Two months ago me, my girlfriend and my lebanese sister Marya decided to spend a holiday together in Beirut. I booked my flight tickets, my girlfriend the hotelroom and flight. Marya the vacation plans in general. I asked my boss here at the Sudanese Red Crescent if it was possible to renew my residence visa and get exit/entry visa within the next 6 weeks. Yes was the answer.
And to everyones surprise, Anine my colleague, gets seriously ill with dysenteri and has to be flown to Khartoum for better treatment with me as support with her. She came around and is well now. While we where there I checked on the status of the visas I needed. "hmm, how far have we come with the visas?" I thought. When I asked the right people, they had not heard of it at all. We had now three weeks left to departure. I was speechless and worried.
After alot of talking and documents exchange the prosess of getting the visas was finally started. All they needed now to reach the deadline was the cash transfered from our branch to the headquarters in order for them to pay the fees. "Good", I thought, "we are finally moving ahead and there is hope to get in time still". I went satisfied back to Port Sudan city with a healthy Anine after almost two weeks in Khartoum.
Two weeks went by and I was reassured over phone that prosedures where going as they should and the money was transfered without any problems. But closer to the last week before departure my contact person in headquarters had to much to do and assigned me to another person. I called this person and was told no money was transfered to them and because of this nothing which needed payment had been done so far. Now there was 4 days left to departure and hope deminished before my eyes. "What!? How is that &%¤# possible?", I thought.
It shows, after connections has been used to get information, that the finance department had attained the money for accountacy security reasons. In effect stopping the whole prosess and nobody thought of telling me about the issue. My boss here in the branch where, by coinsidence, in Khartoum these days because he had been in Geneva. He discovered the issue, asked for transfer documentation and had the money released...on late thursday. In sudan there is holiday friday and saturday. My departure was on tuesday morning 6am.
It WAS tuesday morning 6am. So the date was lost, no doubt about it. All I had to do was to rebook my flights to leave two or three days later...
So I called my airliner: Egypt Air. It was now monday morning. No answer. "Have I pressed the wrong number from the internet?" I thought, "I will try to call all possible ways and numbers".
Two hours later, after calling between two numbers I was absolutely sure (The numbers where busy sometimes, but still would not answer when I called right after they hung up) the numbers where right. I also called their main base in Egypt frequently between the constant recalling to Khartoum office. No answer. A local sudanese friend of mine tipped me of a skilled travel agent here in Port Sudan city. I went to him and he told me Egypt Air never answers their phone. "What kind of buisness is this?" I thought.
I decided I was not going to lose my ticket without a fight, so I called without break for the next hours between two numbers to the egypt office. At 2 pm they started answering their phones right away. So now that I had reached them I was safe that my ticket was not lost.
Almost. You see, they needed everything on mail. Approval of fees as well as the changes to the ticket had to be sent by mail. "No problem" I thought. So I sent it all. I called them back 15min later, but they had recieved nothing. So I sent it again, after checking thoroughly the mail both on phone and contact details on egypt air webpage. I called back an half hour later, still nothing. We did it a third time and then the operator started accusing me of having something wrong with my mail or computer. Emphazing strongly this was MY fault. I argued that no matter where the fault was we should rebook by phone, since the mailsystem is not working whereever. The operator kindly declined and said he had to have it writting in a mail that I approve the fees for rebooking. I pleaded an oral agreement as strong as a written one. As well as pointing out that every other airliner in the world was able to make changes to a ticket wihtout a mail over phone. The operator now goes from kindly declining to bluntly refusing. "You better hope there is no rule I can fry you on this one, good bye!" was my kind last word to the operator and my face was purple at this point. I would most likely be in jail, for ripping a susrtain someones head off, if the operator was there in front of me at that time. I had then spent 6-7 hours with the good service at Egypt Air. Stay away from these guys!
So now I am here still in Port Sudan enjoying the sunset, not allowed to leave the country by state and airliner. So this was out of the country vacation plans. Do you wanna come visit us into the country?
Happy easter everybody.
All the best Thomas
1 comment:
So sorry
God PASKE!
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