’Spicejet ruined our trip’

Family of seven complains of shoddy service by the airline after return flight from Kathmandu got delayed overnight; airline denies charge

'Spicejet ruined our trip'

Family of seven complains of shoddy service by the airline after return flight from Kathmandu got delayed overnight; airline denies charge

They had booked a holiday, but the ordeal they faced was definitely not what they had bargained for. While the trip went well, getting back to Delhi was a nightmare that this family of seven from Delhi will never forget. Anupam Saxena, a senior vice-president with Sobhagya Advertising, went vacationing with his family to Kathmandu.

Bad bargain:u00a0Had a harrowing time in Kathmandu due to SpiceJet. He
had gone with his family for a vacation there. pics/Mid Day

Saxena was supposed to be on flight number SG-046, flying from Kathmandu to Delhi on June 12 (PNR number P8GKDR). "They ruined our trip. The flight was supposed to take off at 4.50 pm, but due to some glitches we were made to sit inside the flight for hours. We waited on board the flight till 7 pm. Surprisingly, we were not even served any food or drinks during that time. At 7.15 pm we were told that the flight was cancelled because of some problem in the runway," says Saxena.

Anupam Saxena

Help yourself!
The real fiasco, he says, started after that. "There were no officials from SpiceJet at the airport to provide any assistance. We were asked to take the luggage back. There was so much chaos near the conveyor belt that we lost one of our hand baggage which had cash amounting to Rs 7,000 and a BlackBerry handset. My parents are both senior citizens so they could not walk. We asked for wheelchairs but the airlines did not even provide that," said an aggrieved Saxena.

But the family's ordeal did not end there. They had a bad experience at the hotel where they were taken for the night stay. "The Norling Guest House was near dance bars. While we were checking in, a pimp was hovering around my son, so we decided not to step out of the hotel. The food that was served was not hygienic and we could not eat at all," said Saxena. At no point of time was there any official from the airlines to provide assistance.

Saxena alleges they were clueless about flight timings the next day. The next morning, around 7 am they were told that buses have come to pick them for the airport and the flight will take off at 10 am. "We could not even have breakfast. We went without food for 18 hours. We were again kept waiting in the aircraft for more than an hour for some clearances which were pending," says Saxena. It was only when passengers started protesting that a SpiceJet employee announced that the flight might not take off at all and anyone wanting to leave was free to go. The flight finally took off at 11.15 a.m.

Due to the delay, Saxena also had to cancel his flight to Singapore which was leaving on June 12 evening via Mumbai. The airlines claimed that they gave their best service. "The incident on June 12 happened due to a repair work on the runway at the Kathmandu Airport. All the passengers were taken care of and regular service of water and meal was ensured on the flight. The flight was later cancelled after the repair work took more time than expected. All passengers were duly informed about the rescheduling of the flight for the next day at 10.30 am. The ground staff, including senior staff members of SpiceJet including the station manager and duty officer, was asked to take care of the passengers to ensure a comfortable stay for the passengers in Kathmandu," a SpiceJet spokesperson said.

No complaints?
u00a0"As per our knowledge, no passenger raised any complaint at the airport after deboarding from the aircraft. Even the next day no passenger complained about any loss of money or any other item. All passengers were made to stay in Thamel, which is a popular tourist destination in Kathmandu. The hotel where the passengers were made to stay is located right in the middle of Thamel. It's the same hotel where we provided accommodation to passengers of the previous two cancellations who never complained about the accommodation. At the hotel, all passengers were served high-quality, hygienic and freshly-prepared food," the airlines further clarified. Saxena has already lodged a complaint with the airline on returning from Kathmandu.