Following the sudden death of her husband, Catherine O'Connell was left widowed in July, and according to Action 9 News, was initially ignored by Spirit Airlines when asked for a refund on her late husband's plane ticket.
"I can't handle it. I'm too upset. I'm too emotional," she told Action 9 of her disbelief over what seemed like a refusal on behalf of Spirit Airlines to refund her husband's ticket. "I don't know why they can't take care of it."
O'Connell of Palm Bay, Fla., who lives on a limited income, had planned on flying to New Jersey with her husband, John, back in July before he died suddenly right before their trip. Though the tickets she and John had purchased were nonrefundable, O'Connell sent the airline all requested documents, including her husband's death certificate, in hopes that they would reimburse her. Weeks later, no one returned her request, so she turned to Action 9 News for help.
"This kind of money is a lot to me. It may not be to them, but it's a lot to me," O'Connell told the news station at the time.
In response to the story, Spirit Airlines sent their condolences to O'Connell and her family and offered her a full refund for her tickets.
Although O'Connell's tickets were nonrefundable, "there is a clause for refunds when there is a death in the family or serious illness," according to the Daily Mail.
Spirit Airlines currently has more than 2,100 complaints with the the Better Business Bureau "involving sales, billing and service issues," Action 9 reports, and Consumer Reports recently rated the low-cost airline among the worst. The airline currently has an 85 percent rating of one out of five stars on ConsumerAffairs.com, and has numerous complaints listed on RipoffReport.com. Despite widespread complaints, the airline remains one of the most affordable in the country.
"Spirit does everything it can to make or save a buck," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst with Hudson Crossing, told the New York Times in May. "To its credit, Spirit doesn't promise passengers that they'll be coddled. Its customer service standards are terrible, and the airline's actions have shown it doesn't care about being liked or respected."
