A couple forced to spend a 10-hour flight on seats wet and stained with urine have successfully wrangled a refund from their airline Qantas.
According to a report in the New Zealand Herald, the couple, who wish to remain anonymous, boarded a flight from Bangkok to Sydney on December 30. After taking their seats, one of them put his Qantas pillow and other belongings on the floor, underneath the seat in front of him.
When he picked up the pillow again, he realised it was “wet and stained on one side”.
Their other belongings, including a neck pillow, also appeared to be wet. Assuming that there was water on the floor, the couple called a flight attendant to replace the Qantas pillow.
“We called an attendant who was confused and took the pillow away,” they told NZ Herald. The couple put their belongings in the overhead bin, brushed off the neck pillow and continued using it for the remainder of the journey.
However, towards the end of the flight, one of the flyers reached under the seat in front and found a pair of children’s underwear. This led the couple to believe that they had been sitting in urine, not water as they had earlier assumed.
“Now we know that we have been sitting in urine for a 10-hour trip,” one of them said. “And the travel neck pillow, well, I had been using that for the last couple of hours, under the assumption it was just a bit wet from water.”
The couple complained to a flight attendant who spoke to her supervisor. The supervisor offered the couple 10,000 Qantas points, which they refused as inadequate compensation for. It “does not make up for the fact we were sitting in biohazard waste,” the couple said.
Instead, they demanded a full refund from Qantas, which the airline initially refused.
“I understand that due to inconvenience experience you want to request for a refund of flight,” Qantas said in an email to the couple sent on January 10. “However, we regret that we’re unable to meet your request as the ticket was fully utilised.”
A heated exchange followed in which the couple demanded that the airline issue a refund of $3827.95, noting that Qantas recently recorded record profits and record complaints.
Qantas later agreed to issue a refund. “We have apologised to the customer and will be providing a refund as a gesture of goodwill,” a spokesperson for the airline said on January 15.
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