Here's the deal:
My wife and I went to London. We decided to use this company because their rates were good, and the train plus taxi service were convenient. We got there OK, everything seemed fine.
Near the end of our trip, we called the company to verify what time the taxi was picking us up. The response was "Has no one contacted you? We are no longer servicing the airport (Gatwick) where you are leaving. You'll have to make other arrangements. I'll transfer you." Transferred. We waited for 25 rings before we decided noone was picking up the phone (this was 3 hours before scheduled office hours ended). We hurriedly booked a cab to get us to the airport (at a total cost of 44 pounds over what the orignal return ticket was). Luckily, thanks to a great hotel staff who was more than willing to help us out with booking the cab ride, we made it home.
Before we left, since the company was obviously not open to communicating by way of telephone, we waited in line in the hotel lobby to use webmail to send our concerns to the company. There was an e-mail from them with nothing but an unopenable attachment (we later found out that this was our "contact"--a form letter stating that our return ticket was refunded, and that we would have to make other arrangements).
Our response to our original e-mail reiterated that they refunded the money, but that since they e-mailed, they were not in any way responsible for the 44 pounds extra in cab fare we paid to get us to the airport.
While the rest of this trip was fantastic, the treatment by this company has caused me to raise an eyebrow. We got to the airport, and got home on time, but I'm concerned that I'm now short 44 pounds (nearly $90 US) due to actions taken by this company. They e-mailed, but how do they know I got the e-mail (I actually didn't. I couldn't open the attachment until I got to the states)?
Even if I don't get reimbursed the 44 pounds (which I doubt will happen), I am more concerned about several "what ifs" that are kind of scary.
1. What if we didn't call? We would have missed our flight, not had a hotel (London was packed that week), and considering this company's attitude, have had to have bought a new transatlantic plane ticket back home.
2. What if we were on a visa that was about to expire? Isn't that illegal? Again, I feel that this company's "'You should have known' attitude" would have been expressed again.
3. What if we had a tighter income that did not allow for the return taxi service? Would we have just been "stuck"?
The company had both of our cell phone numbers (programmed to work in the UK). By their own admission, the only avenue of communication was e-mial.
The company did not contact our hotel. They knew where we were staying, they got us there!
The e-mail was sent 2 days after we arrived. I have a sneaking thought that the decision to suspend our service was a possibility before we even left the states. Again, we heard nothing until we saw a form letter after we got back to the US.
I am turning to this service because I could not find a BBBureau for the UK online. I also have a feeling that the "contact representative" that contacted us to let us know they couldn't do anything about the cab fare is probably not in the position to make decisions about company policy. They are probably paid simply to "deal" with unhappy folks like me. Also, it's my first international trip. Am I being too sensitive about this? Is there some secret 'check your rail ticket' every day rule that I am missing out on? I don't want to seem like the stereotypical ranting American tourist.
0 comments