Breast cancer patient fights for vacation refund
CBC News
Posted: Dec 4, 2012 7:33 PM PT
Last Updated: Dec 4, 2012 9:18 PM PT
A B.C. woman who had to cancel her vacation when she was diagnosed with breast cancer is feeling some relief after Sun Wing Vacations relented and gave her full credit for a holiday she was too ill to take.
Diana Constanzino was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks ago and had been trying to cancel a vacation to Cuba that she booked in October.
"It's serious and I started chemotherapy last Wednesday, so they really took it seriously,” Constanzino said. “I asked the doctor if I could go on vacation and he laughed. ‘No’”
Constanzino and her husband had booked their holiday with vacation provider Sunwing for other holidays and had purchased cancellation insurance before, but never needed it. So this time, they didn't bother.
When Constanzino received her diagnosis, they cancelled the trip and asked Sun Wing for a credit for the more than $2,000 spent on the holiday.
"When I got the response that they would only give me a $186 credit per person for a $1,050 vacation. it just didn't seem good enough," she said.
CBC News and Flight Centre — the travel agency she booked with — both contacted Sun Wing on Constanzino's behalf.
Later on Tuesday, Sun Wing offered a full credit voucher, valid for one year, for compassionate reasons.
With files from the CBC's Meera BainsShare Tools
Latest British Columbia News Headlines
- Police probe death of woman, 27, in Kelowna home
- The Kelowna RCMP is investigating the suspicious death of a 27-year-old woman at a home in the Glenmore area. more »
- Senators call for 'zero tolerance' on harassment in RCMP
- The RCMP should amend its code of conduct to explicitly define and prohibit harassment, a Senate committee is recommending in a newly tabled report. more »
- Cross Canada bike stolen from B.C. senior
- An 85-year-old Burnaby senior hopes a heartless thief returns a bicycle that has rolled 4,700 kilometres across Canada, and carries countless memories of a magnificent adventure. more »
- Police probe Mohinder graffiti in East Vancouver
- While it's hard to establish if more than one person is responsible for the graffiti, police say their investigators are looking into it. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Neil Macdonald: Washington's obsession with leakers
- Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are just the most prominent targets in an all-out legal and propaganda campaign that America's security apparatus is mounting against leakers everywhere, Neil Macdonald writes. more »
- Half of First Nations children live in poverty
- Half of status First Nations children in Canada live in poverty, a troubling figure that jumps to nearly two-thirds in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, says a newly released report. more »
- Who's who in the Senate expense controversy
- Keeping track of the names popping up in the ongoing Senate expenses controversy — from the investigators to the four senators themselves — could be a difficult task for even the most seasoned political observers. more »
- How open is Ottawa's new 'open data' website?
- Treasury Board President Tony Clement is touting the federal government's revamped data portal as a "new natural resource." But that online window for previously published data arrives at the same time the government faces controversy over just how open it really is. more »
- Police probe death of woman, 27, in Kelowna home
- Hundreds attend 'Change Brazil' protest in Vancouver
- Parents of son 'brutally beaten' playing hockey want charges
- Failed condo pre-sale deal costs Vancouver buyer $750K
- Police probe Mohinder graffiti in East Vancouver
- Cross Canada bike stolen from B.C. senior
- Vancouver airport CEO takes aim at cross-border travellers
- The class photo that made a father cry
- Prison guard files murder trauma claim
