Well Done: Refusing to take accountability & getting away with it!

To the powers that be at Comair Limited Jobs: I would like to say "WELL DONE" !!!

Well done for:

- appointing people who will fight tooth and nail to protect your brand, finances and overall interests; even unjustly so and at the expense of the very passengers that make you who you are.

- Creating 'interesting' luggage policies that require you to pay back only "US $20 /per 1kg" of what is lost by a passenger! That's almost ingenious, in an ********* way that I can't quite explain; absolving you from paying for any valuable/ lost item that weighs less that 1kg such as fragrances, suits, shoes etc.

I have been communicating with you since 2015, with utmost civility, logic and a desire for fairness in our dealings. But our matter got sour and saw me drive up and down several times to the Kempton Park Magistrates [Small Claims] Court in an effort to fight for my justice. The irony is, I have devoted my life to fighting for the justice of others by using the law as a tool to empower the voiceless. But this week, I found myself disempowered and voiceless and it's all thanks to you. I also thank you for reminding me why margenalised and vulnerable people need protection from people and organizations like yours. So for igniting that spark within me, again, I thank you.

I flew on Kulula.com at the end of 2015 and contended with those lame jokes [inter alia] that aim to entertain us while you carry the huge task of taking us around the country and the world I suppose, via British Airways. My luggage was broken into and after dealing with the feelings of having my personal space invaded, I took stock of my lost valuables. I followed due process as you directed by reporting the matter to the police, contacting your contact centre and obtaining a reference number, filling in numerous forms and and .. At first your team was seemingly helpful until they spotted some "gaps in the law" that could protect you and take away my chance at attaining fairness and justice. I understood and obliged when you told me what I could not recover from you due to your luggage carrier policies - that I 'signed and accepted' by purchasing the ticket. I get it. But then you decided to take my suitcase in for repairs and not only did you breach your promise by sending it to a non-approved Samsonite agent, but you further utilized non-approved parts, [which have since fallen off by the way] - effectively making my suitcase redundant and taking away my option to claim for [manufacturing] warranty from Samsonite should the need arise. Even without the warranty in question, one would hope that you operate with ample integrity that would see you at least wanting to replace my suitcase that was damaged by you, during 'repairs'. But no.

Instead, you set your legal advisor onto me who was shockingly rude and combative and made it clear that she was not interested in getting a favourable outcome for anyone other than Comair! This part of the journey got fused with fabrications by your agent, threats and arrogance from your legal advisor and a claim that I was attempting to "unjustifiably enrich myself" by demanding you to replace a suitcase that you had damaged! I wish I had the time and less of a moral campus that would allow me to sit and figure out how best to de***** you, the mighty Comair !

So again I must say "WELL DONE":

- you won the case at the Small Claims Court, because the Commissioner, who made a judgment on the basis of documents I was not privy to - [which he promised to share with me after your team failed to and didn't] - decided to ignore your wrong in all this and with a smirk on his face said "Oh well, I have dismissed your claim, you must go after ACSA not Comair! I'm still not sure what Airports Company South Africa has to do with the damage that you caused and admitted to - but as a lawyer, a human rights one at that (funny fact for this story), I respect the outcome, I respect the courts and chose to believe in them. I refuse to think the commissioner had your interests from day one: accepting documents from you that you hadn't shared with me and failing to share them with me as he promised. I refuse to think he has racial bias [because I am black and your representatives were white] even though I watched him allow an older white male chastise the party he was suing, but immediately and sternly stop a black woman from doing the same. I refuse to think he decided to protect and favour you in case you had work for him (past, present or future). I refuse - because I chose to lose the case with my head held high and based on what I can prove, despite the rationale not making sense to me.

- For saving yourselves R8.000, which is pocket change for you, but the cost of my damaged suitcase, excluding: petrol, time, phone, countless emails to you from 2015 to date, sheriff costs etc.

Lastly, I forgive you: - firstly for my own sanity and wellbeing. Also because while you're a large Organisation, I will not allow you to also rob me of my traveling joy and continued pursuit for justice.

- for admitting, through one of your refreshingly honest employees, that you're only fighting me despite knowing your wrong because "you need to make an example of me otherwise you would open a can of worms should other passengers realize that they could sue you too and you would ultimately lose too much money!"

- [Your CEO ] who was too busy to even respond to my email to him: I mean 'who am I to him in the bigger picture of the organization and the billions he has to focus on raking in'

- [Your legal advisor] for her arrogance and forgetting that despite not being her employer, I am .. sorry.. WAS a passenger contributing to the profits of the business that pays her salary. I guess the loss of my 1 seat will not be felt in comparison to the many passengers you continue to carry.

I do not know yet if I will pursue this matter going forward, for it has been draining and costly. Also because "Rulings of the Small Claims Court cannot be appealed, even if they constitute bad law". But what I do know is that I will NEVER fly on any of your airlines kulula and/ or British Airways for as long as I can help it !!! You remind me of everything that is wrong with this world currently and how little value we place on each other vs. the value we place on money, profits and organizations.

I hope that my R8.000 that you saved yourselves was worth it and adds to your profits and successes in the future.

From the passenger you once had ... Yes I know, it is only 1 seat.