Easyjet have been accused of insensitivity after they demanded to see a passenger’s death certificate as “proof” before they would give a refund.
Ozan Yunus, 28, bought a ticket to fly to Barcelona, Spain, for a friend’s stag party but was unable to use it after the teacher from Sidcup, Kent, tragically died on December 30 when his life support machine was switched off after he fell ill with meningitis on Christmas Day.
In a gesture of goodwill, his friend Daniel Pallace decided to ask the airline for a refund to donate the money to charity Meningitis Now, but was outraged when they insisted on seeing a death certificate from Mr Yunus’s family.
But hours later he went online and claims he saw the seat was back up for sale for £91.99.
Mr Pallace, a trainee pilot, said: “What really shocked me was how easyJet cancelled the reservation but made it available online, so they made money on the seat without refunding us.
“How can they say we haven’t done enough to get the refund when they’ve already put it back up for sale?”
Mr Yunus, known as Oz, had booked the flight with Mr Pallace, who was attending another friend’s stag party, for a total of £108.98.
“I contacted his sister Yasemin to forward the death certificate to me so I could give it to them.
“This still wasn’t good enough for them, and even when Yasemin forwarded it herself they wanted more documentation. I can’t believe a death certificate from the sister of the man who has died isn’t enough paperwork for them,” he told the Mail.
Miss Yunus, 23, said: “They were completely insensitive and bombarded me with emails. In the end I had to ask them to show a bit of compassion and stop asking me to prove my brother was dead.”
Eventually, easyJet provided a refund.
A spokesman for the airline said: “The correct action was taken to protect the personal data in relation to this booking.
“Unfortunately that means the refund could not be issued until security screening had been passed and permission had been given by an immediate family member.
“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience experienced at an already difficult time.”
