January 04, 2008

2 hours at the airport

The flight is delayed, again.
Flight delays are sort of normal.
Changing at a major airport means chains of delays.
But this time was compounded by a bad luck with the airport shuttle.
I had made return trip reservation for the shuttle, but my shuttle's gone!

I have really been very loyal and thoughtful to that shuttle company.
I've always used it, and I've always called any time flights were delayed.
But you know, airport shuttles do work with flights.
That is out of THEIR choice. And they are getting PAID for that.
I believe they are the ones that should be checking flight status.
Passengers have no control over flight status.
Thinking so, I still acted with respect. I made phone calls each time.

And they ask "SO WHAT TIME IS IT ARRIVING?"
Who knows?
What aircraft carrier would tell what time it would arrive when it's late?
What in the world do they think they're working with? Trains?

Now they say because I MISSED my reservation and
it was MY FLIGHT that was late, my shuttle left already and
they don't reschedule any shuttle.
And that I can catch the next shuttle coming in two hours.
What customer service!

Do they understand they're working with flights?
I don't feel I am treated with respect as a customer!
I will seriously look into another shuttle company and switch to it!

And then happened my luggage incident -
my suitcase came broken!
Well, the contents were safe, and it still rolled,
but the top handle was crushed in and the bottom is torn.
The case wouldn't close properly any more,
and I probably wouldn't be able to use it in my future trips!!

This was my first suitcase I bought about eight years ago,
and it travelled with me to many places: twice to New Zealand,
to Maui, many times to Hawaii, and a few times to UMass...
I complained that the case was too heavy, but my dear suitcase.

I was going to storm into the luggage office when I realized
I didn't really know how the luggage contract was.
What should I ask for? No idea.
Hmmm, I stopped in front of the office, thought for a while
But I decided to just give it a try.
Well, I had two hours to kill before the shuttle would come anyways!

I opened the door of the office, pushed in the suitcase, and
the woman at the counter asked "Hi, may I help you?"
I went "Hi, my suitcase arrived broken. Is there anything you can do for me?"
Good question, isn't it!
She checked what flight gave the damage and what problem it was,
and talking with another lady at the counter, she suggested a "replacement."
What she carried out was a new samsonite of the same size.
It didn't roll as well (this one has 2 wheels only), but wasn't a bad deal.
She said I could keep my old suitcase too, so I carried both out.

What an adventure!
I still have an hour to kill with no lunch and empty stomach :(
but I have a new samsonite, probably a little lighter than my old one,
and an old dear suitcase I can still use for some storage.

(Added later)
And after closing my laptop, I had a phone call from the shuttle, saying
they could pick up earlier - it seemed there was another customer waiting.

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