Grieving family slam Ryanair over 'generic' reply after mum dies before holiday
When a grieving daughter tried to change the name on her flight ticket after the death of her mother, Ryanair charged a £100 fee and offered a generic message when she complained
A grieving family slammed Ryanair’s “generic message”saying the airline showed a lack of empathy after their mum's death. But it was the “generic message” that came with the fee that she found most offensive.
Sophie Taylor, from Chudleigh, Devon, bought two tickets from Ryanair last October planning to celebrate her mum Sharon Watkin’s 60th birthday on an inclusive holiday in Lanzarote. In a tragic turn of events Sharon sadly passed away in August, two months before the holiday was due to take place.
In a move Sophie was shocked by, Ryanair said that the grieving daughter would have to pay €115 (£100) to change the name on her mother’s ticket to her father’s name.
When Sophie submitted an online complaint to Ryanair, which included photographs of the death certificate, the airline responded simply saying a pyment would be needed to change the name on the ticket. Sophie told the BBC.: "On top of losing the most important woman in my life, I didn't need to be told by a generic message that they wanted more money.
"My whole world came crashing down when I lost my mum, but to have that on top of everything else was just awful." Ryanair said it offered Sophie the option to change the name on payment of the fee.
Sophie initially bought the holiday through Love Holidays, and was due to fly from Bristol on 2 October with Jet2holidays and return a week later with Ryanair. In contrast, Sophie said Love Holidays and Jet2holidays were "absolutely amazing and waived the admin fees" for changing the name on the ticket, unlike Ryanair.
Love Holidays said in the event of a medical issue or bereavement, its policy is to waive its usual amendment fees. Jet2Holidays have been approached for comment. Sophie’s father Peter Watkins said his wife had suffered with neuroendocrine cancer for about 12 years before her death in August.
"Lanzarote Puerto Del Carmen was a special place, somewhere we visited some 15 or 16 times, so the return for myself and Sophie was somewhat very mixed emotions", he said.
Peter went on the holiday with Sophie but decided not to cancel his wife's return seat as he did not want it to be resold and instead booked a separate seat on the same flight for £52.
He said: "You don't need that emotional turmoil, as you are already in emotional turmoil". Ryanair said the package was sold by Love Holidays as a non-refundable promotional fare and recommended customers take out travel insurance.
The airline added that as the original passenger had died, the family could apply for a full refund. The Mirror has contacted Ryanair for comment.
Ryanair said: “This package was sold to the passenger by Love Holidays who booked a non-refundable promotional fare. As the fare is non-refundable, we recommend customers take out travel insurance for cases such as this. Ms Taylor requested a name change on 24 Aug & 5 Sept and was offered this facility upon payment of our name change fee. She chose not to avail of the service and instead buy a cheaper one-way fare, which offered her even better value. As the original passenger Ms Watkins has passed away Ms Taylor can apply for a full refund of Ms Watkins fare.”