About Me

I ramble about a number of things - but travel experiences, movies and music feature prominently. See my label cloud for a better idea. All comnments and opinions on this blog are my own, and do not in any way reflect the opinions/position of my employer (past/current/future).

10 February 2012

Rude SAA ground staff

I fly a lot, and very often on SAA. Overall, I would say that the staff is polite and service is excellent. My recent redemption of voyager miles was an excellent case in point. Tonight, I am flying again, and have come across rude ground staff twice in 30 minutes! The first was at baggage drop off, where I was brusquely told that I was at the wrong counter and to go somewhere else, despite the counter being labeled "Fast Bag Drop". But it was not so much the message but the delivery of the message.

But the latter scene was inexcusable. While waiting for the plane to commence boarding, there were two ground staff sitting opposite. A gentleman, who was also on the same flight enquirer whether he was in the right place and why the plane wasn't boarding. The response was not, we aren't ready yet or directing him to the right person, but stating that he should look at the board and it will tell him when boarding would commence. The man was clearly bewildered so he approached the ground staff at a rival airline at the next counter who were far more helpful.

SAA was recently awarded the best airline in Africa for service, and has been for a number of years. At this rate maybe it won't stay like that for much longer.

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