Bad check in services

We booked a flight from Harare to Johannesburg for the 24th of December, as per the company t&c, check in for the flight leaving at 10am opened at 7:00am and closes at 9:20am. We arrived at the check in counter at 9:10am and we were advised that they have closed check in and denied access to board the plane. We tried to reason with the assistance but they refused to assist and told us 17 people have already forfeited their seats.

All these people including us we all arrived before 9:20am. We were also advised to buy other seats and also pay extra penalty fees. This is clearly a scheme which FlySafair is doing to maximize profits during the festive season. They are deliberately forfeiting passenger seats in-order for the passengers to buy new seats and pay extra fees.

We still had 10 minutes left before closure, however we were denied access including people who arrived 5 mins before us.