I am asking folks to no longer fly with Lufthansa ever again. I cannot believe how Lufthansa lacks any empathy for its customers. This is by far the worst customer experience I have EVER had. If anyone has a good contact at Lufthansa who can help my situation, I would appreciate it. The following story is a little long, but I want to ensure the public knows how poor the service is at Lufthansa, and they only care about the bottom line. I cannot believe that Lufthansa is scraping pennies off the floor and will not provide a refund. Here is what happened:
In January, my wife was finally in remission from cancer. In June, we booked tickets to Munich to attend Oktoberfest as a celebration of her remission and her ability to feel well enough to travel. As many of you know, all of my relatives live in Germany. We lived in Germany from 2007 to 2009, and this was our first opportunity to return. In full disclosure, I did not pay for travel insurance because we were fully committed to this trip.
In mid-July, we learned my wife's cancer was back and was progressing very quickly. We knew she was going to have major surgery in August as a result of the tumor. I immediately contacted Lufthansa to see about a refund. A Customer Service Representative (CSR) told me they would not refund the ticket. If they gave a refund, it would only be for the taxes ($100). I explained my situation, and the CSR said I could file an exception. I followed the instructions and submitted the documentation. I get a wonderful email from Lufthansa saying they were not "legally obligated" to provide a refund.
I contacted Lufthansa again and asked why the refund was being denied, especially when you have an exception process. In my opinion, an exception process is meant to look at internal policy and provide an exception based on certain circumstances. BTW, my current role is managing the IT exception process for our company.
I was told I needed to submit additional items like a letter from the doctor and a copy of her diagnosis, which I submitted the next day.
I hear nothing, and I call back, and the CSR said it is denied. I asked why, and they said they need a signed letter from the doctor (not an autopen) along with a stamp. I asked what kind of stamp, but no one could tell me. During three calls, I asked the same question, and no one could explain what a stamp was. The letter was written on hospital letterhead.
I resubmitted the letter the next day. I heard nothing in a week and called back and was told Customer Relations may not have received it yet. Like every time I spoke to a CSR, I had to confirm the email address I sent it to because they were insinuating I did not send it to the right email. The CSR said it could take 2 weeks. I waited another week, and I heard nothing so I called back.
Again, I was told it was denied, but the CSR could not tell me why. What is most interesting is that the exceptions are reviewed by Customer Relations (CR). All the CSRs made it clear I could not speak with them directly. What was even better, they claimed they could not even call CR. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told they would call me back. They never called. I received an email that said they tried to call me which was a lie. Nothing on my phone indicated a missed call.
Fast forward and I called back yesterday. I explained the situation and made sure they understood I am requesting a refund and not a rebooking because my wife would not be able to travel in the next year because she will have chemo and immunotherapy every 2 weeks for the next year. The CSR then says, well you can rebook the flight. I asked did you not hear what I said, we are in no position to plan another trip for a year. BTW, this was the first time in over 2 months anyone even mentioned offering a rebooking.
I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told they would call me back and I explained no one called back last time, I will hold. I held for 15m or so and the CSR said she will transfer me. They sent me to a voicemail box that would not accept messages and automatically disconnected me.
I called back immediately, explained my situation again and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told a supervisor could not override customer relations. My goal was to go up the chain until someone could tell me how this could be resolved. I explained I still want to speak with a supervisor. The CSR said it will be 20 - 30m, I said I would hold. I also requested a handoff in which the supervisor was on the line before the CSR dropped. After 15 minutes, the CSR told me it will take 30-40m more to connect me with a supervisor. I agreed to hold. Five minutes later, I was switched from an open line to "hold" music and a minute later the call was automatically disconnected.
As of right now, my phone log shows 9 calls and over 10 emails to Lufthansa and yet no one can tell me why it was denied except for the fact I did not pay for trip insurance. read more
