Kym’s disabled mother was going to move in with her a few weeks ago. She purchased tickets for her mother and four nieces to fly to Kym’s city from a major hub airport about two hours away from their town. Instead of getting on their flight, the family ended up stuck in the airport for six hours, then had to hire a car service to drive them back home. What happened? Garden-variety airline delay? No, Kym writes: AAA sold her sister standby tickets without letting her know. The stress of the experience has affected Kym’s mother so much that she still hasn’t been able to make the flight.

2 Weeks ago I sent my mother and sister money to purchase plane tickets to fly from [redacted] to [redacted] to move in with me. We looked around and discovered tickets were $106 each if they flew from [redacted], which is 2 Hours away and booked through AAA Office where my elderly disabled mother is a member. Buying out of the local airport took the price to $436.00. So we went with [airport]. We informed AAA and Air Tran that one of the ticket holders was in a wheel chair and disabled and would be cared for by her teenage grand daughters.

Come moving day my mother and 4 nieces and nephews were sent to the airport via car service. My sister and her husband stayed behind to close the house and finish off all the details. We called up Air Tran and were told our mother and kids were checked in and were in the waiting room 30 Minutes before the flight. We relaxed and started tracking the plane, and getting ready to receive them on our end. Come time to pick them up and they are not at the airport.

We begin calling anyone and everyone we can think of and find out my mother and the kids are still in [redacted]! Furthermore the airline staff wheeled my mother in to the corner and promised to help her as soon as they had a break! That break did not arrive for over 6 Hours. By the time my niece bullied her way to a phone and called her mom, Her mom had already had the home phone disconnected and missed the call on her cell phone.

They finally got a hold of us a few hours later; right after we found out they were still in [redacted]. We sent my Mom with the hired car service at 6am. Another hired car service brought them home at 2am the next morning. My mother was so stressed out she had to be examined for a stroke. It has been two weeks and she still has not been cleared to fly again because those 20 hellish hours damn near killed her.

In the End, AAA sold my sister STAND BY TICKETS, with out even telling her that’s what they were, and Air Tran overbooked the flight. Our family is out $350 in car service fees and so upset over our mother we do not even know what to do or who to approach to make this right. AAA already refunded the initial tickets, which was a total of $530.00.

I would love advice on what to do about getting the $350 in car service fees covered if nothing else.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.