Extra 300km and an additional flight is a heavy cost!

Living in Turkey, I booked a Safair flight from Cape Town to East London and East London to Johannesburg. Check in at Cape Town Safair desks was no problem, even though we were delayed and there were long queues.

However, when I got to the very small airport in East London with almost 25minutes before take off, I was told I couldn't board.

I was also told that I had "received an e-mail" notifying me of boarding times, which is untrue. I showed the attendant my e-mail with no Safair mails. The second assertion was that I "received an sms" informing me of check in, which also did not happen, since I gave my Turkish number.

The ground staff also told me "there is no supervisor" when I asked to speak to one.

Apparently, boarding and check in times have been made earlier. I don't know if this is true, but how was I supposed to be aware of this? Not for service to their customers, but expressly for their own gain and was I refused access onto my flight. I had to drive back to Port Alfred (a round trip of about 300km) and return the next day (another 300km) after having to re-book my flight for the next morning. Other rude statements were made by Safair ground crew, which I have not included.

I wrote to Safair's help desk and explained that "Although I have only had praise for Safair until now, without a satisfactory follow up to this incident, I will post my frustrating story on Hello Peter". The boom ticket for the parking area at the airport shows our entrance time.