A woman who had to cancel a holiday to Tenerife for an operation said that getting a voucher from Aer Lingus was a “shambles”. 

Mags Gubbins in Cork was forced to bring forward an operation because she was suffering from “severe pain”. 

However, when she contacted Aer Lingus about cancelling flights for her holiday to Spain, she found the company difficult to deal with. 

“Firstly, I contacted them through chat, which to be honest, was a shambles,” she explained on Lunchtime Live. 

“Then I contacted customer care by email; they asked for a formal headed letter from the hospital to say that I couldn't travel on the dates in question. 

“I provided two formal hospital headed letters, all stating that I wasn't fit to fly from Croom Orthopaedic Hospital.

“But instead of helping me, the correspondence with them back and forward was an absolute shambles.”

Ms Gubbins said she had spent €448 on her flights, which she described as a “lot of money” and was unhappy that Aer Lingus kept sending her automated rejections. 

“I was looking for a voucher and I did state I wasn't looking for a refund because I love my holidays,” she said. 

“Then I was gutted to have to cancel and I'm sure the flights were probably expensive too.”

It was only when Lunchtime Live contacted Aer Lingus about Ms Gubbins that a representative got in touch to offer her a voucher. 

“The amount of emails back and forth,” she said. 

“They were all automated; I mean, it certainly wasn't customer service as we would know it.” 

Main image: Aer Lingus planes at Dublin Airport. Picture by: Alamy.com.