[thecarrotdude]

These are a series of emails between me and the program coordinator for my summer research program. I have a trip to Santa Barbara in a couple of weeks, for a meeting for my program) so I had booked a round trip ticket but I accidentally booked the wrong return date (a month later). My program (FLRS) was supposed to cover the flight. I bought a new return ticket and so my emails are about if the program can cover the additional cost of the new ticket. Now I believe the program coordinator sent me a rude email (the last email) so I want to know how I should reply. I typed up an email but I'm not sure if I should send that because it may be too rude? And this person is the program coordinator so that person could screw me over later.

The names I used are not the real names. Jennifer - Program coordinator, John - Me

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Hi Jennifer,

I somehow booked the return date for my first ticket for July 27 instead of June 27. So the cheapest option I could find was to purchase a new return ticket (it was cheaper than changing the date). The cost of the first ticket was $470 and the new ticket is $270 which comes to a total of $740. I saw that FLRS would cover up to $490 for tickets from UIUC, but I was hoping that the second ticket could possibly be covered as well? I would really appreciate if something could be worked out. The itinerary for the new ticket can be found below.

Thanks,

John
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John,

HI! I am sorry that you made a mistake in purchasing the wrong date for your return ticket. I have asked the accounting folks at FLRS and unfortunately the accounting rules are very strict we can only reimburse to for the flights that you actually take on the dates of the Orientation Meeting. We will not be able to reimburse you for your ticket on July 27th. You might be able to apply that ticket towards your trip to the symposium in August, and that is the best option you have to recover some of your costs. If you had contacted myself or Bob James before you bought a new ticket then we might have been able to help you figure out the best solution, but at this point there is not much we can do to help you out. We can pay for only your flight to and from Reno on June 23rd or 24th and your return ticket on June 27th. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this.



Thank you

Jennifer

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Hi Jennifer,

So just to clear things up, I have one round-trip ticket (June 23 Chicago to Santa Barbara, July 27 Santa Barbara to Chicago) - $480. I also have a one-way ticket (June 27 Santa Barbara to Chicago) - $270. I would be using both these tickets for flights on the dates of the orientation meeting, I would just not be using the second half of the first ticket. Would FLRS cover both the tickets since they are flights that I would take on the dates of the Orientation Meeting. This seems to fall within the accounting rules. I think you may have thought I bought 3 separate tickets, which is not the case. Again, I would very much appreciate if you can inquire about this for me.

Thanks,

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John --
Apparently, I was not clear. We can only pay for one round trip, if we were to pay for both of your ticket we would paying for a leg of flight you will not be taking. So we can pay for one round trip only, we will not be able to reimburse you for the extra ticket you purchased. These are government rules and we cannot bend them. I would advise you to contact the airline and see if you can apply the credit for the July flight to another flight.

thank you

Jennifer

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So I thought this last email was pretty rude.... I'm not sure how to reply to this. Can you give me your suggestions. Was she not being rude in the first place? Should I not be wasting time with this? Should I let her have it? Should I let it go?