EasyJet makes man pay £57 to take his mother's belongings home after she had a stroke

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EXCLUSIVE: Jeff Kimber was on holiday with mother Shirley, 78, in Majorca
She suffered a stroke and had to spend two weeks in hospital recovering
Insurance firm booked four seats on an easyJet flight back to Britain
But Mrs Kimber needed air ambulance so her son took her bags and three seats went unoccupied
EasyJet made him pay €78 because the bags were 6kg overweight and told him it 'wouldn't be fair' to waive the fee

Published: 02:15 EST, 19 September 2015 | Updated: 11:12 EST, 19 September 2015

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EasyJet has come under fire for charging a customer more than £50 to take his mother's luggage home from Spain after she suffered a stroke.

Jeff Kimber had to fly back to Britain from Majorca alone, because his elderly mother Shirley was too ill to take a commercial flight even though she had a seat booked on the easyJet service.

When he checked in with two bags - one for his own belongings and one for his mother's - he was told he had to pay a €78 charge because his luggage was too heavy.

Fury: Jeff Kimber, right, was told to pay €78 to take the belongings of his mother Shirley, left, home after she suffered a stroke on holiday

The airline refused to waive the fee even when Mr Kimber, 40, pointed out that his insurance company had booked four tickets for the flight and he was only using one of them.

When he returned to Britain, he contacted the company to complain - but they told him it would be 'unfair' to bend their own rules by refunding the money.

Mrs Kimber, from Newcastle, spent two weeks in a Spanish hospital after suffering a stroke and other medical conditions while on a family holiday with her three children and three grandchildren last month.

Her insurance company arranged for a nurse to fly out and escort the 78-year-old home, and booked four tickets on an easyJet flight to Newcastle - for Mrs Kimber, her son and the nurse, along with one spare.

'Mum fell ill a few days into the holiday,' Mr Kimber told MailOnline. 'She was taken to hospital - she'd had a minor stroke, but that wasn't diagnosed at the time.

Ill: Mrs Kimber was in hospital in Spain for two weeks before she was well enough to fly home to Newcastle

Care: Mr Kimber pictured looking after his mother and helping to feed her during her hospital stay

'She stayed in hospital for 15 days - she was obviously desperate to get home. The holiday insurance firm were really good, they said as soon as she's fit to fly we'll fly her home.

'Then the nurse got there, he wasn't happy - he said she couldn't fly home on a commercial flight and he ordered a medical evacuation.

'The insurance firm said, "You should take your luggage and your mum's luggage."'

Last Wednesday Mr Kimber, a professional poker player from London, packed up his mother's belongings - leaving her with just her passport for her journey in a medical plane - and checked in at Palma airport.

Two tickets were booked in his name, so he handed in two bags weighing 23kg each, but was told that this exceeded the luggage allowance of 20kg per bag.

When he complained to the employee on the check-in desk, she suggested that he could re-pack his bags and carry his mother's handbag as hand luggage.

On the mend: Mrs Kimber is now recovering from her illness and is expected to leave hospital soon

Mr Kimber said: 'I explained to her that I was taking all my mum's stuff, that she was in hospital and I'd had a really stressful day trying to explain to my mum that I was leaving her.

'I put the cases on and they were both 23kg - she said, "You're over." I said, "But it doesn't matter, does it?" She said, "That's the rules. There's nothing I can do." I said, "Yes, you could show some compassion and waive the fee."

'I wasn't going to start putting all my clothes on and carrying an old age pensioner's handbag.'

He was charged €78 - €13 for every kilogram over the baggage allowance - before he was allowed to board the flight.

On returning to Britain, Mr Kimber complained to the company, which was founded by entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou and is now worth £7billion, but was told that he could not get a refund.

'I contacted them via Twitter and said this can't be right - they said those are the rules and it wouldn't be fair to bend the rules,' he said.

'It's like speaking to a robot, there's no compassion and no understanding. The rules are ridiculous anyway - the whole idea that just by shifting weight from one bag to another you don't have to pay any more.'

Unyielding: EasyJet claims it would be unfair to revoke the excess baggage fee for Mr Kimber

A customer services worker told him: 'While this was correct procedure and the staff acted according to our terms and rules, there is no refund possible.

She added: 'We try hard to be consistent and fair, so we would not be able to refund you this amount paid for your extra weight and not do so for others.'

When Mr Kimber continued to complain, a different spokesman told him: 'I believe we have exhausted all angles that we're able to assist you with in regards to this claim and have nothing further to add.'

By contrast, when he contacted Virgin Trains to cancel a booking because of his mother's illness, they quickly told him they would refund his money 'as a gesture of goodwill'.

After Mr Kimber took to Twitter to express his anger with easyJet, a number of top poker players including writer Victoria Coren Mitchell vowed to boycott the airline in future.

Mrs Kimber is currently recovering in hospital in Britain and is expected to return home next week.

However, after MailOnline contacted easyJet on Mr Kimber's behalf they decided to give him his money back.

A spokesman said: 'We’re sorry to hear of Mr Kimber's difficult circumstances and sympathise with him.

'Prior to the flight we advised the customer to contact one of our special assistance advisers to ensure we could make the appropriate arrangements.

'Unfortunately no contact was made which meant an exception couldn't be made at check in.'

'Given the circumstances and that the customer already had purchased seats with baggage allowances which went unused, we are happy to refund the excess baggage charge as a gesture of goodwill'.