Merpati's service

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