Exceptionally poor service by Alitalia

Bitterly disappointed and aghast at the service I received from Alitalia. We are planning several trips to Europe in the near future and were planning to book with Alitalia, but after recent we are reconsidering our options. Recently I booked flights online. The way the booking system appears online is not user-friendly at all. The calendar moves, switching months from left to right, e.g. on the departure calendar, the month of April was on the RIGHT hand side of the screen and on the return calendar, April was on the LEFT hand side of the screen). This led to a mistake with the return date, booking for a date in May (the month was on the right hand side of the screen where April had been) instead of April. The moment I received confirmation, I realised the error and called Alitalia to rectify it. Despite calling within less than 10 minutes of making the booking, I was forced to pay a penalty of $120 per ticket, amounting to thousands of rands. After amending the booking, I called the local Alitalia office to bemoan my case and was referred to the international office, who in turn said I should send the complaint on email. The email was only responded to after a few days, in turn asking me to call yet another number, where I was stonewalled by the person who answered. When I suggested that they look into the way the dates are presented, I was dismissed without hesitation, it was clear there was no goodwill or even willingness to consider my suggestion. Throughout the ordeal not once did I feel that anyone at Alitalia was really listening to me or cared about customer service.