Yesterday I got a call from my airline. Rue DeDay Air (We’ll get you there, or not). Actually it wasn’t my airline, though it’d be wicked cool if I had my own airline, let me tell you. It was an airline I bought a ticket from. This airline (Let’s name it. Just at random, I’ll call it Greek D Airline. Good old Greek D. The airline whose motto is: We just don’t care.) called me up. Not the whole airline, just a lovely woman named Sue.
ring ring
“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Sue from Greek D Airline. Remember your travel plans?”
Yeesh, what a job to have. Sue gets to call up complete strangers and let them know, through no fault of the airline who sold them a ticket, thay are, travel-wise, screwed. And than she has no authority to help the poor schmuck out. What a job.
What a racket too. You go to the store. You see an item, let’s say a book.
“Hello good bookseller. I’d like that book.”
“OK, it’s $9.99”
“That’s great, here’s your money.”
“And here’s your book.”
“Wait a minnit. This ain’t my book. I bought that one over there.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did. It says so right on my receipt.”
“No it doesn’t.”
“Yes it does. See? Right there.”
“Oh, no… see, that book costs 4 1/2 times the amount you paid. But I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll let you have this other book over here. How’s that? You just can’t read it til tomorrow.”
How long would that bookstore stay in business?
Not as long as Greek D Airlines. Even with a Government grant.
So, there are many phone calls and a couple of transfers and the general run-around. (The following is a fictionalized account. Really.)
“No I’m sorry. That plane is over-booked.”
“Why is that, exactly?”
“We sold too many tickets.”
“I see. So you remodeled the plane and lost a few, huh?”
“No, we just keep selling seats. There was also the whole “cancelling flights” thing. Fewer people are flying so we don’t need as many flights.”
“But… you overbooked. That means you don’t have enough flights…”
“I can see where it would look that way since you’re not in the Industry.”
“So, what you’re saying is, since it’s your way or no way, you don’t care.”
“I wouldn’t say it like that…”
“How would you say it?”
“Awww heck… who am I kidding? Yeah, that’s what I mean.”
“So… when I bought this ticket, the deal was, I give you money, the amount of money you say it takes to get me from here to there, and you say you’ll get me there at a certain time. Unless you change you mind. Then you’ll get me from here to there some other time. Is that it?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Cool, since you can change your mind, I get to change my mind and give you less money, or even no money if I don’t like the flight?”
“No, that’s not how it works. You give us money and then we either get you where you’re going or not. It’s up to us.”
“But it’s my money.”
“It’s our planes. You could take the train. Or the bus. I really don’t care.”
“But we bought these tickets way back in July. All these people who didn’t get bumped, they made their plans before July?”
“As far as you know they did. You don’t think we’d let people who got their tickets after you get on the plane while we let you just sit in the terminal? Do you? C’mon, we’re all friends here. I just don’t know when they got their tickets, and I just don’t know why you got the shaft.”
“Don’t know, or don’t care?”
“Yeah, one of those.”
“Thanks so much.”
“Well, whatcha gonna do?”
“Write a strongly worded letter?”
“Yeah, that’ll help you.”
“So back to the whole “fewer people flying” deal. You’re down to the people who have to fly, so you can just do as you please?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“So treating the people who are still travelling just a little better isn’t such a good idea? You know, make 'em happy so they’ll be more likely to do more travelling?”
“Now you’re gettin’ it, Sport.”
So here I am. Irked. I am well and truely irked. But I still get to go to Disney World. As far as I know.
-Rue.
Ha ha! Paging through the paper this morning I see a full page ad for my airline begging more people to fly. I guess they just want to cuddle now.
So you guys gonna drive instead??
