Apologies if this isn’t the correct forum, but this seems slightly too esoteric for AskReddit and I figure there’s probably a dude or two out there who has had a similar experience.
I flew on a prominent airline recently and got incredibly sick 2-3 days afterwards. I’d been on vacation with two friends, one of whom flew home on the same flight and one of whom didn’t. The one who flew home with me got the same symptoms and had to be hospitalized. I missed a week of work, went to the doctor twice, and was diagnosed with a bacteria (it was bad enough that the health department of my city reached out to me to see if I was part of an outbreak). Without going too into detail, I could not go more than an hour without pooping for several days. It was horrible.
I submitted a complaint to the airline but I just heard back from them and they basically told me I was lying. I haven’t been able to speak with any humans from the airline yet but they seem pretty hostile in their communications. What the hell do I do now?
Edit:
For those asking, I honestly just want to get compensated for the cost of the flight, feel like that is fair given the, excuse the pun, shittiness of the situation.
19 comments
Depends on where you live. European Union? USA? Or otherwise?
I hope you’re feeling better now?
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In the EU, I would start with contacting one of the consumer protection organizations.
Send them the poop as proof.
Consult a lawyer
I’d ask over at r/legaladvice and get back in contact with the health dept. To let them know the airline is denying you got sick. I’d also file a formal complaint with the airline. Other than that not much you can do
i mean, what do you want? money? sue them i guess
an apology? you won’t get one
sorry this happened to you but if retribution is what you’re after then it’s gonna be hard for you
I had a similar case of food poisoning but at a restaurant and not an airline. Was hospitalized and missed a week of work as well.
Ended up with nearly $20k in medical debt from it. I contacted a lawyer, I wasn’t greedy I just wanted to sue them enough to cover medical expenses. Lawyer told me that unless I could find 2 or 3 other people that got food poisoning on that day there’d be no way to prove it and I’d be wasting their time. Company can deny and judge will side with them.
I live in the eu and u had the exact same thing happen to me back in 2015 when i came back from greece.
Had an ambulance come over because i fainted twice in the 2nd day. When they refused to take any responsibility i contacted a lawyer and before we went to court someone from the airline asked for a meeting where we settled.
I tried talking with the about it but not only they refused to admit anything but they even blacklisted me and no longer answered my calls or anything. After the meeting this was fixed too.
Hire a lawyer or write a bad online review and go back to living your life… no real middle ground between those two options.
You can get yourself a real good lawyer but remember, their lawyers are better
Move on with your life and never use that airline again.
I think the odds of you being able to definitively (in the legal sense) say it was the airline food, and not something else, are pretty low.
Sucks you got food poisoning; but I don’t really think you’re gonna get comped your flight.
IF it was only the two of you, then it will be hard to prove that you both got sick from food or whatever on the airline. The airline could simply say that the two of you had snacks of your own and that could’ve gotten you sick and there is no way to prove where it came from.
It sucks that you got that sick and I understand you’d want to be compensated in some way but is it worth what you’d have to go through? I saw some people say “hire a lawyer” I mean, I don’t know how much your plane tix cost, but is recovering that going to actually save you money after paying a lawyer?
It’s stupid that this somehow works but tweeting at accounts that roast airlines and have massive followers seems to bring attention to the matter. If you could get a tweet picked up by @BarstoolBigCat then you’ll increase your odds of getting some kind of resolution.
Here is the thing – how can you be positive that it was the flight and not something at the airport, on your vacation, etc., that caused it? If dozens of people from that flight got sick, I could see it. Two people, especially that were together more places than just the flight, leaves room for skepticism.
You may keep an eye out on social media related to the airline (where people like to complain) and see if anyone else speaks up. If you start seeing a few, it may help you case.
On the down side, airlines and other caterers probably get hundreds of bogus food poisoning claims every year.
So many liars makes it harder for honest people.
It’s going to depend on how far you push the issue. The airlines first reaction will always be to brush it off as lying, cause they get these type of calls all the time. Though different companies have different procedures on how they handle it. Most of the time by brushing it off, people stop complaining cause they don’t have proof to continue it. But if you have proof that you caught something from them, then you should contact a lawyer to discuss your options. 99% of the time they will settle to make it go away.
It’s unlikely food poisoning on a plane would have been isolated to just a single meal; and if no one else on the flight is complaining then it’s unlikely you got sick from the plane food
Your not entitled to anything here, honestly.
If you’re in the US, I’d start by talking with the Health Department in your state to see about filing a complaint about your food borne illness. Usually they follow up with an investigation and your medical bills (if you accrued any) may be covered.
Communicable diseases aren’t usually compensated as it is hard to trace the source. You could have gotten the bacteria prior to getting on the plane and being on the flight was just coincidence.
You would have more of a chance if the illness could be traced back to lysteria or e. coli for example that was directly related to that flight (i.e. food). It would be more helpful if more than two people got the symptoms especially if it was a large flight.
Definitely consult a lawyer, the airline may want to settle to avoid lawyer fees. Be mindful of the percent the lawyer will receive when negotiating.