On the 12th of October 2008, I booked an air ticket through the Voyager Miles call Centre for my wife, Celeste Holtzhausen. I received a confirmation that the ticket was booked – but in my name. I contacted the call centre, and after numerous requests and frustrations, I received a confirmation on a printout that the ticket was amended to that of my wife. This was firstly received via e-mail and I even went to OR Tambo International to get the confirmation as I was not comfortable. Queries raised via e-mail was never replied to except for acknowledgement of my e-mail. To call the call centre is a nightmare as you hold on for 20 -40 minutes at a time.

I spoke to various staff at the call centre who insisted that they need to listen to the voice recordings of the original call unless I am willing to pay a fee of R185 to get the ticket changed to that of my wife. They also confirmed that a reservation will be made in the meantime but they will still need to listen to the recordings. The 1st call to them was on the 15th of October. I spoke to Tshego, Lindie and Bongani. They all said that they will get back to me. Needless to say, this never happened.

As we received the confirmations that all is in order, my wife drove 330 km’s to OR Tambo on the 28th of November 2008, stayed over at her parents to be in time the next morning for her flight to Cape Town on the 29th. When she arrived at the airport and requested her boarding pass, the clerk advised that there was no ticket booked in her name. The original ticket in my name still reflected on the system. She was told that they can issue a boarding pass in my name. I was still in Nelspruit and I did not want to fly as the ticket was for her. The clerk then advised that they can cancel my ticket and issue one in her name but she will have to pay R820 in airport taxes. I already paid R782 on the original request. She did not have another R820 to pay. They also advised that they will refund the original taxes paid. I am still waiting.

I also contacted the call centre the morning of the 29th to see if they can assist in any way. After struggling to explain myself to the operator, I requested to talk to director as I was highly upset. I was told that I may not talk to a director and the highest authority that can assist me was a supervisor. Needless to say, she was not able to assist.

So, my wife had no alternative but to turn around and go home. You cannot begin to imagine the disappointment and anger. The reason she had to go to Cape Town is because her sister in law, is terminally ill and receiving chemotherapy. Thanks to Voyager miles, we don’t know if and when my wife will be able to see her.

My 1st request was the book a ticket to fly directly from Nelspruit to Cape Town. I was told by the call centre that, for the next year, there is no seat available. This I found hard to believe but excepted it and then went for the alternative to fly from OR Tambo International.

My dealings with Voyager made me realized that this is the most pathetic company I ever had to deal with. Why bother having something like Voyager Miles if it cannot provide a service? Surely you are wasting customers money on inefficient staff?

Here are numerous reference numbers and names of people we spoke to during the above circus:

4K24U6
5WFMK3
Lindie
Tshego
Bongani

I would like to know:

1. When will I receive a refund? Both taxes and voyager miles redeemed.
2. What does SAA/Voyager have to say for themselves?



Many thanks