Posted on October 21, 2008 - by Justin Hartman
SAA - extortion at its best
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It’s Luke’s birthday in November and as a special birthday gift Colette and I have decided to fly his grandfather and my sister (his aunt) down from Jo’burg to spend some time with him over this time. We figured that he could use a little familiarity what with us relocating to Cape Town so today I set off to book two plane tickets online.
My first choice would have been British Airways (R4,000) but they seemed way too expensive and I couldn’t see much difference between Mango (R3,100), Kulula (R3,200) or SAA (R3,477) so I decided to opt for an airline that was trusted to arrive on time and booked my two tickets with SAA.
When I received the confirmation of the booking via email I noticed that my father-in-law’s surname was not correct and had been replaced with my full name. So, it looked a little like this ROBERT JUSTINHARTMAN on the confirmation slip. I immediately called the SAA call center to have this surname changed.
To cut a very long story short SAA do not change surnames on tickets that have been paid for. Had I not paid my ticket straight way I would have been able to edit these details but being a good customer is actually a negative thing in SAA’s opinion.
The error allegedly occurred as a result of me adding in my own frequent flyer number in the booking form at the time of booking. By doing so the SAA booking system automatically updated the surname in my father-in-law’s text box with my full name and as a result I now had a ticket that was totally and utterly useless.
The result: I have to cancel the old ticket and rebook a new ticket under his real name.
The caveat: I have to pay again and I’ll only be refunded the airport tax from the original ticket - SAA keep the airline fee.
I fought with two different consultants and their supervisor for a little over two hours. The bottom line. I’m screwed. SAA refuse to back down even though their system is flawed.
I gave up at the time and just booked a new ticket. This means that instead of R3,477 I have now paid R5,352 less my airport tax refund of R895.00 for this system error and I’ve lost just short of R1,000 in the process.
I feel robbed by these twits and totally helpless but the more I’ve thought about the events that transpired the more I realise that I need to stand up for my rights. I personally wouldn’t do business like this so why should I stand for it? This is simply consumer extortion.
As of this morning a letter of complaint, demanding a full refund of my original ticket purchase price, has been sent to Dr. Khaya Ngqula - CEO of SAA and the customer service department. I’ve only ever written one other complaint before which was to BMW and I had success with it so I’m hoping for much of the same.
Having said that though I’m not optimistic for a positive outcome. Unlike BMW I have come to realise that SAA couldn’t give a flying **** about their customers and I can’t see them doing a turn-around now.
I am the MD and co-founder of 
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October 21, 2008
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Justin, have you tried Hello Peter.
http://www.hellopeter.com/
I used them with my bad service with Woolworths and GM and had great success.
Give it a try, companies hate public humiliation!
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October 21, 2008
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Wow, that is criminal. I would not rest until all that cash was back in my account. SAA have shot themselves in the foot with this one. Dr. Khaya Ngqula - isn’t he the guy who was on Carte Blanche for running the company into the ground?
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October 21, 2008
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Just get your bank to bounce the credit card slip for the ticket you did not use. There is an agreement between the banks and credit card companies that a credit card payment can be bounced if the services were not provided. As you have not used the ticket there were no services provided it can be bounced. When you contact your bank they will pretend that no such thing exists but it is there. Some people used this to get their money back after Nationwide folded.
Full details in yesterday’s Star (20/10/08) consumer column
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October 21, 2008
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Thats crazy. Can’t believe a silly mistake on THEIR part is now your fault. I hope this gets resolved. Don’t pay them until they admit to thier mistakes. Make this bigger and show them how Social networking can harm a brand…
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October 21, 2008
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Im going to try this again! Last comment got lost to the intarwebz somehow.
Try hellopeter.com. Public humiliation always helps…
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October 21, 2008
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The biggest issue with Stupid African Airlines is that they simply don’t care. There is a learned behaviour that they don’t actually have to do any work and when they need cash the tax payer bails them out anyway. The irony is that the 4 grand you spent would have gone to SAA eventually anyway.
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October 21, 2008
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As I matter of principle I never fly SAA when I have the choice. I’ve heard only bad stories about their service and the way they treat customers. My assistant spent 6 hours on the phone to them one day last year, since then we’ve called it quits.
Kulula is by far the best local carrier IMHO. However, even Mango, which is affliated with SAA, kicks SAA’s butt!
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October 21, 2008
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@Byron - I looked at Hellopeter last night. I decided not to use it because surprise surprise SAA are one of the companies that DO NOT respond to complaints on the site. According to hellopeter there are 370-odd complaints and 20-odd praises.
@Luke, yes he is the same guy.
@Chris, thanks for commenting and stopping by. I have already tried this route. MasterCard won’t issue a full refund until they’ve investigated and I will have to wait between 120-180 days for a verdict from them. Go figure…
@Marc, unfortunately I have already been forced to pay. If I had my way I would move completely away from them but the one ticket which is accurate and paid for is forcing me to stick with them. Unless of course I want to lose that money as well.
@Saulk. I couldn’t agree more. This whole experience has been completely draining and made me sick!
@Dave, I’ve never used Kulula but I think I will now
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October 21, 2008
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Dude, sorry about that. That absolutely sucks. Try mango next time honestly. There might not be as much space but the last 3 times i have travelled i have used them. I had to change my most recent ticket to 2 weeks earlier and only ended up paying an extra R300 (R100 + the difference in the ticket price).
My dad also used to work at SAA and all i can tell you is that those bastards don’t give a damn. Least of all that snivelling CEO.
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October 22, 2008
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Now now … extortion is such a nasty word…
This is called capitalism SAA style - the fact that they are losing money and over fist and can’t make money even with underhand techniques like this…
If I were you I would turn the power of the internet / media / blogosphere against them.
Pick a name and zero in on it. You’ve been robbed - draw a line in the sand and make a public letter to the GM of SAA indicating that failure to refund will result in legal action.
Attach a letter of demand for refund from a lawyer (they cost a couple hundred rand) and then post it and forward it…
You gotta zero in on a name though - if you don’t they will remain nameless and faceless - you’ve been defrauded boet and if you don’t take a stand it will happen again to somebody else.
You’ve got my mail address - got some nice media contacts who will take a slug at the problem as well…
Amazing what can happen when somebody gets brought into the firing line. Have had some success with iBurst and FNB when the right attention is brought onto the right people…
Just a thought - use it don’t use it….
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October 22, 2008
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I *insist* on using BA.
My company does all my flights & accommodation on my clients’ behalf - but if the client insists on making me fly SAA (or anyone else for that matter) then the client takes the full risk of me not appearing OR them getting ripped off.
SAA queues are always the busiest in the morning.
Their staff don’t care (see my blog post about this).
The cabin crew are indifferent.
The experience of flying SAA is something I choose to avoid.
British Airways are smart, efficient, friendly & on time. And about 10% cheaper than SAA. They come with my highest recommendation - and I’ve had to fly a LOT this yea.
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October 22, 2008
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BURN THEM TO THE GROUND! TO THE GROUND, I SAY!
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October 22, 2008
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Stop whinging…
They’re much better than Air France Ok!
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October 22, 2008
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So air france stole your money then?
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October 22, 2008
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@JJ No but they lost all my luggage!!!
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October 22, 2008
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LOL - wait till they fly on SAA. I wouldn’t put it past them to lose the luggage as well
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October 22, 2008
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[...] ~ Justin Hartman Help stop bad service: Share this post with the world. [...]
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October 22, 2008
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Just launched - http://saasucks.com/
Help spread the word guys!!!
I really want to use social media to it’s full potential here.
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October 23, 2008
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[...] though, the whole getting ripped off experience I’ve recently gone through with South African Airways has really hit me hard. What’s [...]
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October 23, 2008
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[...] all started with a typo (on their end, not his), but I get the feeling that this was the final straw, and given the speed [...]
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October 25, 2008
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Another Proudly third rate South African business. But always remember, your money is good ELSEWHERE!
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October 26, 2008
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“SAA”, “trust” all in one sentence. You deserve to get ripped off for being soooo naive. Please support the small guys and boycott social experiments.
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October 27, 2008
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[...] Justin Hartman’s recent experience with SAA is a prime example. As Justin wrote recently, he had a very bad experience where SAA refused to refund the airline fees portion of his bill when he found mistake on a ticket he bought from them. Frustrated by much fighting without getting anywhere, Justin has set up SAAsucks.com as a response of last resort [can't say I blame him. I haven't had the same experience, but if I had I would be very upset too]. [...]
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November 28, 2008
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I have experienced theft and corruption on South African Airways, or as I like to call them SCUMMY AFRICAN AIRWAYS, and before I knew about the saasucks website, I also built a little tibute site to the SAA. As I still have the domain name regsitered for a couple of years, and as a hosting provider myself, I dont mind keeping this site alive as well in the hope that one day these BASTARDS will realise that little people have voices to. Well done dude. Keep pestering away. If anyone needs any help with hosting a site or blog or whatever dedicated to SCUMMY AFRICAN AIRLINES, please mail me. I will help