A Brisbane man suffering from cancer has hit out at Qantas for failing to refund his flight after his case allegedly did not qualify based on “compassionate reasons”.
Neil Ross, 62, from Brisbane, had originally booked a flight to Tasmania for the memorial of his flying instructor pre-Covid through Flight Centre in Browns Plains, Queensland.
However, following the pandemic, the former pilot turned bus driver was issued credit to the value of $1100.
Last year, he decided to book a holiday to Cairns with his wife for a couple of weeks, but to his shock, two weeks later, he was diagnosed with cancer.
He was initially told he had Bells Palsy but further tests revealed he had face cancer which later resulted in a 13-hour operation to remove the tumour, causing significant disfigurement to the right side of his face.
“It hit me like a rock,” Mr Ross told news.com.au.
“I wasn’t in the life of me, expecting that news.”
Mr Ross underwent radiation for six weeks, five days a week, saying it “knocked him to no end”.
“I was very thankful that my wife had helped me and still is helping me to get through this.”
Mr Ross is yet to be given the all-clear and is still undergoing treatments, attending ENT appointments due to complications around his ear canal, as well as rehab following the loss of muscle mass.
He will also undergo plastic surgery to reconstruct the right side of his face.
“I had notified Flight Centre that I needed to cancel my flight due to finding out that I had cancer and that l needed treatment urgently,” Mr Ross said,
“As I said to the girl at Flight Centre – ‘look at my face, do you think I want to get a refund for the hell of it? I rather be healthy and go on holiday.”
Mr Ross said the airline issued him a credit note until April 22 of this year, but given his current circumstances, he was unable to fly before that period and applied for a full-refund.
Mr Ross claims that despite sending two medical certificates — with the second from Princess Alexandra Hospital being a more detailed version of his condition — it “did not meet requirements on compassion”.
“The medical certificate stated that due to medical reasons I can’t fly; this was then rejected by Qantas,” Mr Ross said.
“I was then asked that I needed to support my medical condition in more detail.”
Mr Ross, who stepped down from his job following his diagnosis, said he went to his local hospital asking for a more detailed certificate.
“I submitted that (though Flight Centre) and they (Qantas) came back and said ‘no’ as it doesn’t comply with their guidelines.
“I thought ‘what the hell, what more can I do?’ This has done nothing but cause me a great deal of stress that I don’t need.”
An email viewed by news.com.au that was sent to Mr Ross from a Flight Centre representative stated: “As we discussed on the phone unfortunately Qantas has rejected our latest refund yesterday 23 April 2024, request submitted 9 April 2024 based on the grounds of medical compassion. They have advised that ‘the attached medical certificate does not fit into the GF guidelines for a refund due to compassionate reasons’.
“This is on the back of our first request submitted 20 March 2024 which was rejected on 4 April 2024 in which they advised the medical certificates did not provide them enough detail to consider compassionate grounds.”
Mr Ross told news.com.au his push for a refund is less about the money but more about “standing up for the smaller people – those who don’t have that fight in them”.
“This is gone way past a refund,” he said.
“Qantas is causing me nothing but grief and stress, which I am feeling that I am nothing to them other than a pain.”
Following inquiries from news.com.au, Qantas has since approached Mr Ross and issued him a refund.
“We apologise to Mr Ross for this experience and have let him know we’re processing a refund for him.”
News.com.au understands an error was made in processing the supplementary material, by not connecting it to the earlier application.
Adam Glezer of Consumer Champion, who has been advocating on Mr Ross’ behalf, described the situation as “extremely unsympathetic”.
“It made me very angry how Qantas could treat any individual like this let alone one going through the fight of his life,” he told news.com.au.
He agreed that while the first medical certificate stated that Mr Ross was unfit to fly for 12 months and didn’t include further information, based on the second certificate, he should have received an immediate refund.
“It should never have been dismissed,” Mr Glezer said.
“Qantas needs to do a lot better and have genuine empathy towards customers’ situations.
“When it goes this far, apologies don’t mean much because it appears they are only apologising because they have been caught out.”
News.com.au understands the airline has apologised for the distress this may have caused Mr Ross and are investigating how the error occurred to ensure it doesn’t happen again.