NEVER, NEVER and NEVER AGAIN with Travelstart!

Ref ********** 1 / ZA _ IN _ ********** Ref ********** 5 / ZA _ IN _ ********** (Addressed to Travelstart consultant named Charlene) Email: ********** Good evening Charlene, To say this booking has turned into a nightmare is an understatement. First, my ticket was confirmed. Then it was rejected. Then I did what the Travelstart email said and tried to re-confirm it (within 14 hours of initial booking) only to be told that that window had "expired" (yet company policy states its as a 24 hour window)!

So, then I follow the "urgent" advice from Travelstart and re-book. Only to find that both my first and second flight bookings WERE approved and I've been double charged. Now, I have the same 4 passengers flying on 2 different flights out of O R Tambo in December on the same morning within an hour of each other. Thank you for bungling this up. I will now only deal with what has happened this afternoon since speaking to you, Charlene, over the phone. There are simply too many issues! Most of which amount to your poor communication s****s over the phone and incorrect quoting of information. I don't know how many times I had to ask you to slow down and repeat yourself today. It was obvious you were keen to terminate the call and did not want to assist. On top of that, Travelstart bungled my customer experience from the start - dating back to Tuesday this week (Nov 06) - when I contacted a Travelstart agent to quote me a package deal: car+flights+accommodation. This person named Khayakazi, simply did not get back to me. It seems Travelstart does not want customers? But I digress... Firstly, what you promised me over the phone this afternoon has not been delivered. And as I said to you over the phone, I was writing everything you said to me down...Then I itemised and reflected the details back to you to confirm that I understood you correctly and you agreed that indeed I understood correctly.

1. TRAVELSTART PROMISES UNDELIVERED I asked for ONE email which CONSOLIDATED our phone discussion with a complete financial breakdown of what money I paid, what was approved and charged to my card and what is owed to me . To that you promised me that it would be delivered shortly. Instead I have received no less that 8 emails (separately) this afternoon between 15:54 - 15:57! Each with the same number of attachments. NONE of these emails hold the details you promised.

DISINGENUOUS SPAMMERS - TRAVELSTART And in the middle of all this confusion (within the same 3 minute window), your company has the audacity to SPAM me by RESENDING the same information over and over; plus conflicting information over and over, and; further invasive promotions for other campaigns + upsell me for the existing booking/s that have been bungled! This is unprofessional at best, and a deliberate attempt to confound the consumer by drowning them in admin, at worst. Most customers would have thrown their arms up in resignation, paid and shut up. It seems Travelstart is all too aware how to exploit consumer frustration.

2. DOUBLE BOOKED AND DOUBLE CHARGED FOR FLIGHTS According to the invoices you sent me and the connected emails this afternoon, I have paid for the following: 2 flights for 4 people on December 12, 2018 instead of 1 flight for 4 people on December 12, 2018:

A. Flight 121 - 09:10 am depart JHB O R Tambo; Invoice ZA ********** 5 as of 15:57 pm today. You said over the phone that this flight would be cancelled and we would fly on: B. Flight MN111 - 10:00 am depart JHB O R Tambo; Invoice ZA ********** 1 Yet both the emails with the conflicting invoices (above) FOR THE SAME TRIP were sent to me within 5 minutes of each other!

3. WHERE IS THE RECORD OF OUTSTANDING MONEY TRAVELSTART CLAIMS THEY OWE ME? NOWHERE on any of the emails and attachments is there any information about the money owed to me. According to you, it is R1,019.80 for 1 flight for (name held) outbound from O R Tambo on Kulula Flight 121. You promised me this would be dealt with and confirmed via email.

Indeed, the only proof of any money changing hands (according to your own invoices) is in fact that Travelstart has approved 2 payments on my credit card: Invoice: ********** - R4,686.00 + Invoice: ********** - R9,936.00 Totalling a bill of R14,622 to the card when the total I was quoted for (return for 4 people JHB - CT - JHB) was R9,936.00.

4. TAX DISCREPANCY Between 15:44 - 15:56 this afternoon I received 6 emails with 4 attachments, charging my passengers TAX over and over for the same flights but with different TAX amounts: 15:44 pm; Invoice ********** / Ref ********** 1 charges me R167.36 per person flying on Kulula. 15:56 pm; Invoice ********** / Ref ********** 1 charges me R167. 36 again, then; 15:56 pm; Invoice ********** - Ref ********** 5 charges me R157.36 per person flying for the same tax on the same flight! And on and on it goes with yet more emails, yet more invoices and yet more confusion.

5. UNAUTHORISED FEES CHARGED On invoice ********** , I also see a transaction for R480.56 that I didn't approve. What is this for? I also demand to know what the 4 x R20 service fees + R3 service fee are and why I have been charged for those, too. They were not on the payment breakdown when I made my booking. And, while we're at it, why have I been charged an additional R49 processing fee which was also absent from my booking? I demand an itemised breakdown of exactly why I was charged all this?

TIME WASTED AT THE CONSUMER'S EXPENSE - NEVER AGAIN WITH TRAVELSTART! Why I am having to waste my time going through all this when TRAVELSTART made the error in the first place, admitted liability to me over the phone this afternoon, spoke to me with disdain and condescension to boot Charlene (thanks for patronising me each time I asked you to slow down on the phone) and the biggy' - left a promise to a consumer UNDELIVERED:

ONE email with ONE reference number and ONE invoice for the flights outbound from JHB - CT - JHB for all 4 passengers; and a full itemisation of all the fees I was charged - backdated showing the trail of cash owed to me. I have attached invoices received from Travelstart (the multiples I received from you). Good luck reading through them all. I have also attached screenshots of the bookings I made at Travelstart's "urgent" prompting which lead to being overcharged - to prove that Travelstart is responsible for this mistake. This entire email trail will also go the Travelstart Head of Customer Service and the CEO. I look forward to having my complaint resolved to my satisfaction within the next 8 hours in keeping with the priority assistance fees I have paid. It is now 21:42 on Friday, Nov 09. (name withheld)