Cancelled valid E-ticket and forced to buy a new one for the same flights for over R7000 extra

I have just received a payment refund for just under R16,000 being the price of a purchased valid ticket less admin costs.

My wife was forced prior to boarding to purchase a new E-ticket for over R7,000 more (R23,000+) because a counter staff in Durban refused boarding and then changed the E-ticket surname.

The fact is i was told by counter staff that SAA's policy is to charge staff personally if a passenger is refused entry at the destination.

Recently I spoke with the SAA counter staff myself at Durban and explained the situation, and they all agreed my wife should not have been refused boarding in the first place.

Apart from being almost impossible to talk to SAA refunds due time waiting on the phone( Buying something, call answered immediately, querying something and call playing poor music for 30 minutes ) its cost myself over R7,000 for a perfectly valid ticket to have a name change, this I find disgusting.

Below is my first correspondence to online refunds after my first and only successful attempt to speak to them.

Dear Sir / Madam, My Wife has a RSA and UK passport. I booked an E-ticket with her RSA passport Ticket Reference (J3UEAV) which has her Married Name, Mckenzie which assists with the process of leaving RSA with her SA passport & Ticket both being under the same name. My wife has been declined to board for the flight destined for Washington DC return as Durban SAA say she will not be allowed in to the states as she has ESTA set up under her valid UK Passport which has her ****en name, Lieber. (She has both passports with her) She has had to pay an additional R23,273.86 for a completely new ticket reference TJSGRL. I would like this additional cost of R23,273.86 refunded back to my wife less any associated admin costs simply for the change of name on the E-ticket soonest. (She paid by card) The SAA employee stated we would get a full refund as she is still traveling on the same flights. Today i spoke with Siso from your online refund department who said I'd only get back the price of the original ticket over R7000 less than the new ticket my wife paid for. I do sincerely hope this is not the case as I will obviously take legal action and resort to social media .Appreciate your assistance in resolving this matter.Regards. Stuart Mckenzie

21 Days later we get the settlement letter, with NO liaison or phone call from SAA. I obviously send a second email below finding the cost of over R7,000 for an unnecessary name change unacceptable.

Afternoon SAA refund team, My wife sent me this supposed settlement from you reference the double ticket charging and refusal to use the E-ticket I purchased for her based on as you put it “passenger Surname Error”. My wife had two valid passports for boarding with NO misspelt surname or errors thus the original E-ticket was valid. The excuse on initial contact at SAA Durban was that the E-ticket needed to be under the same surname as the ESTA visa my wife held. This is absolute ******* as upon speaking to American immigration, all they request is the valid uk passport with corresponding ESTA document thats tied for entry. My wife is however required to leave South Africa and re-enter on her RSA Passport as per the original E-ticket. As a professional pilot myself, I departed SAA Durban yesterday and had a good chat to the check in staff, all of which said that my wife should not have been refused boarding on the original ticket and then forced to pay an additional R23,273.86 for a new ticket. They also said that if a passenger is refused entry to a country then it’s company policy to charge the employee who gave passage the cost of the ticket!!! (Great policy for customer service) The situation at the moment is that your charging R7,298.99 for a name change that wasn’t required.I would like the amount of R23,273.86 paid back to my wife immediately, the price of the second E-ticket that wasn’t needed.I will ultimately take legal action if this situation isn’t sorted out fairly after taking my gripe to Hello Peter and Social media.Come on SAA, Stuart Mckenzie

Today, I get a refund, over R7,000 short. I will await a response from SAA on this great site prior to taking things further with the aviation Ombudsman and my attorney, as I hope I don't have to waste more time on this pathetic lack of customer service.