In the past number of days, it’s the Cantrell family who have gone public with their heartbreaking story, after American Airlines refused to refund a plane ticket for their deceased nine-year-old daughter.
When little Madison ‘Scout’ Cantrell passed away from complications of an asthma attack, her family decided to cancel their annual beach trip, as they wouldn’t be able to bear keeping up the tradition without her.
However, when they went to refund their late daughter’s ticket, they were met with a cold insensitivity and shocking lack of empathy.
Madison’s mother, Felicity, took to Facebook to reveal that, even after having presented the airline with her daughter’s death certificate, the family were told that their situation did “not meet [American Airline’s] exception requirements”.
Adding insult to injury, once the story broke, the airline then lied about having apologised to the family.
After a statement was released stating that the airline “fully refunded Madison’s ticket last night and apologised to Mrs Cantrell”, Felicity took to social media to deny that any such thing had occurred.
Since sharing her story on Facebook and Twitter, the Cantrell family have received hundreds of messages of support, with Felicity telling NBC News that it has clearly raised awareness for an issue that has affected other families.
http://t.co/ih1smhjrif @FoxNews American Airlines blatantly lied to you -never talked to me never issued refund never apologized
— Felicity Cantrell (@felicitycantr1) March 11, 2015
“This is not about the money. Clearly, this has struck a chord with people….We can’t be the only family this has happened to,” she said.
In the latest update, Felicity informed her social media following that she had a very "genuine" conversation with a representative from the airline, who apologised profusely and spoke of his embarrassment at the debacle.
While we're glad that the Cantrell family have gotten justice, it is shocking to hear of this incident happenning in the first place.
