When I heard that my father had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only six months to live, I booked flights through American Express Travel for both my brother (who couldn't afford the ticket) and myself to go see him in Oklahoma within the week. The day before our scheduled departure, my father died - less than a week after he was given six months to live.
No service was being held in Oklahoma, so I immediately called American Express Travel Services to cancel our tickets. To my dismay, I was told that the tickets were non-cancelable, non-transferable and non-refundable - no matter what the circumstances - period. My brother or I could use the tickets within one year, for an additional $100 fee.
Now that our father is gone, neither of us has any reason to use these tickets. I explained to the customer service agent, who was clearly not speaking to me from the United States, about my father's death. He clearly did not care. So in addition to the pain of my father's death, I am out $1000 for lousy customer service.
After the death of my grandfather two years ago, my family had purchased a ticket for my uncle through Travelocity and when he was not able to make it in time, the Travelocity employee expressed condolences and refunded the ticket with only a $40 booking charge. That's the way we do things in this country - with a heart. Next time I'll use Travelocity.
Dawn
Camden, Arkansas
U.S.A.
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