Qantas forced to refund passengers 'sitting in urine' during horror flight
Qantas has backed down after a couple sought compensation for their putrid experience on a flight from Bangkok to Sydney.
A furious couple who claim to have sat in urine during a nine-hour Qantas flight say they're disappointed by the lengths it took for them to finally get refunded for their horror journey.
The New Zealand nationals, from Wellington, were travelling from Bangkok to Sydney on a flight later destined for their home country late last year when they noticed a strange wet patch on the floor beneath them.
Placing a Qantas pillow on the ground under the seat in front of him, one of the passengers said he was confused when he picked it up again and found it was "wet and stained on one side". A bag with $70 worth of duty-free items was also placed in the same spot, alongside a phone case and a travel neck pillow.
Couple notice strange wet patch on floor of plane
All of the items were also wet when the couple inspected them again. Initially just brushing off the dampness as water, they placed some of the items in the overhead bin but proceeded to use the neck pillow for the flight and asked cabin crew to replace the Qantas pillow.
“We called an attendant who was confused and took the pillow away,” the couple told The New Zealand Herald.
After a number of hours went by, things took a concerning turn when one of the travellers reached under the seat where the dampness was first spotted and found a pair of children's underwear, it was then the pair realised the "water" they had first noticed was likely urine.
“Now we know that we have been sitting in urine for a 10-hour trip,” one said. “And the travel neck pillow, well, I had been using that for the last couple of hours, under the assumption it was just a bit wet from water.”
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Duty-free products, neck pillow thrown out
The pillow, along with the duty-free bag and its contents were binned after the flight, over hygiene concerns.
A flight attendant who was made aware of the situation took the underwear and said she would speak to her supervisor, who subsequently allegedly offered the couple 10,000 Qantas points as compensation.
Though, the couple said the experience turned them off the airline so badly they wouldn't fly with them again. “[It] does not make up for the fact we were sitting in biohazard waste," the couple said.
Qantas initially refused refund, couple claims
The couple pleaded with Qantas for their money back but were reportedly refused.
“I understand that due to inconvenience experience you want to request for a refund of flight,” read an email to the couple, sent on January 10, the Herald reported. “However, we regret that we’re unable to meet your request as the ticket was fully utilised.”
Stating it was “simply unacceptable” to have sat in urine for such an extended period of time, the couple demanded a refund of $3,827 — the cost of the Bangkok-Sydney leg of their journey. The couple acknowledged the urine was likely the fault of a contracted cleaning crew based in Bangkok, per Qantas's advice, but said the airline was ultimately responsible.
In a statement to Yahoo News Australia, Qantas said it would now offer a refund to the couple.
"All our international aircraft are cleaned between each flight, including vacuuming seats and disinfecting surfaces.We are looking into what has occurred and have raised the issue with our cleaning supplier in Bangkok, which cleaned the aircraft prior to departure," a spokesperson.
Yahoo understands Qantas staff on the flight only became aware of the problem just prior to descent, more than eight hours into the trip.
"We have apologised to the customers and will be providing a refund as a gesture of goodwill," a Qantas spokesperson told Yahoo.
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