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Antony T

1 reviews | Active since Mar 2019

23 Mar 2022, 21:29

TRAVELSTART - ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE SERVICE TRYING TO MAKE CHANGES TO FLIGHTS

Worst Experience Ever. DONT EVER BOOK FLIGHTS WITH TRAVELSTART.

They make it easy to book, BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO EFFECTIVELY MAKE CHANGES.

I booked a flights for my wife and 2 children to fly to Europe to join me there for a holiday. The airline changed the return date to 1 day later.

For my children, this was okay. However, for my wife she could not fly that specific date, so I contacted TravelStart through their portal to ask them to re-schedule the flight. Firstly, there is no number to call, so I had to simply send a request via the website, which I did on the 13th. After 3 days I had still not heard back from them, so I tried the WhatsApp help line. Through that I was given a number to call. I called the number, and sat on hold for 30 minutes. That is worse than calling a government department. I was told that the request would be expediated.

There were 2 further interactions, plus another 30 minutes on hold, before I was finally sent a quote for the flight changes. This was sent through on the 22nd - 9 days after the first request., By this time, the flight prices had gone up so I was told I had to pay in almost R10k. I was furious, but didn't have any option, so agreed.

An email was sent through with a payment link. I am traveling on business in Europe, so only managed to get to the payment that evening, and received an error that the payment link was no longer valid. Neither the consultant, nor the email, mentioned that the payment needed to be made that same day, before 5pm. I WAS FURIOUS. Another call into the useless call line - again WAITED 30 MINUTES. Consultant told me a new link would be send ASAP. I then received a message later saying that the flight is full, and I need to call in again. THEY DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO CALL ME TO ASSIST.

SO NOW I SIT ON HOLD AGAIN. I'VE WASTED ANOTHER 30 MINUTES OF MY LIFE.

And, frustratingly, if I search on the TravelStart website there is a flight available, However, it has skyrocketed in price to almost R30k for a single.

So at this stage, after 10 days, my wife only has a one way flight to Europe, NO RETURN, and no refund. It may be easy to book via TravelStart, but their systems are appalling and make it near impossible to make changes.

I've Just been cutoff, after being on hold for over 40 minutes. SOOOO FRUSTRATED.

0
Replies (3)
AT
Antony T's update23 Mar 2022, 22:24
Reviewer Update
Just spent another 45 minutes on hold, and was again cut off...
Travelstart
Travelstart's reply25 Mar 2022, 14:37
Official
Hi Antony,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

Please note that I have tried to contact you to no avail, to further assist on the booking and address your concerns.  I have checked the booking and can see that you had spoken to an agent 24 March, but the line cut.  Please note that the dates which have availability in April is 07 April, 10 April and 12 April.

Please be advised that on the quote email sent for the change we do advise that payment has to be actioned on the same day as per below, and I am sorry that you had missed this part.

NOTE: All changes have to be completed 24 hours before scheduled flight departure to avoid forfeiture. Payment needs to be completed on the same day the flight has been changed. If no payment has been received, the airline will cancel the ticket and changes will no longer be permitted. Please note that the above quote is subject to confirmation by the airline's availability, at the time of changing and that we are not holding any confirmed seats. We recommend you reply as soon as possible to the above quotation to confirm it as changes will be made when confirmation is received in writing. Confirmation for the applicable change needs to be received by 13h00 SA time today. Please be advised that once a change of reservation has been made we cannot change it back to the original flight without any booking penalties.

Please revert to feedback @ travelstart . com for your choice, so that we can calculate the cost involved.

Wishing you a good day further.

Kind Regards,
Melissa 
AT
Antony T's update26 Mar 2022, 02:47
Reviewer Update
Melissa,

Your response is totally unacceptable, and IS A COMPLETE LIE. Please take a look at the payment email that you sent me as the terms you so glibly quote are not present. I've pasted in the terms at the end of this.
The result of this fiasco is that my wife has now flown overseas without a return flight. Yes, in the process Travelstart has managed to cancel the original return flight, so now she has no return flight, and even the airline is unable to help us "change" the flight as there is now no flight to change. They told me I need to book a one way return, AT 29,000 RANDS. BECAUSE OF YOUR INEPTITUDE!

I have sent through about 10 requests over the last 12 days to your "contact us" form asking repeatedly for assistance. The last 4 requests have all been ignored.
I've called in about 5 times - each time sitting in the waiting queue for more than 30 minutes. Yes I was cut off on one of the calls - why did no-one call me back.
I'm on business in Switzerland, so don;t have time to spend my days dealing with this ****.

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. THIS IS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE IVE EVER HAD.

(here are the terms that were in my payment email)

| Important Information
|
| You will need to provide a valid form of photo identification for each passenger (infants and children up to 16 years of age may travel with a birth certificate on domestic flights) when checking in for all flights. For domestic flights ID or Passport are accepted, on international flights Passport only. Failure to produce valid photo proof of identity matching the names on your reservation may result in you being refused check-in without refund.
|
| Please take a minute to verify all your details, especially the passenger names and travel dates as once your ticket has been issued airline penalties may apply to make changes. If any of the information you have supp**** is incorrect Please contact us immediately via our contact us page: https://www.travelstart.co.za/lp/contact-us , choose category Cancel or Change a booking made today and advise the necessary details in the message section.
|
| A visa may be required for your travels. Please contact the local consulate or embassy of the country you are travelling to within a reasonable time before departure to provide for visa arrangements if necessary. Note that a transit visa may also be necessary when travelling via certain countries.