Here is the mail (posted on 19-June, 2003):
Dear Mrs Evelyn Gerlach,
My name is Mihaly BOBALY, and I recently purchased an airticket
from you via Tauch Terminal Bali (Axel SCHWAN).
I am a regular guest here in Bali, coming back over the
years since 1998.
This year Axel offered me a chance to buy a cheap ticket
(he offered me 605€), while at the end it costed me more
than many other choices I had in hand. The final bill is:
ticket: 605 €
postal costs 10 €
Changing ticket 40 € (BUD-FRA)
Lost ticket charge 130 €
BUD-FRA 190 €
+ numerous phone calls
SUM: 975 €
Which is far more than reasonable for this destination.
Here is how I got into these costs:
I had a ticket booked for 1-JUNE, from Frankfurt to Denpasar.
The first problem was that the agent handling this told
me that it is NOT possible to pick up the ticket at Frankfurt
Airport.
This seems strange, however I accepted it.
Mr. Leander Gerlach offered me the following possibilities:
- I can come one day earlier to Franfurt, and use the train,
an pick up the ticket at your office.
- He can send the ticket to FRA airport by taxi, but it
will cost a lot
- He can send it via courier service to Hungary (offered
a 44€ first, later 50€)
I mailed these details to Axel, who answered me that the
cost he will not accept, but asked Mr Leander Gerlach to
deposit the ticket to Franfurt Airport.
At the end, we agreed on the phone, since we need to reschedule
the ticket to the 6th, so it can be posted via postal service.
I asked him to do it (for the safety) in a Registered Mail,
and Express Service.
When the ticket did not show up until the 6th, so we rescheduled
the flight to the 8th. To make the same in the BUD-FRA relation,
I had to pay 40€.
When the ticket was still not there, so I called the Hungarian
Post, where they told me that it is possible to trace the
letter, and deliver it, but they need a registration number.
I called Mr Gerlach for the number, and - for my deepest
suprise - it turned out that he mailed the ticket via regular
post, claiming that it couldn't be registered.
I checked that, it can be registered.
Also I chacked the courier services, the offered 50€ probably
contains some extra charges from your agency side, since
the cost is around half of that.
So at the end, the ticket was somewhere on the way, and
could not be traced.
I called Mr Gerlach again, asking for the recovery possibilities.
Just saving the day, and avoid to loose the money.
He told me that it is not possible any more. If the ticket
is lost, so I have to buy a new one. I am not an expert
on these matters, but I pressed that there must be a solution
for this, since other passangers might loose a ticket for
sure. And anyway, my information is inside the airline computer
system, I did not pay for the ticket, but I did pay for
the transfer and the service.
He than told me in an educating tone of voice (probably
he was angry with me), that he is in this business for 20
years, and he knows what can or cannot be done.
After this phone call I located the Brunei Airlines office
number In Franfurt, called them, and learned that there
is a choice, however it costs money. The ticket need to
be reported lost by the agent, and the reissue will cost
130€.
So I mailed this information to Mr Gerlach, and got the
following replies:
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 12:47:28 +0200
Dear Mihaly
i just made the aggreement with BI , FRA
They issued a new ticket for you and we have to pay EURO
130 in Cash in FRA Airport.
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 16:38:40 +0200
I,m sorry but Royal Brunei want now Euro 150 not Euro 130
, because i gave a special Touroperator Ticket.
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 16:59:57 +0200
I,m sorry BI Sales Department don,t accept to reissued a
your ticket!
They want Euro 130 for cancellation - fee and they want
to issued a new ticket . and you have to pay it again.
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 17:12:27 +0200
HALLO , again
I have good news for you!!!!
Royal Brunei SALES now agree to make the deal!
You have to pay EURO 130 in Frankfurt
and than you can fly!!!
So, finally, I got here to Bali. I am explicitely satisfied
with the service of Tauch Terminal Bali, but this time I
am very much unhappy about the extra costs. I understand
that this case has nothing to do with them, but I expected
that the partners of this company working in the same way
as they do. Actually this was the first time when I was
disappointed.
Also the 10€ for the postal services show (billed to TTB),
that the pricing and the billed amount is well over the
normal charges one can expect. This is something I can't
accept for a mail posted against my instructions and common
sense. Probably Mr Gerlach was clear when he posted this
ticket, that it will not arrive on time, and his 20 years
of experience was not enough to judge the situation properly.
Also his expericence clocked him to call Brunei Airlines
for a solution, I had to do that myself.
If I wouldn't have done that, I could be filing this mail
not for the extra costs involved, but for the ticket as
well.
I realised that your name corresponds, so it might be more
difficult to judge the situation right. But I still hope
that a proper service buys new guests, and the unproper
service costs bad "lip advertisement", which a
trustable company cannot afford.
I still believe that this was an independent case of misconduct,
where the damage cannot be undone, but the party involved
can be reimbursed.
This would also "save the face" - as they say
here in Asia - and would keep my trust in a well-known agency
as Resiefiber is.
Please review this case, and I hope that this case can
be solved by returning the money I unnecessarily spent clearly
without my mistake.
The money I am filing for here is 130€ + 40€ = 170€ for
the change of tickets,
Plus please invoice the proper amount for the postal service.
Additional phone costs involved is: 25€
I am very confident that this case will be solved fast,
by returning me the 195€, plus incoicing the 10€ postal
costs, and this you will not force me to make the necessary
next steps by not fulfilling the request I made.
In case not, I need to make the formal complaints to the
German authorities with all the details I have in hand.
Yours Sincerely,
Mihaly Bobaly
And the answer (on the 11-July, 2003 - three weeks later)
Dear Mr. Mihaly,
i got your first eMail and we thought it´s better to explain
the situation to Axel.
Our Managing Director, Mr. Leander Gerlach, offered you
to send the ticket via UPS.
You havn´t agreed with this suggestion, because you did
not want to pay the UPS fees.
Also he said to you, you should pick up the ticket in our
office, because its to dangerous
to send the ticket via normal post.
You decided to it in this way. You thought that would be
enough time to send the ticket via post. Mr. Gerlach told
you, ok. if you want we will do it in this way, but on your
own risk.
It was not a fault by reisefieber. Sorry. He invested a
lot of time in this booking and also in
clearing everything at the end with Royal Brunei. Normally
you had to buy a second ticket. It was a special deal between
Royal Brunei and reisefieber onyl to charge a re-booking
fee.
Sorry we can not do anything in this case and we will not
pay back anything to you.
best regards
reisefieber-reisen GmbH
Evelyn Gerlach
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Magyarország,
2003 augusztus 23.
