XPost: rec.travel.air, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.france   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: air.gestapo@united.com   
      
   It’s every passenger’s fear that an airline will mishandle their   
   luggage, so just imagine how one flyer felt upon learning that   
   United had mangled his $42,000 custom wheelchair.   
      
   Valentin Duthion, a 24-year-old French man suffering from spinal   
   muscular atrophy, disembarked his flight from France to New   
   Jersey on July 2 only to find that United had “destroyed” his   
   wheelchair ahead of a 27-day trip to the United States with   
   friends, according to his sister Lucie.   
      
   “This is how @united airline accompanies persons with   
   disabilities,” wrote Lucie on Twitter, via a translation from   
   French news outlet Le Progrès. “Armchair destroyed (37.000   
   euro), trip to the USA wasted.”   
      
   In a video that accompanied the tweet, the other members of   
   Duthion’s travel group — which goes by the name Dream Trotter —   
   can he heard discussing the damage to what appears to be a   
   United employee.   
      
   Lucie later told Le Progrès that her brother’s chair had been   
   rendered “unusable” due to mangled wheels, a disconnected   
   assistance box, damaged cylinders and a twisted steering handle.   
      
   In a statement obtained by Fox News, a representative for United   
   claims they're in contact with Valentin’s group, and that the   
   airline is making every effort to rectify this situation.   
      
   “Our goal is to provide great service for our customers during   
   their entire journey, and it concerns us deeply anytime we fall   
   short,” United in a statement obtained by Fox News.   
      
   “We have been in contact with our customer, and provided him   
   with a loaner wheelchair to use during his vacation. We have   
   arranged for the chair's repair and have upgraded the customer   
   and his travel companions for their return flight.”   
      
   Lucie, however, claimed that Valentin was offered a loaner   
   wheelchair that was “not at all adapted” to his needs — his   
   custom chair reduced his pain, and had much better battery life,   
   she says — but Valentin took it anyway after United gave the   
   group an “ultimatum.”   
      
   “If we refused, we had to sign a waiver stating that we refused   
   the help of United Airlines,” Lucie told Le Progrès.   
      
   Valentin's chair in currently in the care of United, which is   
   arranging for its repair. In the meantime, however, Valentin has   
   already had trouble with the loaner.   
      
   During one of their first stops in New York, Lucie said the   
   group “had to push this 200-kilogram (441-pound) wheelchair for   
   miles after a breakdown." She also claims they’ve already   
   swapped out the chair for a manual version.   
      
   A representative for United declined to confirm the chair would   
   be back in Valentin's possession. According to Dream Trotter's   
   Facebook page, they believe he'll be getting it back by the end   
   of the trip.   
      
   Regardless, the group seems to be making the most of their   
   vacation, having already updated their Facebook page with posts   
   from New York and San Fracisco.   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2017/07/12/united-destroyed-custom-   
   wheelchair-worth-42k-says-passenger.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)