Dear Sir / Madam,
I would like to bring to your attention the trouble I had to endure while I was at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo.
I have made my reservations for flight UL 312 and the departure date was scheduled on the 8th February 2007. However, upon reaching the airport within the stipulated time and after waiting in line for 1 HOUR TO CHECK IN, I was informed that the flight has been finalized and I’ve been offloaded without any further explanation given.
I was then requested by the staff at the check in counter to have a seat while they try to put me on the next available flight. I was exasperated as I had a deadline to meet in Kuala Lumpur by 2pm the same day. What bothers me is that the staff failed to recognize the severity of the matter and kept asking me to take a seat. When I requested to speak to her manager, she deftly told me that her boss is busy and will not entertain me.
Once the situation calmed down, I did manage to speak to the manager on duty, and was informed that the earlier flight UL 316 was cancelled and passengers from that flight were transferred to UL 312. If the flight was cancelled, why didn’t anyone take the trouble to inform us? Why wasn’t any announcements made over the public address system and why wasn’t special counters opened to serve those who were affected immediately? Why did we have to wait in line for 1 hour and upon reaching my turn to check in, I was told that I was offloaded? A lot of trouble could have been spared if I was informed earlier on of any changes to my flight.
When I pestered about the next available flight, the staff were dilly – dallying and were not forthcoming with the necessary information. I had to continuously ask them questions to get the details of the flight. I was also given excuses that all the other flights on other airlines are fully booked and that I should return to the airport for the next flight which was scheduled for the 9th February 2007 at 00.10 am. As I had to be in Kuala Lumpur on urgent matters, I refused and asked to be put on the next available flight.
The staff at the check in counters was not sensitive to my predicament. She even misplaced my ticket and all the while kept asking me for my name and my flight details. How many times do I need to repeat my name? All the necessary details are stated in my ticket. Just need to be more alert and read the ticket.
When I asked if I would be given an upgrade to Business Class, she replied no. When I asked the duty manager from Emirates, he said it was not within his power to upgrade me to Business Class because Emirates wasn’t the airlines responsible for my troubles and since SriLankan was the airlines that mishandled me, I should seek clarification from them. When I enquired, they said they upgrade is only applicable if I was flying on SriLankan and it’s not their policy to upgrade me on other airlines. In my experience, if this was to happen to any other airlines, they would automatically upgrade to another class, no questions asked because they would truly appreciate their passengers who chose to fly with them. In the end, I did not get any form of compensation from SriLankan and I am questioning if SriLankan truly appreciates their customers, especially those that frequently fly on SriLankan.
I hope to get a better understanding from SriLankan regarding this matter. I appreciate your time and effort in resolving this issue. Thanking you in advance,
NW
