AIRLINK SERVICES A HUGE LET DOWN

On Tuesday, 5 September, I was scheduled to fly from Windhoek (Namibia) to Cape Town (South Africa) on a 09:25AM Airlink flight.

As always, I had checked in online the night before and had both my digital boarding pass and my passport with me on the day of my trip. All that was left for me to do before boarding the plane was to check in my suitcase at the airport.

However when I arrived at Hosea Kutako International Airport at exactly 08:10AM, I was shocked to find that the Airlink check-in counter was already closed. This was more than an hour before the flight was scheduled to depart and well before the boarding gate had even opened. The boarding gate opened at 08:40AM that morning.

Confused, I saw that the Airlink Ticket Sales and Reservations counter was still open. When I went over there to enquire for assistance, the female Airlink staff member informed me (and other confused customers too) that the check-in counter was indeed closed. She couldn’t provide us with any answer for why it had closed so early.

In any event, it became increasingly clear that I had two big problems: (1) boarding my flight on time and (2) finding an alternative way of sending my suitcase to Cape Town.

When I tried to go through the Security Check in order to proceed towards my boarding gate, I was informed by the Namibian airport personnel that Airlink would not let me board without a printed-out boarding pass. Mind you I have flown successfully with many other national and international carriers with a digital boarding pass on my cellphone. It is perfectly accepted in the modern era by all other carriers.

However, since the Airlink check-in counters were closed, I returned to the Airlink Ticket Sales and Reservations counter to see if the lady working there could help print out my boarding pass. This Airlink staff member proceeded to tell me that even though her counter did have a working printer, she would however not be able to print out my boarding pass because her printer had no paper. I repeat, no paper. I then asked if she could at least let me know what later Airlink flights were available and how much they would cost since, without my paper boarding pass, I was clearly going to miss my flight. She went on to tell me that she could not find this information in her system as I was already checked in online. You can imagine my scepticism and growing frustration at this point as the information I was looking for is information any Ticket Sales and Reservations counter should have at hand. This is information that any Google search is able to provide but, for some strange reason, was beyond this woman’s capabilities at that time.

Mind you, throughout my entire dealings with this Airlink staff member, she remained cold, unfriendly and even raised her voice at her customers at one point when she exploded out loud with the lines, “I don’t have a solution for you people!” After that outburst, she sat back down on her chair and continued scrolling through social media on her phone.

In then end, and perhaps not surprisingly so, it was a staff member from a competing Airline that had the courtesy and professionalism to print out my boarding pass on their printer for me. With few other alternatives, my only choice was to pay to send my suitcase to Cape Town via the Airlink Cargo service…

… And so began my next disappointment.

Airlink Cargo informed me that my suitcase would leave Windhoek that same day, 5 September, on the 13:00 flight — in effect arriving in Cape Town shortly after 15:00 or 16:00 that same day.

My suitcase only left Namibia THE NEXT DAY on the 6th of September at 10:40!!

An Airlink Cargo staff member that I spoke to on the telephone number (+27)21 *** assured me that I would be able to collect my suitcase on Saturday 09 September, anytime between 7AM -7PM, as it is a bit of a commute for me to travel to the airport midweek because of my job. It is now Saturday and I have just been told by a member of the Airlink Cargo staff (Nolisa) that I in fact will not be able to collect my suitcase today after all since I will need to fill out a Customs Clearance form and the office which handles all this is closed over the weekend.

So, essentially, this suitcase which left Namibia late on Wednesday 6 September will only be made available to me on Monday the 11th of September after nearly a week since I flew with Airlink.

To say I am disappointed by the service I have received from Airlink is a grave understatement. Not only has the Airlink staff been unfriendly and uninformed at every turn, there seems to be a serious disconnect between all of them which only ill affects the paying customer.

I now know FOR A FACT that if I had chosen to fly with a different carrier, I would have arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday the 5th of September with my suitcase and my sanity in check. Instead I arrived frustrated and upset by Airlink’s terrible customer service, inability to deliver basic customer services and worrying lack of professionalism. I am a member of Airlink’s Loyalty Program and the only reward I seem to have received from this airline is stress and a massive headache.

I will never fly with Airlink again. You have let me down immensely and I hope this email alerts you to the massive clean up you seriously need to undertake across all your departments.

Airlink, do better.