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by Ricardo Santoro
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Sunquest Vacationers Be Warned
By Ricardo Santoro, Insidecostarica.com
Sunquest Vacations, Canada's #1
travel provider, can leave you stranded and penniless in a foreign
country without a care of how you will get home. That is the case of two
young men who decided to take advantage of Sunquest's low fare to Costa Rica.
What started as a sun filled vacation that was to last two weeks, became a
nightmare for the two young travelers who admit that they didn't check
their tickets when they were issued.
The low fare of $148 Canadian (plus taxes) return enticed the two young men to take
in the beaches and sights of Costa Rica. They visited their local travel
agent, who issued them a ticket on behalf of Sunquest of what was to be
two weeks of fun in the sun, that has now turned into a nightmare.
On the 7th day of their vacation, they had occasion to check their
ticket for the return flight. The original flight was from Toronto
direct to the Daniel Oduber International airport in Liberia, but the
"boys" decided to head for San José after several days at the
beach, five hours away.
Late Monday morning the "boys" sat around planning their second week of
vacation, deciding on what to do and where to go, with the intention of
arriving in Liberia for their return flight.
To their surprise, the just noted that their tickets were for only one week and not
the two they had asked the travel agent.
A call to the local representative for Sunquest eased the "boys'"
anxiety. |
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Sunquest, the vacation specialist who
prides itself on providing
superior service from the moment you begin your booking process, to
the minute you leave the airport and return home has left two young
men stranded and is demanding an exhorbinant fee to get them home. |
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"Don't worry, we'll get you on the next flight next
week. Call me tomorrow and we'll make the arrangements" were the
words that Brett Rosenberg remebers hearing from the other
end of the telephone. Relieved, the "boys" decided to explore more of Costa Rica, back
on the original agenda of Quepos/ Manuel Antonio, the Volcanoes and the
rain forest, that had been their desire.
Their vacation was not turning into a nightmare that the
"boys" had no clue was waiting for them following the call
to the representative on Tuesday.
The Sunquest representative re-assured the
"boys" that there
was no problem and could make the flight next Tuesday. "Oh,
and the cost is us$325 each", Brett remembers hearing as he
almost choked on his Imperial beer.
Uh? the original flight cost each ca$148 (about us$120) for a round trip and now
it would cost them us$325 each to get home. "Great if we had
the money" said Adam, Brett's traveling companion. "We're
here stuck in Costa Rica with little money and if we pay the
us$325 what are we going to eat and where do sleep", was on
the minds of the "boys".
Repeated calls to the local representative resulted in Brett being told
that if he were told to jump of a bridge would he? after emphatically
reminding the rep. of her comments the day earlier. Brett
told me that he was quite specific to the lady on the phone
that he had little money and could not afford to pay the
us$325. He was told to talk to Toronto.
Repeated calls to the travel agent in Toronto were useless. The same
travel agent who issued the ticket denied the mistake and
there was nothing they could do. It was clearly a Sunquest
problem. And for
the "icing on the cake", the Sunquest office in Toronto denied any
responsibility and stopped taking the
"boys" calls altogether.
On their website, Sunquest president, Eamonn Ferrin, says it
has been making travel dreams come true for 30 years. "The company prides itself on providing
superior service from the moment you begin your booking process, to the
minute you leave the airport and return home. It’s clear that many of
our guests have experienced this superior service: Sunquest has won the
Consumer’s Choice Award for Excellence two years in a row" are the words
of the executive.
Really? It seems the president should read his message more often.
A review of their website states in the
Consumer Disclosure,
in small print, that "Any deviation in your travel is subject to a
service fee in addition to any supplier charges or penalties."
Yes, a "service fee".
But nowhere on the website, nor the ticket,
does it state what that fee is or would be if one were to miss a flight.
Why not make it clear to
customers what that "service fee" might be, in the interest of customer
service and avoiding any potential problems. I know why. If Sunquest
were to tell it's customers what the "service fee" would be, no one in
their right mind would want to travel with them.
I did a comparison of several airlines that fly regularly in and out of
Costa Rica. Air Canada with regular flights charges almost us$900, while
TACA airlines charges us$480.60 for return flight from San José
to Toronto.
The us$325 that Sunquest is demanding is about 2/3's of TACA price of a
return ticket.
Brett said he feels foolish for not having checked his ticket before
leaving or earlier so that he would not be in this jam, but the worst is
the way he has been treated from a company that prides itself on
customer service.
"I would have done everything possible to get my *** on that plane, but
the lady told me not to worry, so I didn't", were the words of Brett as
he related his story. "I was sure I had bought a two week vacation, I
had the confidence of the travel agent and Sunquest. I would have
imagined I would be left stranded like this", as Brett takes another sip
and thinks about how he is going to get home.
"I am prepared to pay something for the trouble, but us$325? I just
don't have that kind of money", added Adam, sitting at the other corner
of the table. "My boss is waiting for me, I will probably lose my job
over this."
Boys, the "gripeman" as I sometimes like to call myself is on the
job. I will get you home, just send me down one of those cold "Canadian"
beers I hear so much about.
A copy of this article was sent to Sunquest's office in Toronto prior to publication and
have yet to hear from them. I'll keep you posted.
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