To whom it may concern,
My name is Jennifer Stenson. I am 30 years old, a wife and a mother of two small children. I have been diagnosed with lung cancer, had two lobes removed from my right lung and had to have fluid around my heart removed all since January of this year. I was out of work for six months and have only recently been released to go back to modified work schedule. In early January, I purchased two round trip tickets from OAK to DEN on United Airlines for the purposes of attending my 25 year old cousins’ funeral who had tragically died over the New Years holiday. The flight was scheduled to leave Oakland 1/16/10 and return from Denver on 1/17/10. We had limited time to schedule a flight that would allow us to attend so we quickly booked our tickets with the United Airlines since they offered a flight that best met our time constraints.
However, on January 11th, I was admitted to ICU at Kaiser Walnut Creek as I had become ill and the doctors were unable to determine the cause of my illness. Over the next few days I received extensive testing and it was found that I had a mass in my right lung that needed to be removed. At that time it was determined that I could not only not travel, but that I could not leave the hospital. I remained hospitalized until January 25th.
During this time my husband, Andrew, was the sole provider of care for our two small children and was unable to leave them to attend the funeral. My Sister-in-law, Abbie Stenson, called United Airlines on our behalf to try and get a refund for the tickets. She was informed at the time, that the tickets were non-refundable and that the only solution was to cancel the scheduled flights within 24 hours of the departure date so as to avoid losing out on not only the tickets but the monetary value of the tickets as well. It was explained that we would be credited the total dollar value of our tickets, towards a future flight with United with an additional $150 fee to schedule the future flight. Abbie explained the circumstances in detail to the Customer Service Representative in hopes of being granted a full refund. The CSR said that it was against policy no matter what the situation and that a letter could be submitted to request a full refund after the tickets were canceled. Seeing as how this was our only option, we decided to go ahead and cancel the tickets.
Upon my release from the hospital, my husband did as the CSR indicated and submitted a letter requesting a full refund based on our extreme circumstances. We also included a letter from my doctor confirming the severity of the situation. We received an email response to that letter denying our request and reiterating the refund policy. I have since called every Costumer Service line trying to get help with this matter as I am not able to travel within the one year time constraints of the original cancellation based on the United Refund policy.
I had hoped that United Airlines would grasp that enormity of my condition and be understanding in that our scheduled trip was not for pleasure but for the opportunity to grieve with our family. Never in our wildest dreams could we imagine that our trip would be canceled as a result of me being diagnosed with lung cancer. I have made it through countless procedures, surgeries, doctors appointments, hospital stays and yet I can’t get through to anyone at United Airlines.
So please take into consideration my outstanding circumstances when making a decision regarding my request for a full refund of the airfare for the confirmation number L8KBTW.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at any time. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from someone soon.
Respectfully,
Jennifer Stenson
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