Qantas faces backlash over handling of cancer-stricken passenger's refund request

Navigating the skies of customer service can sometimes be as turbulent as a flight through a thunderstorm.

This was certainly the case for a 62-year-old man, whose battle with cancer was compounded by another struggle from Australia's flagship carrier, Qantas.

His story is a stark reminder of the importance of understanding the fine print and advocating for one's rights, especially in times of hardship.


Neil Ross, a former pilot and bus driver, had booked a flight to Tasmania through Flight Centre in Browns Plains, Queensland, to attend the memorial of his flying instructor. However, the pandemic led to a change of plans, and he was issued a credit of $1100.

Last year, he planned a trip to Cairns with his wife for a couple of weeks, but to his surprise, two weeks later, he received a cancer diagnosis.

Initially diagnosed with Bell's Palsy, further tests revealed facial cancer, which led to a 13-hour operation to remove the tumour, resulting in significant disfigurement to the right side of his face.


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Neil Ross, a 62-year-old man battling cancer, faced a refund struggle with Qantas who initially denied it on the grounds of ‘compassionate reasons’. Credits: Shutterstock


'It hit me like a rock,' Mr Ross recounted, expressing the shock of his diagnosis.

‘I wasn’t in the life of me, expecting that news.’

The treatment that followed was gruelling, with six weeks of radiation therapy five days a week, Mr Ross said 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,’ he shared.

Mr Ross has not yet received full clearance and continues to undergo treatments.

He attended ENT appointments due to complications with his ear canal and participated in rehab to address muscle loss.

Additionally, he is scheduled for 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 narrated.

‘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 mentioned that the airline provided him with a credit note valid until April 22 of this year; however, due to his current situation, he was unable to fly before that date and requested a full refund.

Despite providing two medical certificates—including a more detailed one from Princess Alexandra Hospital about his condition—Mr Ross stated 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,’ he said.

‘I was then asked that I needed to support my medical condition in more detail.’

Mr Ross, who resigned from his job after his diagnosis, stated that he visited his local hospital to request a more detailed certificate.

‘I submitted that (through Flight Centre) and they (Qantas) came back and said “No” as it doesn’t comply with their guidelines,’ he recalled.

‘I thought “What more can I do?” This has done nothing but cause me a great deal of stress that I don’t need.’


The email from a Flight Centre representative sent to Mr Ross read: ‘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 asserted that his request for the refund is less about the money and more about ‘standing up for the smaller people—those who don’t have that fight in them’.

‘This has gone way past a refund,’ he remarked.

‘Qantas is causing me nothing but grief and stress, which I am feeling that I am nothing to them other than a pain.’


It wasn't until media inquiries were made that Qantas revisited Mr Ross's case and issued an apology, along with the refund he had sought.

‘We apologise to Mr Ross for this experience and have let him know we’re processing a refund for him,’ Qantas said.

It was reported that an error in processing the supplementary material was cited as the reason for the initial refusal.


Adam Glezer of Consumer Champion, who advocated on Mr Ross's behalf, criticised Qantas's handling of 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 stated.

He acknowledged that although the first medical certificate stated that Mr Ross was unfit to fly for 12 months and lacked additional details, according to the second certificate, he should have been entitled to an immediate refund.

‘It should never have been dismissed,’ Mr Glezer argued.

‘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,’ he added.

It was reported that Qantas has apologised to Mr Ross for the distress caused and is investigating how the error occurred to prevent it from happening again.


As Qantas faces scrutiny over its handling of a cancer-stricken passenger's refund request, another story emerges highlighting the airline's response to a different situation.

In a rare move, Qantas granted a full refund to a couple after a grim discovery following a 10-hour flight.

These contrasting experiences underscore the importance of consistent and compassionate customer service, especially when faced with challenging circumstances.
Key Takeaways
  • Neil Ross, a 62-year-old Brisbane man with cancer struggled with Qantas over a refund for his flight, which was initially not granted on the grounds of ‘compassionate reasons’.
  • He had to cancel his trip due to urgent cancer treatment and was initially issued a credit note but was unable to fly before the expiry due to his health condition.
  • After a media inquiry and the advocacy efforts of Consumer Champion Adam Glezer, Qantas approached Mr Ross and issued him a refund, admitting an error in processing his medical certificates.
  • Qantas apologised to Mr Ross for the ordeal and is reviewing their processes to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
Have you faced similar challenges? What advice would you give to fellow travellers? We invite you to share your experiences and suggestions in the comments below.
 
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Eff Qantas, taxpayers should own that company, we bailed them out, then Joice gave himself millions on retirement of our money, then the whole company turned to third world service, boycott them like Coles and woollies.
 
I would never fly anywhere with Qantas....they're as bad as the supermarkets....🤬🤬
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rob44
This is so MISLEADING...why publish this story when the man got his refund and an apology?? Mistakes happen...is this man perfect??And as for the comments from Mr Glezer..
You're kidding aren't you.
Nobody should have to go through all that BS to get a refund.
Mistakes happen....would you have that attitude if it was happening to you???
Without the help he received he would have got nothing. An apology is nowhere near good enough for all the stress they caused to a very ill man.
This story just shows us all to persevere in these cases and not let these big corporations get away with these type of actions.
I dont believe for one minute it was a mistake.
Qantas is one big mistake, it's one PR disaster after another.
Now they are up for millions in compensation for cancelled flights.
Most of these flights were never going to happen in the first place, these airlines just book up space at the airport for these supposed flights, to keep opposition flights out, and then cancel them when there are not enough passengers, which they knew would happen all along.
Finally being made to pay up for these practices. Hopefully there won't be so many cancelled flights in the future
 
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This is so MISLEADING...why publish this story when the man got his refund and an apology?? Mistakes happen...is this man perfect??And as for the comments from Mr Glezer..
He did indeed get his refund but only after media intervention and a big struggle That refund should have been issued on the spot not after months Thiss is another good reason to avoid quantas
 
Just like all these big companies all they want is more and more of peoples money. They would have done nothing for that poor man if it weren’t for the media getting involved. I have never used Qantas because they charge more than other airlines !
 
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Reactions: oldsalt and Rob44
This is so MISLEADING...why publish this story when the man got his refund and an apology?? Mistakes happen...is this man perfect??And as for the comments from Mr Glezer..
Mistakes, as you put it, such as this are not mistakes at all. Yes mistakes do happen but if Qantas and the employee/s concerned with this investigation had fully read the reasons and medical certificates provided to them (more than one cert, mind you) together with their brains in full gear, they would have come to the realisation this man was not putting it on and really could not utilise the ticket/s in his foreseeable future. Would $1100 odd have burned a big hole in their profits or the new CEO’s bonus???? This poor man is going to suffer with treatment for an awfully long time and may need that money for treatment & he may never be able to fly again.

Sometimes, such as this, we need to call out unscrupulous companies. Qantas was one of the leading airlines not so many years ago but now is sliding down to one of the worst in the world. Buck up, or you won’t have many people flying with you, Qantas.
 
This is so MISLEADING...why publish this story when the man got his refund and an apology?? Mistakes happen...is this man perfect??And as for the comments from Mr Glezer..
Qantas seems to make quite a few mistakes to do with refunds (and our luggage); must be deliberate. So, publish the story. It's the only way the management will learn that they deal with human beings and the frailities of life that we suffer from
 
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Reactions: oldsalt
This is so MISLEADING...why publish this story when the man got his refund and an apology?? Mistakes happen...is this man perfect??And as for the comments from Mr Glezer..
Do you support Qantas' original stand in this case? Reading your comment, you think that Qantas is correct in their original decision. How callous!

You should go back to being a Woolworths/Coles self serve automaton!
 
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Reactions: DLHM
He did indeed get his refund but only after media intervention and a big struggle That refund should have been issued on the spot not after months Thiss is another good reason to avoid quantas
And in saying that they issued the refund until a certain date as well like they so all up I'd say he has had 4 yrs to take the holiday and that's what ALL airlines do...they have an expiry date...and don't think I don't understand he had cancer 4 members of my family have had it 3 have passed away.
 
Member @Roadsters would like to share a similar experience:

"I had a similar travelling problem as the one mentioned in this email, I bought a ticket from Flight Centre via Virgin , to go to Perth to stay with friends, but one had their brother in NZ become very ill, & had to cancel me coming over , & go to help him, well, I applied for my cancelation cost, about $779 & they knocked it back, saying Virgin don,t do this, however, on talking with a law person, they told me I should get the refund, as Flight Centre being the agent for Virgin, my receipt was made out in the Centres name, not Virgin, so they should have paid me, & it was then, up to Flight Centre to get the refund from Virgin for themselves, is this correct, they have never contacted me since."
 
Member @Roadsters would like to share a similar experience:

"I had a similar travelling problem as the one mentioned in this email, I bought a ticket from Flight Centre via Virgin , to go to Perth to stay with friends, but one had their brother in NZ become very ill, & had to cancel me coming over , & go to help him, well, I applied for my cancelation cost, about $779 & they knocked it back, saying Virgin don,t do this, however, on talking with a law person, they told me I should get the refund, as Flight Centre being the agent for Virgin, my receipt was made out in the Centres name, not Virgin, so they should have paid me, & it was then, up to Flight Centre to get the refund from Virgin for themselves, is this correct, they have never contacted me since."
Ring the ACCC and ask them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Catherines
Compassion to a few with legitimate reasons will not hurt their bonuses or profit! Come on let’s be more understanding.
.
 
Member @Roadsters would like to share a similar experience:

"I had a similar travelling problem as the one mentioned in this email, I bought a ticket from Flight Centre via Virgin , to go to Perth to stay with friends, but one had their brother in NZ become very ill, & had to cancel me coming over , & go to help him, well, I applied for my cancelation cost, about $779 & they knocked it back, saying Virgin don,t do this, however, on talking with a law person, they told me I should get the refund, as Flight Centre being the agent for Virgin, my receipt was made out in the Centres name, not Virgin, so they should have paid me, & it was then, up to Flight Centre to get the refund from Virgin for themselves, is this correct, they have never contacted me since."
Where were you travelling from, I flew Virgin from Perth to Brisbane for $175 each way.
I book via Webjet where you can search for the best fares yourself.
I never use places like Flight Centre, always dearer. Only used them once, years ago, never again.
Good luck with your refund, just persevere, they play on people just giving up, same as insurance companies.
A lady who worked for me as a machinist slipped in Coles on some spilt oil and damaged her tail bone. They took her to the Drs from Coles, she eventually was not able to work as a machinist anymore because she couldn't sit for long periods.
I told her to sue them, the insurance company said they didn't accept responsibility, her lawyer was useless. I wrote a letter for her telling them that she didn't accept that they didn't accept responsibility.
Long and short of it was, my ex boss solicitor took her case pro-bono and she eventually got $50,000 compensation. Coles had already accepted responsibility when they took her to the Drs.
Hopefully perseverance will pay off for you. I'm sure ACCC will be able to tell you what your rights are. It could depend on the ticket you bought, different tickets have different rules.
 
Your fare of $175 each way from Brisbane to Perth was either a very good special or, more importantly, an off season fare when no one is travelling (perhaps during winter). Fares are not cheap when one has to travel on a specific date but, yes, they are cheaper when you can pick and choose your dates. Webjet seems to also have their own added extra cost for booking through them. I could be wrong on this though. Most airlines will not refund (they’ll usually give a credit to use later) just for a ‘change of plans’, no matter what, but some can be sympathetic with a full refund in the case of medical urgencies. Not always, as we’ve been hearing lately.
 

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