STA TRAVEL - BRAVO the lack of “CUSTOMER CARE” at “BRANCH LEVEL” and apparently at “CUSTOMER CARE LEVEL” as well!

FIRSTLY "hellopeter.com"..... CAN YOU PLEASE ALLOW PEOPLE TO NOT HAVE TO SELECT A STAR AS THIS BUSINESS CLEARLY DOESN'T EVEN DESERVE ONE STAR!!! MORE LIKE E NEGATIVE 10!!!

Having been a Travel Agent and having worked for Harvey World Travel, Flight Centre as well as Cruise about... I write this because I feel "STA TRAVEL WESTVILLE" and their "CUSTOMER CARE DEPARTMENT" should feel very ashamed as they have not fulfilled their duties as Travel Agents or Customer Care Consultants.

Lets be frank, anybody with a "SMART PHONE" and "INTERNET ACCESS" can book everything themselves and there are only a few reasons why there is still a need for "TRAVEL AGENCIES" and "TRAVEL AGENTS"! People might be unsure or indecisive about their trip and some people do it because they do not have the time to make the reservation themselves and thus they go to a "TRAVEL AGENT" to "HELP" them and they expect to get "GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE".... well, this was definitely not the case!

Let's start at the very beginning while looking for tickets on Travelstart for my partner's brother for his trip to Boston. I came across a crazily affordable airfare to France in December. We did not have the funds available to purchase it the next day. So we decided to book with "STA TRAVEL in WESTVILLE" as you can pay a deposit of R1000 and then pay off the remainder of your ticket. I told my partners brother to go and book his ticket through them as well, as I knew he would have to come up with the funds for his ticket as well and this way he could also benefit from getting better rates because it was booked far in advance.

This is where our nightmare started.

I noticed that my name was spelled incorrectly when we had to go and sign all of the documentation and pay our deposit. I did tell the consultant and she said that she could not rebook the seats as the same fare was not available. She assures me that they will contact Turkish Airlines and get them to change my name. I was well aware that it would be possible. I kept having to call and email to ask if it had been corrected yet. To which I was told that they spoke to a representative at TK that said that they would endorse the booking, saying that I could travel with my NAME AS IS!

I phoned "SA VISA SOLUTIONS" as well as "CAPAGO" and both companies informed me that I will not be able to get my Schengen Visa that would be issued by the “FRENCH EMBASSY” if the name on the ticket did not match the name in my Passport. I then phoned the “FRENCH EMBASSY” and I was told the exact same thing.

I told the consultant that I wanted my name changed, I even got told that there would be a fee to do so and they have endorsed it. I still insisted that I wanted it corrected and pointed out that it was not my mistake, that I informed the consultant of the mistake before I paid my deposit.

It eventually got sorted out. We thought the worst was behind me… but BOY-OH-BOY were we wrong!!!

My partners brother was due to Travel on July 31st from Durban to Boston. He phoned the store a week before he wanted to pay and asked if everything was in order. He was told that it was all in order. Now this is where things start to make little, no wait, actually NO SENCE! Sure the consultant that told him it was in order should have seen that the booking was about to be cancelled or in fact already cancelled as per a later discussion with the branch Manager Charlie van der Walt. The next week he went in to pay and was told that his booking was cancelled due to him not paying it in time as it was meant to be paid a month before departure. He was also told that nobody new about the booking because the consultant that he originally booked with had left.

So lets recap:

Customer books with store in order to get a service from the consultant and the store.

The airline send the consultant numerous messages via AMADEUS, WARNING the consultant, should the ticket not be issued that the booking will cancel!!!!

(oh sorry, the agent left so nobody knew about it)

When a consultant leaves, they have to give a “HAND-OVER” to the “STORE MANAGER” with a list of all their “ACTIVE BOOKINGS” and as a “STORE MANAGER” the person in charge will then “ALLOCATE” bookings to other consultants. This also happened when a consultant goes on leave!

Customer now gets told that not only does he “LOOSE” his R1000 deposit. He now needs to purchase a new ticket, weeks before he is meant to fly.

So they look for a new ticket and his initial ticket was booked from Druban to Boston and cost him around 14k.

His new ticket will be closer to 20k and “WAIT FOR IT” it would be out of Johannesburg and he would have to book his own domestic sectors.

I was livid! He came home with a ticket from Johannesburg to Boston via Paris. With very long layovers in Paris (both ways) I was concerned that he would need a Transit Visa. We called the store and Charlie could not confirm if he would need a visa as she would have to check with her Visa company on the Monday (this was on a Saturday) She also pointed out that they are no Visa Consultants. I had a heated discussion with her and asked her if she (as a MANAGER) thinks that her store gave him great service after everything that he had to endure, to which she answered: “YES”!!!

Well, well, well Charlie van der Walt… let me tell you, with that attitude I can assure you that you would NEVER make it in some of the stores that I had to work in. When I worked for Flight Centre and Cruise About, CUSTOMER CARE WAS EMBEDDED INTO US! We not only gave great customer service because we had too, but because we wanted to, because we were proud to be TRAVEL AGENTS and we made peoples “HOLIDAY DREAMS” come true. We did not turn them into nightmares. You should have compensated him, regardless of the fact that he signed a piece of paper that said he had to pay a month in advance. How many call and e-mails did he receive from your store, reminding him that he needed to pay his ticket? Oh yes; NONE!

Then to make matters worse, I contacted customer care. First of all, what company does not have a contact number for customer care? You have to submit your complaint on their website and a consultant will get back to you. Guess who they get to call you, the “ANGRY” and “FRUSTRATED” and at this point very very “ANNOYED” customer… the exact same person that made you feel angry and frustrated and annoyed. I told Charlie that I do not want to deal with her and that I wanted to speak to a “CUSTOMER SERVICE CONSULTANT” because I already spoke to her and we could not resolve the issue!

So I waited, around a week later, I called her, very upset and said I hadn’t heard from Customer Care yet and she said something in the lines of (wish I recorded her) What is it exactly that you need help with? Your brother didn’t pay his ticket on time. He chose to fly with AF an he doesn’t need a transit visa”!

What a wonderfully groomed “STORE MANAGER” you are, to speak to customers the way you do!

And here we are today, almost 3 weeks after my “CUSTOMER COMPLAINT” and NOTHING!!!!

Was told “DEVON” would contact me!

BRAVO to you and your team “DEVON” for the lack of “CUSTOMER CARE” at “BRANCH LEVEL” and apparently at “CUSTOMER CARE LEVEL” as well!

So if anybody out there is planning to book a trip, I know a few very capable consultants at “FLIGHT CENTRE” that would love to assist you. They are doing the rest of my arrangements.