we were denied boarding on a china south as they said we did not have the correct visa paperwork for my wife.

we booked via KLM and they told china south thye were in the wrong and to let us fly.

We spent a long time making sure we had the correct documents and visited the chinease embassy to make sure they were correct.

As we were deined boarding KLM put us on a flight the next day. We missed our connecting train to Xian and spent an umwanted day in china trying to catch up again. KLM were brilliant and much as they could at the time. On our return home we started trying to claim compensation under the european 261/2004. However even though we booked with KLM they said th needed to pass this claim to China South.

China South have sent me an e-mail stating they are accepting they did make a mistake and we should have been allowed to board. However they do not see our denied boarding as being denied boarding. So all our extra costs will not be met and they will not accept the european rules even if it was flighing from a european airport.

Any help on this would be most greatful. We spent 2 year saving and dreaming about this trip to have it really spoilt and now China South just keep rubbing salt into our wounds.