A traveler who believed he was the victim of food poisoning on an Air Transat flight to the Dominican Republic last April was allegedly asked by a private clinic to pay US$2,000 to call an ambulance.
Upon arriving at Puerto Plata Airport in the Dominican Republic, Daniel Lussier reportedly vomited and lost consciousness. “It looked like very serious indigestion. Because of my illness, I was less alert.” TVA News.
Once they arrived at the Hotel l'Emotion, Mr. Lussier and his son Francis went to the hotel's clinic, where his condition deteriorated further.
In light of his father's health condition, his son Francis requested that he be transferred by ambulance to the hospital.
However, Francis says he struggled to get to the ambulance and was charged $2,000. Daniel Lussier describes this situation as “exploitation,” as he puts it.
“Unfortunately they didn't want to contact him [l’ambulance]. They asked me $2000 to call the ambulance, because I didn't want to sign the document so they would send me to the hospital. We followed his brother's signal [à Daniel]“We did not want to go to this hospital,” comments Francis Lussier.
For Ibn Daniel, it was a matter of life and death. So he turned to the security guard to call the ambulance.
The family felt “held hostage.” “It seemed like a discount. There was a lot of insistence on the $2,000 ambulance and the specific hospital they wanted to send us to,” says Daniel Lussier.
There is no support from Air Transat
The family was hoping for support from the airline Air Transat. “It was not a question of money,” he continues, “it was a question of getting support, help and accompaniment.”
According to the 66-year-old, the agency should provide a full service including aircraft, accommodation and support. “Ultimately, the support we have there is selling us trips.”
His son is also critical of Air Transat. “We expect to have a verified service. What I mean by that is to verify the clinic, how you work in that clinic. They had no help to offer me. I kept repeating that I needed someone to help us. The only thing I saw was “It's that they want our money so we can pay again.”
Thanks to his insurance, Daniel Lussier was able to get care from a Quebec doctor who came to join him in the Dominican Republic. Because of his health, he had to stay longer in Puerto Plata. It was too risky, according to the doctor and his insurance company, to return to the country.
But Air Transat has a different opinion. The carrier responded by email. “However, it appears from the information gathered that Mr. Lussier would have been allowed to leave the clinic on April 5 and that he would have been able to travel on the scheduled date. An extension of stay for medical reasons was not necessary,” Air Transat wrote.
Regarding the $2,000 fee, the airline adds: “We have no information about the procedures and costs of the hotel clinic.”
Daniel Lussier is a frequent traveler and says this situation with Air Transat is unfortunate. “I've made about thirty flights and maybe more than twenty with Air Transat. There, it discouraged me a little to be so poorly accompanied. When you're sick, you're not prepared. It was fortunate that Francis was there,” stresses Daniel Lussier.
