A couple from New Zealand have managed to receive a several thousand dollar refund from Qantas for their tickets after they made a DISGUSTING discovery at the end of their 10 hour flight. Wanna know what’s worse than sitting in your own piss for half a day? Sitting in someone else’s.
Though in some ways it is might sound like they lived the dream by having their flights refunded, how they became eligible for the discount is also the stuff of nightmares. (Unless you’re a urophiliac, then it’s a win-win scenario.)
In a flight from Bangkok to Sydney on December 30 last year, the Kiwi couple who have wished to stay nameless sat down for the 10 hour voyage expecting a routine trip.
Placing various belongings on the floor like a neck pillow, a headphone case, and duty-free bag with $70 worth of goodies (nothing beats duty-free shopping), the first sign of trouble occurred when one of the couple noticed that their stuff had gotten wet after being placed below the seat.
However they assumed the wetness was due to water someone probably spilled earlier, so they didn’t question it and moved their items to the overhead storage.
They also allowed their neck pillow to dry off the ‘water’ so they could use it later.
And then toward the end of the flight shit/piss hit the fan.
One of the couple reached their hand under the seat at the end of the flight, and lo-and-behold, found a pair of children’s undies soaked in pee. They then pieced the clues together and realised why everything they had was wet — including the neck pillow they’d just used for eight hours.
THAT’S SO FERAL. YUCK. NO THANK YOU.
They threw out the $70 worth of items that were contaminated in the urine, and then made a complaint to staff as they realised what had occurred.
Speaking to the New Zealand Herald the couple shared the communications they had with the Australian airline following the piss-poor circumstances of their flight.
They state that a Qantas supervisor offered them 10,000 Qantas Points in compensation. However they gave this a big NO due to the fact that it “does not make up for the fact we were sitting in biohazard waste”, and because they have no plans of flying with the airline again.
They wanted a full refund for their flights, but Qantas didn’t want to give in to this at first.
“I understand that due to inconvenience experience you want to request for a refund of flight. However, we regret that we’re unable to meet your request as the ticket was fully utilised,” said an email the couple received from Qantas customer service team.
But the couple fought back, saying this was “simply unacceptable” and demanded to be paid back for the Bangkok to Sydney part of their trip.
This amounted to $3827.95 being refunded to the couple on January 15, when Qantas shared they would be “providing a refund as a gesture of goodwill” to the couple, after being chased up by the NZ Herald a few days prior.
Qantas shared it is looking into the matter of why the child’s underwear had not been cleaned between the flights, as their cleaning procedures ensure every plane is thoroughly cleaned between trips.
The couple have said that they are “very happy” with the final result of the refund.
On a completely unrelated note:
I’ll be flying with Qantas soon, and it sure would be a shame if I had to get a full-refund of my flight because someone left a pair of budgie-smugglers drenched in urine under my seat (17A, flight QF506). DM me to help make sure this doesn’t happen, if you catch my drift.
