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Mango Republic
The launch of new airline Mango has generated quite a bit of news recently. Most of this has covered the dismal performance of their internet site and call centre. Jumping in selling tickets at as low as R200 for a Jo’burg to Cape Town flight and not expecting high volumes of site hits and telephone calls can hardly be considered very competent management. Nonetheless, I will definitely be trying them out, and hope they can offer a wholly better deal, if not just price, than their rivals in...
Posted 07 November 2006 11:40 AM by bkelly | 1 comment(s)
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Dial Direct Pulls a Telkom
On the evening of Tuesday 5 July, I was involved in a motor accident and my car was towed to an autobody shop. On Thursday 7 July, as soon as I was discharged from hospital, I phoned Dial Direct insurance and lodged a claim. On Friday 8 July I was told that the autobody shop was not approved and that my car would be towed to the Dial Direct yard for assessment, and then taken to an approved repair shop. Today when I phoned to enquire as to progress, I was told that just the assessment can take up...
Posted 12 July 2005 08:55 AM by bkelly | 3 comment(s)
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Spar, Good for Who?
When I moved, in my immense hurry I neglected to wash dishes etc. before moving them (don’t worry, I didn’t pack them in any closed container), and when I arrived at my new place, I thought the more cholera avoiding thing to do would be to discard my old, nasty, plastic handled cutlery and purchase a nice new set. I was worried about the hygiene of these even before the move, as I don’t like cutlery with crevices (I always ended up soaking them in Jic). Now, before I have had chance to find nice...
Posted 11 July 2005 03:20 PM by bkelly | 1 comment(s)
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Idiots
The post category on my blog that makes most mention of airlines is called Bad Service and Other Rip-Offs , and the name of the blog itself has nothing to do with airlines, unless the word global is a lot more limited in use than I suspected. Yet ever since my posts on kulula.kak and 1Time I keep getting requests for information on air tickets and reservations. How stupid are these people? I will soon be exposing their folly in an Airline Query Hall of Shame, but until then I take some pleasure in...
Posted 22 June 2005 02:35 PM by bkelly | 4 comment(s)
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ABSA Brokers are Thieves
This isn't libel; they took money from me for a policy that I was never even infomed of, or that I agreed to. I changed insurance to Dial Direct in February, and since then I have received no letter or email from ABSA indicating that they required a new schedule. Now, in May, suddenly I noticed my car payment had increased by about R500, despite the prime rate dropping by 0.5%. When I phoned ABSA brokers I was told they had summarily "granted" me a policy because they couldn't reach me by cell phone...
Posted 04 May 2005 12:54 PM by bkelly | 6 comment(s)
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A Nice Restaurant Spoiled
If you are a caterer, and the name of your establishment is J.B. Rivers, in Bedfordview, you obviously already know how to piss people off. I seated myself there on Sunday morning, and waited for nearly ten minutes before leaving, disgusted with the complete lack of service. At least three staff were standing around chatting, so they weren't too busy, just too complacent. Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
Posted 18 January 2005 01:07 PM by bkelly | 14 comment(s)
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The kulula.kak Debacle Continues
Why was I not surprised, after my last kulula post to see an article on IOL titled Passengers fume over 8-hour airline delay ? As long as this airline continues to treat their passengers as the lucky winners of a cheap (yes, cheap, not just low cost) flight that should be grateful for every iota of service they do receive, they are going down and I will be dancing on their grave. Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!
Posted 22 December 2004 09:20 AM by bkelly | 14 comment(s)
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Another Sanlam Rip-off
I have been contributing to a Stratus retirement annuity with Sanlam, which is supposedly an assurance product, for nearly two and a half years. I have decided that this is an unnecessary monthly expense, but if I cancel the policy now, I lose every cent that I have paid. Management costs are built into the first few years of your investment, so that in case you don’t continue with its payments, they still benefit by charging you for a service no longer provided. It’s thus effectively only assurance...
Posted 25 November 2004 12:41 PM by bkelly | 4 comment(s)
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1Time: Only One Time!
Two weeks ago I arrived at Johannesburg airport about forty minutes before my midday flight to Cape Town with 1Time. I now know what inspired the name. At the main entrance to the Domestic Departures terminal, only the 1Time ticket counter was visible, and to the right of the counter one of the only two sign posts to the check-in counter I saw in my whole afternoon at the airport. The sign pointed to the left, and following it and another sign that later pointed straight forward, I found myself walking...
Posted 06 October 2004 09:02 AM by bkelly | 25 comment(s)
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Kulula.com: Overbooked and Tardy
If I can do anything to prevent other flyers from flying kulula.com I will. Two weeks ago, on Sunday afternoon I arrived well within the twenty minute check-in cut-off for my eight o'clock kulula.com flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. When I arrived at the counter, I was informed politely that the plane was full, and that I could wait just over an hour for the nine o'clock flight. On complaining to their staff, I was told that the airline reserves the right to overbook a flight, as often people...
Posted 05 October 2004 04:06 PM by bkelly | 12 comment(s)
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