock image)
Jessica said the dates they then rebooked did not work with their work schedule, and Jetstar would only offer them changes with a hefty fee.
'We contacted them to see if we could change the dates and were told it was going to cost over $700 on top of everything that had already been paid for,' Ms Carson said.
Jessica, Ashlee and their friend Teeghan were planning to go on a holiday together if they were able to change the dates.
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Ms Carson said the alternative option was to change the names so another family member could use the tickets, but that too would cost a fee of $160 per person.
Ms Brown's friend, who has taken on her friend's battle with the company during her time of mourning, said the treatment she had received was 'unfair and heartless'.
'I will never fly with Jetstar again. Let this be a warning to anyone using the company,' she wrote in a lengthy post on Jetstar's official Facebook page.
Ms Carson said after posting the complaint to the airline's social media channel, she received a message from one of their team saying 'sorry to hear about the current health of your friend's mum'. 'Did they even read the post,' she said. (her comment pictured)
Ms Carson said after posting the complaint to the airline's social media channel, she received a message from one of their team saying 'sorry to hear about the current health of your friend's mum'.
'Did they even read the post,' she said.
Other commenters on her post were also critical of the company's perceived inflexible polices.
'There needs to be a sensible flexible approach using sensitivity,' one user wrote.
Other commenters on her post were also critical of the company's perceived inflexible policies
'Close the rule book and go and speak to higher management for a compassionate response.'
The grieving daughter appears to have finally achieved a good outcome with the company, though.
Ms Brown has now booked a new flight with the voucher and confirmed different travel dates.
'We were very sorry to hear about Ms Brown’s loss, and we provided the family with a voucher refund which they requested when they could no longer travel last year,' a Jetstar spokesman said in a statement.
'While there are fees that usually apply to change bookings, we reached out to Ms Brown directly to assist with these changes at no cost given the circumstances.
'We have a range of options in place to assist customers who are no longer able to travel due to injury, illness or loss of an immediate family member,' the spokesman said.
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