Merpati's service

I checked in with a Canadian guest at the counter of Merpati at Sentani Airport in Papua to return to Jakarta on Aug. 10. The room was packed with passengers, porters and other people. We were in a long queue of passengers for a while. When several porters went to the front of the line with the baggage of others, I protested and a ticketing agent warned the porters.

When it was our turn, the Merpati ticketing agent could not find our names and asked if we had reconfirmed our flight. After a long debate we were blamed for not reconfirming our tickets and given only one seat, while I insisted on getting two. The resident office staff told me to pay an extra 10 percent of the ticket price for premium seats. I refused and asked to see the company's president director. After five minutes, I was told the seats were ready and we were taken to the plane. We found the plane door closed, which forced me to go back to the office for an explanation. The door was opened and as we were boarding, I overheard a conversation about how our seats had been sold to others.

On Aug. 12, I wrote a complaint letter to Merpati and later got a controversial reply. On the one hand, Merpati apologized for the inconvenience they caused us, but on the other its staff refused to admit that the incident ever happened.

CARLA JUNE NATAN, Jakarta