A Nigerian family has appealed to the Germany ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Annett Günther, as well as the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce to look into the activities of Booking Health GMBH, a medical services company based in Germany.
The company is alleged to be stalling over the process of refunding the family for services not rendered.
A senior health official who is aware of the matter, said the Booking Health GMBH is acting in a way that doesn’t align with the core values of the health sector.
“What is playing out is totally unknown to the medical profession where trust and promptness are paramount due to the trust reposed in healthcare providers by patients and their family members, expecting not only professional treatment but also ethical and compassionate handling of financial transactions, especially during times of distress,” he stated.
According to him, the Nigerian family was desperate to get medical attention for their sick patriarch. And by July 16, 2024, they started making arrangements to fly him to Germany where Booking Health GMBH is supposed to facilitate his treatment.
Based on the preparations, a payment was made. Sadly, the man died a few hours later, on July 17, 2024, throwing the family into mourning. As it happened before any medical services could be provided, the standard practice is for the refund to be processed immediately.
However, despite the prompt communication of this devastating news and the lodgement of a full refund request, Booking Health has not been cooperative.
Apart from being in blatant disregard of the values associated with healthcare, Booking Health has plied emotional distress upon a family mourning the loss of their beloved patriarch.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Peter Okoh, noted an email exchange between the family and Hany Elrouby, the Quality manager at Booking Health on July 23, 2024, saying the family submitted a formal request for refund in the mail, providing necessary documents like Certificate of Death and necessary bank details. But instead of the refund, a series of evasive responses are all they got from Booking Health followed.
According to him, other senior figures at Booking Health including the CEO, Lena Lorenz and Patients Case Manager, Tanja Wilke, are also aware of what is looking like a fraud ring. This is demonstrated by the bureaucratic delay in spending over three weeks purportedly to review a two-page document, lackadaisical attitude of Booking Health to the refund request and its legal department’s request for a Certificate of Inheritance.
“The requirement of a Certificate of Inheritance, as stated in the August 9, 2024, email from Elrouby, is particularly disturbing. This request not only prolongs the refund process but also adds unnecessary emotional and financial burdens on a family already reeling from the loss of a loved one. The funds in question were not part of an inheritance; they were borrowed in a desperate attempt to save a life.
The family’s plea for urgency, given the nature of the situation, has been met with a lackadaisical and bureaucratic attitude, further exacerbating their grief and distress,” the relative added.
The tone and manner of responses from Booking Health so far are other aspects reflecting lack of empathy made worse by continued inaction and indifference which demonstrate a disregard for ethical business practices.
“It leaves us wondering if this is how they treat everyone or if this has been different because it involves Nigerians.
Would they treat a family from any other country from Europe or from the United States in this manner, for instance. And imagine this is coming from an entity based in Nigeria or anywhere else in Africa, they would have been shouting fraud and blue murder all over the place,” Okoh submitted.
Flashpoint sent an email to two email addresses listed on the Booking Health’s website: info@bookinghealth.com and h.elrouby@bookinghealth.com on the matter. But more than 24 hours after, no response or even an acknowledgment has been forthcoming from the endeavour.
However, it does appear Booking Health is not new to unfair practices and Nigerians and Africans have been targeted by the company. Looking through the internet, on Trustpilot, a website that enables people to review businesses through their web domains.
Writing as far back as January 16, 2024, an anonymous respondent on Trustpilot wrote: “Booking Health should not be trusted. A family member of mine paid upfront and when this didn’t go ahead, they refused to reimburse.
Apparently, their “contract” means they do not need to reimburse for services that didn’t take place.”
Also writing on February 22, 2024, Alexey K wrote urged people to beware, saying BookingHealth is not what it seems and urging caution despite BookingHealth’s promises of “financial transparency”, “highest level of service”, “work with only verified top doctors”, etc. In a lengthy post complaining of lies and mistreatment and wrong diagnosis, Alexey said it is all a ruse, ending with: “I am trying to understand if BookingHealth is unprofessional or unethical or pure fraud? I don’t know, but be careful.”
One of the most interesting, however, among many others, is that of Klaudia Rachwal on October 23, 2023 who said he had to sue to get his refund. “I had to seek legal representation and sue Booking Health for my refund. In May 2023, the court has ordered the company to pay me a refund and I settled for monthly instalments.
The payments were to start in June of this year on the first day of the month (and 14th the latest) and the final payment was scheduled for December of this year.
The company is disrespectful to the point that the instalments were paid always on the LAST possible date (14th) or sometimes even later than that…”
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
