Austrian Airlines reimburses passenger who ate nutty brownie $1,462

This might be one reason why Austrian Airlines is in so much trouble. Then again, it might be why the beleaguered carrier hasn’t folded any sooner.

A passenger who bit into a brownie and broke a cap on her tooth on a flight from Washington to Vienna has been reimbursed by the airline to the tune of $1,462.

That kind of customer service is all but unheard of in the United States. But Austrian Airlines sees it differently, apparently.

(Full disclosure: I grew up in Vienna. I still have family in Austria, and I think Austrian Airlines is one of the better European carriers.)

Reader and travel agent Sherri Carnefix sent me the story:

I had a client who flew to Vienna last month from Dulles. Upon her return, she let me know that she broke a cap on her tooth while eating a brownie (bit into a shell).

The flight attendant filled out an irregularity form stating what happened. My client went to her dentist and obtained an X-ray and an estimate of $1,462 to repair it. I sent the form along with a note explaining what happened to Austrian Air in New York.

I think that was nice of Carnefix, but as someone who has resolved thousands of grievances, I’m not sure I would have given her client much hope.

Then Yonca Celikkol began to email me with what additional information was needed. I sent that to Yonca, and today got a message that the bill would be paid in full!

Just plain “done.” Not many US carriers are this helpful.

No, they aren’t.

So what’s the takeaway for the rest of us? That if you want real customer service, you should fly an international carrier? Maybe.

That even an airline flying under difficult financial conditions can take care of its passengers? Perhaps.

Maybe I’m nuts, but the explanation could be an even simpler one: that those Austrians sure do take their pastries seriously.

  • Jennifer

    No way this should have been reimbursed. It’s nice customer service but from a legal standpoint, it sets a bad precedent. You would expect to find a nut in a nut brownie and it’s also not wholly unexpected to find a piece of a shell. It’s not as if she found a rock in the brownie. In the US, she would not win in a court of law. See claims of finding a chicken bone in chicken soup.

    It reminds me of a client who asked why I thought he shouldn’t be entitled to damages because he broke a tooth when he tried to open a bag of Southwest peanuts…with his teeth.

    I would rather the airlines save their money and reimburse for damages they actually cause. Like lost luggage, or not charging for the first checked bag, or for a soda, etc., etc.

  • Jeanie

    The fact that the airline PAID for this is nutty.

  • Thomas Brenneman

    Several years ago a similar incident happened to me on Continental on a flight from Mexico City to Houston. I broke a molar when a bit into a steak. (Told you it was years ago) Long story short, upon my return home and a visit to my dentist, I sent a copy of the bill to Continental and received a check for the total amount within 30 days!

  • Mike

    Wow. I could see making a claim if there were a foreign object in some food served on an airplane, but teeth break from time to time due to age and decay.

    I’d much rather hear stories about an airline making compensation without big hassles when they delay your baggage or cancel your flight because of capacity reductions.

  • Ronda

    i think that airlines do like a draw every week, to determine which complaints they see to and which ones they ignore. that is the only explaination why a chipped tooth would be seen to but the many missed flights and bad costomer service arent…