LAST week’s article which chronicled a sour taste of ZamPost’s customer service has triggered a reaction from OUR CORRESPONDENT who narrates his daughter’s ordeal at the hands of a renowned airline. Read on…

READING your article in which you described the bad experience that you endured at the hands of some lady at ZamPost while in pursuit of your motor vehicle licence disc, I felt that I should share my experiences, too, at the hands of a renowned airline.
Several months ago I bought a return air ticket for my daughter who is studying in China. Her trip was to begin from Beijing to Guanghzhou and then to Ndola. I emailed the ticket to my daughter well in good time long before her departure date.
The date of her departure arrived and she checked in at Beijing Airport two hours ahead of time when, suddenly, an announcement was made that their flight would be delayed owing to bad weather.
She was then subjected to a seven-hour wait until 22:00 hours when the coast was clear and subsequently boarded her flight. Upon arrival in Guangzhou, she was informed that the connecting flight had already departed and that the next flight was only due the following day at 22:00 hours.
Like a responsible passenger would do, she approached the airline’s counter to present her fate and lo and behold! They had knocked off!  After frantic efforts, we managed to speak to their Zambian office over this predicament and both officials promised to take care of the situation at hand by arranging some hotel accommodation – sadly without any food.
My poor daughter only used the facility (accommodation) to freshen up because time was already not her best ally. She arrived at the airport at 7:00 hours in the morning and quickly approached the check-in counter to present her ticket, only to be advised that her ticket had been suspended due to her failure to show up the previous day.
Shocked and confused, my daughter sent me a frantic text describing this predicament. I jumped out of bed and went to Ndola Airport to seek further clarity on this sudden development only to find the airline office closed until 13:00 hours!  Desperation set in now and I frantically began calling the airline’s staff in Lusaka to seek their intervention.
Agreed, the weather conditions were a natural occurrence over which my daughter had no control, but I wondered why all the airline’s staff could not have made adhoc arrangements ahead of time especially that they knew of the adverse repercussions of not either changing my daughter’s status or indeed offering her quality care while in their custody.
For yet another four hours my daughter was in limbo with a suspended ticket and penniless and stranded in Guangzhou.
Finally after a long wait the airline’s ground crew in Ndola arrived and frantically I ushered myself before them. The lady that dealt with me suggested a ticket upgrade to business class since that was the only space available, to which I agreed but was informed that this would come at a cost of K3,700!  With little choice at my disposal I arranged the money, but believe it or not, I was told that the flight schedule was full for a month!
Confused as I was and with no solution in sight the airline, I stormed out to another airline and hastily booked and forked out K10, 070 for a one- way ticket from Guanghzhou to Ndola and I didn’t mind the opportunity cost because my daughter had to move. When you are at sixes and sevens, your final decision doesn’t matter. What matters is, you made the decision.
The airline’s ground attendant was very customer -friendly and offered me a choice and comfort that the other airline had denied my daughter.
Finally after a long wait I broke the good news to my daughter that her new ticket had been purchased and that her flight would depart at midnight.
Comforted with this news I went back to the airline and demanded a refund which is still due to me as I write this article.
No reasonable duty of care was ever given to my daughter during this horrid time.
After four days I made a call to the airline’s office to enquire about my refund and was told that this could only be made within 21 days! Call it customer care! I’m not sure!
I then elected to use other alternatives for my daughter’s flight back with emphasis that the said refund be made so that I can pay for her return leg to China where she is studying.
As I write this article, the fate of my daughter’s return flight to China and the promised refund are absolutely unclear. In a word, your guess is as good as mine.  Depending on the outcome of the response, I will further advise the readers of the latest developments in due course. Meanwhile, my daughter has vowed never to use the airline again as a result of this episode.
NB: Contributions to this column, the column you write, should be sent to The Editor, “It happened to me” P O Box 30394, Lusaka, email: tozletters@gmail.com or drop them at any of our Times Printpak offices.  Please note that it may take some time before articles are published; this is because they are published on a first- come- first- served basis. Don’t lose hope. Keep sending in your valuable contributions. Editor.