On 5th June 2011 fyling home from UK using SAA the seat i was at had a window (inside) that was loose.. now obviously the inside cover is there for a reason and when i put my head against it the cover gave in and it was attached partially attached at 1 end only. when i called the attendant she politly told me that she is sorry about that and that it is ok for me to still sit there nothing will happen to me. but im sure the cover is there for a reason and i feel that it is really unsafe. the when i wanted to sit back and try to relax and watcha movie to fall asleep, the earphones input was broken so i couldnt even sit back and relax... i was told to move somewhere in the middle wherever i wanted to but who wants to sit in the centre isle i chose to sit at the window which was my preference. then there wasnt any 2 seaters with a window seat open for my partner and i to sit at, but this didnt seem to bother the attendants 1 bit.

I made a reservation (reservation 2NYQYQ) on January 13th to depart from Richard’s Bay to Johannesburg on January 14th, with a round-trip return on January 22nd. I received verbal confirmation from the reservation agent I spoke to over the phone. She sent an email confirmation as well, but as I had no access to my email while I was in Johannesburg, I was unable to access it until AFTER I returned to Richard’s Bay. Regardless, even if I had, it would’ve been too late and I would’ve already missed the return flight SAA mistakenly booked for me. I would still be in this situation.

Here is what happened. I arrived at the airport on January 22 and was told I did not have a reservation. When I went to the customer service desk, I was told my return flight was booked for a return on January 15th, which is NOT the date I gave the reservation agent. I was then charged 580R for an additional ticket to return to Richard’s Bay. The original flight details that I gave the booking agent were a flight from Richard’s Bay to Johannesburg at 11:50am on Friday, January 14th, with a return at 8:35am on Saturday, January 22nd. The customer service agent at the airport maintains that the ticket was booked for a return on January 15th, which clearly makes no sense - I told the booking agent to look into flights returning on the following Friday morning and Saturday. If I had wanted to fly back the next day, I would’ve said that in the conversation, would I not? And obviously it would have to be for the following Friday or Saturday, since
if I decided to fly back on Friday, it would be difficult for me to have a departing flight at 11:50am with a return flight at 8:35am that same day.

The customer service agent told me my only recourse was to contact SAA and ask them to pull the recorded conversation so they could listen and confirm that the agent made the mistake, and booked the reservation incorrectly. I made the call for the reservation from the following phone number on January 13th, 2011: 0829061703. I am asking that SAA pull the conversation and send me a copy of the recording for my own records. If the agent made the mistake, as I am contesting, then it will be in the recorded conversation, and I would like SAA to refund me the price of the ticket (581 R). I have now emailed customer service 5 times about this. I haven't received a single response, except a forwarded email from a representative telling ANOTHER representative to handle this and contact me. That was from several weeks ago. I have SINCE sent emails to both of these people, and have not received a SINGLE response.

This company should be put out of business, pure and simple. This is the second instance of complete and utter incompetence, as well as poor customer service, in less than a year, and considering I've only flown the airline a few times, that's pretty pathetic.

I booked two return tickets from Washington to Johannesburg in January. When we arrived in SA my mother in law was very ill and we had to postpone our return ticket to April, which I did. I was told it would cost $350... a $250 re-booking fee and $100 class upgrade...and told to only pay before we fly in case we have to change it again. Today when I went to pay, they wanted to charge me $5000! They told me I had missed the cut off date to return! What cut off date? I was never informed of such a date! Due to very poor customer service and no one in the SAA offices having a clue what is going on, I have now lost my return tickets to the US and cannot afford new ones and as such both of us have lost our jobs!! I am a very very very upset customer and will never recommend SAA to anyone I know!

My flight was cancelled due to the volcanic cloud - no arguement there, I would rather be safe then dead in the air - however, I was disgusted to be told by Piet Smith, team leader (red jacket!) that the airline catergorically would not be offering any advice or support regarding reasonable costs for accomodation or food. I asked him if he was aware of EU rule 261 & the montreal convention and he responded he had never heard of them. Luckily, as a lawyer, I am aware of them and will be instigating a claim in the civil court immediatley upon my return to the uk - this process has already started.

I am well aware that the airline is not responsible for weather conditions, but to leave its customers (we were a group among many) with no details of local hotels, no contributions to extended stays, poor information and the most poorly educated customer service I have encountered in many transglobal visits is unforgiviable. SAA & star alliance operate heavily in the UK, I have a number of contacts who are global flyers& will be doing my utmost to ensure that my company & all avoid star alliance and SAA in all future flying. well done SAA. you have no idea how much custom you have lost.

This is the second year in a row that there is mysteriously no answer at the Voyager call centre when miles are due to expire. I stand to lose another bunch of miles this year as no one answers to take a booking. When I complained last year after the fact, the attitude was 'your loss, nothing we can do'. Surely they should know this will be a very busy time, and up-staff accordingly? Or is it just a massive cost saving not to award those miles? This loyalty programme definitely doesn't work both ways. Very very disappointing.