LIAT put on blast again!
“I would publicly like to put LIAT on blast for their lack of compassion, rude employees, and horrible customer service,” Ms Yonette Hobson told Virgin Islands News Online.
Ruined vacation
She alleged that their vacation was ruined when she, her partner and their 2 children were left stranded in St Croix on July 29, 2016 because they were 7 mins late for check-in and their seats were sold.
“The sad thing is that we were at the airport on time returning a rental but was completely unaware of the check in times and assumed since it was a domestic flight we'd be fine so I take responsibility for my ignorance, not knowing better as this was my first time here."
However, Ms Hobson said she expected some common courtesy from LIAT agents there but was met with lack of empathy. “They basically left us to fend for ourselves.”
“We came all the way from California to see my husband's family in St Croix for 1 week and then to meet my family in Montserrat for 1 week. This would've been our girl's first time to the Caribbean and meeting our families.
“We were heading to Antigua to make a connecting flight to Montserrat which we couldn't make since they didn’t have any available flights. They told us we would have to make our own way but again it's carnival weekend and finding 4 seats were next to impossible.”
Costly experience
Hobson said with their excitement gone and despair sunk in, she inquired about flying standby on the next flight and the agent said they would have to pay $360 but not guaranteed to get on the flight and would have to pay an additional $360 each time to attempt standby.
“I've never heard of such a policy and couldn't afford to take the chance so we forfeited our tickets.”
Since the family’s departing flights to California was out of Antigua and all flights were sold out, the Hobsons had to reroute their return flights and pay an extra $800, losing $2400 in total for all the unused flights.
“My family in Montserrat never gave up hope and found only 1 seat for me to come, meaning I'd have to leave my husband and kids behind but paying another $900 to American Airlines to change my flight again was out of the question on my teacher salary.
“Unfortunately, the ticket was booked and even though the transaction took a few mins, it was irreversible and they couldn't reach LIAT to cancel for full refund being a same day purchase. Since no good deed goes unpunished, they had to pay $186 to cancel the reservation, more money going down the drain for a trip that wasn't going to happen. In all this disappointment and turmoil, LIAT offered no relief.”
Conflicting information
Hobson said during her plight she kept getting conflicting information from LIAT’s desk and phone agents, because one allegedly told her he would be able to get an airline credit to apply to another airline while another allegedly told her their tickets were forfeited and would need to repurchase.
“I will take this up with a lawyer to see what rights I have but in the meantime, I'd like my story published so customers are made aware of LIAT's shady dealings and to avoid them at all cost until they start doing better and service their customers,” Hobson, who confirmed with Virgin Islands News Online that the family is now back in San Diego, California.
Virgin Islands News Online made several attempts to get a response from LIAT officials in Antigua after being directed there, but they could not be reached.
Hobson also said she has been trying to reach LIAT officials on the issue to no avail. “I have contacted the FAA to see what they can do on my behalf,” Hobson told this news site today, August 4, 2016.
LIAT has often been making headlines about alleged poor customer service.
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54 Responses to “LIAT put on blast again!”
Ms. Hobson, LIAT is an international flight not a domestic flight, so don't go blasting LIAT when you were at fault.
Ms. Hobson story is so contradicting. You already mentioned that you were late. Do you really think that you are that special for a pilot to hold a flight for you and your family when other passengers has other connecting flights to make??? Next time get to the airport an hour before check-in time knowing you have all that extra shit going on...
Leave Island Any Time
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Legally Instituted Airline Torture
Left In Airport Today
Any more?
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Lost In All Times
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Leave It At That
and the list goes on . To me they are late and the seats were sold to someone else simple try and get them on another flight like most airlines but they must know the consequences for their lateness also.The state of overcharging them is out of place though.
airline did the opposite. The flight coming to San Juan from Washington DC had problems so those people would've
missed their connecting flight to the Virgin Islands. What Jet Blue did was hold up the flight out of St. Juan on behalf
of the delayed DC flight passengers many of who had just met with the Obama administration about FATCA. So the
request to hold up the 2nd flight came from the White House and was honored by Jet Blue. The VI Gov't reps were
accomodated all the way home, but other passengers had to eat it. Sad but true....