A teenage wheelchair user has not received a new chair after a shipping blunder meant her mother had to cancel the order. 

Moya-May Kelly is 13 and has cerebral palsy; she uses a wheelchair full time and her mother, Julie Ann, describes her as an “amazing child”.

Earlier this year, the family started looking for a new wheelchair for Moya-May and Julie Ann found a company advertising one on Instagram.  

“She would really love the chair,” Julie Ann told Lunchtime Live. 

“She’s having a really hard time settling into secondary school because she goes to mainstream school. 

“She was like, ‘Oh my word, this chair looks so much better and it’s not as big.’” 

They sent the company a message and, after a bit of back of forth, agreed to purchase a chair. 

“It started off that the wheelchair was €2,300 and then it was €380 for shipping,” Julie Ann said.  

“That was paid through PayPal.” 

Later she got a notification that the chair was ready on Instagram and that the chair was on the way. 

Moya-May was “over the moon” with the news but soon things began to go wrong. 

An email pinged into Julie Ann’s inbox from the shipping company, asking for a copy of her passport and drivers licence; that was duly sent but then they asked for a copy of her marriage certificate. 

“Then he wanted my marital cert and… this is when I started to feel there’s something not right,” she said. 

“I haven’t got a marital cert; then he said, ‘I can’t do it that way.’”

The company then requested she send the shipping payment by bank transfer but then they suggested Julie Ann pay a fee of €1,800 to ensure the chair. 

“I said, ‘Insurance? Nobody said anything about insurance’,” she said. 

Julie Ann paid the €1,800 but the company rang up again to ask for more money.  

“The next day he rang me and said that he was so sorry, there was a hidden payment for a mobility tax - which was €1,100,” she said. 

Julie Ann felt nothing but despair but paid the fee anyway, thinking it would be the last request.  

“The very next day they were on the phone asking for €2,700 for cargo lifting handling and shipping,” she said. 

“So, when he asked for the €2,700, I didn’t have €2,700 to give him and I said to him, ‘That would mean I’m paying more to get the chair here than what it’s actually worth.’”

That was the final straw and she rang the wheelchair company asking for a refund; initially, the company agreed but none arrived and Julie Ann soon realised they had blocked her on social media. 

“I put it up on Instagram and Facebook and it [the posts] got like 57,000 views and likes on it. 

“He unblocked me and he messaged me, giving me the middle finger emoji.” 

She has since received a message of apology but no refund. 

Julie Ann is aware the “money is gone” but they still need to get Moya-May a new chair. 

Main image: A wheelchair user. Picture by: Alamy.com