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Sandra H

1 reviews | Active since Jan 2014

26 Mar 2022, 09:50

PetPort - Awful Experience

Petport unfortunately added additional financial and emotional stress to me during my emigration to the UK from South Africa.

Taking 3 cats with me was one of the most important parts of my journey.

Extremely poor communication from them led to the below: * My original quote was approximately R44 000 for the Red Package (top package).

* I then received the 1st additional invoice for R10 000. This was apparently requested from the airline as their costs went up.

* My cats were scheduled to arrive on 8 March. I then received a call from the agent telling me, (not giving me options) that they will now be arriving on the 22nd of March. I was extremely upset when chatting with the agent on the phone and all that I received from him was a new itinerary in my email box. So basically - 'sorry for you but this is how it is and no further discussion is necessary'

I then had to escalate the awful service I received.

I spoke to management who told me that they would investigate in order to get my family with me ASAP. They came back with 1 cat arriving the same time with me and the other 2 a week later, which wasn't the best but better than waiting another 2.5 weeks.

In a meeting with Management and the Agent a friend and I asked if there would be additional costs. We received a 'No, your red package covers everything'.

2 Days before they were to fly out, I received a new invoice for an additional R18 000 without any explanation. Just a message 'Please send POP asap'.

* Therefore, my total costs to Petport went from the +-R44 000 to R77 000. Something that I had NOT budgeted for.

Dealing with Petport I continuously felt that my hands were tied, I was not a client and just had to do keep on paying additional costs with limited to no proper communication.

The worst part is that my 1 cat arrived with damage to her nose. This still hasn't healed properly. When enquired I received something along the lines : "When Lunar left us she was ok'.

Well, she wasn't and isn't ok :-(

This was one of the most irritating and worst experiences of my life and I would not refer Petport to anyone - quite on the contrary.

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Replies (1)
Petport
Petport's reply29 Mar 2022, 14:37
Official
Good Day Sandra, I am saddened at your account of your pet relocation experience, as someone who was personally involved I can say that is not how this relocation took place, I arranged a zoom call to discuss the process again as well as the airline constraints experienced at the time of travel with you and your friend.   As mentioned on an email to you on the 22nd of February. Fur Babies bookings are ONLY taken for booking 2 weeks before departure. When we investigate options with airlines they will present us with a preliminary date.  2 weeks before that date, is when we put through the finalised booking request and this is when we have a confirmed booking.  When Evans requested your travel dates Swiss said they had a preliminary booking for the 7th of March.  Evans was only supposed to put this booking through the 21st of February which is exactly 2 weeks before travel, as per airline requirements.  They however let him know they are only able to accommodate a single pet journey for this date on the 7th of March based on their space allocation.  Swiss indicated they could only assist your 3 fur babies on the 23rd of March and you did not wish to wait this long for the pet's arrival, we explained to you if a booking opened up we will gladly try and bring your Fur Babies flight forward. When an opportunity presented itself we immediately informed you but warned you of the cost implications involved in splitting the pet's travels as it is significantly more costly than if they travel as one family altogether.  When you expressed your upset about the costs increasing I forwarded you all the discussion pertaining to price implications in relation to splitting up the family’s travel plans.  If the pets had travelled as one family, as I discussed, the costs would have indeed been unaffected.    PETport relocated your fur babies at a turnaround time of less than 2 months from receipt of your information sheet and booking on 19th January to the information sheet and paid a deposit on the 19th of January and you had your fur babies all together by the 11th of March, considering this was completed after Omnicron, SA on the red list Nov-Dec 21 as well as 3 major airlines cancelling all flights to London for the entire January, we stand firmly behind Evans and all the hard work and incredible effort he completed to reunite your family.  

We are transparent from the outset at the provision of estimates as to the incredible challenges faced with airlines and travel for live animals at this current time and provide approximate dates to allow pet parents to have a realistic timeline of which to work towards, due to your extenuation circumstances Evans certainly pulled a bunny out of a hat with your timelines and we are grateful that he is dedicated and passionate for all his client's pet travel plans.