CemAir, what a mess

Zero Stars. HORRIBLE SERVICE. WOULD NOT WISH CEMAIR ON MY WORST ENEMY.

I was returning from Germany and landed at OR Tambo on Tuesday, 25 November 2022 around 10am. My next flight home to Cape Town was at 14:15. At 12 I went to find out about checking in but discovered that my flight was canceled (something my team didn't communicate to me) but that the airline moved me to the next flight at 16:45. I was frustrated but understood.

This is when I was informed that I was in fact NOT booked for the 16:45 flight because "the agency made a late payment" so I "lost the seat on the rescheduled flight." My agency spoke to the ladies at the CemAir help desk and informed them that if my ticket was issued for the (canceled) flight after payment, payment could NOT have been late because I literally had my ticket. CemAir then realised that they had messed up.

The staff was unhelpful, nonchalant, and sent me from pillar to post for 4 hours. Only when my agency spoke with the manager and the staff via my cellphone and insisted that I be put on standby for the 16:45 flight, did they agree. But the lady at the desk wanted me to wait until the 18:15 flight, EIGHT HOURS AFTER LANDING. I assume because it was more work to find out if there were any available seats.

There were no charging points near the check in area and I could not leave looking for one in case I had to quickly board the plane so my phone died and I could not inform my family when I would arrive at home. CemAir had me wait until pass 4 (after boarding had closed to see if there were any available seats, which there was) and told me to run if I wanted to catch my flight.

They did not apologise in any way for their mistake or to ease the inconvenience. I was literally on my own, especially when my phone died. My family had no idea what was going on.

When leaving to board, I left my mother's number with the lady assisted me and asked her to call my mother to let her know what time I would be arriving. My mom got a call less than an hour before landing: for 3 hours she had no information.

What a sour end to an amazing trip. Don't bother with this flop of an airline.

PS When leaving, 3 passengers arrived out of breath because their connecting flight was delayed, resulting in them missing their flight. The check in desk rudely said they had to wait until the next day for help. I'm not sure how that turned out.