No show, no dough<\/p>\n
Gee, Merpati sure knows how to show tourists a good time!
\nAfter devoting too much time (and money) getting to Lombok in
\nWest Nusa Tenggara and back, I must take a few extra minutes to
\nexpress my deepest appreciation for a recent Lombok experience
\n\"a-la-Merpati\". I completely sympathize with Mr. Roland W. after
\nhaving the same relaxing nightmare in August.<\/p>\n
The scenario -- Aug. 15, 1995 my parents arrive from Canada, I
\nassure them we have everything booked for a great Lombok weekend
\nahead and, despite the Merdeka holiday that week, everything
\nwould go smoothly. Heh, we're flying Merpati what could go wrong?
\nWell it was a grand introduction to Indonesia and a swell start
\nto our vacation.<\/p>\n
Upon arrival at Merpati in Jakarta (and with no prior notice)
\nthe flights to Surabaya was canceled. The stunned Merpati
\nexecutives at the check-in counter offered no explanation,
\nshrugged their shoulders and suggested, \"maybe you go tomorrow?\"
\nYes, another first in Hoover history -- giant vacuum sucks up
\nentire flight never to be seen again. They did, however, assure
\nus the Surabaya-Mataram connector will still be flying later that
\nday. It was really comforting to know there would be three extra
\njuices for the Hoover to suck back when it decided to erase that
\nflight.<\/p>\n
After several attempts and more state of the art Merpati
\nservice, we (AMEX and I) were able to nab the last seats in
\nbusiness class on a Surabaya bound Garuda bird leaving in 20
\nminutes. So off we go, the blue hairs and I, we set an airport
\nland speed record and barely make the connector to Surabaya. We
\ncalmly head straight for the Merpati transfer desk, and amazingly
\nthe Lombok shuttle was just boarding and still catchable. All I
\nhad to do was exchange our \"old sector\" tickets and buy \"new
\nsector\" tickets and I would be totally refunded next week when I
\ngot back to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Witti assured me that today's canceled flight was very rare
\nand the coding stamp she endorsed would ensure full compensation
\nfor these new sector tickets as well as my recently acquired
\nGaruda tickets. So who am I to argue, at this point my Dad's
\nulcer is working overtime, and we just want to hit the beach.<\/p>\n
So we (AMEX and me) buy three more tickets and return the
\nvacuum passes to Jakarta. Well you guessed it -- three months
\nlater and no refund! Another act of Hooverism -- the giant vacuum
\nsucked up all my agent's paper work and 1.4 million cold hard
\nrupiah. I feel bad for the fine folks at Sona Topas Travel since
\nthey have refunded me, but are still waiting for the experts at
\nMerpati to wake up and smell the coffee. Atiek and staff at Sona
\nTopas (Panin Center) deserve top marks for their efforts and
\ncontinue to give excellent service despite the fact the airlines
\nthey represent are totally clueless.<\/p>\n
It turned out to be a longer weekend than planned as the
\nSunday flight back to Surabaya had 74 happy relaxed people
\nconfirmed on 44 seats. At this point the Monday meeting back in
\nJakarta was going to be starting without me, and Mom was saying
\nshe read somewhere that Silk Air now flies from Singapore to
\nLombok. Flying via Singapore et al fiscal tax still would have
\nbeen cheaper and quicker.<\/p>\n
I phoned from Lombok that Monday and told the boss I had a bad
\ncase of Merpati-zoic amoeba, and to date we're still waiting to
\nsee if my travel agent gets their compensation. Bottom line is
\nthat Sona Topas does a great job and they will be glad to book
\nyour Lombok excursion on Silk Air via Singapore.<\/p>\n
BRIAN FRANKS<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-show-no-dough-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }