SAA tells me to shove it and use another airline….

[AIRRatt]

After simmering for a while, I have decided to let people know that, according to the South African national carrier?s customer care centre, if you don?t like the way that they work, you should use another airline. I was told this directly. This was after I was also informed by the recorded voice at the beginning that calls are recorded for quality purposes. I certainly hope so.

It all started with an email I sent them regarding my luggage not being on the same flight as I was and arriving the next day for collection. About 15 - 20 people also waited in vain for their luggage at our destination. Some of them told me that it was a regular occurrence and was caused by SAA accepting big amounts of excess baggage on the JHB ? LAD (Luanda) route as it is highly profitable. I?ll say, I saw two women collecting 14 big suitcases at Luanda after my flight, never mind the 2 piles consisting of bales of luggage more than head height being collected by Oriental persons that join this flight from a connecting flight.

I received a standardised email reply from SAA Customer Care which shows that the email was not even read properly. Emailing them to tell them this produced an ignore.

So I phone customer care. I get to speak to the woman that handled my complaint. She?s only interested in telling me that they meet with the baggage handlers all the time and these things happen. She keeps interrupting me in half sentence. Being ex military, I don?t enjoy being interrupted and start getting irate. She?s obviously had assertiveness training to keep those pesky customers in check and decides to use it. Unfortunately it?s not balanced by customer service ethics and she threatens to put the phone down if I don?t speak to her ?decently?.

I count to ten and decide to tell her that the problem doesn?t lie with the baggage handlers, it lies with SAA accepting too much excess baggage. She says SAA is entitled to accept as much excess baggage as they wish. I suggest they adopt the British Airways rule of two bags per person and one item of cabin luggage. Now for the coup de grace, she tells me ?If you think BA has better rules then SAA, then you should fly BA?! Reasoning with her doesn?t work, she?s only interested in getting rid of a pesky customer.

Well then, this shows either the low level of training and commitment to genuine complaints or else I was unlucky and got a hardegat customer care consultant. Either way, I try to avoid SAA now and encourage those that need to go to LAD to fly Air Namibia, which in my opinion beats SAA hands down anyday.

Just wondering what you would do if someone employed by you told customers to go and buy their products elsewhere?

I will compliment the aircrews of SAA flights though, they are professional and courteous. The image of SAA was damaged by someone working for customer CARE, which I have now renamed customer ferk off.

If anyone wants the customer care registration number of this case, you?re welcome to PM me.

If anyone knows how I should proceed to take this further, let us all know on the forum.