14506: Grant: Re: 14457: (Arthur) Ambassador Airlines Strikes Again (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Rose-Lys Grant <rldjean@msn.com>


No one is suggesting that unruly behavior is ever justified. In fact those who
do behave badly, succeed only in detracting  attention from the real wrong
doers at hand. In this case, that would be Ambassadeur Airlines.

I would like to add to their list of wrong doings. They sold tickets for a
flight from Haiti to NYC on January 2.  Well guess what? I tried to confirm the
flight ahead of time, including that same morning, using a telephone number
they provided for that purpose. No answer. No recorded message providing
announcements or hours of operations. NOTHING!.

I go to the airport, with my children in tow, three hours before the scheduled
departure as per their instructions. NO ONE there to provide ANY kind of
information. There was no airport personnel able to answer any questions.The
only thing they could provide is their address in town. If I wanted any
information, I had to get all my luggage, a taxi, and go into town to talk to
them. Can you imagine? Would you bet that someone would be there even?

I tried to get American Airlines to honor the Ambassadeur Airlines
tickets, they could not do it since no one was on hand from Ambassaduer
Airlines to approve.

I tried to get HAICAR to do so, same answer from them. Had someone from the
company been on hand to approve, my tickets could have been honored.

Obviously, there were numerous others in that same predicament.

I ended up having to pay $1088 in CASH - no credit cards or checks accepted -
to get 4 new one-way airline tickets from HAICAR. Who would normally have that
kind of cash on hand? American Airline would have cost over $1600.

Inconveniences happen all the time - that's part of life. How one handles them
however is within one's control. Here, Haiti Ambassadeur failed miserably. All
they had to do:

 1- If noone could be there to answer phones, at least have an answering
machine to provide the needed information ie. the flight on January 2 is
cancelled and what to do

2- Have someone available at the airport to confirm that the flight was
cancelled and to assist them in making alternative arrangements, including
giving any neccessary approvals to enable other airlines to honor their
tickets.

What has happened since my return? An honorable company would have reacted in
the following way: APOLOGIZE, and REFUND, quickly. My travel agent has been
battling with them on a daily basis for two weeks to try to get a refund. And
she has been getting the run around. A different story every day.

If my travel agents' efforts mail, I luckily have numerous recourses available
to me since I purchased my tickets in the US. For those who may not know those
are: small claims court ( yes, it works, I got someone to repay me $3000 that
way before - max award), I could file a report with the Attorney General
because that was a criminal activityI would file  a Complaint wth the Better
Business Bureau, improper business practices. Also, the owner George May Figaro
, being  an attorney, I can file a complaint with the NY State Bar Association
- behavior unbecoming a lawyer.

I feel sorry for those who purchased their tickets in Haiti and reside there.

RDJ

>From: Bob Corbett
>To: Haiti mailing list
>Subject: 14457: (Arthur) Ambassador Airlines Strikes Again (fwd)
>Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 08:42:43 -0600 (CST)
>
>
>
>From: Tttnhm@aol.com
>
>Ambassador Airlines Strikes Again
>
>Haitian Times editorial - January 15 2002
>http://www.haitiantimes.com/editorial.htm
>
>Recently Ambassador Airlines, the ailing startup carrier, canceled a flight
>to Port-au-Prince, stranding about 200 passengers in New York.
>
>Some passengers were so irate that a melee ensued. Police arrested two
>people. While we believe that the airline was derelict in service, it gave no
>one the right to act the way some of the people did.
>
>American Airlines, the only major nonstop daily carrier to Haiti,
>occasionally cancels flights, but travelers don’t get out of hand. We hope
>that this outburst was not because Ambassador is a largely Haitian-run
>enterprise, and thus people think they can do anything and get away with it.
>
>These problems are unfortunately part of this business, and we must cope with
>them better. What we need to do is to convince American Airlines to add
>additional flights during peak travel season such as Christmas, Carnival,
>Easter and summer.
>
>If there is a market that American Airlines is ignoring, then we should
>persuade another major airline to take advantage. For instance, Continental,
>Delta and others fly to Dominican Republic and could easily make a stop over
>to the west side of the island. Air Jamaica should be lobbied to open a New
>York to Port-au-Prince route.
>
>We’ve been burned one time too many by flight by night airline operations.
>Ambassador began operating in June vowing to be a fresh alternative to
>American.
>
>Ambassador officials said they had learned from other failed airline ventures
>and their service would be superior. So far, it hasn’t been the case. After
>Labor Day, the airline stopped its flights to restructure. Again, officials
>stressed that the airline would be roaring to go. But two weeks ago, we had
>the unfortunate incident. Ambassador officials claim that Lan Chile, the
>company that provides the plane, could not give them another jetliner after
>the one that was bound to Port-au-Prince experienced mechanical problems.
>
>That was unfortunate, but this has happened before.
>
>The fact that the plane was full is a clear indication that people are flying
>to Haiti in large numbers despite the political turmoil. Imagine if Haiti was
>stable.
>
>
>______________________________________________
>
>
>This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.
>
>See the Haiti Support Group web site:
>www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org
>
>The Haiti Support Group - solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for
>justice, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
>____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________
MSN Search, le moteur de recherche qui pense comme vous ! Cliquez-ici