Caribbean Airlines - More of the same
 |
Bwee is not dead, it lives on in Caribbean Airlines. Too bad Tribe didn’t include a Caribbean Airlines section in its “Ole Time Someting…Come Back Again”. Picture it: “The Ghost of Bwee Past”. It has a nice ring to it. After all, Caribbean Airlines is overbooking post-Carnival travelers (how do you sell more tickets that you own?), they’re bumping them, mistreating them and not offering accommodation for the extra weeks they’ll have to spend in Trinidad. Some passengers were told they would have to pay extra to get a seat because there were “no guarantees their current tickets would be honoured”. Can you believe that?
If you’ve ever been an academic slacker you remember how it was the first few weeks of that new term. You swore that you are going to give this term your best shot. And so you draw up a study schedule, you sit in the first row and pay attention in class. You come home on evenings and do your homework religiously. However, in 2-3 weeks this new leaf you’ve turned over withers and dies. You’re back to square one.
Slacker, meet thy corporate mentor.
Maybe it dawned on the academic slacker that the reason they were failing had very little to do with study schedules or seating positions, it was them. And in the same way, it’s not a matter of a paint-job or a name-change, it’s the attitude of Caribbean Airlines on a whole that needs changing. They can’t continue to conduct business in the same blasé manner as they did in the old days all the while treating passengers with the same shameless disregard.
You and I know it, but do they know it yet?
14 Responses to “Caribbean Airlines - More of the same”
By lime on Feb 26, 2007 | Reply
oh gosh, when next i visit i avoiding them…thanks for the tip
By ttfootball on Feb 26, 2007 | Reply
Lawd how I know this was jes going to be a name change…I have to admit tho that advising customers they have to pay extra etc. did manage to surprise me a bit
By Mani on Feb 27, 2007 | Reply
lol, lime, I wish I were lying.
ttfootball, well that was surprising to me also. It was just a name change. I think they are going down the same road they went down before.
By ed on Feb 27, 2007 | Reply
Very disappointing. You’d think that the shock of having to fire 2/3 of the staff would have changed attitudes.
Up here, Jetblue recently left a bunch of people stranded in planes on the runway for several hours, and was forced to cancel several flights. Now, even though people got where they were going in a matter of a couple of days (vs a couple of weeks) and even though it was due to an icestorm (as opposed to crap planning), Jetblue has been bending over backwards to save its image. Compare that to this nonsense with Bwee. Amazing how companies act when they basically have a monopoly!
By Fed-up on Feb 27, 2007 | Reply
boy when I read the article I was like but what the jail, like bwee come back from the dead and take over caribbean airlines, I could not believe the nonsence and on top of that they telling ppl they have to pay extra for thier mistake. Only in Trini, sometimes I think we only taking steps backwards, and really a damn third world country.
By Chennette on Feb 27, 2007 | Reply
so, I can understand but not accept over-booking; as in I understand how it comes to happen. But charging extra as no guarantee the tickets will be honoured? tickets paid for? these people ever hear about a contract? who supposed to guarantee the ticket if NOT THEM?
By law on Feb 27, 2007 | Reply
I hate to say say it, but I was more or less expecting this. I knew that Caribbean Airlines was just a name change for Bwee. I was hoping that I would be proven wrong, but………. They need to REALLY do a complete overhaul starting from the top down. Does anyone in their management pay just the basic attention to the airline industry and some of the more efficient problem solving techniques. Well, all I can say is — Caribbean Airlines — same ole monkey pants dey.
By ed on Feb 27, 2007 | Reply
Well, I think overbooking is actually a necessary evil in the airline business. The margins are thin, and people frequently don’t show up. Fine. The ridiculous thing here is not the overbooking, but rather the absurd response! If you overbbook, you must put people up in hotels, and you certainly don’t try to charge them extra!!
This is why the government shouldn’t have propped up BWIA to begin with. Let BWIA die, and let some decent competition emerge.
By Crankyputz on Feb 27, 2007 | Reply
They changed their name dang it, they are still in the ’sitting in the first row stage’
It hasn’t dawned on them yet….
By sinistra on Feb 28, 2007 | Reply
Slacker, meet thy corporate mentor - that is the line of the week.
I’m not convinced they have any motivation to change though. To whom will they bow? Competition? Government? The People?
At least two out of those three have repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to tolerate - if not sanction - wholesale slackness.
By Mani on Mar 1, 2007 | Reply
Ed, sometimes I think it will take a lobotomy to change our attitudes. Where’s the customer service in all of this?
Fed-up, that’s the thing that got to me, how do you blame the customers for this?
Chennette & Ed, well I guess I can see why overbooking is necessary. It’s just sad that CA would think it’s not their fault. Pretty soon people are going to realize that it’s their fault if they fly CA.
Law, the more it changes, the mroe it remains the same yes. I think their in the business of flying planes, not providing a service.
crankyputz, the dawning has been delayed, lol.
Sinistra, lol, hold on, the week isn’t through yet. I think CA needs a tough no-nonsense CEO who will fire on sight. Don’t you agree>
By Atasha on Mar 4, 2007 | Reply
That is just plain ridiculous. An a shame to say my brother was one of the few pilots that got hired with them after bwee supossedly “went out of business”. He say he want to leave the airline. I wonder if dey stupid behaviour is fueling his decision! I have to wonder how dey treating their employees.
Nonsense!
By Mani on Mar 6, 2007 | Reply
Atasha, sometimes you have to wonder who’s making the decisions over there and why is so little emphasis being placed on customer service. I wouldn’t be surprised if their behaviour has something to do with his decision.
By Anonymous on May 16, 2007 | Reply
I have been trying to get a credit ($700US) from Caribbean Airlines for the past month with no luck. I flew with them in January and got charge on my credit card in february. Low and behold I get a mysterious charge from them beginning of April. The second charge was a different amount from the first. I tried calling several times customer service and they told me that it was possible that I got double charge because they had problems with their billing system and double charge some customers. The icing on the cake was when she told me I would have to prove to them that I got double billed. I sent them all the documentation but still no luck. I am in the process of disputing the charge with my bank because I lost faith and hope of ever getting CA to resolve the issue. Does anyone have the contact information for any senior manager or the CEO?