Raw Deal: All we wanted was to say one last goodbye to a dear friend

June Leap and her husband Les. (Mercury Press)

WHEN June Leap set off for Germany to attend the funeral of a close friend, the last thing she needed was further upset.

She and husband Leslie booked an easyJet flight from Manchester to Hamburg so they could pay their final respects to Roswitha Hegler, who had passed away aged 62.

June and Roswitha became pen pals in the late ’60s while they were studying German and English, respectively, at school.

“Those letters started a lovely lifelong friendship between us and we often travelled back and forth to Germany to visit each other’s homes,” said June.

“We were even at each other’s weddings.”

But when the couple, from Wigan, arrived at Manchester Airport for the journey to Hamburg, things turned pear-shaped.

Their flight was firstly delayed – then it was cancelled.

This meant that the Leaps could not get to Hamburg in time for the funeral the next morning.

“I was devastated,” said June. “Our flight was supposed to leave at 11am, then it was delayed to 2pm and we were still hopeful because, at one point, we were told it would soon be boarding.

“Then the flight was cancelled altogether and there was no way we could get there on time.

June Leap of her, husband Les and their friend (Mercury Press)

“If we had been told earlier the flight was being cancelled we could maybe have made other arrangements but by then it was too late.”

Despite the disappointment of missing the funeral last July the couple’s travel agent informed them that under EU rules they were entitled to compensation of €250, plus the cost of the tickets.

At first, things went relatively smoothly. In August, £294 was paid to the couple by easyJet, which covered the cancelled flight compensation for Leslie and the cost of a taxi back home from the airport.

June was also told a further £230.52 was due to her in compensation for her own cancelled flight and that the sum would be paid within 15 days.

However, despite sending a number of further emails to easyJet’s customer services department, the Leaps said they did not receive a reply.

In November they contacted Raw Deal – and we asked easyJet to investigate.

It appeared there was some confusion about the payments as money had already been paid out to Leslie and it was initially thought June had also been reimbursed.

It took a few months, but the good news for the Leaps is easyJet has now stumped up the outstanding £230.52.

“I am obviously very disappointed to have missed the funeral of a long-time friend,” said June.

“But I can’t thank Raw Deal enough for easing this distressing situation.”

June said she was happy to have received the compensation after fruitlessly trying to get answers from the airline herself.

A spokesman for easyJet said: “We were unfortunately required to cancel Mrs Leap’s flight from Manchester to Hamburg on July 20, 2017, due to a technical issue.

“easyJet has reimbursed Mrs Leap for her taxi journey from the airport and refunded the cost of the flights in line with EU261.

“The safety and wellbeing of all passengers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and we would like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of this flight.”