B
Barbara Trumbly
Guest
In September I booked a vacation package with SunTrips to go to Maui for Christmas for my entire family, consisting of my parents, my grandmother (age 81), my brother (who is a paraplegic), my husband, myself, and two children (ages 14 & 15).
The package was to include airfare for eight, two - 2 bedroom condo's, and two cars. I specifically asked if the condo's were wheelchair accessible as my brother is in a wheelchair and needs to have access to the bathroom and be able to fit through doorways. I was put on hold and when the women returned to the line I was ASSURED that all of the facilities are wheelchair accessible.
When the itinerary arrived I noticed one of the condo's was only a one bedroom. When I called on this I was told there were no two bedrooms available. After I argued I had booked a two bedroom, I was told that we could still fit into the two condo's.
The condo's were not wheelchair accessible. In fact the facility had just settled an ADA claim and has sense developed a ten year plan to come into compliance with the ADA.
SunTrips did nothing to arrange new accommodations for us. We had to find accommodations where my brother could stay. We could not be together as a family as we had originally planed. I was charged a cancellation fee of $577 for reservations that should not have been canceled had the Sun Trip representatives done their job properly and not lied about the accessibility of the units.
We were scheduled to depart SFO at 7:25 AM. We were due to land in Hawaii at 10:40 AM.
My brother was boarded on the plane with a small "aisle" chair. The arm of his seat would not lift up and he could not transfer into the chair. A member of the flight crew grabbed him around the ribs to lift him in the seat. This was completely improper way to transfer him. He has floating ribs and internal damage from the incident that left him paralyzed. By the lack of concern and the improper transfer, my brother was in tremendous pain for most of our vacation.
After boarding the plane, the flight attendant could not get the door to close and the cabin would not pressurize. We then had to depart the plane and were told not to leave the gate area as we would be reloading in a few moments. However, they left my brother on the plane due to the "inconvenience" of getting him off the plane. Remind you, he can not fit into the bathrooms on the plane and we were expecting only a five hour flight.
After waiting several hours at the gate we were finally able to re-board the plane. The plane had just got in the air when the captain announced we would be dumping the fuel and making an emergency landing because the front landing gear would not retract. Needless to say people were a bit panicky especially to see the emergency vehicles lined up on the runway. Once we landed, the captain informed us that the ground crew failed to remove the pin out of the landing gear.
We were not allowed to leave the plane and had to sit in a tightly cramped, overly packed, hot plane for several hours while they refueled, put new food on the plane, and got the new flight plan. After spending 7 hours on the plane my brother had to go to the restroom but was told he could not leave the plane. After my mother informed the flight crew that they could either take him off the plane to use the restroom or they could call an ambulance, they eventually loaded him on a hand truck and took him to a bathroom.
While we sat there, I, as well as most all passengers, began calling to make sure the cars we had rented would still be there when we arrived. I called Dollar Rent A Car to inform them that we would be late in arriving when I was informed that SunTrips had canceled our car reservations in October. I was informed we did not have reservations and there were no cars available until December 31.
We finally departed SFO at approximately 2:00 PM. After over 12 hours we made it to Maui, hit the runway so hard I thought the plane was going to break, bounced in the air and hit the runway again. The force was so hard that the air-conditioning broke in the back of the plane and all the passengers were getting dumped on by water.
We lost the first day of our vacation, were completely exhausted and hungry, my brother was in extreme pain, and the family was split up, staying at different hotels. What started off as a wonderful family vacation for Christmas had turned into a very expensive nightmare.
While the plane trip home was not as horrible as the one coming, it served to be frustrating and expensive. Once again the representatives with SunTrips (AKA Sky Service) failed to seat my brother in a chair where the arm of the chair would raise to allow him to transfer in. After another argument to straighten that out, they finally got him in the correct seat. However, his wheelchair received extensive damage when stored. The frame got bent and there are two rips in the back of my brothers new wheelchair that he had just gotten a month earlier. When my brother contacted the airlines regarding the damage, he was told they would not cover the damage because it wasn't reported at the airport. He has yet to get any assistance in filing a claim.
SunTrips sent us four expired $100 vacation voucher's as an apology for the flight inconveniences.
SunTrips screwed up every aspect of this vacation:
- Booking a one bedroom condo instead of a two bedroom
- Did not make sure the facility was wheelchair accessible, when this was clearly request
- Canceling our car reservations
- Putting us through the worse air travel anyone could imagine
- Destroying my brothers wheelchair
- Sending four expired vouchers as an apology!
We have already contacted SunTrips and have stated they will not refund or replace anything. What to do next?
The package was to include airfare for eight, two - 2 bedroom condo's, and two cars. I specifically asked if the condo's were wheelchair accessible as my brother is in a wheelchair and needs to have access to the bathroom and be able to fit through doorways. I was put on hold and when the women returned to the line I was ASSURED that all of the facilities are wheelchair accessible.
When the itinerary arrived I noticed one of the condo's was only a one bedroom. When I called on this I was told there were no two bedrooms available. After I argued I had booked a two bedroom, I was told that we could still fit into the two condo's.
The condo's were not wheelchair accessible. In fact the facility had just settled an ADA claim and has sense developed a ten year plan to come into compliance with the ADA.
SunTrips did nothing to arrange new accommodations for us. We had to find accommodations where my brother could stay. We could not be together as a family as we had originally planed. I was charged a cancellation fee of $577 for reservations that should not have been canceled had the Sun Trip representatives done their job properly and not lied about the accessibility of the units.
We were scheduled to depart SFO at 7:25 AM. We were due to land in Hawaii at 10:40 AM.
My brother was boarded on the plane with a small "aisle" chair. The arm of his seat would not lift up and he could not transfer into the chair. A member of the flight crew grabbed him around the ribs to lift him in the seat. This was completely improper way to transfer him. He has floating ribs and internal damage from the incident that left him paralyzed. By the lack of concern and the improper transfer, my brother was in tremendous pain for most of our vacation.
After boarding the plane, the flight attendant could not get the door to close and the cabin would not pressurize. We then had to depart the plane and were told not to leave the gate area as we would be reloading in a few moments. However, they left my brother on the plane due to the "inconvenience" of getting him off the plane. Remind you, he can not fit into the bathrooms on the plane and we were expecting only a five hour flight.
After waiting several hours at the gate we were finally able to re-board the plane. The plane had just got in the air when the captain announced we would be dumping the fuel and making an emergency landing because the front landing gear would not retract. Needless to say people were a bit panicky especially to see the emergency vehicles lined up on the runway. Once we landed, the captain informed us that the ground crew failed to remove the pin out of the landing gear.
We were not allowed to leave the plane and had to sit in a tightly cramped, overly packed, hot plane for several hours while they refueled, put new food on the plane, and got the new flight plan. After spending 7 hours on the plane my brother had to go to the restroom but was told he could not leave the plane. After my mother informed the flight crew that they could either take him off the plane to use the restroom or they could call an ambulance, they eventually loaded him on a hand truck and took him to a bathroom.
While we sat there, I, as well as most all passengers, began calling to make sure the cars we had rented would still be there when we arrived. I called Dollar Rent A Car to inform them that we would be late in arriving when I was informed that SunTrips had canceled our car reservations in October. I was informed we did not have reservations and there were no cars available until December 31.
We finally departed SFO at approximately 2:00 PM. After over 12 hours we made it to Maui, hit the runway so hard I thought the plane was going to break, bounced in the air and hit the runway again. The force was so hard that the air-conditioning broke in the back of the plane and all the passengers were getting dumped on by water.
We lost the first day of our vacation, were completely exhausted and hungry, my brother was in extreme pain, and the family was split up, staying at different hotels. What started off as a wonderful family vacation for Christmas had turned into a very expensive nightmare.
While the plane trip home was not as horrible as the one coming, it served to be frustrating and expensive. Once again the representatives with SunTrips (AKA Sky Service) failed to seat my brother in a chair where the arm of the chair would raise to allow him to transfer in. After another argument to straighten that out, they finally got him in the correct seat. However, his wheelchair received extensive damage when stored. The frame got bent and there are two rips in the back of my brothers new wheelchair that he had just gotten a month earlier. When my brother contacted the airlines regarding the damage, he was told they would not cover the damage because it wasn't reported at the airport. He has yet to get any assistance in filing a claim.
SunTrips sent us four expired $100 vacation voucher's as an apology for the flight inconveniences.
SunTrips screwed up every aspect of this vacation:
- Booking a one bedroom condo instead of a two bedroom
- Did not make sure the facility was wheelchair accessible, when this was clearly request
- Canceling our car reservations
- Putting us through the worse air travel anyone could imagine
- Destroying my brothers wheelchair
- Sending four expired vouchers as an apology!
We have already contacted SunTrips and have stated they will not refund or replace anything. What to do next?