Bad Customer Service and Prioritizes Rebate

On the 9th of July I bought a ticket online for my daughter and paid for it and she received her ticket ref W4VZJJ.

The ticket details are as follows: From OR Tambo leaving at 6:06 on 15 July 2022 Arriving in Cape Town at 8:15 With flight SA 303

Passenger details: Mbalenhle Dephney Mahlangu

On 15th my daughter arrived at SAA counters at 5:23 ,you can check your CCV footages if we have to prove her arrival time at your counters .

To my surprise the lady who was assisting her asked for her ID book first instead of the booking Reference. My daughter describes the lady as having braids on and was sitting next to the Team Leader.

After she gave her her ID she was told that they can not find her ticket and was then asked for the reference number. She was then told that the check in is closed and unfortunately could not check-in and was sent to the ticket office, where a lady I spoke with over the phone said to me we need to pay R5200 in order for my daughter to leave with the next flight leaving at 12pm, I then told her that I do not have such funds.

My daughter was then instructed to sit by the waiting chairs where I found her when I arrived at the airport at 8am. When I got there the same ticket sales lady who was sitting in the middle told me the very same thing she said over the phone. I then asked her what we should do now because my daughter was not late, she arrived on time and what is worse is that she was going to Cape Town for school.

The lady at ticket sales then sent me to a Team leader, I went back to the counters and asked for the Team leader who was not there at the time..this time I asked an Indian lady with long hair who was very helpful and went to call the Team leader. The team leader initially did not want to come when she was called instead told the lady to tell me nothing can be done and that my daughter was late. I asked to see the Manager now from the Indian lady who then went back to the ticket side and this time she came back with Maureen, which was the Team leader.

Maureen was not giving any good solutions, the only solution she had at that time was that my partner who is also a SAA employee should put my daughter on rebate and that if that can be done my daughter will be able to leave on that day. The solution itself was not possible to do because you can not do rebate now and expect to fly now those things take time before you are able to fly, they need to be processed first. She then told me that we unfortunately have to change the date and there will be money that I'll have to pay on top of the amount I paid for the ticket and that my daughter will only leave on Monday. I then asked her if that meant that my daughter would have to miss classes and she told me that there is nothing that she can do and that people were already seated on plane by 5:25. I did not answer that because I knew she was not being completely honest and that gates for planes opens 15 minutes prior to board on board not 45 minutes prior and check in is 40 minutes prior to your departure, which there was still enough time for my daughter to check in if they were willing to assist her.

Maureen then said that if check in is closed they only take people who are on rebate and put them on those seats and what I understood from this situation is that the staff prioritizes their friends , families and colleagues flying on rebate than cash paying customers, forgetting that without us cash paying customers there will be no SAA.

My partner also called and he said that he spoke to Maureen and he was told that nothing can be done.

I then went to information desk and explained my situation to the ACSA lady , she called the SAA centre and the person I spoke to made it clear that without Team leader making an effort to help my daughter get on the plane, there is nothing that he can do on his side.

I then went to look for the SAA offices myself wanting to speak to manager myself and found out that the offices are no longer there.

I went back to ticket sales where I found another lady with blonde hair who was helpful, but the sad part was that she told me I need to pay R3270 for my daughter to be loaded onto the next flight. She then moved the date to Monday the 18 hence why I will need to pay R3270.

I made a call to your call centre and the lady I spoke to also said that people were sitted at 5:25 and I asked her to check if there are future flights that cost the same as the one my daughter was suppose to go with because I can not afford any extra costs. She told me that there would be one on Saturday the 23rd, meaning that my daughter would have to skip classes for an entire week and that I had to pay extra R1070 as my daughter apparently did not show up for the flight. I asked the lady how my daughter did not show up when she was there by counters the entire time. She said she don't know that.

I'm not happy with whole sagga that happened and I am not willingly to pay any penalties. It is not the first time flying with SAA, I know how it works, even if you are late and the board in flight is not closed long as board, they call from the counters to let them know that there is someone coming.

It seems like there is little to no professionalism by your counters and ticket sales, all you have are trainees who do not know how to do their job and who prioritize rebate more than cash paying customers.

I want SAA to reimburse me without paying any fees , I'm not entitled to pay any cent and I'm not willing to pay more. Please also refund my full amount as it was paid or my daughter will use that ticket as it is without paying any extra or penalties and she will use it in December flying from cape town to Johannesburg..if the ticket is cheaper I'll expect change from SAA. I have lodged a complain and have case number, but no feedback.