He goes on a trip to the United States, his armchair is destroyed by united airlines

[jnelsoninjax]

(This is a translation via Google translator)

With a group of friends visiting the United States for a month, Valentin Duthion, suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, had a very bad surprise when descending from United Airlines.

 

This armchair does not belong to this adopted Lyonnaise, but to her brother, Valentin, 24 years old, suffering from spinal atrophy. With seven friends, they went to discover New York and the American West "to highlight the possibility of traveling even for people with disabilities".

On departure, on July 2, the chair of Valentin, Jurassien of origin (of Vevy), is embarked in Roissy, but on arrival in Newark (New York), it is the stupefaction. "The 250 kg chair had not suffered a single damage but had been completely destroyed and was unusable." A torn wheel, another off-axis, damaged cylinders, twisted steering handle, torn out assistance box ...

Supported by the American company, the group waited for the arrival of a mechanic and a spare chair "not at all adapted". "We had no choice but to accept this proposal after an ultimatum posed by the company. If we refused, we had to sign a waiver stating that we refused the help of United Airlines and therefore the takeover, "says Lucie (1).

The group agrees but the loss of autonomy is total for Valentin. It is necessary to drive the chair in its place, pains arise due to its inadequate form and the battery life is not at the rendezvous. In the middle of New York, "we had to push this 200 kg wheelchair for miles after a breakdown," said Lucie, who contacted the supplier on Monday to take a manual wheelchair instead. It was supposed to arrive on Wednesday.

Despite this, the group tries to enjoy its journey and share its experience via its Facebook page.

Contacted, United Airlines has not yet responded to our solicitations

Source (in French)

Video showing the damage: (again everything is in French)

 

 

[ThisSiteHasLostItsCharm]

"The 250 kg chair had not suffered a single damage but had been completely destroyed and was unusable."

 

Must of been designed by Schrödinger for it to be undamaged but destroyed.....

[FloatingFatMan]

15 hours ago, Slarlac249 said:

"The 250 kg chair had not suffered a single damage but had been completely destroyed and was unusable."

 

Must of been designed by Schrödinger for it to be undamaged but destroyed.....

First line of the OP:  "(This is a translation via Google translator)"

 

[T3X4S]

For some reason, I feel another side of the story is necessary before I can pass judgement.

 

[Dick Montage]

1 hour ago, T3X4S said:

For some reason, I feel another side of the story is necessary before I can pass judgement.

 

Completely agreed!

[FloatingFatMan]

23 hours ago, T3X4S said:

For some reason, I feel another side of the story is necessary before I can pass judgement.

Having been on the receiving end of airlines destroying cargo, I don't really think there needs to be another side of the story at all.  It's pretty clear what happened here.  Clumsy workers with zero respect for the items they handle combined with penny pinching office managers with zero customer facing ability and even less understanding of disabled people's needs.

 

I'll point out that this person would have had to pay an absolute fortune to get his chair shipped on the plane with him.  Whilst it wouldn't have been possible to replace like for like immediately, he should have been given a temporary chair whilst a proper replacement was sorted out at the airline's expense. This is why they have insurance!

 

[Nick H. Supervisor]

On 09/07/2017 at 5:18 PM, Slarlac249 said:

"The 250 kg chair had not suffered a single damage but had been completely destroyed and was unusable."

 

Must of been designed by Schrödinger for it to be undamaged but destroyed.....

A better translation is, "the 250 kg chair didn't just suffer a little damage, it had been completely destroyed and was unusable."