Flight Centre Waterstone Village Definitely Not The Travel Experience I Would Recommend
I have been privileged to travel to a number of countries and have had amazing experiences.  I couldn't wait to travel again when Covid air travel ban was lifted. This time I would be taking my son and daughter along on their first international adventure. We chose Istanbul Turkey (my second time, my first trip was a 20 day experience: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Denizli, Ephesus). To say we were excited was an understatement! Regrettably the previous company we made all our travel arrangements with closed down because of Covid. I then went online to Flight Centre and was routed through the online platform to Flight Centre Waterstone. I discussed and planned my trip with Wendy Janse Van Rensburg. All went well up until I questioned why my daughter's middle name (which was clearly stated on her passport was left off the flight tickets) I did not want an immigration episode in a foreign country. I have enough experience to know how difficult and hectic these immigration officers can be!  Wendy assured me everything would be okay and she would always be available if there was a problem (how she could suggest resolving this for me should anything go wrong when we were landing after midnight ZA time and she is miles away still boggles my mind to this day!).  When I just could not get through to her as she became highly irate thinking ibwas questioning her knowledge, I brought this to her manager Altus Steenkamps attention and he too questioned my information (both making me feel as if I don't know what I'm talking about). Long story short I called Qatar airlines myself and resolved the situation and only after *I* did the homework did Altus fix the ticket. I have no doubt this was money related and only after I told him Qatar said it wouldn't cost anything did he amicably go about fixing the documents.  I further asked for advice on where would be best to book a hotel and after several recommendations chose the one that was 7kms from the Grand Bazaar ****tle did I know 7kms meant a taxi ride at TKL 250 per trip to and from the hotel every day and a half hour drive each trip because our hotel was situated in a dodgy area and if using public transport would have meant walking a kilometer in an unsafe area before getting to a bus station).( BTW the hotel customer service manager herself advised the area is unsafe to walk around). We chose this hotel because we were advised it was good (Double Tree Hilton) and it was situated 7kms from the epicenter of all places we wanted to visit.  Arriving at the hotel they put us in rooms where people were clearly allowed to smoke (absolutely disgusting experience for non smokers)!!! We asked to be moved to another room. My husband and I were put on the 3rd floor whilst our children were placed on the 9th floor!!!. When we protested this they moved my husband and I to the 9th floor into a room with 2 single beds with lumpy mattresses (the structural integrity of the matteess was so bad when we lied down our heads were pointed downward and our feet elevated upward and they didn't bother to move the 2 beds together and when we complained about this, they moved the two beds together and just placed the single bedding overlapping each other as a means to dress the bed and we still had the uncomfortable divisionof two beds to navigate during our sleep!!!!  As if that wasnt bad, when we started looking around we realized that the hotel was situated next to a run down industrial area with rundown and broken down buildings and it was surrounded by grave yards (and I mean surrounded!!!). I contacted Wendy to advise her of my absolute unhappiness and sent her and Altus photographs of the place! What transpired was a robust discussion of her misinterpreting just about everything I said, stating that she is experienced and knows what she is doing this all just so that she wouldn't have to take responsibility advising me she is an experienced consultant and that she has done everything to make our trip good. The more I told this woman that I am not questioning her ability and just want to enjoy my trip in a hotel that is decent and central it's as if she was just plain dense! I reached out to her manager Altus Steenkamp again to resolve this. Instead of trying to resolve the situation at the hotel where we were staying they started looking at other hotels.  Bearing in mind we were only on a 5 day trip and they actually suggested us moving to another hotel which we were happy to (at an additionalcost of an additional R30 000) but then refused when they couldn't guarantee a refund from Double Tree Hilton Basampara!  It would have meant we paid R60 000 in total for accommodation for 5 days!!!! I was livid to say the least and had to really restrain myself from telling these unprofessional so and so's off (I am really being decent when all I want to do is say what I really think!) because I did not want to ruin my family's holiday with this dispute!.  On return home I followed up with Altus expecting him to advise an outcome of his investigation into this highly unacceptable situation. He did not respond. 25 days later he still did not respond and I sent him a reminder. His response was: "we explored all options while you were in your destination. Unfortunately a move would have incurred extra costs. You did see out your stay. You voiced your concerns to hotel management and your feedback has been taken on board and advised to the relevant parties and stakeholders. No further refund will be possible as the contract was seen through. Going forward your experience will be taken into consideration. Thank you."
My response was: "Trust me when I say there was no 'hotel management' at the hotel who took the slightest interest in my situation. We were only ever attended by staff at the admission desk. I had no choice in seeing the contract through it is after all my money that was parted with and unless I wanted to loose it all I wouldnt see the contract through, you know this very well.  And what on earth does 'going forward my experience will be taken into account mean'? Who is going forward, and where and who will be considering what? Ask yourself this: if you were the *paying* and *paid up* customer and you were needing to question service I rendered to you and you parted with thousands of Rands for a supposedly unforgettable experience and it takes me 25 days to get back to you (and this only because you've once again prompted me to do so), would you trust the explanation above...This is not about money it's about principle, it's about your and your branches reputation." This was 4 days ago and to date he has not responded! There are other disatisfactory incidents in this transaction I can certainly mention with merit however due to the post already being so long I will leave it. Needless to say after this dismal experience I will not ever recommend or trust Flight Centre *Waterstone Village, Altus or Wendy with my upcoming travels abroad again, I will not forgive them for the pressure I was put under or for the fact that my kids first overseas trip was all but ruined by this experience! My money was good enough to take but looking out for me and my family's well-being and experience was definitely not a priority.