Comments on: SAA – extortion at its best

By: Web-2.0 gegen South African Airways | Der/die/das Namibier

Web-2.0 gegen South African Airways | Der/die/das Namibier — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:20:11 +0000

[...] um schließlich das Ticket für seinen Schwiegervater doch noch zu erhalten (die Details dazu hier). Auch ein Beschwerdebrief an den CEO von SAA blieb [...]

By: Margot

Margot — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:38:39 +0000

Just found this old post of yours. Wrote about SAA on my blog today and since then have been overwhelmed by all the complaints about them out there…

By: Danie

Danie — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:11:02 +0000

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

By: Real value - a lesson on hidden costs from SAA | OutThink

Real value - a lesson on hidden costs from SAA | OutThink — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:38:01 +0000

[...] 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]. [...]

By: Mister P

Mister P — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:44:52 +0000

“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.

By: Ian

Ian — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:51:45 +0000

Another Proudly third rate South African business. But always remember, your money is good ELSEWHERE!

By: woganmay.com | Public Relations 101 - SAAsucks.com

woganmay.com | Public Relations 101 - SAAsucks.com — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:31:46 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: SAAsucks.com by Justin Hartman

SAAsucks.com by Justin Hartman — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:04:14 +0000

[...] though, the whole getting ripped off experience I’ve recently gone through with South African Airways has really hit me hard. What’s [...]

By: Justin Hartman

Justin Hartman — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:47:55 +0000

Just launched – http://saasucks.com/
Help spread the word guys!!!
I really want to use social media to it’s full potential here.

By: SAA - extortion at its best | South African Airways Sucks

SAA - extortion at its best | South African Airways Sucks — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:50:43 +0000

[...] ~ Justin Hartman Help stop bad service: Share this post with the world. [...]

By: Justin Hartman

Justin Hartman — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:09:32 +0000

LOL – wait till they fly on SAA. I wouldn’t put it past them to lose the luggage as well

By: Colin Daniels

Colin Daniels — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:57:10 +0000

@JJ No but they lost all my luggage!!!

By: Justin Hartman

Justin Hartman — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:52:56 +0000

So air france stole your money then?

By: Colin Daniels

Colin Daniels — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:45:05 +0000

Stop whinging…

They’re much better than Air France Ok!

By: red

red — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:45:50 +0000

BURN THEM TO THE GROUND! TO THE GROUND, I SAY!

By: Marcel

Marcel — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:18:48 +0000

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.

By: Marc Ashton

Marc Ashton — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:37:31 +0000

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….

By: SandraKim

SandraKim — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:48:53 +0000

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.

By: Justin Hartman

Justin Hartman — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:30:54 +0000

@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

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:23:27 +0000

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!