Traumatic experience

I am writing this to inform readers about the trauma that my family went through while travelling with Singapore Airlines.

I purchased four tickets in May 2013 by paying through my credit card, to kick-start our well-planned holiday in Australia. We were booked to travel on December 19, 2013. Our holiday was organised with a hotel booking in Gold Coast and a rented car well in advance. We paid Dh24,000 for the tickets.

After I purchased the tickets, my bank upgraded my account and sent me a new credit card. When I purchased the tickets on the Singapore Airlines website, there was a message that the credit card should be verified, unless the card holder is also travelling.

As I was travelling and my new card is from the same bank and with the same name as per my passport, we went to the airport with my children on December 19 three hours before the flight.

At the time of checking in, staff from the Singapore Airlines asked for my credit card for verification, I had my new card, yet they demanded the cancelled card with which I had purchased the tickets in May.

They claimed that there are bogus travellers using fraudulent credit cards and if we turned out to be in the same category, they would have to pay the ticket amount with their own salaries. By this time, my daughter started crying. The solution they gave me was:

1. Go and purchase a new ticket which is much higher than the price I paid in May. They said they could not assure the refund of the ticket, which I had already purchased.

2. Present a bank statement with the old credit card number.

3. Go to the Singapore Airlines’ office and verify the card.

We asked whether there was any senior manager with whom we could speak. They said he was busy handling the flights and would not be able to help.

Long story short, they rejected us as a family who was trying to fly on a vacation without paying money, returned all our baggage from the conveyer belt and in front of all other passengers, we were sent home.

The next day was a Friday, so on Saturday morning, we went to Singapore Airlines’ office and within 10 minutes, they verified the card without my old credit card, which they could have done at the airport itself.

We had to cancel our hotels, rental car, and a previously organised family reunion, and had to suffer much stress on the day of the flight. Finally, they booked us on a flight on Saturday night and charged us for the change in date of travel, too.

When writing to Singapore Airlines, none of the senior managers bothered to call or speak to us on this issue.

After several correspondences, they gave us an in-flight entertainment voucher as compensation for the loss we went through. They said we could use these vouchers when travelling on Singapore Airlines again (we would have to purchase a ticket).

I need proper compensation for the trauma of two days’ delay and the shame and pain we went through at the airport.

Singapore Airlines is just giving us an apology with just a couple of vouchers - that too, after three months of corresponding.

From Mr Don Mark Wavita

Abu Dhabi

The management of Singapore Airlines responds:

We wish to share that our credit card verification procedure would require the cardholder to present the original card used for the transaction in person prior to the flight at any ticketing office, or at the check-in counter, during check-in for the flight itself.

When a booking is made online, the website system informs passengers that credit card verification is needed and that passengers would be required to bring the original credit card used to make the booking during check-in.

Our Customer Affairs team in Singapore has been in contact with Mr Wavita directly.

Subsequently, the family were able to travel using the same tickets on a later day without extra charge incurred. In addition, as a token of goodwill, in-flight gift vouchers were offered to the family, which can be used to purchase items on board Singapore Airlines flights or through mail order.

We certainly empathise with the inconvenience that this may have caused. However, we also ask for our passengers’ understanding on the need for credit card verification. If this verification process is not enforced, anyone in possession of a stolen credit card will be able to perform a fraudulent transaction to purchase the ticket.

Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to correspond and explain matters.

Mr Wavita responds:

I don’t accept their response. They charged me for the change in date on all tickets. They have not even investigated properly to understand whether I have been charged. They also gave me in-flight vouchers, which is of no use as I have to buy a ticket and travel.

If their conditions state that passengers should travel with the credit card, then they could very well see that I was with my family and my credit card was with me from the same bank with the same name and I had all the relevant IDs. They could have identified that I am not a fraudulent traveller.

Moreover, I purchased the ticket in May and travelled in December - in all this time they did not receive any complaint from the bank that the purchase was fraudulent.

While responding to customer complaints, they seem to be hiding behind their rigid policies. I feel Singapore Airlines doesn’t know how to fix the damage done. Mistakes take place, but the remedial action they have taken to retain the customer is completely unacceptable.

Editor’s note: Mr Wavita’s response was forwarded to Singapore Airlines for comments. However, its management did not respond.

(This complaint was sent to Gulf News on March 4. Process completed: March 24.)

Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com