Inertia Kills

Update: Just over two hours after sending the follow-up email, I’ve received a response from an airBaltic senior customer relations representative. This email more carefully explained that due to a technicality, I am not eligible for this refund. Refunds are issued with official embassy documentation of visa refusals. My passport/visa was not refused, but rather was terribly delayed. Legally, the fact that I did not have my proper travel documents in time, for whatever reason, is not grounds for a refund. This would have been fine if this was the case from the beginning; however, I was informed, and thus led to believe that a full refund would be rewarded. Additionally, this still does not justify the level of customer service clients consistently receive from airBaltic representatives. They should be aware of their shortcomings and work towards improvement.

Last week, airBaltic was heralded at a local conference of top Latvian businesses for its online presence. However, companies like airBaltic need to realize that simply being savvy with social media is not enough. Ultimately, all the facebook friends/fans or twitter followers in the world don’t mean a thing if the company does not treat their clients with dignity, fairness, and respect. If social media is going to be their thing, then maybe they should be a little more… well… sociable.

United Airlines slogan says, “Come fly the friendly skies.” Well, United this ain’t.

One of my biggest complaints since moving here to Riga has been the operations of the local dominant airline, airBaltic. AirBaltic operates about 70% of the flights coming into and out of Riga, so there is often no alternative option. Additionally, airBaltic’s parent company is none other than the Latvian government itself. The fact that the government owns a majority stake of the company means that the odds of additional competitor airlines are about as likely as finding sunbathers on the sands of the Bay of Riga in mid-December.

I’ve made phone calls, I’ve sent emails, I don’t know what else to do… so here it is: a blog post expressing my frustrations. I apologize in advance for its length, but I wanted to be thorough. In the past, airBaltic has been more responsive to twitter complaints than they have to real life complaints (see my twitter feed for evidence). This leads me to believe that they are somewhat concerned with their online reputation. My hope is that this post might get enough attention from airBaltic or from the online community to present some sort of remedy to this problem. Maybe, just maybe, the airBaltic higher-ups will be made aware of what a shoddy operation they are running… but my fear is that they will not care in the least, as long as the profits keep rolling in because they’re the only name in town.

I’ve had my problems in the past with airBaltic. It seems that they have so many unsold seats that, at a certain point, they just cancel the flight altogether, and give very little consideration or flexibility to passengers on rescheduling flights. When an airline cancels a flight because of non-mechanical or non-weather related reasons, it becomes their responsibility to ensure that their customers are satisfactorily rescheduled. This is not the case at airBaltic. I have now had three flights with airBaltic canceled, two within 24 hours of departure. But this third one is the one that has made me reach my tipping point.

I’m tired of dealing with an airline where, as a customer, I don’t matter; like my time and money are worthless. AirBaltic doesn’t even have a toll-free phone number to speak with a customer service representative. To get that privilege, one needs to shell out .37Lvl/minute  (over $.70/minute). Considering that every time I’ve called to speak with a representative, I’ve been placed on hold for approximately 30 minutes or more, that can get to be some serious cash.

The specific problem is as follows, outlined point by point in an email sent to airBaltic on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 23. The email also documents the complications with securing a Russian visa that led to me canceling my flight.

If you don’t want to read it all, here’s the summary:

I was unable to fly to Moscow because of complications with my passport and visa at the Russian embassy. AirBaltic instructed me to send documentation of this from the Russian embassy visa office , along with copies of my passport and original flight itinerary, and I will be given a full refund. I sent all requested documents, and yet was denied a refund. The ticket price that I am asking to be refunded was $215.43, but more than anything, it’s the principal of being treated unfairly, time after time.

See below for the full email to the airBaltic representative. I’ll be sure to update with any progress.

Hello,