On the Beach backtracks over six-pound refund to family of dying man
On the Beach has apologised for the delay in refunding an £830 deposit after a family holiday was cancelled when the father was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The Mullen family from Scotland booked a £2,664 all-inclusive holiday to Alcudia, Majorca earlier this year and had been due to travel this month.
By April they had paid the deposit in instalments totalling £830 when the dad, Lance, was suddenly diagnosed with terminal cancer aged 43. He died in June.
His wife, Emma, 35, told the Daily Record her husband contacted On the Beach while in intensive care and was told it would cost £300 to cancel the holiday.
After his death, Mrs Mullen said On the Beach offered a refund of £6 and told her to contact the airline for the rest of the money.
She said: "We’d given them plenty of notice. I sent a letter and a copy of the death certificate but they just weren’t interested.
"They said it was up to us to contact the airline. They hadn’t mentioned it before and couldn’t have cared less."
The company has since refunded the whole amount.
A spokesperson told MailOnline Travel: "On the Beach takes customer complaints very seriously and we are sorry to hear our customer experienced problems with their holiday cancellation.
"’The customer chose to pay for their holiday by instalments and at the time of cancellation, the total paid covered the cost of the flights (which were paid to the airline in full) and a further £6 towards the remainder of the balance.
"On the Beach was able to cancel the hotel and transfers and refunded the customer immediately.
"However, as per the airline terms and conditions, in order to obtain a refund for the flights a copy of the death certificate must be sent.
"Having conducted a thorough investigation, On the Beach accepts that on this occasion, the information was not relayed to the customer in a timely manner and the agent should have asked for the death certificate to be sent to On the Beach rather than the airline.
"It is our normal practice that in these circumstances, On the Beach liaises with the airline on behalf of the customer.
"As a gesture of goodwill, On the Beach has offered a full refund of the flight costs.
"On the Beach would like to apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and offer our customer and her family our sincere condolences for their loss."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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