Daily Herald story

Well - at least they got to stay at The Towers <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />
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Our least enjoyable flight experience, and there were a few, was our United flight to Dublin out of JFK, left the gate at 8pm (on time),at 12:30am the plane was still sitting on the tarmac at JFK, no food, no water, no bathroom, just announcements that everything is fine, etc., etc. and of course since they departed "on time" all of the subsequent issues were the fault of the folks at the airport - sometimes getting to "paradise" one must go thru "hell", I think Mark Twain once said that on one of his many trips to Bermuda.

The best ever complaint letter to an airline, LIAT

Considered by Richard Branson as the best ever complaint letter to an Airline.

Bobcat and Carol,

With all due respect to and for the Towers, which is our island timeshare which we love, i absolutely feel for these displaced and disgruntled passengers. We were at the Towers a year or so ago when a similar occurrence took place with the differences being it was a KLM flight ergo many times more passengers involved, and it only went on for 2-3 days. It was bad enough for these people to have this happen in the first place but that's just the beginning of the story.

The lack of communication is the thing that drives everyone crazy, from the displaced passengers to the hotel staff (who have none of the responsibility for the situation but take all of the passengers wrath....) who were trying to be as helpful as they could given the particulars of the situation.

And a further thought re the placement of the displaced passengers at the Towers and as much as I love the place, it's a terrible location for these people to be placed. It's a great place for vacationers who want a nice and quiet place off the beaten path to come home to at the end of their island day, and I'm sure it's good for the Towers coffers, too, but the location is terrible for people without their own transportation since beyond the pool bar and its very limited food offerings, there are no restaurants on site and nothing within easy and safe nighttime walking distance. Far better these pax should be housed at the Sonesta Maho Beach where at least they had additional options for their enjoyment while there.

They have my sympathies, for sure. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Pat my tongue-in-cheek comment about The Towers -I realize the distress of those passengers -and also how nice The Towers is, friends own a unit there for many years (1990).

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Pat--agreed, the Towers is not a good place to be without a car.

Wow! I guess with a fleet of only 9 planes it's hard to produce one extra just to relieve this situation. It's definitely not on my "I want to fly with them" list.

I would be worried about leaving the resort at all in case they made that "We found a flight. Be at the airport in two hours" call

that open letter was too funny-I'm still laughing

LIAT are notorious for leaving late, losing bagage, dumping people on the wrong island etc.

If you travel with them, you are looking for trouble, unless you have not other choice, LIAT loves you !

Liat:
1. Luggage Is Always Tardy
2. Lost Inbetween Antigua and Trinidad
3. Leave Island Any Time

Luggage In Any Terminal

Anyone that travels LIAT a lot knows this is commonplace for them. We got stranded in Antigua for four days over one pilot getting fired and therefore all other pilots refused to work. They put us up at someplace called the Grand something which was not grand at all.

We try to avoid LIAT totally, but just not possible in some cases.

No problem, BC - I know you've stayed there several times and have enjoyed your time. It works for some and not for others.But let me reiterate, knowing that many airlines and cruise lines use it periodically, it's probably one of the least likely places I would have put displaced and already disgruntled passengers. At least at Sonesta they could walk to the airport easily if they were so inclined to get their own information firsthand, and there are many enjoyable venues close at hand where they could amuse themselves while stranded, particularly since they were already being bused out there for dinner. The Towers just doesn't cut it in those areas, IMHO.

An (old) airline story.


Re: Flight ** ***, Wednesday October 20, 2004

Dear **airline**

I am not a complainer. In fact I go out of my way to praise individuals and organizations, far more than I criticize or complain. However, after possibly the most awful day of traveling I have ever experienced – and I travel a lot – I had to write to you. I should point that I feel slightly uneasy about complaining because the flights were complimentary, as our client on this job was the ****** ****** Fund. In no way would I wish to jeopardize their relationship with your company, but this story is so bad that I thought that a company who is working hard to build a really good airline would like to know of my experience.

On October 20th, I was scheduled to fly with my cameraman from Toronto to Edmonton on your flight *** for a one-day shoot. We arrived at YYZ at 12:50pm for our two o’clock flight. As we were checking in, we were informed that there had been a mechanical problem with the aircraft, and that the flight had been cancelled. It was a small relief to learn that there was a 6:10 pm flight out of Hamilton, and we would be bussed there from Post 10 on the arrivals level at 3:20 pm. This was inconvenient, but better than nothing. We settled in to kill some time.

We arrived at Post 10 at 3:12, to find no-one. Not a soul. We waited an additional 5 minutes, then called your 800 number. We were told that the bus schedule had been changed, that it would now be 4 pm, from that same Post 10. We settled in to blow some more time.

At five minutes to four we joined the gathered passengers at Post 10. No-one from **airline** identified themselves. At 4:15 when the bus had still not arrived, people were getting tired of standing out in the cold. There is no place colder than airports. I finally realized that there was a young man from **airline** in the crowd, but he seemed as bewildered as anyone, did not really identify himself, and did not seem to be making any contribution to the managing of the situation.

The bus – actually busses - arrived at something like 4:20 pm. People by this point were quite agitated, and cold. We piled in.

Now, about the buses. They were not strictly what you might have thought would have been ordered in this situation. They were two small buses of the type used to shuttle air crews to the hotel. These buses were cramped, cold, and uncomfortable, especially considering what came next.

We left the airport via the 401 and hit Highway 403 at around 4:30 pm. Anyone familiar with Toronto traffic knows that highway 403 is a parking lot at rush hour. This point was certainly reinforced on our trip to Hamilton. The 80 km trip was something like 2 hours and 15 minutes. Cold, cramped, terribly boring, and thoroughly frustrating. But, whatever, we’ll jump a flight at Hamilton and be off to Edmonton.

Two thirds of the way to Hamilton, the driver got a call on his cell phone. After he hung up he announced that once we got to Hamilton, we should probably stay on the bus. Apparently there might not be a plane there for us after all. I could not understand why we would push on to Hamilton, another hour or so away, if there was going to be no flight for us when we arrived. It must be a mistake. So press on we did.

We arrived at Hamilton at around 6:45? pm. No-one from **airline** was in evidence to meet the busses or answer any of our now quite-frustrated questions. We went into the airport to try to find out something, and it was another ten minutes before it was clear that we shouldn’t be there. To quote one of your agents “I don’t know why you’re here, as you can see we’re fogged in.” Our plane had apparently diverted to YYZ.

I cannot describe to you in a polite letter the sounds that your passengers made when we were informed that we should get back on those little busses to return to Toronto. To say that there was a lack of enthusiasm among the passengers is putting it about as mildly as it can be put.

So, after some potty breaks, hunting down hot coffee etc., our little caravan headed back to Toronto. In total, around 30 minutes had elapsed in Hamilton. It was now dark, cold, raining like crazy, and the passengers were getting increasingly restless.

The trip back to YYZ was fairly quick. We were traveling against traffic, and it had thinned out anyway. We made good time, but one incident needs reporting. It seems that despite the rain, something on the bus caught fire. The passenger cabin was filled with a harsh, burning-electric-component kind of smell. After all that we had been through already, this was additionally worrisome. Being stranded on the side of the highway on this bus was not an appealing possibility. The bus driver was clearly concerned but uncertain what to do. I think he was becoming a little afraid of the now angry passengers, and announced “I don’t know what that is, but I sure hope we make it to the airport.” He mashed the gas pedal to the floor.

We arrived at Terminal 2 for the second time that day at around 8:15 pm. Cold, hungry, tired, frustrated, and bewildered. That no-one from **airline** met our bus to give us a little help, or encouragement, or support of any kind had me livid. I went into the terminal looking for answers, and was met with a combination of a lack of concern, blank looks and shrugged shoulders. Apparently some tall guy from **airline** knew what was going to happen with us, and would brief the check-in agents. That we were simply expected to once again line up like polite Canadians, after being shuttled around in horrible little buses for nearly four hours, I found to be a deplorable situation. That no-one attempted to address us as a group and offer apologies was totally unacceptable. But what else to do? We lined up.

At the check in, half-hearted apologies were offered. And still - I was amazed to learn - no-one seemed to know what was going on. I felt it unwise to go ahead and check in at this point, without knowing if there would be further delays. If we arrived in Edmonton too late in the evening, our morning’s work would be ruined anyhow. Better to postpone for a few days.

When I asked when our flight would leave, one of your agents said that “it should be about 20 minutes” I gave him my patented cold stare and asked him if he just made that up. The look on his face told me he clearly had. He said he maybe better check. I agreed. A minute later, he returned to tell us that the flight would definitely be leaving in around 45 minutes, at around 9 pm. This would be 7 hours after we were supposed to have taken off in the first place. I thanked him for letting me know.

We checked in. And I will admit we were not asked to pay overage for our heavy case of film lights. At the gate, waiting for us was a case of 24 bags of chips and a crate of orange-juice boxes. The flight was 7 hours late, a group of cranky passengers has just spent 4 hours on a crazy, horrible, unnecessary bus-ride, and we are being offered chips and boxed orange juice as some sort of compensation. By this time I was so tired and frustrated, I could only shake my head. The final touch of irony was the decal beside the door of the aircraft as we reached the end of the jet-way. “One of Canada’s most respected companies,” the decal brightly declared.

Aboard the flight, the flight attendants were really nice. We got to Edmonton very late. After getting our bags, and our rental car, and driving to Edmonton and finding something to eat well after midnight, I finally made it to bed at around 3 am Toronto time. Not the nice evening in Edmonton I had imagined.

Thinking it over, this is definitely my worst day of traveling ever. Only because my cameraman has survived a plane crash in Africa did this day come in second place for worst travel day for him.

In my opinion, **airline** showed very poor management and deplorable customer relations in this case.

There was no foresight. The YYZ staff must have known that the plane was incapacitated as early as 9 am, as I am informed that the aircraft never left Edmonton. Why slightly better bus/busses were not ordered, at a slightly more thoughtful departure time, I cannot imagine. To send three dozen paying customers to Hamilton on those cramped little busses at the height of rush hour on the busiest roadways in North America is simply stupid.

As well, to have sent us to Hamilton to meet a plane that would not arrive is pretty insupportable as well. As one of Canada’s most respected companies, why did you send us to meet a missing plane? Was there no communication with your dispatch system? Surely the aviation weather indicated well ahead of time that Hamilton would be fogged in. It should have been possible to know ahead of time that the horrible four-hour bus trek to Hamilton and back was a waste of my time and that of my fellow passengers.

That no-one from your company seemed informed about our unusual situation, and that no effort was made to meet us, greet us, help us, even inform us at either end of the awful bus trip is inexcusable.

Chips and orange drink? Enough said.

I hope that my letter helps you to make some management changes so that passengers will not have such a terrible time in the future.


Yours truly,





Ritchard Findlay

On our first trip to SXM, 18 years ago - we flew American from Chicago to San Juan, then Liat to SXM. We were traveling with our children (15 & 13) and it was only their second time out of the country. When we landed in SJ a porter helped us with our bags, asked us where we were going and on which airline. When I told him SXM & LIAT he said "that plane just left". I informed him, no - we are on the flight that leaves in 2 hours, and he said "thats the one that just left". Of course I thought he was just messing with us, UNTIL we got to the LIAT counter. They told us the plane was full so they left - but there were 8 passengers standing there that were on our American flight that were supposed to be on this LIAT flight. The only solution offered was the next open LIAT flight - 3 days from then!!! This was before cell phones and laptops - so I ran around to the other airlines to see what we could come up with.. nothing good was the answer.When I got back to the LIAT counter, one of the stranded passengers that had started screaming right away was finally quiet and had a smile on his face. Somehow he had convinced LIAT to put us on 2 small charter planes, fly to St Thomas and meet up with a LIAT plane to SXM. My wife, myself and our 2 children got in one plane. It was so small it only seated 4 passenegers, they had to weigh our carry ons to balance the wing storage, there was no separation between us and the pilots - we just looked over their shoulders. It was one of the smoothest landings and interesting flights I have ever had! We got to SXM very late, got into a van out to OBBR (before any of the current buildings were completed) and took off. The road was so bad back then that the driver would actual drive off of the road some times to avoid potholes. Both of my kids thought the driver was taking us some place to rob and kill us!!!- which of course was not the case. None the less, we had a great time at OBBR and looking forward to our return trip in 7 weeks... just NEVER EVER on LIAT again!!!

Carol - Appears my group of four are Liat's one success story - we used them on a flight from Sint Maarten to Barbados - as I recall there were no assigned seats - we had to run out on the tarmac and make a mad dash for seating - somehow we made it aboard and got to Barbados without a hitch. Fun times <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

We connected on LIAT a couple of times many years ago. It was interesting to say the least. From what I recall it was our best option so we took a chance.

No major problems but a couple of interesting situations come to mind. We stopped at some really small airport/island (I don't recall the name) and the "terminal" was basically a small aluminum storage shed. After picking up a couple of passengers the "flight attendant" announced they were going to fumigate the plane for insects that might have come aboard. She took out an aerosol can of insect spray, made a sweep around the plane and was done!

We love LIAT...LIAT...LIAT... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

What was the airlines response?

We must be the 2nd for we had no problems at all. The flight that scared me was one from Aruba to Curacao, I think KLM. We arrived very early at airport had breakfast to wait. Looking out window we saw a KLM arrive, watched people board then noticed 4 people throw money on the table and run. Waiter came over asked if we weren't going to leave also. It was our flight but no announcement was made. So we ran too.

We boarded plane via the tail area---had never done that before---found seats then watched others board with grocery bags filled with foods, a kid caring an open container of chocolate milk. The kicker was when I saw a goat come up the isle. On take-off, an orange left from a bag and rolled down the isle. When we landed in Curacao the goat remained on. He and the grocery people were on their way to Venezuela. Oh and did I mention there were no seat belts?