Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Of all my life & experience with travel agents & flying, never had I ever thought I would encounter a nightmare such as this! So, read on... so that u won't ever be tricked, swindled, cheated by this company!!Name of Company: Mandarin World Holidays Pte Ltd
Location: Lucky Plaza, Singapore
What happened?
1. no muslim food on departure from sgp for my dad
2. no muslim food on departure from perth for me
3. upon departing from perth, less than 1/3rd of the plane was booked (when May informed my parents that there were only 9 seats left on that flight & suggested for them to get the tickets from her instead of me getting them from Perth!! And horrified, my mom paid S$1,320 for my ticket when I could have gotten them from Perth at S$700+)
4. May intentionally gave my parents an excursion ticket (meaning that dates can only be changed without charge due to death of a next-of-kin) when we had asked for an open ticket departing from Sgp for me & she confirmed with me over the phone conversation to Perth as well as to my parents who were seated in front of her that she would give us an open ticket.
5. May even informed me that if I'm not going back on 20th March, I would have to call her 48 hours before to change to a later date. (She later said that the ticket we bought from her wasn't an open ticket - which my parents later retorted with, "Then why tell us to call you 48hours before to change the date of her departure?!" YEAH!! Good one, mom!!)
6. I called 72hrs before 20th March to extend my flight, and May scolded me for calling her too late, that I should have called 7 days in advance instead. And grudgingly told me she'll put me on the waiting list but no guarantees. She called me back the next day & forced me to stick to 20th March, by citing that there's no more seats. I stuck to my decision, after all I'm the customer!!
7. 40 hours before my flight, she passed the buck to another colleague, namely Rafiq, to handle & after much heated debate, he confirmed the seat for me.
8. on the day of departure, i went to the airport & was told I had to pay for a 1-way ticket cos it wasn't paid yet. After revealing my situation, Qantas suggested we discuss with the agency & even would back us up in any lawsuits.
9. when confronted, May tried to blame Rafiq (the colleague) for the miscommunication. And mind u, this case is not about miscommunication, it's about INTENT!! And all the evidences proved INTENTION, as u'll see.
10. later, May said it was my fault that I purposely didn't heed her advise to go back on 20th March since all flights were full - HELLO... it was supposed to be an open ticket & I AM THE CUSTOMER!!
11. we told her that qantas confirmed with us that should the tix had been an open one, i would have been able to take any seats on any flights as long as there's one seat available... and get this, the flight wasn't full at all!! There were heaps of seats available... And I even had a free seat next to me!! And I was able to change seats at the last minute.
12. after the 2nd confrontation by my parents, May said that they'll try to contact Qantas to see if they can get the charge for the void ticket back. And this was just a ploy to get my parents off their back while they think of another trick!! My parents would be going back to their shop over & over again daily till they get what they had been promised. And if they still won't do it, we'll tell them what Qantas had informed us - that since it's not Qantas fault, but that of Mandarin World, Qantas will not assist Mandarin World with the payout. The onus is on Mandarin World. If Mandarin World doesn't deliver, the case will be a lawsuit.
So, people... pass the word around... DO NOT GO TO MANDARIN WORLD HOLIDAYS PTE LTD AT LUCKY PLAZA!!
