airBaltic: a lesson on how to fly the unfriendly skies
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,
- On February 22nd, I applied for a visa to visit Moscow on the weekend of March 18. (I am an American citizen living in Latvia). I was told my passport would be ready with the visa on March 3.
- On February 24th, ensured that I would have my passport returned well before the departure date of March 18, I purchased a return ticket on airBaltic flight #418 from Riga to Moscow.
- On March 3, I learned that there were complications with processing my visa, and that I had to stop at the Russian visa company office to sign an additional document that they neglected to have me sign on my first visit. At this point, I was instructed that my passport would be ready to pick up on March 14.
- On March 14, I received a phone call from a translator on behalf of the Russian Embassy visa company notifying me that my passport would not be ready until between 15.00-17.00 on Friday, March 18.
- If you recall, the original flight time was scheduled for 12.00 on March 18 (see attachment 4 for documentation).
- On Tuesday, March 15, knowing that it was not possible for me to receive my passport from the Russian embassy until several hours after the scheduled time of flight departure, I took action to cancel my flight.
- First, I went to the airBaltic offices on Terbatas. They told me that since I booked my flight through Orbitz, I would have to work with them.
- So I called Orbitz on the evening of Tuesday, March 15. An Orbitz representative spoke with an airBaltic representative and was instructed that in cases of failure to complete flights due to visa complications, passengers are awarded a full refund of the original ticket price.
- In order to receive this refund, I was instructed to get documentation from representatives processing my visa at the Russian embassy verifying that I was unable to travel due to visa/passport complications (I did not have my passport or visa in my possession at the time of departure).
- On Friday, March 18, as instructed by the embassy representatives, I returned to the Russian embassy at 16.30 to retrieve my passport and visa (which, at this point, was no longer of any use because it was too late to catch the scheduled flight). At this time, I also obtained a signed and stamped document verifying that I was, in fact, unable to travel because I did not have my passport and visa in my possession before my scheduled time of departure. As an American, this was not an easy document to obtain from a Russian embassy representative, but with patience, persistence, and a lot of explanation, I was able to obtain it.
- Immediately after returning home from the embassy, I scanned the document verifying that I did not have my passport and attached that document along with my original flight plans and a copy of my passport and sent these documents as an attachment to customers@airbaltic.lv. This is exactly as I was instructed to do in order to receive a full refund for my ticket price.
- On that Friday evening (18th of March), roughly an hour before the flight departed (the 12:00 flight had since been canceled and rescheduled for 19.00), I phoned Orbitz to notify them that I was completing the tasks asked of me and they, in turn, instructed me to get back in touch with them after I had received a response from airBaltic.
- On Tuesday, March 22, I received a response to my original refund request denying me of my refund.
- On Tuesday, March 22, I phoned back to Orbitz at approximately 17.25, Riga time. The Orbitz representative then waited on hold for over 35 minutes for an airBaltic customer service representative to respond.
- Finally, at 18.02, March 22, Dairis responded to the phone call and explained that since the offices were closing, that I would have to call back again the next day (today, March 23). However, before he hung up, he did confirm that passengers who are not able to travel due to complications with visas are given full refunds for their purchased tickets.
- Today, March 23rd, at 10.50AM, Riga time, I phoned Orbitz again. And again, sat waiting for 30 minutes for an airBaltic representative to respond to the call. Initially, the Orbitz representative thought that because she was waiting so long for a response, that maybe according to local Latvian time, she was trying to make a call outside of regular business hours. I assured her that no, it was 11:02AM local time. Someone should pick up. Eventually someone did.
- As I mentioned at the start of this email, that representative then simply told me to email customer service with my request. He did not bother to listen to me trying to explain that I had already done this, and then rudely hung up the phone. After waiting for 35 minutes, he hung up on me. This is unacceptable customer service.
- Verification from the embassy representative that I could not travel because I did not yet receive my passport back from the embassy before the originally scheduled flight time.
- A copy of my passport
- The original flight itinerary
- The revised flight itinerary
Aaron Anthony
Well, with the rescheduled/delayed flight, sounds like you could have totally made for that 7pm flight, right?!
beibe
March 24, 2011 at 2:17 pm
When I learned that I would not be able to get my passport before my noon departure, I contacted the translator acting on behalf of the embassy visa agency and canceled my Moscow visa request. I was told there was no way I could get it before 3-5pm and I did not want to pay the additional fees to reschedule my flight before I actually had my passport in my hands. I had already been told twice at this point that my passport would be ready, and it was not. So to spend more money without being in possession of the passport seemed foolish. As it turns out, the day after I made adjustments to my visa request, my flight was canceled and I was rescheduled on the 7pm flight. So actually yes, had I not done anything at all, there is a chance I could have made it after all. But acting on the knowledge I had, I already changed my visa request thinking there was no way I could make the 12pm flight. And once I made that change, I could not call back to the Russian Embassy and cancel my cancellation. I’d already been warned that they were getting annoyed with all my complications and further contact could end up being banned from Russia for 5 years.
Additional info, wasn’t exactly related to the airBaltic connection, so I didn’t post:
My original visa application was for a one month, two-entry visa. One weekend in Moscow, and one weekend in St. Petersburg- both within a one month timespan. When I found out my passport would not be ready until several hours after the original time of departure, I requested to cancel the Moscow visa for March 18, and only to get the St. Petersburg visa for a later date. Due to a communication problem (the visa company was now dealing with me through a translator by telephone), what I actually got when I went to pick up my passport that day was a visa for St. Petersburg for the weekend of March 18 (that very weekend). They changed the city, but not the dates. So now the passport is being reprocessed (again), and I’ve been told I can pick it up on March 30, and it will be prepared with the correct St. Petersburg visa. I’ve also since been told that the company made a mistake from the beginning and should have never processed my original application because, as I’ve been told, Americans actually aren’t even elegible for a one month, two-entry visa. Whether this is true or not, I’m not sure.
aaronanthony
March 24, 2011 at 2:38 pm
i once called Ryanair, they also have paid phone number, had to wait about 10 minutes before connected, but half an hour, wow!
Guigo
March 24, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Yeah, and it’s been that way consistently… every single time I’ve tried to get in touch with them. This is why I’ve chosen for my past several trips to book through Orbitz instead. Then they make the phone calls to connect me through, and I don’t get nailed with the .37santim/minute charges. I’ve come to expect it whenever I need to get in touch with them, so I’ll start making dinner when I place the call, and if I’m lucky, will just be finishing up when I’m finally put through.
aaronanthony
March 24, 2011 at 2:44 pm
OK, my impressions – you were screwed by the Russian embassy first, and by Orbit, second. and airBaltic is the one with bad customer service… that’s pretty hilarious attitude, isn’t it
I guess, you should first get your addressees right…
Ilze
March 25, 2011 at 10:19 am
in latvia we have pretty decent customer rights agency (Patērētāju tiesību aizsardzības centrs). So, bring to Airbaltic office the written(!) request for the refund and also ask for paying back your pay-phone charges since they DID NOT provide service for that 1/2hour – waiting can not be considered ‘decent service’. If you do not receive answer from AB in 15 days, bring the same copy of documents + extra letter to the agency asking to resolve the issue.
And also write the similar letter to Cabinet of Ministers – by law they are required to give reasonable answer – so, let they deal themselves with the ‘state company’.
uno
March 26, 2011 at 1:23 am
You say that you purchased your tickets vua Orbitz. This required a credit card as do all online purchases. Simplest and best is to just porters the sale. You paid for a service that was not delivered, plain and simple. I have had similar problems in the past with various airlines and this is the easiest remedy. It may even be still absolvable to you now.
Experienced traveler
September 22, 2011 at 6:51 am