The WORST Airline in the Caribbean !!!
Written: Sep 14 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Absolutely NONE
Cons: Overbooking, Customer DisService, Rude attendants & Agents
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| larry3's Full Review: Air Jamaica |
Air Jamaica is an example of "Everything" that is wrong with air travel today...
I've flown to the Caribbean at least once a year for the last 11 years. So I've had experience with "normal" problems associated with air travel. Air Jamaica is about as far outside the bounds of "normal" as I've ever experienced...
We made the unfortunate mistake of booking our Honeymoon with Air Jamaica to St. Lucia. The vacation was prepaid SIX MONTHS in advance. And I assumed that early planning on my part would make for a stress free trip. But the day of our departure became anything but stress free very quickly.
We arrived 1 hour and 50 minutes prior to the flight out of Baltimore BWI. We were left standing in a line that didn't move at all for 1 1/2 hours. At that time several people ahead of us were shuffled quickly through and then the line stopped again. At this point, the counter clerks started looking really nervous. There were still 13 people total standing in line. We were all then left for another 30 minutes past the flight departure time without being told anything.
After they were sure that the flight had left the ground, we were all told that our 6 month prepaid seats didn't exist and that we had missed the flight. We were then all chastised for not arriving more than 2 hours prior to the flight. (Not an apology from a single Air Jamaica clerk). I then asked the Air Jamaica rep how it would have made any difference what time we arrived since they had overbooked the flight by THIRTEEN people. I said "there still would have been 13 people who wouldn't have had a seat". And she said "yes, but you wouldn't have been one of those 13 if you had gotten here earlier..."
We were then left standing around for another hour as they told us that they were getting us flights on different air carriers. We were told at this point to go have breakfast and come back in 1 1/2 hours. They assured us they would either put us on other carriers or at the very least, fly us via Air Jamaica to Jamaica (pressumably to overnight us there).
After coming back we were simply told there were no flights of any kind for any of us. And that we needed to go home and come back tomorrow... What the 1 1/2 hour breakfast tactic turned out to be was a way to ensure that all other carriers would be off the ground. Thus keeping Air Jamaica from having to be burdened with the loss of putting us on other carriers.
After getting over the shock, frustration, and anger that Air Jamaica had just scr*wed my bride and I out of the first day of our honeymoon, I said well aren't you going to put us up in a hotel? Their response was that "there wasn't a single room available anywhere, we checked..." Now, anyone that's been to BWI in Baltimore knows that there are literally HUNDREDS of hotels around the airport. And there's NO WAY they could all be filled, nor could the Air Jamaica reps have called them all. So I challenged them and handed them a business card from the airport hotel we had spent the night in so that we could get there early. The Air Jamaica rep seemed very annoyed and put off that I asked her to call while I was there. And guess, what? The hotel we stayed in the night before had THIRTY rooms available. At this point the Air Jamaica rep very grudgingly gave us a hotel voucher and sent us on our way... We also checked the first 5 hotels we passed on our way to ours to see if they had any rooms. EVERY SINGLE ONE had open rooms! This just turned out to be one more in a littany of lies we were told by Air Jamaica Reps.
Prior to leaving the airport that morning, we asked the Air Jamaica reps if they would be notifying our hotel in St. Lucia of our status, or if we needed to do it ourselves? To which they responded "Well call and take care of everything"...
The following morning we arrive 2 1/2 hours in advance. We got our tickets but we also noticed that there were at least as many people as the day before being queued up in a line that didn't get on the flight...
The flight to Jamaica and on to St. Lucia was relatively uneventful. When asked by an attendant why we looked so p*ssed off. We told them that Air Jamaica caused us to miss the first night of our honeymoon. To which we received a silent smirk from the attendant, and again, no apology...
After arriving on St. Lucia and taking the nearly 2 hour bus trip to our hotel "The Ladera" we were greeting by a wonderful staff but then taken to a room the size of a storage closet... When I said there must be some mistake, I booked a deluxe room with a waterfall plungepool which is supposed to be MUCH bigger than this. They said that they had called Air Jamaica when we didn't arrive the prior day. Air Jamaica said they didn't know anything about us and they also never called to explain bumping us off of the flight. So they gave "our" 6 month in advance booked room to someone else... At this point my wife just couldn't take it anymore and broke down in tears...
At that point I called Air Jamaica collect. They refused the charges. I called again. They again refused the charges. I asked the reservation staff to call them on their hotline. At that point I was given a customer service rep that said, "You'll just have to say in the room they gave you for the night"... Again, no apology...
I asked to speak to a manager and I was told that I would have to wait for them to call me back. I waited 45 minutes and called the Air Jamaica rep back again. She again told me I'd have to wait. But at that point normal business hours would have been over with in another 15 minutes. So I said I would NOT wait and that I wanted to speak to a Manager NOW. At this point there was some whispering that went on in the background and a manager finally got on the line.
When I explained everything we had gone through thus far, she said that there was nothing she could do. I asked her to put us up in the neighboring Hilton (who's rooms were cheaper than the one's we originally booked). She said that she couldn't do it because their reservation staff had already gone home. I countered and told her that the Ladera clerks said that they already had a room reserved for me there. The Air Jamaica rep then went off on me saying that "Air Jamaica doesn't look kindly upon being bullied" and that "they wouldn't cover the cost of the room if we spent the night at the other hotel". Seeing how upset I was getting, the LaDera clerks said that they would put us up down there and charge it to Air Jamaica. And that if Air Jamaica didn't reimburse them, they would just eat the cost.
The following day we moved back to the Ladera where we should have been in the first place and we decided to not let Air Jamaica ruin our entire Honeymoon. So we put it out of our minds as best we could and went on with our vacation. During our stay we we got a note from the front desk that a local Air Jamaica rep would come to talk to us. But the person never showed up in the following week that we were there. And at this point, we really didn't want to waste anymore of our honeymoon arguing with Air Jamaica's Customer "Dis"Service staff.
When it was finally time to go home, we arrived 3 hours early at the airport. Only to find the Air Jamaica counter in total disarray. There were literally a 70-100 people left standing in line for 2 1/2 hours. When we got to the counter, the attendant started looking really nervous. We asked if we were going to get bumped again. And she told us "no, but everyone behind you is...". I turned around to see 14 people behind me that had no idea that they had just stood around in 90 degree for almost 3 hours for no reason at all. They were all going to get bumped....
During our flight home, the Air Jamaica staff had problems getting the in flight movie to work (as they had on the way down too). Only this time our headphones and as well as quite a few people around us, didn't work. We informed the flight attendant and she said to us in an annoyed voice, "There's nothing I can do about it!" and she just kept walking. AGAIN, no apologies...
I'd like to say that this had a happy ending, but I can't. After getting home we explained in depth what Air Jamaica had done to us and our honeymoon plans both via phone and email. We were given a round trip voucher to Jamaica for two. And they said that's all they were prepared to do about our ordeal. Since Jamaica is their primary hub, that voucher was the cheapest possible thing they could have offered us. And not suprisingly... Again... "No Apology"...
We've since written off the idea of EVER flying Air Jamaica again (not to mention that there's no way we'd subject ourselves to a chincy flight with them to Jamaica). We also deterred MANY of our friends, family, and coworkers from booking with Air Jamaica. And if you're reading this review, I would HIGHLY suggest that you think twice before using Air Jamaica.
It appears that they overbook ALL their flights by a LARGE margin to ensure that they don't have any empty seats. They are rude and unapologetic about anything they do to you. And there are LOTS of other carriers that will do a MUCH better job of getting you to the Caribbean at the SAME price that Air Jamaica charges to scr*w you over.
CAVEAT EMPTOR (Buyer Beware) when it comes to Air Jamaica.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
larry3
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Member: Larry
Location: Maryland
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 9 members
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