Horrible Service and ineffective complaints handling system

Dear Mango airlines,

I decided to reach out to you in this medium, as currently there is a lot of frustration expressed on Facebook and Hello Peter re this matter. I booked a flight online on behalf of someone who was meant to fly from Durban to Johannesburg using my credit card. Unfortunately, the passenger was not allowed to board because at the last minute the passenger was informed that the credit card and ID of the purchaser was needed for verification purposes as the ticket was flagged. Let me just say that this is not the first time I’ve booked a flight online with your airline or any other airline for that matter and never had this kind of request or problem. Regrettably, the passenger was not allowed to board and missed an important meeting in Johannesburg; I contacted the airline, spoke to Elze Adolph who had an attitude and tried to justify Mango Airline’s action by providing inaccurate information. Firstly, when I asked her why the airline was requesting my credit card and ID details which I was told to send to a Whatsapp number I did not even know, I was informed that the airline does not need to explain or justify why this information was requested as it is confidential. I would like the airline to educate their staff on Protection of Personal Information Act, NO 4 of 2013 that promotes the protection of personal information by public and private bodies. If information about my race, gender, nationality, ethnic or social origin, age and financial history is requested it is within my rights to ask why that information is requested and the airline should be informing me about how this information will be stored, to whom it will be distributed to and guidance on what I would need to do to get it removed from your system in the future to ensure compliance. Taking into consideration that there is an alarming number of complaints of this nature logged online and lots of people have expressed their frustration on how this matter was handled I would like to suggest that when the airline flags the ticket can you please implement the following: 1. Contact the purchaser of the ticket to inform them that the ticket is flagged and that they need to ensure that the passenger produces the credit card and ID details at boarding or alternatively 2. Add this information on the booking confirmation document and boarding pass to ensure that the purchaser and or passenger are well informed and compliance with your process will be achieved. 3. Lastly, it might be a good idea to perform a risk assessment on complaints of this nature and determine if the airline has been successful in addressing or resolving the root cause of the problem, it is of paramount importance that the airline not only focus on quick fixes (immediate actions) i.e. refunds or arranging connections for next available flights but mainly focusing on implementing effective corrective and preventative actions. I am deeply disappointed in how this matter was handled and expect Mango Airlines to give this matter the immediate attention it deserves.

Yours in distress, Hemphill