Here I am, the day after Christmas, zooming around on my new MacBook...
After some debate, I chose the high-end white 13.3" Macbook rather than the black Macbook. It works like a charm, and it came installed with OS 10.5, which is excellent - it does cool things like giving me widgets and it even transferred all the contents from my old computer automatically.
But I can't help feeling guilty - because my Powerbook G4 is still sitting on the same desk, staring at me.
The thing is, the Powerbook isn't really dead yet - it just needs to be repaired (a little TLC, if you will) where the screen part is starting to break off from the rest of the computer. I had called Apple and asked for an estimate back when I was in Paris, and they said it probably wouldn't cost more than $200 to repair it.
But the thing is, it is still rather outdated as it lacks the new Intel chips that are in the new Macbooks, so no matter what, my new Macbook is still way faster than my Powerbook.
I confided my fears and guilt to the H.
Me: I don't know, I feel bad about my Powerbook. I mean, I have a very strong emotional attachment to it.
H: Well, it would be cheaper to just fix it up rather than get the new Macbook. We can do that if you want.
Me: No! I want a new computer!
H: Okay, so we'll get the new Macbook.
Me: But...my Powerbook...I feel bad. I'm abandoning it! I'm going to set up my new Macbook and my Powerbook will be all, "Why did you abandon me? Why am I not going back to Paris with you? WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE???"
H: Er...okay...(looking perplexed)...but you realize that the new Macbook is like way faster and has a better processor, being that it's got the Intel chip and everything?
Me: I KNOW THAT. But then my new Macbook will be all, "Awwww yeeeah sucka!" to my Powerbook. And then my Powerbook will be left here at mom's to collect dust and be all alone...so lonely....
H: (impatient) So you want the new computer for Christmas, or what?
Me: Yes! I want the new computer. But my poor Powerbook.
H: (shaking head) Whatever.
Mom suggests that maybe when I come back to NY permanently I can take my Powerbook over to the Genius Bar and get some advice, like if I should get the breaking off part repaired and then buy 10.5 and install it, or just have it recycled.
In the meantime, I shall have to deal with my feelings of guilt and my unreasonable emotional attachment to a 3-year old Powerbook G4...
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Happy Holidays!
It's officially Christmas Eve over here in New York!
I'm more or less done with the Christmas shopping (H and I spent forever picking out a gift for my mom) and tomorrow I'm off to the dentist to get a crown. Then the H and I will go to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue and buy me a new computer! After an Apple chat (via apple.com/store) with Angela T., Apple Expert, I've figured out which MacBook I want, so I'm very excited for Christmas Day.
H and I will be doing the Christmas shopping for his family after Christmas - we figured we might as well take advantage of the post-Christmas sales, since we won't be seeing them until New Years (and most likely it will be on Jan 1st, and not the 31st as originally planned!). This way we're not rushed and we can take our time picking stuff out.
In other news, I had a lovely evening the other night with my best friends. We went out for Indian food and then had a bunch of drinks afterwards. It was so great to see everyone and catch up. The H's English has drastically improved, and it was very cool to see him ditch the inhibitions. He managed to have lengthy conversations with them and they congratulated him on his rapid improvement. I'm very proud of the H, especially because he seems to have gotten rid of quite a lot of his bad grammatical habits.
Happy Holidays!
I'm more or less done with the Christmas shopping (H and I spent forever picking out a gift for my mom) and tomorrow I'm off to the dentist to get a crown. Then the H and I will go to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue and buy me a new computer! After an Apple chat (via apple.com/store) with Angela T., Apple Expert, I've figured out which MacBook I want, so I'm very excited for Christmas Day.
H and I will be doing the Christmas shopping for his family after Christmas - we figured we might as well take advantage of the post-Christmas sales, since we won't be seeing them until New Years (and most likely it will be on Jan 1st, and not the 31st as originally planned!). This way we're not rushed and we can take our time picking stuff out.
In other news, I had a lovely evening the other night with my best friends. We went out for Indian food and then had a bunch of drinks afterwards. It was so great to see everyone and catch up. The H's English has drastically improved, and it was very cool to see him ditch the inhibitions. He managed to have lengthy conversations with them and they congratulated him on his rapid improvement. I'm very proud of the H, especially because he seems to have gotten rid of quite a lot of his bad grammatical habits.
Happy Holidays!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
2 months...
...is the time it took for the H to get his green card!
Around the first week of December, H and I mailed in the letter of applicant readiness to the US consulate, which meant that our paperwork was finished and H was ready for his interview.
We received Packet 4 from the Embassy on Dec 12th (aka the day I was supposed to leave for NYC) with the interview date and time - which was for the 19th of December! H and I were quite surprised, because damn! that was fast!
H decided to go ahead with the interview even though I'm not in Paris, since the US citizen is not required to be there for the interview. So he went and got his medical appointment done 2 days before the interview and headed over with all the paperwork I had prepared on my part (I-864, tax returns, etc. which are to be provided by the US citizen). H was all nervous for his interview, but apparently it took all of 10 minutes. It went something like:
US Interviewer Person: So, why do you want to move to the U.S.?
H: My wife is fed up with being in France.
US: (sympathetic) Oh. Why?
H: Because she's been here for a few years already, and it's been hard for her to find a job.
US: (with extreme sympathy and understanding) Oh. (nods, as if all the Americans living in France who move back to the US with their spouses all have the same reason for moving back). I see. What do you do?
H: I work in film production.
US: Okay then. Thanks. You're all done now. We'll call you in a little bit.
Turned out H's paperwork has been approved, but they needed to keep his passport so they could stick the visa in there, but since he was leaving Paris this morning to fly to NY for the holidays, we have to go back to the Consulate with his passport. Also, apparently they need some sort of a letter where I state that I don't file tax returns in the U.S. because I'm unemployed.
I think it's very nice that it all went so fast and easily - I've heard that in other countries there can be a very long wait for the green card process, so I guess we're very lucky. Though I think this is because the US consulate in France makes it mandatory that the US citizen has a titre de séjour, and cannot be on a student visa if they want to file for a green card for their French spouses.
In other news, while waiting for the H at the airport tonight, I overheard a conversation between 2 older women and I was dying to join in.
Cuban Woman (to French woman): Are you waiting for the flight from Paris?
French Woman: Yes, I am.
(blah blah blah, then:)
Cuban Woman: Are you French?
French Woman: Yes, I am. Are you?
Cuban Woman: No, I'm from Cuba, but my daughter lives in France. She's getting married this year to a French guy.
Me (in my head): ME TOO!!!! Except I'm already married. But technically, I am still kind of a newlywed.
French Woman: Oh, how nice! And you live in New York?
Cuban Woman: Yes, I do.
Me (in head): Wow! That's just like me and my mom! Except my mom's from Taiwan, but she lives in New York too!
French Woman: Where in France does your daughter live?
Cuban Woman: She lives in Paris, in the 16th arrondissement, near Trocadéro.
Me (in head): Wow! ME TOO! I LIVE IN THE 16TH TOO! NEAR TROCADERO!!!!!!!!
Cuban Woman: Yeah, my daughter is just coming home for the Christmas holidays, then she's going back to Paris.
Me (in head): Hey! ME TOO!
Cuban Woman: My daughter used to study in France when she was in college.
Me (in head): ME TOO! What are the odds?!
Cuban Woman: Her fiancé doesn't speak too much English.
Me: JUST LIKE MY HUSBAND!!!!!!
Cuban Woman: My daughter has been having a rough time finding a job though, but her fiancé just opened up a restaurant in Paris, so they probably won't be moving back to the U.S. any time soon.
Me (in head): Just like me! I'm having a hard time finding a job TOO! But I'm moving back to the U.S. this spring.
Cuban Woman: My daughter is going back to Paris next week.
Me (in head): ME TOO! WHAT A COINCIDENCE! Maybe I should say something...
(Cuban woman takes out her cell phone and starts talking)
Me (in head): Or not.
Around the first week of December, H and I mailed in the letter of applicant readiness to the US consulate, which meant that our paperwork was finished and H was ready for his interview.
We received Packet 4 from the Embassy on Dec 12th (aka the day I was supposed to leave for NYC) with the interview date and time - which was for the 19th of December! H and I were quite surprised, because damn! that was fast!
H decided to go ahead with the interview even though I'm not in Paris, since the US citizen is not required to be there for the interview. So he went and got his medical appointment done 2 days before the interview and headed over with all the paperwork I had prepared on my part (I-864, tax returns, etc. which are to be provided by the US citizen). H was all nervous for his interview, but apparently it took all of 10 minutes. It went something like:
US Interviewer Person: So, why do you want to move to the U.S.?
H: My wife is fed up with being in France.
US: (sympathetic) Oh. Why?
H: Because she's been here for a few years already, and it's been hard for her to find a job.
US: (with extreme sympathy and understanding) Oh. (nods, as if all the Americans living in France who move back to the US with their spouses all have the same reason for moving back). I see. What do you do?
H: I work in film production.
US: Okay then. Thanks. You're all done now. We'll call you in a little bit.
Turned out H's paperwork has been approved, but they needed to keep his passport so they could stick the visa in there, but since he was leaving Paris this morning to fly to NY for the holidays, we have to go back to the Consulate with his passport. Also, apparently they need some sort of a letter where I state that I don't file tax returns in the U.S. because I'm unemployed.
I think it's very nice that it all went so fast and easily - I've heard that in other countries there can be a very long wait for the green card process, so I guess we're very lucky. Though I think this is because the US consulate in France makes it mandatory that the US citizen has a titre de séjour, and cannot be on a student visa if they want to file for a green card for their French spouses.
In other news, while waiting for the H at the airport tonight, I overheard a conversation between 2 older women and I was dying to join in.
Cuban Woman (to French woman): Are you waiting for the flight from Paris?
French Woman: Yes, I am.
(blah blah blah, then:)
Cuban Woman: Are you French?
French Woman: Yes, I am. Are you?
Cuban Woman: No, I'm from Cuba, but my daughter lives in France. She's getting married this year to a French guy.
Me (in my head): ME TOO!!!! Except I'm already married. But technically, I am still kind of a newlywed.
French Woman: Oh, how nice! And you live in New York?
Cuban Woman: Yes, I do.
Me (in head): Wow! That's just like me and my mom! Except my mom's from Taiwan, but she lives in New York too!
French Woman: Where in France does your daughter live?
Cuban Woman: She lives in Paris, in the 16th arrondissement, near Trocadéro.
Me (in head): Wow! ME TOO! I LIVE IN THE 16TH TOO! NEAR TROCADERO!!!!!!!!
Cuban Woman: Yeah, my daughter is just coming home for the Christmas holidays, then she's going back to Paris.
Me (in head): Hey! ME TOO!
Cuban Woman: My daughter used to study in France when she was in college.
Me (in head): ME TOO! What are the odds?!
Cuban Woman: Her fiancé doesn't speak too much English.
Me: JUST LIKE MY HUSBAND!!!!!!
Cuban Woman: My daughter has been having a rough time finding a job though, but her fiancé just opened up a restaurant in Paris, so they probably won't be moving back to the U.S. any time soon.
Me (in head): Just like me! I'm having a hard time finding a job TOO! But I'm moving back to the U.S. this spring.
Cuban Woman: My daughter is going back to Paris next week.
Me (in head): ME TOO! WHAT A COINCIDENCE! Maybe I should say something...
(Cuban woman takes out her cell phone and starts talking)
Me (in head): Or not.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Dermatologist
What is the deal with doctors who make you make an appointment like, 6 weeks in advance and no earlier? It's REALLY annoying. My regular doctor does that - it is in fact extremely hard to get an appointment with him as he is also chief of the NY Presbyterian-Cornell Medical Center (the one up on like, York and 70th). It's not like I KNOW in advance when I'm going to be sick...
Anyway, okay, so I get it when an important doc like my regular doctor does this, but my dermatologist? Every time I call, they say the next available appointment is in 6 weeks. The problem is, back when I was living in NYC, I pretty much only called up the dermatologist when I had an emergency zit breakout and needed him to zap it immediately.
So back towards the end of October, I called my dermatologist's office to be greeted by the gruff receptionist, who told me the next available appointment was on December 18th. Which is today. I used to not like my dermatologist very much, although it wasn't really a personal thing, I just resented the 6 week wait for an emergency zit zapping.
However, today I have newfound respect for him. This is what happened:
I'm sitting in the exam room, shivering, as I am wearing a gown since I have not only a crazy acne breakout, but a crazy eczema breakout all over my body too. The dermatologist comes in.
Dr: Wow, you've got a major breakout on your face.
Me: Yes, I realize that. Which is why I'm hear. (Dr comes closer, peering at my face with those weird dermatologst goggle things on his face). You see, I figured out the reason for the breakouts. It's 'cause I'm gluten intolerant. (Dr. peers at me like, "yeah, ok"). No, really. See, remember before when I used to come and I had the major face breakouts? (Dr nods). So, I did this elimination diet, and I eliminated all wheat and gluten, and my skin cleared up. Which is why I haven't been to see you since 2005. So, I recently got accidentally glutened, but when I do, I get these crazy stomach cramps and then my face starts getting all these crazy zits. (Dr. looks at me very skeptically). No, really! But the zits don't go away for a long time, and look, I get this weird eczema all over my body.
Dr: Okaaaay, well, let's see your eczema.
Me: Look it, it's all over my legs. See? And I just started breaking out on my chest too. And always, I get it first on my elbows. (Show him my left elbow). It's very weird because I always get it on one elbow first, then I get it on the other elbow, then I get it on my leg near my knee, and then I get it on the other knee. But the ones on my elbows itch the most. And this one on the left was going away but it came back again recently. But the one on the right totally went away.
Dr: (grabbing my elbow). How interesting! Let me see that elbow! (peers at it from all angles through those dermo-goggles. Hmmm. Did you know, there is an eczema called dermatitis herpitformus which is related to celiac disease and gluten intolerance? In fact, it is a sure sign of gluten-related problems. I would like to do a biopsy.
Me: But maybe I will get a false negative, 'cause I don't eat gluten on a regular basis. Just on an accidental one.
Dr: Yes, it might be a false negative. Also because this dermatitis is not very severe, so that might also be the reason for a false negative. But I'd like to do 2 biopsies on it, and I will send them to a special dermatitis herpetiformus lab. And if it is a positive, then you can get a medication that will alleviate the skin problems from the gluten intolerance.
Me: Erm. Okay. But then will you zap my zits?
Dr: Yes. (calls nurse over, and says he will be doing a biopsy, then injects my patch of eczema with anesthesia). Lie on your side. (Starts cutting off my skin, then puts stitches where my skin was). Okay, so you'll need to come back in a week so I can take the stitches out. I'll be right back.
Me: Okay. (Dr comes back in) So, I have these two really painful pimples that haven't surfaced yet, so will you do your zapping thing with the needle and make them go away, please?
Dr: Okay (Injects pimples with needle). You really should have come to see me earlier - you're a real mess as far as your skin is concerned.
Me: (huffy) Well, I called as soon as I knew what my dates would be for New York and this was the earliest appointment I could get. I called back at the end of October.
(hoping for apology from Dr, but he remains silent).
Dr: Okay, so make an appointment for next week so I can take out your stitches. Clean the stitches every night with hydrogen peroxide and bacitraycin. And I'm going to prescribe you some topical medication for your face, and if there's no improvement within a few weeks, I want you to take this antibiotic, and I'm going to give you a one month dose, to really knock everything out.
Me: Okay. But ick to the antibiotics. They're not good for me.
Dr: Well, it might be the only solution in this case. (leaves the room after handing me huge pile of prescriptions. Then I go out to the receptionist desk to pay).
Receptionist: Okay. So you don't have insurance...that'll be $400.
Me: !@#$!?
Though all in all, I have new respect for my dermatologist for spotting the celiac-related dermatitis. Very cool. Don't think it would have been the same in France, as on the Official French Association for Sufferers of Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance it says that "The only way to test for celiac disease is via a colonoscopy. Skin biopsies and blood tests do not count". Also the dermatologist was very cool in that he was very sympathetic to my plight, saying it must be hard for me as in Europe it is a very wheat based diet whereas in the US it is very corn based.
I suppose sometimes the 6 week wait for an appointment can be worth it.
Anyway, okay, so I get it when an important doc like my regular doctor does this, but my dermatologist? Every time I call, they say the next available appointment is in 6 weeks. The problem is, back when I was living in NYC, I pretty much only called up the dermatologist when I had an emergency zit breakout and needed him to zap it immediately.
So back towards the end of October, I called my dermatologist's office to be greeted by the gruff receptionist, who told me the next available appointment was on December 18th. Which is today. I used to not like my dermatologist very much, although it wasn't really a personal thing, I just resented the 6 week wait for an emergency zit zapping.
However, today I have newfound respect for him. This is what happened:
I'm sitting in the exam room, shivering, as I am wearing a gown since I have not only a crazy acne breakout, but a crazy eczema breakout all over my body too. The dermatologist comes in.
Dr: Wow, you've got a major breakout on your face.
Me: Yes, I realize that. Which is why I'm hear. (Dr comes closer, peering at my face with those weird dermatologst goggle things on his face). You see, I figured out the reason for the breakouts. It's 'cause I'm gluten intolerant. (Dr. peers at me like, "yeah, ok"). No, really. See, remember before when I used to come and I had the major face breakouts? (Dr nods). So, I did this elimination diet, and I eliminated all wheat and gluten, and my skin cleared up. Which is why I haven't been to see you since 2005. So, I recently got accidentally glutened, but when I do, I get these crazy stomach cramps and then my face starts getting all these crazy zits. (Dr. looks at me very skeptically). No, really! But the zits don't go away for a long time, and look, I get this weird eczema all over my body.
Dr: Okaaaay, well, let's see your eczema.
Me: Look it, it's all over my legs. See? And I just started breaking out on my chest too. And always, I get it first on my elbows. (Show him my left elbow). It's very weird because I always get it on one elbow first, then I get it on the other elbow, then I get it on my leg near my knee, and then I get it on the other knee. But the ones on my elbows itch the most. And this one on the left was going away but it came back again recently. But the one on the right totally went away.
Dr: (grabbing my elbow). How interesting! Let me see that elbow! (peers at it from all angles through those dermo-goggles. Hmmm. Did you know, there is an eczema called dermatitis herpitformus which is related to celiac disease and gluten intolerance? In fact, it is a sure sign of gluten-related problems. I would like to do a biopsy.
Me: But maybe I will get a false negative, 'cause I don't eat gluten on a regular basis. Just on an accidental one.
Dr: Yes, it might be a false negative. Also because this dermatitis is not very severe, so that might also be the reason for a false negative. But I'd like to do 2 biopsies on it, and I will send them to a special dermatitis herpetiformus lab. And if it is a positive, then you can get a medication that will alleviate the skin problems from the gluten intolerance.
Me: Erm. Okay. But then will you zap my zits?
Dr: Yes. (calls nurse over, and says he will be doing a biopsy, then injects my patch of eczema with anesthesia). Lie on your side. (Starts cutting off my skin, then puts stitches where my skin was). Okay, so you'll need to come back in a week so I can take the stitches out. I'll be right back.
Me: Okay. (Dr comes back in) So, I have these two really painful pimples that haven't surfaced yet, so will you do your zapping thing with the needle and make them go away, please?
Dr: Okay (Injects pimples with needle). You really should have come to see me earlier - you're a real mess as far as your skin is concerned.
Me: (huffy) Well, I called as soon as I knew what my dates would be for New York and this was the earliest appointment I could get. I called back at the end of October.
(hoping for apology from Dr, but he remains silent).
Dr: Okay, so make an appointment for next week so I can take out your stitches. Clean the stitches every night with hydrogen peroxide and bacitraycin. And I'm going to prescribe you some topical medication for your face, and if there's no improvement within a few weeks, I want you to take this antibiotic, and I'm going to give you a one month dose, to really knock everything out.
Me: Okay. But ick to the antibiotics. They're not good for me.
Dr: Well, it might be the only solution in this case. (leaves the room after handing me huge pile of prescriptions. Then I go out to the receptionist desk to pay).
Receptionist: Okay. So you don't have insurance...that'll be $400.
Me: !@#$!?
Though all in all, I have new respect for my dermatologist for spotting the celiac-related dermatitis. Very cool. Don't think it would have been the same in France, as on the Official French Association for Sufferers of Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance it says that "The only way to test for celiac disease is via a colonoscopy. Skin biopsies and blood tests do not count". Also the dermatologist was very cool in that he was very sympathetic to my plight, saying it must be hard for me as in Europe it is a very wheat based diet whereas in the US it is very corn based.
I suppose sometimes the 6 week wait for an appointment can be worth it.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Air Travel
Ok. So I've managed to calm down somewhat after the horrendous AF experience I recently had. I've decided to face reality, which means that 1) I will most likely NOT be switching to another airline company because unfortunately, AF seems to have the monopoly on the NYC-CDG flights, with the most number of daily flights, so at some point or another for the rest of my life, I will most likely have to fly AF again; 2) I am not my dad, who, when he was alive, was flying 6 months out of the year for work, so he was totally inducted into the United Airlines equivalent of AF's "Club 2000" (an invite-only club for "VIP" passengers. If it's the same thing as the United version, it just means that when you get on the plane, the staff greets you by name, you get free upgrades whenever possible, you get to use the airport lounge whenever you travel, and when there is a delay or a problem, you have priority above all the other passengers. It's usually given out to celebrities, government officials, top tier executives, people who make travel arrangements in large companies, and people who fly often, always on a full fare business or first class ticket). This means that I will most likely continue to fly coach on the JFK-CDG routes. And I will most likely not be making more than 3 RT flights a year, so it's not like I'm going to become a Flying Blue Platinum member any time soon. This means that I can continue to look forward to crappy travel in economy class, as most airlines are downgrading coach service and upping business and first services. (Which frankly makes a lot of sense, if I were running an airline).
Anyway, I was talking about it all with my mom, who pointed out that in all the years I have been flying, I have rarely had any major problems. I decided to come up with a list of what I had considered to be very bad experiences (until now).
1. That time in 2005 when the H and I were returning to Paris on AF. This was on Dec 30th. We arrived at 9pm for check-in only to find that the flight was leaving at 3 a.m. and no one had called to tell me, nor was it listed on the AF website. That meant we had a good 6 hours to kill. The flight ended up boarding at 3:30 a.m. which meant that from 12 am - 3:30 am I couldn't go out for a smoke anymore because they had pretty much shut down the airport. Then my gluten-free meal wasn't on board either for some reason, and the flight attendant made a big show of giving me her salad, telling me that she was doing me a big favor, since all she got to eat as a flight attendant was a business class meal, and that she was personally doing me a huge favor. When I arrived in Paris the next afternoon, I turned on my phone to find that I had received a voice mail message sometime at 1 a.m. (NY time) that the flight was being delayed. Then I got an e-mail 2 days later telling my special gluten-free meal wouldn't be on the plane.
2. This past April or May I flew home one more time before the wedding, to check out alternate options for stuff like party favors, and to buy stuff like shoes and other accessories. It was on Alitalia, the CDG-Rome-Newark route. The flight in from Paris came in really late, so I had 5 minutes to get to the international part of Rome-Fiumicino. I got there just as they had finished boarding all the other passengers. The gate agent was in a hurry to get me on the plane, but I was all, "Wait! My luggage! Did it make it?" and he was all, "Si, si, everything's-a fine, we wait-a for your-a luggage, you get-a on-a the plane now". Well, one suitcase made it on the plane, but not the other, though it wasn't such a big deal as there wasn't much in it. The suitcase was delivered to me the next afternoon. But the flight was annoying as I was seated next to some crazy Italian guy who got really drunk and kept trying to talk to me while I was trying to watch "Blood Diamond".
3. Back in September 1998 I flew British Airways JFK-LHR-CDG as I was starting my study abroad in Paris. The JFK-LHR leg was not great as I was stuck in the very last row next to the toilets. I had a good 6 hours in London before I caught the LHR-CDG leg. I arrived at CDG only to find my luggage wasn't there, and had to speak to a BA baggage agent. It turned out that my suitcase DID arrive - only not entirely in one piece. BA somehow ripped the entire front part of my suitcase. They sent me to some suitcase place in Strasbourg Saint Denis the next day to get it repaired. Except the guy said the suitcase was beyond repair and gave me a choice of 3 hideous suitcases to replace mine.
4. Back in like, 1996 or 97, I flew Continental to meet my friends in Salt Lake City. They changed the boarding gate three times, and then the flight left 5 hours late.
5. That time I flew Lufthansa Vienna-Munich-CDG. The Vienna-Munich leg arrived late, and there was no transfer agent at the gate. By the time I made it out of the plane and into the terminal, I managed to find a transfer agent who told me it was too late to catch the Munich-CDG flight and I had to take the next one.
6. That time I was about 15-16 and with my parents in Shanghai and I got food poisoning from the room service food I had ordered the previous evening. My dad came to my hotel room to wake me up and I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed. He got really mad and yelled at me to get my ass up and moving, as we had a flight to catch. I got up and immediately puked in the bathroom. Then my parents made me pack my bags and we got into the limo and arrived at the Shanghai airport. My parents went to the special First Class check-in desk and I made a beeline for the garbage can where I promptly threw up all over it, much to the dismay and disgust of all the people who happened to be nearby. They had to take me to the airport doctor who said I had food poisoning (duh). I spent the Shanghai-Hong Kong flight trying desperately not to throw up.
7. That time I flew Air France CDG-JFK back in like, 2000 or something, and I was in coach, and got stuck sitting next to a mom and her 3-year old daughter. The kid was all over excited but managed to doze off about an hour before arriving. As we approached descent, the flight attendant had to tell the mother to put her kid back in her seat (the kid was sleeping on the mom's lap). The mom woke up the kid, who promptly started howling bloody murder, and kicked the seat in front of her like a crazy person. The kid continued screaming at the top of her lungs and everyone in the cabin started staring in anger. It went on for a good 30 minutes and then the other passengers started telling the mom to shut her kid up, whereupon the mom burst into tears and said it wasn't her fault she couldn't get her kid to stop crying and could everyone please stop staring at her like that? The howling continued until we arrived at the gate and passengers started to disembark. I had to edge my way out from the window seat so I could flee the screaming, which was giving me a migraine. I saw the same mom and kid at Customs and the kid was STILL screaming.
8. That time I flew AF from CDG to Rome to visit my friend. The flight was delayed for over 2 hours, and they made us stay on the plane the entire time. By the time I got to Rome, my friend was there waiting at the airport and he was fuming because apparently there were 2 other AF CDG-Rome flights that had left after my flight and arrived before.
9. Once I was on a flight Manchester-CDG on British Airways. There was a problem with the computers in the terminal, so they couldn't check-in people. Finally they managed to manually check in people, and I made it onto the plane. We sat there for a long time before we finally left the gate and lined up on the runway. The flight attendant started doing her "in case of emergency" demo when they decided to take us back to the gate and rebook us all onto the next flight out to CDG. Miraculously, there were just enough seats on this other flight to accommodate everyone who was on my flight, so the plane left with 100% of seats filled.
10. That time (same trip as #6) my mom and I were going to meet my dad in Hong Kong, and we flew United Airlines first class JFK-Tokyo-Hong Kong. When we got to Tokyo, they escorted us to the First Class Lounge, but I guess it was peak travel hours at Tokyo because the lounge was so crowded that there was no place to sit. They dug out a folding chair for my mom and I went off to explore the airport where I paid like $5 for some chewing gum. I have trouble sleeping when I travel, so I was awake for the entire 14 hour JFK-Tokyo flight and then totally passed out on the Tokyo-Hong Kong leg. I didn't even notice when they served me my meal and my mom had to slap me a few times to wake me up so we could get off the plane. I suppose that this was more of a bad experience for my mom than for me, though.
11. The same trip, my parents and I flew from Hong Kong to Guilin (a really small town in China, where my dad had to meet with some government officials). It was a really small coach-class only plane (I believe it was a regional airline company, something like China Southern Airlines or whatever - the flight was arranged by the officials my dad was going to be meeting with) and the flight attendant wouldn't let my dad sit in the front, even though my dad kept insisting he was a VIP First Class passenger. It led into a huge shouting match between my dad and the flight attendant (with the other like, 8 passengers not part of our family staring at us - and the shouting match ended up delaying the flight by 15 minutes). My dad kept saying that he was a VIP First Class passenger and the flight attendant kept saying that because it was a coach-class only flight, she couldn't accommodate his request. My dad said that even though it was a coach cabin flight, those with first class tickets are supposed to sit in the first row. The flight attendant said he wasn't allowed to sit in the first row because the first row was blocked for the flight attendants, and that he couldn't possibly have a first class ticket. My dad said flight attendants had their own seats, he knew her job better than she did, and he had first class tickets because he was flying as a guest of the government. We ended up being forced to sit in something like the 5th row, which meant that my dad kept grumbling and giving the flight attendant dirty looks. It wasn't so much a bad experience as it was embarrassing, especially for a teenage girl. (I kept telling my dad to chill out, the flight was like, not even 2 hours, but he said it was a question of principle).
12. That time back in 2002 or 2003 when I got upgraded to Business on an AF flight CDG-JFK since the flight was overbooked, mostly because I was a member of "Frequence Plus" and also because I wasn't wearing sneakers. (The ticket agent actually asked to see my shoes). When I got on the plane, it turned out that my seat had been double booked, and some guy who had actually paid for his business class ticket was supposed to be in my seat. He got upgraded to first class, and then another couple who had been upgraded to business asked if I wouldn't mind switching seats with one of them, because they wanted to sit together. So I said I didn't mind, and got to sit in the upstairs business class cabin. Except that my TV screen and headphones weren't working, so I couldn't watch any movies.
13. That time in 2003 when I was flying CDG-JFK on AF but I showed up at the airport too late and missed the flight. I had to pay something like $200 to be rebooked onto the next flight out, which was the next morning. And I got stuck in the middle seat in coach. Although technically, this was all my fault for not arriving at the airport in time.
Anyway, I was talking about it all with my mom, who pointed out that in all the years I have been flying, I have rarely had any major problems. I decided to come up with a list of what I had considered to be very bad experiences (until now).
1. That time in 2005 when the H and I were returning to Paris on AF. This was on Dec 30th. We arrived at 9pm for check-in only to find that the flight was leaving at 3 a.m. and no one had called to tell me, nor was it listed on the AF website. That meant we had a good 6 hours to kill. The flight ended up boarding at 3:30 a.m. which meant that from 12 am - 3:30 am I couldn't go out for a smoke anymore because they had pretty much shut down the airport. Then my gluten-free meal wasn't on board either for some reason, and the flight attendant made a big show of giving me her salad, telling me that she was doing me a big favor, since all she got to eat as a flight attendant was a business class meal, and that she was personally doing me a huge favor. When I arrived in Paris the next afternoon, I turned on my phone to find that I had received a voice mail message sometime at 1 a.m. (NY time) that the flight was being delayed. Then I got an e-mail 2 days later telling my special gluten-free meal wouldn't be on the plane.
2. This past April or May I flew home one more time before the wedding, to check out alternate options for stuff like party favors, and to buy stuff like shoes and other accessories. It was on Alitalia, the CDG-Rome-Newark route. The flight in from Paris came in really late, so I had 5 minutes to get to the international part of Rome-Fiumicino. I got there just as they had finished boarding all the other passengers. The gate agent was in a hurry to get me on the plane, but I was all, "Wait! My luggage! Did it make it?" and he was all, "Si, si, everything's-a fine, we wait-a for your-a luggage, you get-a on-a the plane now". Well, one suitcase made it on the plane, but not the other, though it wasn't such a big deal as there wasn't much in it. The suitcase was delivered to me the next afternoon. But the flight was annoying as I was seated next to some crazy Italian guy who got really drunk and kept trying to talk to me while I was trying to watch "Blood Diamond".
3. Back in September 1998 I flew British Airways JFK-LHR-CDG as I was starting my study abroad in Paris. The JFK-LHR leg was not great as I was stuck in the very last row next to the toilets. I had a good 6 hours in London before I caught the LHR-CDG leg. I arrived at CDG only to find my luggage wasn't there, and had to speak to a BA baggage agent. It turned out that my suitcase DID arrive - only not entirely in one piece. BA somehow ripped the entire front part of my suitcase. They sent me to some suitcase place in Strasbourg Saint Denis the next day to get it repaired. Except the guy said the suitcase was beyond repair and gave me a choice of 3 hideous suitcases to replace mine.
4. Back in like, 1996 or 97, I flew Continental to meet my friends in Salt Lake City. They changed the boarding gate three times, and then the flight left 5 hours late.
5. That time I flew Lufthansa Vienna-Munich-CDG. The Vienna-Munich leg arrived late, and there was no transfer agent at the gate. By the time I made it out of the plane and into the terminal, I managed to find a transfer agent who told me it was too late to catch the Munich-CDG flight and I had to take the next one.
6. That time I was about 15-16 and with my parents in Shanghai and I got food poisoning from the room service food I had ordered the previous evening. My dad came to my hotel room to wake me up and I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed. He got really mad and yelled at me to get my ass up and moving, as we had a flight to catch. I got up and immediately puked in the bathroom. Then my parents made me pack my bags and we got into the limo and arrived at the Shanghai airport. My parents went to the special First Class check-in desk and I made a beeline for the garbage can where I promptly threw up all over it, much to the dismay and disgust of all the people who happened to be nearby. They had to take me to the airport doctor who said I had food poisoning (duh). I spent the Shanghai-Hong Kong flight trying desperately not to throw up.
7. That time I flew Air France CDG-JFK back in like, 2000 or something, and I was in coach, and got stuck sitting next to a mom and her 3-year old daughter. The kid was all over excited but managed to doze off about an hour before arriving. As we approached descent, the flight attendant had to tell the mother to put her kid back in her seat (the kid was sleeping on the mom's lap). The mom woke up the kid, who promptly started howling bloody murder, and kicked the seat in front of her like a crazy person. The kid continued screaming at the top of her lungs and everyone in the cabin started staring in anger. It went on for a good 30 minutes and then the other passengers started telling the mom to shut her kid up, whereupon the mom burst into tears and said it wasn't her fault she couldn't get her kid to stop crying and could everyone please stop staring at her like that? The howling continued until we arrived at the gate and passengers started to disembark. I had to edge my way out from the window seat so I could flee the screaming, which was giving me a migraine. I saw the same mom and kid at Customs and the kid was STILL screaming.
8. That time I flew AF from CDG to Rome to visit my friend. The flight was delayed for over 2 hours, and they made us stay on the plane the entire time. By the time I got to Rome, my friend was there waiting at the airport and he was fuming because apparently there were 2 other AF CDG-Rome flights that had left after my flight and arrived before.
9. Once I was on a flight Manchester-CDG on British Airways. There was a problem with the computers in the terminal, so they couldn't check-in people. Finally they managed to manually check in people, and I made it onto the plane. We sat there for a long time before we finally left the gate and lined up on the runway. The flight attendant started doing her "in case of emergency" demo when they decided to take us back to the gate and rebook us all onto the next flight out to CDG. Miraculously, there were just enough seats on this other flight to accommodate everyone who was on my flight, so the plane left with 100% of seats filled.
10. That time (same trip as #6) my mom and I were going to meet my dad in Hong Kong, and we flew United Airlines first class JFK-Tokyo-Hong Kong. When we got to Tokyo, they escorted us to the First Class Lounge, but I guess it was peak travel hours at Tokyo because the lounge was so crowded that there was no place to sit. They dug out a folding chair for my mom and I went off to explore the airport where I paid like $5 for some chewing gum. I have trouble sleeping when I travel, so I was awake for the entire 14 hour JFK-Tokyo flight and then totally passed out on the Tokyo-Hong Kong leg. I didn't even notice when they served me my meal and my mom had to slap me a few times to wake me up so we could get off the plane. I suppose that this was more of a bad experience for my mom than for me, though.
11. The same trip, my parents and I flew from Hong Kong to Guilin (a really small town in China, where my dad had to meet with some government officials). It was a really small coach-class only plane (I believe it was a regional airline company, something like China Southern Airlines or whatever - the flight was arranged by the officials my dad was going to be meeting with) and the flight attendant wouldn't let my dad sit in the front, even though my dad kept insisting he was a VIP First Class passenger. It led into a huge shouting match between my dad and the flight attendant (with the other like, 8 passengers not part of our family staring at us - and the shouting match ended up delaying the flight by 15 minutes). My dad kept saying that he was a VIP First Class passenger and the flight attendant kept saying that because it was a coach-class only flight, she couldn't accommodate his request. My dad said that even though it was a coach cabin flight, those with first class tickets are supposed to sit in the first row. The flight attendant said he wasn't allowed to sit in the first row because the first row was blocked for the flight attendants, and that he couldn't possibly have a first class ticket. My dad said flight attendants had their own seats, he knew her job better than she did, and he had first class tickets because he was flying as a guest of the government. We ended up being forced to sit in something like the 5th row, which meant that my dad kept grumbling and giving the flight attendant dirty looks. It wasn't so much a bad experience as it was embarrassing, especially for a teenage girl. (I kept telling my dad to chill out, the flight was like, not even 2 hours, but he said it was a question of principle).
12. That time back in 2002 or 2003 when I got upgraded to Business on an AF flight CDG-JFK since the flight was overbooked, mostly because I was a member of "Frequence Plus" and also because I wasn't wearing sneakers. (The ticket agent actually asked to see my shoes). When I got on the plane, it turned out that my seat had been double booked, and some guy who had actually paid for his business class ticket was supposed to be in my seat. He got upgraded to first class, and then another couple who had been upgraded to business asked if I wouldn't mind switching seats with one of them, because they wanted to sit together. So I said I didn't mind, and got to sit in the upstairs business class cabin. Except that my TV screen and headphones weren't working, so I couldn't watch any movies.
13. That time in 2003 when I was flying CDG-JFK on AF but I showed up at the airport too late and missed the flight. I had to pay something like $200 to be rebooked onto the next flight out, which was the next morning. And I got stuck in the middle seat in coach. Although technically, this was all my fault for not arriving at the airport in time.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Oh, snap; or The Worst Trip Ever
Holy crap. I think I am still in a state of utter shock. FYI this is going to be a long post as I really need to get it out of my system.
So yesterday I got to the airport just fine, checked in at business class, went through security, took the mini-train, went through security again, and waited at the gate. They called all business and elite pax for boarding. Stood in line. Went through. Boarding was supposed to start at 15h, but it started at 15:20. No big deal. Walked down the ramp thing, got on the plane. About 7 other pax were in front of me. Just barely walked on when a flight attendant came rushing down the business class aisle waving her hands and screeching, "Pas encore! Not yet! Not yet! GET OFF!!!!" The businessmen in front of me, most of them middle aged with thick glasses, suits, and carry-on suitcases stared at her blankly, sort of shocked, then turned around along with the rest of and got off the plane. We stood there waiting on the ramp. Some gate attendants came and made us go back into the terminal, where we stood around, confused. Finally, an announcement in English: "We have not yet completed the technical security check on the plane. Please patient for awhile, it should be 15 minutes then okay." 15 minutes later, they made those of us who had been swiped through to board, get swiped again, so we would be disembarked. I overheard one gate agent on the phone saying in French, "Yeah, so apparently the air conditioning is broken. But we can't cancel the flight because a majority of the passengers on this flight were on last night's cancelled flight and they are going to totally freak out. (pause). Okay. Talk to you in 10 minutes."
We stood around for another 40 minutes before they finally decided we could get on the plane. So we had to go through the ticket swiping thing AGAIN. At this point, it was close to 16h15 and we were supposed to have left at 15h55. I headed over to my seat, which was in the 2nd row of the econ cabin. I had requested an aisle seat the previous evening, and found myself in 18D...and realized that the plane had a really odd configuration. The first row of econ was 2-3-2, and the second row was 2-4-2. I didn't mind at first because I realized I totally had extra leg room, as the seat in front of me wasn't really in front of me, but more to my side. There was a nice middle-aged British woman in the other aisle seat in my row, also an FB elite. She looked at the individual TV screens, then got up and looked at the screens of the aisle behind us. "Hey," she said, "we only have 2 screens in our row, but everyone else has individual screens!" I looked, and indeed, it pretty much meant that if the 2 seats in between ours were filled, we would all be sharing the individual TV screens. The British lady seemed quite annoyed about the whole thing, and we both hoped that no one would be seated in between us - which, luckily, no one was (I think they blocked the seats open because almost all the other seats on the plane were filled).
We sat on the plane for another hour, though no one really knew why, so by the time we took off, it was 18h Paris time. The head econ class attendant went around confirming special meals....and totally did NOT come over to confirm mine. I managed to flag down another attendant and was all, "Dude, where's my special meal?" She said she'd check, came back, and said she was terribly sorry, but my meal was not on the plane and there was nothing she could do about it because we were going to be leaving the gate soon. "WHAT?!?!" I screamed. "I CALLED AND CONFIRMED IT 3 TIMES LAST NIGHT!!!!!" People started to turn around to stare. "Um, well, like I said, I really am sorry, and there's nothing I can do about it. I will have my superior, the econ cabin chief, come over and speak to you." Then she fled.
Once we took off, the cabin chief came over to me. "I'm terribly sorry..." she started. "Yes, I know," I said through clenched teeth, trying to remain calm. "My meal isn't on the plane. BUT I called to confirm it last night - I called Air France here in France, Air France US, and Delta. AND THEY ALL CONFIRMED IT." "Ah, well, you see, you have been misinformed," said the cabin chief. "When a flight is cancelled at the last minute, no special meals are available for the rebooked flight, as we need 24 hours to prepare your meal. So I'm terribly sorry about that." "Well, what am I going to eat!" I wailed. "Well, have you looked at the menu for tonight?" she asked. "Yes, and everything has SAUCES in it. Are they gluten-free????" I asked pointedly. "Oh, well, I wouldn't know." "EXACTLY" I shouted. "You don't know how it's prepared. What if there is a cross-contamination issue? Do you want a sick passenger on the plane?" "Um, well," said the cabin chief, thinking. "We have a lot of fresh fruit. How about if I offer you a fruit plate?" I don't know what happened, but I started to crack. I stared her straight in the eye, and I'm pretty sure my eyes were full of extreme loathing because she looked a little nervous. "Listen," I said quietly and calmly, as the other passengers were turning around to stare. "I'm a relatively calm person. I understand that this is personally not YOUR fault, so I'm not mad at YOU. I understand that things go wrong on flights, but this is really the last straw. I'm REALLY mad now. First, you cancel last night's flight once boarding started. Then you pull the same shit on this flight and we've taken off 2 hours late. Now you're telling me that my special meal is not on this flight, even though I confirmed it 3 separate times. I've been a very loyal customer of Air France since 1998. I make it a point to fly Air France or one of your Sky Team alliance partners. The last time I flew Air France was in 2005, when my flight was delayed 6 hours, it wasn't updated on your website, and I got a phone call the day AFTER the flight telling me that check-in was at 2 AM, AND my special meal was NOT on that flight either. It's NOT my problem nor my fault that last night's flight was cancelled. This is Air France's problem, and the least you people can do is inform their customers about problems when it comes to special dietary needs. I fly a minimum of 3 round trip Europe-US flights a year, and I am taking my business and loyalty elsewhere, to a company that knows how to treat its customers. This is the last time I fly Air France or a Sky Team partner," I finished up. The cabin chief looked terribly sorry. "You are absolutely correct," she said with sympathy. "I understand that this is not how you should be treated, but it's beyond my control. So I will make you a special fresh fruit plate, and if at any time you are hungry, please let me know, and I will be happy to supply you with more fruit. And I will file a special complaint to Air France on your behalf; it will be signed off by myself, the head pursor, and the captain." I was mildly mollified so I said a stiff thank you and tried to watch a movie. Except that in order to see the screen, I had to lean all the way over into the seat next to me. And my remote control and screen were not working very well, so I would miss the first 10 minutes of any movie I wanted to watch. I would have complained again, but I was too tired to deal with it all.
As they served all the other passengers their meals and special meals, the cabin chief came over with a business class tray - that is, I had real silverware and a real plate and glasses, but it was a plate with 2 apples, 2 clementines, and a handful of lychees. So I ate 1/2 of an apple, 2 clementines, and the lychees. A few hours later, the cabin chief came by and showed me the complaint she had filed for me. She pretty much wrote about how my flight was cancelled, that today's flight was delayed, that I was Flying Blue silver elite, that my special meal was not onboard although I had confirmed it, that I was only able to eat a few fruits, and that I was extremely angry with the company and was planning on taking my business elsewhere. I was relieved to find out that she had at least listened to my complaining. I said it was fine, and she went to the cockpit to get it signed off on, then came back to me and explained, "Okay, so I will send this to AF management on your behalf, so it will be dealt with right away. At the very least, you should receive a letter of apology on behalf of Air France." "And....?" I prompted her. "Oh, well, then it is up to AF management and customer service to decide if they will compensate you in any way or not. So...you might not get anything else other than a letter of apology," she said, with extreme sympathy. "Hmm. That would be very typical of Air France, no?" I asked. "I'd be willing to bet I don't even get a letter of apology."
I'm not one to sleep on flights, even when I'm tired, and I was at this point extremely exhausted, but didn't get a minute of sleep in. When we finally arrived at JFK at 20h00 (the flight was supposed to arrive at 18h20) we ended up sitting on the tarmac again for 30 minutes, waiting for a gate to free up. At this point, the Spanish guy sitting across the aisle turned to me and asked in English, "Excuse me, do you have any pockets?" I thought he wanted tissues, as I had brought a million travel tissue packs with me on account of my cold and had spent most of the flight sneezing and blowing my nose. "Oh, tissues?" I asked, reaching for a pack. "Here you go," I said, handing him the pack. "No, no!" said the Spanish guy. "A pocket!" I looked around, confused. "A pocket?" "Yes," he said frantically, then mimed opening the seat back pocket and a square bag. "Oh!" I said, realizing what he meant - one of those bags you throw up in. Then, "Oh!" as I realized that he was needing one of those bags to throw up in. I searched my seat back but there wasn't one in mine, then searched the seat back next to me, and found one, then handed it to him. "Thanks," he said, and gave it to his friend at the window seat, who had apparently just thrown up in one of those bags - though very subtly I might add, as I hadn't heard him puking, nor was there a mess at all. Plus, he had even closed up his bag very neatly. His friend, the one in the aisle seat next to me started pressing the attendant call button like a madman, producing a rapid series of "Bing bing bing" noises. There just so happened to be a male flight attendant standing in the aisle in front of us, right in between coach and business class, but his back was to us and he was in an extremely deep conversation with his colleage on the other aisle, laughing and talking over the heads of the business passsengers sitting between them. "S'il vous plaît!" I started calling, at the same time that the Spanish guy kept frantically pushing the call button. After several minutes of rapid binging and s'il vous plaîts, the steward turned around, looking extremely irritated that someone kept pushing the call button frantically. He turned around, scanning the heads of the passengers towards the back of the cabin, with major eye rolls going on, and finally noticed the Spanish guy and I frantically waving our arms at him. "Yes?," he asked, with a note of irritation in his voice. "Ah, sir," said the Spanish guy, "please throw this out," he asked, handing him the vomit bag, "and my friend is sick, can you bring us some tissues please?" "Uh, okay," said the steward, taking the bag, looking less than pleased. He ambled away, and I offered a pack of my zillion tissues to the Spanish guy, who took the pack of tissues gratefully. At the same time, the steward arrived clutching a handful of tissues, and gave them to the sick guy. The sick guy asked for a glass of water, which he got 10 minutes later. Then the steward went back to chatting with his co-worker.
FINALLY we got off the plane, I went through immigration, arrived at the baggage carousel, only to be confronted with a large Air France board with a long list of passenger's names, and at the bottom, "Please proceed directly to the Air France baggage agent at the carrousel." Unfortunately, my name was on the list.
I found the baggage agent, a woman who was neither French nor American, judging from her exotic accent, but who had perfected the French attitude. She coldly handed me two slips of paper printouts with my name and other information on it, and told me to go to AF/Delta baggage claims outside of arrivals. "Does this mean you lost my luggage?!" I demanded. "Yes," she said shortly, with an air of an "It's not MY problem nor MY fault" attitude. "Go to Baggage Claims on the right, outside of the arrivals area." So I stormed out into the arrivals area, found my mom, and screamed, "THEY LOST MY LUGGAGE" in the middle of the crowded area. Then I stomped over to the baggage claims area, threw open the door and screeched, "THEY LOST MY LUGGAGE ON A DIRECT FLIGHT".
A nice stout man was sitting at one of the 2 desks and said, "Come on over!" He looked at my slips, typed on his computer, and informed me that the luggage would be arriving on the next flight to JFK. "Ah," I said, "so it should be here soon? Because the next flight is the one that leaves Paris at 18h50 and arrived at JFK at 9 pm, and it is 9 pm now." "Uh, sorry," said the agent, "no it'll arrive tomorrow morning at JFK at 9 am. But, given the snowstorms, it'll probably be delayed. But it should be delivered to you tomorrow. Hopefully in the morning but most likely in the afternoon." I then had to provide descriptions of my luggage and hand him my baggage tags. He looked at the tags. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "I know why they lost your luggage," he said, and tapped the numbers on the tags. "The gate agent in Paris didn't change your luggage tags. She left on the tags from the cancelled flight. That's why your luggage wasn't on this flight." "Dude," I said, "but I checked in at 2 pm and our flight left like, way late, so in any case it should have been either on this flight or the one right after." The guy shrugged. "You know, Air France is really weird these days. I don't know if they're messing up on purpose to prepare for another strike or what, but there have been a lot of strange things happening these past few months. Like a lot of flights being delayed, they're changing airplanes at the last minute, cancelling flights at the last minute, and not doing what they are supposed to be doing." He shook his head. "I don't know what's going on with Air France." He did some typing in his computer and asked me to write down my address in France, my temporary address in the U.S., and my local phone number. I started to write, but my hands were shaking so much on account of the fatigue and not having eaten for 10 hours that I couldn't write anything down and my mom had to do it for me. The guy started chuckling to himself. "Yeah, you know, over in Europe, they say anything to get you on the plane. Like when people come in late and they go, 'Is my luggage on the plane?' and in Europe they're all like, 'Yep, no problem, just get on the plane'. But when I'm working the gates, and people come up to me and they go, 'Is my luggage on the plane?' I'll look and then I'm all, 'Nope, your luggage ain't on the plane' because I don't like to lie to people. And then the people go, 'Is it going to get on the plane soon?' and I'm like, 'Nope, it's not going to be on the plane. You're going to have file a baggage claim when you arrive at your destination.'" "OH MY GOD" I screeched. "THIS IS THE WORST FLIGHT I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. AND I'VE FLOWN A LOT OF FLIGHTS IN MY LIFE." "Ssssh!" said my mom, trying to calm me down. "THEY CANCEL MY SPECIAL MEAL AND THEN THEY CAN'T EVEN GET MY LUGGAGE ON A FREAKING DIRECT FLIGHT???!!!" "Vegetarian meal?" asked the baggage agent. "No, gluten-free" I muttered. "Oh. When they cancel a flight, they can't get the special meal onto the rebooked one. All special meals are always cancelled." "Dude, then they shouldn't have confirmed it when I called!" I shouted. "Yeah, you know, thosse phone people, especially in Europe, they tell you yes to everything, just to get you on the plane." "Oh!" I moaned. "This is even worse than that time Alitalia lost one of my bags. But they got it back to me 2 days later." "Ha!" laughed the agent. "Alitalia! Man, they are not good with the luggage. But British Airways is the worst. They had to hire an entire 747 just to transfer all the lost and delayed luggage at Heathrow to JFK!" "Really?" asked my mom. "Yeah," he said. "British Airways definitely has the worst record when it comes to baggage." He then started explaining that I could spend up to 100 euros on necessary items, that I would have to fill out forms and provide receipts and I would have to file them back in France. He also repeated that I could expect delivery of my luggage sometime the next day, then procedeed to get into a friendly debate/discussion with my mom about the next day's weather. At this point, there was a line of disgruntled Air France passengers (I'm suspecting they were all business/elite passengers checked in by the same gate agent at CDG) who were all grumpy and angry about the whole fiasco. "STOP TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER" I screeched. "Let's just go". I thanked the baggage guy because he really was nice and funny and sarcastic and I really did appreciate his help.
In the car I ate some food (luckily, Mom had been wise enough to heat up and pack some food for me to eat in the car, which in this case was an excellent idea). It was 9:30 pm and I realized I didn't have any contact lenses or my glasses as they were in my checked luggage. "Oh" I started moaning. The local Duane Reade was already closed by the time we got close to my mom's house in Westchester. "Oh..." I started moaning again. "I have NOTHING!" I said dramatically. "This is the WORST FLIGHT EVER." My mom calmed down and reminded me that I had clothes at her house, and that there should be a few pairs of back up contact lenses that I could wear. "Look on the bright side," said my mom. "Given all the flights you have flown, it's only now that you got a really bad experience."
I sent H an SMS when I got to Mom's, though it was 10:30 pm in NY, so 4:30 am in Paris. He called me as soon as he got my SMS as he had been having trouble sleeping. I shouted the entire fiasco into the phone and he agreed that it was quite a bad experience. "We'll write a letter to Air France," he promised me, "so note down everything bad that happened and we'll put it all in a fancy complaint letter that I'll help you write." Then he said he was going to go back to sleep and he'd call me the next day. I pretty much just sat on the couch and stared into space for an hour because I was so pissed off and shaken up from the whole experience and was trying to calm down.
I am SO totally going to post this story (though a shortened version) on the FlyerTalk Air France/KLM Frequent Flier boards. And I am SO totally going to switch airlines. Now I just have to figure out a way to use up all those frequent flier miles.
So yesterday I got to the airport just fine, checked in at business class, went through security, took the mini-train, went through security again, and waited at the gate. They called all business and elite pax for boarding. Stood in line. Went through. Boarding was supposed to start at 15h, but it started at 15:20. No big deal. Walked down the ramp thing, got on the plane. About 7 other pax were in front of me. Just barely walked on when a flight attendant came rushing down the business class aisle waving her hands and screeching, "Pas encore! Not yet! Not yet! GET OFF!!!!" The businessmen in front of me, most of them middle aged with thick glasses, suits, and carry-on suitcases stared at her blankly, sort of shocked, then turned around along with the rest of and got off the plane. We stood there waiting on the ramp. Some gate attendants came and made us go back into the terminal, where we stood around, confused. Finally, an announcement in English: "We have not yet completed the technical security check on the plane. Please patient for awhile, it should be 15 minutes then okay." 15 minutes later, they made those of us who had been swiped through to board, get swiped again, so we would be disembarked. I overheard one gate agent on the phone saying in French, "Yeah, so apparently the air conditioning is broken. But we can't cancel the flight because a majority of the passengers on this flight were on last night's cancelled flight and they are going to totally freak out. (pause). Okay. Talk to you in 10 minutes."
We stood around for another 40 minutes before they finally decided we could get on the plane. So we had to go through the ticket swiping thing AGAIN. At this point, it was close to 16h15 and we were supposed to have left at 15h55. I headed over to my seat, which was in the 2nd row of the econ cabin. I had requested an aisle seat the previous evening, and found myself in 18D...and realized that the plane had a really odd configuration. The first row of econ was 2-3-2, and the second row was 2-4-2. I didn't mind at first because I realized I totally had extra leg room, as the seat in front of me wasn't really in front of me, but more to my side. There was a nice middle-aged British woman in the other aisle seat in my row, also an FB elite. She looked at the individual TV screens, then got up and looked at the screens of the aisle behind us. "Hey," she said, "we only have 2 screens in our row, but everyone else has individual screens!" I looked, and indeed, it pretty much meant that if the 2 seats in between ours were filled, we would all be sharing the individual TV screens. The British lady seemed quite annoyed about the whole thing, and we both hoped that no one would be seated in between us - which, luckily, no one was (I think they blocked the seats open because almost all the other seats on the plane were filled).
We sat on the plane for another hour, though no one really knew why, so by the time we took off, it was 18h Paris time. The head econ class attendant went around confirming special meals....and totally did NOT come over to confirm mine. I managed to flag down another attendant and was all, "Dude, where's my special meal?" She said she'd check, came back, and said she was terribly sorry, but my meal was not on the plane and there was nothing she could do about it because we were going to be leaving the gate soon. "WHAT?!?!" I screamed. "I CALLED AND CONFIRMED IT 3 TIMES LAST NIGHT!!!!!" People started to turn around to stare. "Um, well, like I said, I really am sorry, and there's nothing I can do about it. I will have my superior, the econ cabin chief, come over and speak to you." Then she fled.
Once we took off, the cabin chief came over to me. "I'm terribly sorry..." she started. "Yes, I know," I said through clenched teeth, trying to remain calm. "My meal isn't on the plane. BUT I called to confirm it last night - I called Air France here in France, Air France US, and Delta. AND THEY ALL CONFIRMED IT." "Ah, well, you see, you have been misinformed," said the cabin chief. "When a flight is cancelled at the last minute, no special meals are available for the rebooked flight, as we need 24 hours to prepare your meal. So I'm terribly sorry about that." "Well, what am I going to eat!" I wailed. "Well, have you looked at the menu for tonight?" she asked. "Yes, and everything has SAUCES in it. Are they gluten-free????" I asked pointedly. "Oh, well, I wouldn't know." "EXACTLY" I shouted. "You don't know how it's prepared. What if there is a cross-contamination issue? Do you want a sick passenger on the plane?" "Um, well," said the cabin chief, thinking. "We have a lot of fresh fruit. How about if I offer you a fruit plate?" I don't know what happened, but I started to crack. I stared her straight in the eye, and I'm pretty sure my eyes were full of extreme loathing because she looked a little nervous. "Listen," I said quietly and calmly, as the other passengers were turning around to stare. "I'm a relatively calm person. I understand that this is personally not YOUR fault, so I'm not mad at YOU. I understand that things go wrong on flights, but this is really the last straw. I'm REALLY mad now. First, you cancel last night's flight once boarding started. Then you pull the same shit on this flight and we've taken off 2 hours late. Now you're telling me that my special meal is not on this flight, even though I confirmed it 3 separate times. I've been a very loyal customer of Air France since 1998. I make it a point to fly Air France or one of your Sky Team alliance partners. The last time I flew Air France was in 2005, when my flight was delayed 6 hours, it wasn't updated on your website, and I got a phone call the day AFTER the flight telling me that check-in was at 2 AM, AND my special meal was NOT on that flight either. It's NOT my problem nor my fault that last night's flight was cancelled. This is Air France's problem, and the least you people can do is inform their customers about problems when it comes to special dietary needs. I fly a minimum of 3 round trip Europe-US flights a year, and I am taking my business and loyalty elsewhere, to a company that knows how to treat its customers. This is the last time I fly Air France or a Sky Team partner," I finished up. The cabin chief looked terribly sorry. "You are absolutely correct," she said with sympathy. "I understand that this is not how you should be treated, but it's beyond my control. So I will make you a special fresh fruit plate, and if at any time you are hungry, please let me know, and I will be happy to supply you with more fruit. And I will file a special complaint to Air France on your behalf; it will be signed off by myself, the head pursor, and the captain." I was mildly mollified so I said a stiff thank you and tried to watch a movie. Except that in order to see the screen, I had to lean all the way over into the seat next to me. And my remote control and screen were not working very well, so I would miss the first 10 minutes of any movie I wanted to watch. I would have complained again, but I was too tired to deal with it all.
As they served all the other passengers their meals and special meals, the cabin chief came over with a business class tray - that is, I had real silverware and a real plate and glasses, but it was a plate with 2 apples, 2 clementines, and a handful of lychees. So I ate 1/2 of an apple, 2 clementines, and the lychees. A few hours later, the cabin chief came by and showed me the complaint she had filed for me. She pretty much wrote about how my flight was cancelled, that today's flight was delayed, that I was Flying Blue silver elite, that my special meal was not onboard although I had confirmed it, that I was only able to eat a few fruits, and that I was extremely angry with the company and was planning on taking my business elsewhere. I was relieved to find out that she had at least listened to my complaining. I said it was fine, and she went to the cockpit to get it signed off on, then came back to me and explained, "Okay, so I will send this to AF management on your behalf, so it will be dealt with right away. At the very least, you should receive a letter of apology on behalf of Air France." "And....?" I prompted her. "Oh, well, then it is up to AF management and customer service to decide if they will compensate you in any way or not. So...you might not get anything else other than a letter of apology," she said, with extreme sympathy. "Hmm. That would be very typical of Air France, no?" I asked. "I'd be willing to bet I don't even get a letter of apology."
I'm not one to sleep on flights, even when I'm tired, and I was at this point extremely exhausted, but didn't get a minute of sleep in. When we finally arrived at JFK at 20h00 (the flight was supposed to arrive at 18h20) we ended up sitting on the tarmac again for 30 minutes, waiting for a gate to free up. At this point, the Spanish guy sitting across the aisle turned to me and asked in English, "Excuse me, do you have any pockets?" I thought he wanted tissues, as I had brought a million travel tissue packs with me on account of my cold and had spent most of the flight sneezing and blowing my nose. "Oh, tissues?" I asked, reaching for a pack. "Here you go," I said, handing him the pack. "No, no!" said the Spanish guy. "A pocket!" I looked around, confused. "A pocket?" "Yes," he said frantically, then mimed opening the seat back pocket and a square bag. "Oh!" I said, realizing what he meant - one of those bags you throw up in. Then, "Oh!" as I realized that he was needing one of those bags to throw up in. I searched my seat back but there wasn't one in mine, then searched the seat back next to me, and found one, then handed it to him. "Thanks," he said, and gave it to his friend at the window seat, who had apparently just thrown up in one of those bags - though very subtly I might add, as I hadn't heard him puking, nor was there a mess at all. Plus, he had even closed up his bag very neatly. His friend, the one in the aisle seat next to me started pressing the attendant call button like a madman, producing a rapid series of "Bing bing bing" noises. There just so happened to be a male flight attendant standing in the aisle in front of us, right in between coach and business class, but his back was to us and he was in an extremely deep conversation with his colleage on the other aisle, laughing and talking over the heads of the business passsengers sitting between them. "S'il vous plaît!" I started calling, at the same time that the Spanish guy kept frantically pushing the call button. After several minutes of rapid binging and s'il vous plaîts, the steward turned around, looking extremely irritated that someone kept pushing the call button frantically. He turned around, scanning the heads of the passengers towards the back of the cabin, with major eye rolls going on, and finally noticed the Spanish guy and I frantically waving our arms at him. "Yes?," he asked, with a note of irritation in his voice. "Ah, sir," said the Spanish guy, "please throw this out," he asked, handing him the vomit bag, "and my friend is sick, can you bring us some tissues please?" "Uh, okay," said the steward, taking the bag, looking less than pleased. He ambled away, and I offered a pack of my zillion tissues to the Spanish guy, who took the pack of tissues gratefully. At the same time, the steward arrived clutching a handful of tissues, and gave them to the sick guy. The sick guy asked for a glass of water, which he got 10 minutes later. Then the steward went back to chatting with his co-worker.
FINALLY we got off the plane, I went through immigration, arrived at the baggage carousel, only to be confronted with a large Air France board with a long list of passenger's names, and at the bottom, "Please proceed directly to the Air France baggage agent at the carrousel." Unfortunately, my name was on the list.
I found the baggage agent, a woman who was neither French nor American, judging from her exotic accent, but who had perfected the French attitude. She coldly handed me two slips of paper printouts with my name and other information on it, and told me to go to AF/Delta baggage claims outside of arrivals. "Does this mean you lost my luggage?!" I demanded. "Yes," she said shortly, with an air of an "It's not MY problem nor MY fault" attitude. "Go to Baggage Claims on the right, outside of the arrivals area." So I stormed out into the arrivals area, found my mom, and screamed, "THEY LOST MY LUGGAGE" in the middle of the crowded area. Then I stomped over to the baggage claims area, threw open the door and screeched, "THEY LOST MY LUGGAGE ON A DIRECT FLIGHT".
A nice stout man was sitting at one of the 2 desks and said, "Come on over!" He looked at my slips, typed on his computer, and informed me that the luggage would be arriving on the next flight to JFK. "Ah," I said, "so it should be here soon? Because the next flight is the one that leaves Paris at 18h50 and arrived at JFK at 9 pm, and it is 9 pm now." "Uh, sorry," said the agent, "no it'll arrive tomorrow morning at JFK at 9 am. But, given the snowstorms, it'll probably be delayed. But it should be delivered to you tomorrow. Hopefully in the morning but most likely in the afternoon." I then had to provide descriptions of my luggage and hand him my baggage tags. He looked at the tags. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "I know why they lost your luggage," he said, and tapped the numbers on the tags. "The gate agent in Paris didn't change your luggage tags. She left on the tags from the cancelled flight. That's why your luggage wasn't on this flight." "Dude," I said, "but I checked in at 2 pm and our flight left like, way late, so in any case it should have been either on this flight or the one right after." The guy shrugged. "You know, Air France is really weird these days. I don't know if they're messing up on purpose to prepare for another strike or what, but there have been a lot of strange things happening these past few months. Like a lot of flights being delayed, they're changing airplanes at the last minute, cancelling flights at the last minute, and not doing what they are supposed to be doing." He shook his head. "I don't know what's going on with Air France." He did some typing in his computer and asked me to write down my address in France, my temporary address in the U.S., and my local phone number. I started to write, but my hands were shaking so much on account of the fatigue and not having eaten for 10 hours that I couldn't write anything down and my mom had to do it for me. The guy started chuckling to himself. "Yeah, you know, over in Europe, they say anything to get you on the plane. Like when people come in late and they go, 'Is my luggage on the plane?' and in Europe they're all like, 'Yep, no problem, just get on the plane'. But when I'm working the gates, and people come up to me and they go, 'Is my luggage on the plane?' I'll look and then I'm all, 'Nope, your luggage ain't on the plane' because I don't like to lie to people. And then the people go, 'Is it going to get on the plane soon?' and I'm like, 'Nope, it's not going to be on the plane. You're going to have file a baggage claim when you arrive at your destination.'" "OH MY GOD" I screeched. "THIS IS THE WORST FLIGHT I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. AND I'VE FLOWN A LOT OF FLIGHTS IN MY LIFE." "Ssssh!" said my mom, trying to calm me down. "THEY CANCEL MY SPECIAL MEAL AND THEN THEY CAN'T EVEN GET MY LUGGAGE ON A FREAKING DIRECT FLIGHT???!!!" "Vegetarian meal?" asked the baggage agent. "No, gluten-free" I muttered. "Oh. When they cancel a flight, they can't get the special meal onto the rebooked one. All special meals are always cancelled." "Dude, then they shouldn't have confirmed it when I called!" I shouted. "Yeah, you know, thosse phone people, especially in Europe, they tell you yes to everything, just to get you on the plane." "Oh!" I moaned. "This is even worse than that time Alitalia lost one of my bags. But they got it back to me 2 days later." "Ha!" laughed the agent. "Alitalia! Man, they are not good with the luggage. But British Airways is the worst. They had to hire an entire 747 just to transfer all the lost and delayed luggage at Heathrow to JFK!" "Really?" asked my mom. "Yeah," he said. "British Airways definitely has the worst record when it comes to baggage." He then started explaining that I could spend up to 100 euros on necessary items, that I would have to fill out forms and provide receipts and I would have to file them back in France. He also repeated that I could expect delivery of my luggage sometime the next day, then procedeed to get into a friendly debate/discussion with my mom about the next day's weather. At this point, there was a line of disgruntled Air France passengers (I'm suspecting they were all business/elite passengers checked in by the same gate agent at CDG) who were all grumpy and angry about the whole fiasco. "STOP TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER" I screeched. "Let's just go". I thanked the baggage guy because he really was nice and funny and sarcastic and I really did appreciate his help.
In the car I ate some food (luckily, Mom had been wise enough to heat up and pack some food for me to eat in the car, which in this case was an excellent idea). It was 9:30 pm and I realized I didn't have any contact lenses or my glasses as they were in my checked luggage. "Oh" I started moaning. The local Duane Reade was already closed by the time we got close to my mom's house in Westchester. "Oh..." I started moaning again. "I have NOTHING!" I said dramatically. "This is the WORST FLIGHT EVER." My mom calmed down and reminded me that I had clothes at her house, and that there should be a few pairs of back up contact lenses that I could wear. "Look on the bright side," said my mom. "Given all the flights you have flown, it's only now that you got a really bad experience."
I sent H an SMS when I got to Mom's, though it was 10:30 pm in NY, so 4:30 am in Paris. He called me as soon as he got my SMS as he had been having trouble sleeping. I shouted the entire fiasco into the phone and he agreed that it was quite a bad experience. "We'll write a letter to Air France," he promised me, "so note down everything bad that happened and we'll put it all in a fancy complaint letter that I'll help you write." Then he said he was going to go back to sleep and he'd call me the next day. I pretty much just sat on the couch and stared into space for an hour because I was so pissed off and shaken up from the whole experience and was trying to calm down.
I am SO totally going to post this story (though a shortened version) on the FlyerTalk Air France/KLM Frequent Flier boards. And I am SO totally going to switch airlines. Now I just have to figure out a way to use up all those frequent flier miles.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Vol annulé part 2
I was so terrified of the Evil Eye Trio that I had fled the ticket counter without checking to see if I had an aisle seat, nor confirming my special meal for the rebooked flight, nor did I get my taxi vouchers.
AF ended up paying the hotel only for those who were in Paris via a connection. This meant that all the people who were not on a connection were forced to find somewhere to stay. While this was not a problem for the French people or those of us resident in France, it was a problem for those who had come to Paris for business or vacation, and were merely on their way home. So in addition to the fact that the gate was a complete and total anarchic mayhem, lots of people were really pissed off. The businessmen started calling their secretaries to book them hotels while the low-fare econ passengers were stuck trying to figure out how to book themselves a hotel. I overheard the gate attendants instructing the clerks to "pay for hotels only for those on connecting flights; connecting business pax get a hotel and a taxi, coach connections get a hotel and a free ride on the shuttle, elite and business pax get a free round trip taxi voucher, and economy non-elite get a free bus ride into Paris. Ah! Once again I was grateful for my Flying Blue card...
They had in the meantime opened up a third rerouting desk and there was one AF employee attendant guy there who was just standing next to the desk, not really doing anything. I went up to him and asked him timidly if they were paying for the taxis. He said yes and said I had to get in line. So I started to line up (or rather, join the chaos) when I said to the guy, "Oh, but I already have my rerouting boarding pass, is this the line just for the compensations?" "Ah, they did not do your taxi voucher when they did your boarding pass!" sighed the guy. "Come with me, I will print them out for you." He kindly led me to an empty desk at an unused gate, and printed out my round trip taxi vouchers, explaining that once I had to go back out past security, take the train back to terminal 2E, pick up my luggage at carrousel 40, then go upstairs to the departures area, where there was an AF service counter, and ask them to call me a taxi. I took advantage of the situation to ask the nice guy about my seat - he checked on the computer, said I had been assigned a window seat, and would I like him to change me over to an aisle seat? I was so touched and relieved by how nice he was (after all, this is Air France; I had expected him to tell me to bugger off) that I nearly cried with gratitude as he reassigned me an aisle seat and printed out my new boarding pass.
I managed to get my luggage, which the luggage people had kindly left on the conveyor belt (they had organized the luggage into econ pax luggage in one corner, business in another, and priority luggage remained on the belt). For some reason, the ticketing agent had put giant neon priority tags on my luggage (not sure why, as this was a direct flight, unless it is another elite perk, though I don't usually get the priority tags unless I am transferring). So I hauled my heavy suitcase into a trolley, spent 15 minutes trying to find an elevator that worked, and made it to the service counter where they called me a taxi.
My cab driver was really nice, rather young, and reminded me of a friend of mine. H was convinced that the taxi driver took a longer than necessary route, and I replied with a shrug. "So what?" I said. "Air France is paying for it and I think he was right to take advantage. I hate Air France with a passion!"
I called my mom again when I got home - I had called her quickly from the airport to inform her that my flight was cancelled, as she was supposed to pick me up at JFK. Mom was disappointed for me, but said, "Well, look on the bright side - if it was a technical problem with the plane, then we should be grateful that they caught the problem before take-off. It's better to have to deal with the hassle of a cancelled flight rather than to have a major accident at 30,000 feet over the Atlantic."
H and SIL obviously felt very sorry for me, as they both knew how much I was looking forward to going back home. Not to mention, it had apparently been a stressful situation, judging by the new pimple that miraculously broke out on my cheek during the whole ordeal.
Mom had suggested I call Flying Blue to see if I could use my zillion miles to upgrade to business for both legs of the trip. I called Flying Blue in the U.S. as their desk was still open (it was already 10pm) but they said that since I had been ticketed by Delta, I'd have to call them. So I called Delta US and they said I couldn't use my miles to upgrade since it was an AF codeshare, and I'd have to call Air France. I explained that I had Air France miles, and had just gotten off the phone with them as they told me to call Delta. Finally I just gave up on the whole upgrade thing, though H said it was a shame because I might end up being seated next to the Evil Eye Trio. Delta also confirmed my gluten free meal for the reticketed flight, though I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with yesterday's meal...I guess we'll see this afternoon.
I have to admit, I'm quite miffed, between the Apple France fiasco and now the Air France fiasco (the 2nd one in a row). Why do I always end up with the crazy situations? Anyway, I think I am going to switch airline companies - I can't deal with Air France anymore (although I quite like KLM, but not sure if this is all worth it). Unfortunately, as Mom pointed out, I have accumulated close to 200,000 miles that I am going to have to use up. But the problem with Flying Blue is that only the most expensive coach tickets (the ones that cost over $1000) are allowed to upgrade to business, and you have to book award tickets like a year in advance. How on earth am I supposed to know my vacation plans a year in advance???
AF ended up paying the hotel only for those who were in Paris via a connection. This meant that all the people who were not on a connection were forced to find somewhere to stay. While this was not a problem for the French people or those of us resident in France, it was a problem for those who had come to Paris for business or vacation, and were merely on their way home. So in addition to the fact that the gate was a complete and total anarchic mayhem, lots of people were really pissed off. The businessmen started calling their secretaries to book them hotels while the low-fare econ passengers were stuck trying to figure out how to book themselves a hotel. I overheard the gate attendants instructing the clerks to "pay for hotels only for those on connecting flights; connecting business pax get a hotel and a taxi, coach connections get a hotel and a free ride on the shuttle, elite and business pax get a free round trip taxi voucher, and economy non-elite get a free bus ride into Paris. Ah! Once again I was grateful for my Flying Blue card...
They had in the meantime opened up a third rerouting desk and there was one AF employee attendant guy there who was just standing next to the desk, not really doing anything. I went up to him and asked him timidly if they were paying for the taxis. He said yes and said I had to get in line. So I started to line up (or rather, join the chaos) when I said to the guy, "Oh, but I already have my rerouting boarding pass, is this the line just for the compensations?" "Ah, they did not do your taxi voucher when they did your boarding pass!" sighed the guy. "Come with me, I will print them out for you." He kindly led me to an empty desk at an unused gate, and printed out my round trip taxi vouchers, explaining that once I had to go back out past security, take the train back to terminal 2E, pick up my luggage at carrousel 40, then go upstairs to the departures area, where there was an AF service counter, and ask them to call me a taxi. I took advantage of the situation to ask the nice guy about my seat - he checked on the computer, said I had been assigned a window seat, and would I like him to change me over to an aisle seat? I was so touched and relieved by how nice he was (after all, this is Air France; I had expected him to tell me to bugger off) that I nearly cried with gratitude as he reassigned me an aisle seat and printed out my new boarding pass.
I managed to get my luggage, which the luggage people had kindly left on the conveyor belt (they had organized the luggage into econ pax luggage in one corner, business in another, and priority luggage remained on the belt). For some reason, the ticketing agent had put giant neon priority tags on my luggage (not sure why, as this was a direct flight, unless it is another elite perk, though I don't usually get the priority tags unless I am transferring). So I hauled my heavy suitcase into a trolley, spent 15 minutes trying to find an elevator that worked, and made it to the service counter where they called me a taxi.
My cab driver was really nice, rather young, and reminded me of a friend of mine. H was convinced that the taxi driver took a longer than necessary route, and I replied with a shrug. "So what?" I said. "Air France is paying for it and I think he was right to take advantage. I hate Air France with a passion!"
I called my mom again when I got home - I had called her quickly from the airport to inform her that my flight was cancelled, as she was supposed to pick me up at JFK. Mom was disappointed for me, but said, "Well, look on the bright side - if it was a technical problem with the plane, then we should be grateful that they caught the problem before take-off. It's better to have to deal with the hassle of a cancelled flight rather than to have a major accident at 30,000 feet over the Atlantic."
H and SIL obviously felt very sorry for me, as they both knew how much I was looking forward to going back home. Not to mention, it had apparently been a stressful situation, judging by the new pimple that miraculously broke out on my cheek during the whole ordeal.
Mom had suggested I call Flying Blue to see if I could use my zillion miles to upgrade to business for both legs of the trip. I called Flying Blue in the U.S. as their desk was still open (it was already 10pm) but they said that since I had been ticketed by Delta, I'd have to call them. So I called Delta US and they said I couldn't use my miles to upgrade since it was an AF codeshare, and I'd have to call Air France. I explained that I had Air France miles, and had just gotten off the phone with them as they told me to call Delta. Finally I just gave up on the whole upgrade thing, though H said it was a shame because I might end up being seated next to the Evil Eye Trio. Delta also confirmed my gluten free meal for the reticketed flight, though I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with yesterday's meal...I guess we'll see this afternoon.
I have to admit, I'm quite miffed, between the Apple France fiasco and now the Air France fiasco (the 2nd one in a row). Why do I always end up with the crazy situations? Anyway, I think I am going to switch airline companies - I can't deal with Air France anymore (although I quite like KLM, but not sure if this is all worth it). Unfortunately, as Mom pointed out, I have accumulated close to 200,000 miles that I am going to have to use up. But the problem with Flying Blue is that only the most expensive coach tickets (the ones that cost over $1000) are allowed to upgrade to business, and you have to book award tickets like a year in advance. How on earth am I supposed to know my vacation plans a year in advance???
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Vol annulé
Well, today I was quite excited as I was supposed to fly back to NYC.
I had booked a Delta ticket on an AF codeshare - being that I am a member of the Flying Blue program, and have managed to jump up to Elite status, I always try to purchase tickets from airlines in the SkyTeam alliance. I figured I'd try Delta, as the tickets were slightly cheaper, though I was a bit apprehensive about Air France. I have been a loyal AF customer since my student years (1998-2000 ish) and had never had any major problems until the Fréquence Plus program became Flying Blue. In fact, 2 years ago, my AF flight NYC-CDG was delayed. By 6 freaking hours! And they didn't even call me to let me know. The flight left JFk at 3:30 AM and they did NOT have my special gluten free meal onboard either.
Anyway, so tonight my flight was for 18h50, the last CDG-JFK flight and one that I have been taking for years now. I had to shell out 52 euros for a taxi to the airport as I had some heavy luggage. I got to the airport just fine, in fact, I got there a little early, and proceeded to Economy class check-in, where they promptly told me to go to the L'Espace Affairs check-in since I am Flying Blue elite.
Check-in was weird because the lady checking me in asked if I had already checked in online. I said no, and then she was all confused, saying that someone had checked in online with my name and had declared one piece of luggage. Her colleague at the next counter over turned to me and said jokingly, "Ooh. Someone stole your identity!". Then she laughed hysterically. I did not happen to think her joke was funny, so I said very seriously, "You know, that actually does happen to people." Then she said, "Oh, well, it's quite rare for airlines, because we have a lot of information already on all the passengers." Anyway, the attendant working on my case ended up calling people for 30 minutes before declaring the problem was solved, handed me my boarding pass, and apologized for the delay. As I was walking away, I heard her ask her colleague, "So, the luggage will go through to JFK, right?" What a way to inspire confidence...
The flight was leaving out of 2E, which has been completely redone, and even has a mini train thingy that takes you from the terminal to the gates. Then you go through security and there are lots of duty free shops, then there are all these free Playstation 3 areas where you can play while you wait for your flight! There is also Wi-Fi and new computer stations where you can surf the internet (for a fee). I really wanted to try the PS3, but there were all these little kids at them, and there wasn't one near my gate, so I read a magazine while waiting for boarding.
At 18h05, boarding started, with one side being for regular Econ pax and the other side being for all business and SkyTeam elite pax. I happened to be standing right by the SkyTeam side, so I was one of the first in line, and one of the first to pass through the ticket counter. I was walking down the ramp when a cabin crew member came running out of the plane, shrieking, "Arrêtez! Y a un problème! On bloque tout!" I was perhaps 5th in line to actually get on the plane but we ended up waiting for 15 minutes when the ground staff invited us to wait back at the gate. Another 20 minutes went by, with those of us already checked in waiting in front of the ramp, and the other passengers still in line to go through. That was when the screen flashed "AF 008 Flight Cancelled/Vol annulé".
COMPLETE MAYHEM broke out. People started shrieking. Business men whipped out Blackberrys and barked orders like, "What's the next flight out? Can you book me a hotel?" Only 2 counters were available for rebooking, and there was absolutely no semblance of a line - insted everyone just crushed together, pushing and shoving tickets at the clerk.
I was one of the first ones at the desk, but waited patiently while the clerk rerouted all the business class passengers. The earliest flight they could put them on was for 1 pm, so all the business people were really mad, as most of them had meetings for the next day at like, 9 AM and realized they wouldn't be in NYC until 3:30 PM! I waited and waited and waited. There was a Eurotrashy Italian couple trying to cram in and a woman who spoke English, French, and Italian - I think she was a dual French/US citizen. These were the pushiest and most difficult people. The woman (I think her ticket said her name was Muriel) kept shrieking every time the clerk took a business class passenger ahead of her. As each business class passenger passed before her, Muriel would sigh exaggeratedly and say rudely, "Another business class person?!?!"
Finally the clerk had checked in nearly all the business pax, so I showed him my ticket which was marked econ class, but had my FB elite number written on it. I also showed him my FB elite card, and he promptly took my ticket next. Muriel and the Italians freaked out, with the Eurotrash guy hurling insults at me in Italian, and pointing at me. Muriel was all, "She's economy class and I was here first!" I said in French, "Sorry, but I was here before you - I was actually waiting at the plane door" and Muriel said, "Yeah, whatever," and the Italian guy shouted, "Ha!" and then a string of Italian curse words at me, all the while giving me the evil eye. Muriel started yelling at the AF clerk, insisting she was next. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, "but she has an AF elite card." "I HAVE A CARD TOO, YOU KNOW" screamed Muriel. "I HAVE A CARD I'M NEXT". "Uh, okay, if you have your AF Flying Blue card, you can show it to me and I will process you after madame." "I don't have this Flying Blue card" said Muriel. "Well, what card to you have?" asked the clerk. "Well, I have lots of cards. Lots and lots. I have an American Airlines card. Continental. Delta. United. American Express," she said haughtily. "Er, yes, but you do not have an Air France card. Madame here has an Air France Flying Blue elite card." "Phhhhhwwwwww!" shouted Muriel. "That's bullshit!" Eurotrash italian asked her what was going on, and she explained in Italian that I had a "stupid worthless Flying Blue card" so they were letting me skip ahead. Eurotrash, his girlfriend, and Muriel stared at me with the evil eye and started whispering and pointing at me, occasionally laughing hysterically, while still pointing at me. It was all very terrorizing, but at the same time, I do actually PAY for the elite card by taking uncheap flights with Sky Team, so I should think I would get special benefits. Anyway, Muriel and her Italians were really scaring me - you know how there's always that customer who is really difficult, yet is the customer that paid for the cheapest ticket on like, priceline.com and gets mad when s/he is not treated like a first class passenger? That's pretty much what it was there, and I had a feeling they were about to have a case of air rage, so I grabbed my boarding pass (for the 15h55 flight the next day) and fled.
To be continued...
I had booked a Delta ticket on an AF codeshare - being that I am a member of the Flying Blue program, and have managed to jump up to Elite status, I always try to purchase tickets from airlines in the SkyTeam alliance. I figured I'd try Delta, as the tickets were slightly cheaper, though I was a bit apprehensive about Air France. I have been a loyal AF customer since my student years (1998-2000 ish) and had never had any major problems until the Fréquence Plus program became Flying Blue. In fact, 2 years ago, my AF flight NYC-CDG was delayed. By 6 freaking hours! And they didn't even call me to let me know. The flight left JFk at 3:30 AM and they did NOT have my special gluten free meal onboard either.
Anyway, so tonight my flight was for 18h50, the last CDG-JFK flight and one that I have been taking for years now. I had to shell out 52 euros for a taxi to the airport as I had some heavy luggage. I got to the airport just fine, in fact, I got there a little early, and proceeded to Economy class check-in, where they promptly told me to go to the L'Espace Affairs check-in since I am Flying Blue elite.
Check-in was weird because the lady checking me in asked if I had already checked in online. I said no, and then she was all confused, saying that someone had checked in online with my name and had declared one piece of luggage. Her colleague at the next counter over turned to me and said jokingly, "Ooh. Someone stole your identity!". Then she laughed hysterically. I did not happen to think her joke was funny, so I said very seriously, "You know, that actually does happen to people." Then she said, "Oh, well, it's quite rare for airlines, because we have a lot of information already on all the passengers." Anyway, the attendant working on my case ended up calling people for 30 minutes before declaring the problem was solved, handed me my boarding pass, and apologized for the delay. As I was walking away, I heard her ask her colleague, "So, the luggage will go through to JFK, right?" What a way to inspire confidence...
The flight was leaving out of 2E, which has been completely redone, and even has a mini train thingy that takes you from the terminal to the gates. Then you go through security and there are lots of duty free shops, then there are all these free Playstation 3 areas where you can play while you wait for your flight! There is also Wi-Fi and new computer stations where you can surf the internet (for a fee). I really wanted to try the PS3, but there were all these little kids at them, and there wasn't one near my gate, so I read a magazine while waiting for boarding.
At 18h05, boarding started, with one side being for regular Econ pax and the other side being for all business and SkyTeam elite pax. I happened to be standing right by the SkyTeam side, so I was one of the first in line, and one of the first to pass through the ticket counter. I was walking down the ramp when a cabin crew member came running out of the plane, shrieking, "Arrêtez! Y a un problème! On bloque tout!" I was perhaps 5th in line to actually get on the plane but we ended up waiting for 15 minutes when the ground staff invited us to wait back at the gate. Another 20 minutes went by, with those of us already checked in waiting in front of the ramp, and the other passengers still in line to go through. That was when the screen flashed "AF 008 Flight Cancelled/Vol annulé".
COMPLETE MAYHEM broke out. People started shrieking. Business men whipped out Blackberrys and barked orders like, "What's the next flight out? Can you book me a hotel?" Only 2 counters were available for rebooking, and there was absolutely no semblance of a line - insted everyone just crushed together, pushing and shoving tickets at the clerk.
I was one of the first ones at the desk, but waited patiently while the clerk rerouted all the business class passengers. The earliest flight they could put them on was for 1 pm, so all the business people were really mad, as most of them had meetings for the next day at like, 9 AM and realized they wouldn't be in NYC until 3:30 PM! I waited and waited and waited. There was a Eurotrashy Italian couple trying to cram in and a woman who spoke English, French, and Italian - I think she was a dual French/US citizen. These were the pushiest and most difficult people. The woman (I think her ticket said her name was Muriel) kept shrieking every time the clerk took a business class passenger ahead of her. As each business class passenger passed before her, Muriel would sigh exaggeratedly and say rudely, "Another business class person?!?!"
Finally the clerk had checked in nearly all the business pax, so I showed him my ticket which was marked econ class, but had my FB elite number written on it. I also showed him my FB elite card, and he promptly took my ticket next. Muriel and the Italians freaked out, with the Eurotrash guy hurling insults at me in Italian, and pointing at me. Muriel was all, "She's economy class and I was here first!" I said in French, "Sorry, but I was here before you - I was actually waiting at the plane door" and Muriel said, "Yeah, whatever," and the Italian guy shouted, "Ha!" and then a string of Italian curse words at me, all the while giving me the evil eye. Muriel started yelling at the AF clerk, insisting she was next. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, "but she has an AF elite card." "I HAVE A CARD TOO, YOU KNOW" screamed Muriel. "I HAVE A CARD I'M NEXT". "Uh, okay, if you have your AF Flying Blue card, you can show it to me and I will process you after madame." "I don't have this Flying Blue card" said Muriel. "Well, what card to you have?" asked the clerk. "Well, I have lots of cards. Lots and lots. I have an American Airlines card. Continental. Delta. United. American Express," she said haughtily. "Er, yes, but you do not have an Air France card. Madame here has an Air France Flying Blue elite card." "Phhhhhwwwwww!" shouted Muriel. "That's bullshit!" Eurotrash italian asked her what was going on, and she explained in Italian that I had a "stupid worthless Flying Blue card" so they were letting me skip ahead. Eurotrash, his girlfriend, and Muriel stared at me with the evil eye and started whispering and pointing at me, occasionally laughing hysterically, while still pointing at me. It was all very terrorizing, but at the same time, I do actually PAY for the elite card by taking uncheap flights with Sky Team, so I should think I would get special benefits. Anyway, Muriel and her Italians were really scaring me - you know how there's always that customer who is really difficult, yet is the customer that paid for the cheapest ticket on like, priceline.com and gets mad when s/he is not treated like a first class passenger? That's pretty much what it was there, and I had a feeling they were about to have a case of air rage, so I grabbed my boarding pass (for the 15h55 flight the next day) and fled.
To be continued...
Friday, December 7, 2007
Yay!
It's late at night, but I've been having insomnia lately - sometimes it's due to having been glutened, which I suspect I was recently, given that my stomach has been telling me, "Take THAT, bitch!"
Anyway, I am very, very excited because I will be back home in NYC in less than a week!
Plus, I get an entire week ALONE (well, alone with my mom) before the H shows up - he'll be arriving during my second week.
I am trying very hard not to think about the fact that I am supposed to be spending New Years Eve with the in-laws. Especially after I took a (silent) vow to never go back there again, as I keep getting glutened and suffer the consequences for weeks afterwards. I mean, how many people spend New Years with their in-laws, anyway? I had drinks with my best French friend the other night and he was all, "I'm going to this super cool party!" and when I told him, "Yeah, I'm going to be with the H. And his parents," my friend peered at me through his glasses and he was all, "Whoa. You are VERY brave. Bravo. I could not spend New Years Eve with my in-laws." (I kind of waited for him to extend an invitation to me to this super cool New Years party he was going to, but he did NOT. So no rescuing in sight. Yet.) My last hope is that Air France will strike again (AFTER I am already in the U.S.) and that my flight back to Paris will be affected and I won't be getting in until well into January....
I am so totally going to the sushi place I go to with my best friends, and I am DEFINITELY running, not walking, to Risotteria, which is only the best (gluten-free) restaurant EVER. And I get to go to Barnes & Noble and buy books. And I'm going to get a MacBook. And I am going to go with my mom to get a REAL Christmas tree, not these skinny little leafless sickly things they have in France. One that smells really good, too.
Anyway, I am really starting to perk up a little more these days. I mean, I was REALLY depressed for awhile - to the point that I was literally crying hysterically all day, every day, for weeks on end. But, as mom pointed out, I will be home very soon, and the days go by quickly, so I'll be home in no time at all.
Anyway, I am very, very excited because I will be back home in NYC in less than a week!
Plus, I get an entire week ALONE (well, alone with my mom) before the H shows up - he'll be arriving during my second week.
I am trying very hard not to think about the fact that I am supposed to be spending New Years Eve with the in-laws. Especially after I took a (silent) vow to never go back there again, as I keep getting glutened and suffer the consequences for weeks afterwards. I mean, how many people spend New Years with their in-laws, anyway? I had drinks with my best French friend the other night and he was all, "I'm going to this super cool party!" and when I told him, "Yeah, I'm going to be with the H. And his parents," my friend peered at me through his glasses and he was all, "Whoa. You are VERY brave. Bravo. I could not spend New Years Eve with my in-laws." (I kind of waited for him to extend an invitation to me to this super cool New Years party he was going to, but he did NOT. So no rescuing in sight. Yet.) My last hope is that Air France will strike again (AFTER I am already in the U.S.) and that my flight back to Paris will be affected and I won't be getting in until well into January....
I am so totally going to the sushi place I go to with my best friends, and I am DEFINITELY running, not walking, to Risotteria, which is only the best (gluten-free) restaurant EVER. And I get to go to Barnes & Noble and buy books. And I'm going to get a MacBook. And I am going to go with my mom to get a REAL Christmas tree, not these skinny little leafless sickly things they have in France. One that smells really good, too.
Anyway, I am really starting to perk up a little more these days. I mean, I was REALLY depressed for awhile - to the point that I was literally crying hysterically all day, every day, for weeks on end. But, as mom pointed out, I will be home very soon, and the days go by quickly, so I'll be home in no time at all.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Damn you, (Apple) France!
Arrrrgggghhhh!
As you may remember in a previous post, I had been having major problems with Apple
Last night, the messenger rang the buzzer, I let him upstairs, and then I signed my name and wrote "Refusé" to prove that I had indeed REFUSED the stupid package. The messenger, breathless from climbing the 6 flights of stairs was all, "Why are you refusing the package?" "Because," I said, exasperated at the mere thought of it all, "I called them like a zillion years ago to cancel the damn thing and they wouldn't cancel it and said I had to refuse the package." "Oh, uh, okay, have a nice evening," said the messenger, then he fled at top speed, probably because he could see I was so going to launch into a tirade if he stayed another minute.
So I thought the problem was solved, as I had still not been charged 95.68 euros or anything and I was in a relatively upbeat mood as not only was the problem solved, but I will also be heading back to the good old USA in 8 days.
Imagine my anger when I picked up the mail this afternoon and opened up an envelope addressed to yours truly, which happened to contain a bill from Apple France for 95.68 euros. And which also happened to say that the bill was PAID WITH MY CREDIT CARD.
I was REALLY PISSED OFF.
I called the Apple Store, as Mr. "It's Against the Law to Give Out My Name" had suggested that for any further problems, I should call them rather than tech support. So I called a toll free number (yay!) and was immediately connected to a nice guy who introduced himself as Pierre. I told Pierre the whole story whereupon he sounded very confused and was all, "Yeah, I don't have anything about this whole wanting to cancel the order in your dossier." "I KNEW IT!!!" I literally shrieked. "THAT GUY I TALKED TO WOULDN'T GIVE ME HIS NAME!! NOW I HAVE NO PROOF! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!!" Pierre was starting to sound a little nervous, as now he was saying, "Well, effectively, the person you spoke to was not correct, and what you are supposed to do is sign for the package, then call us back and we send another messenger to pick up the package and THEN you don't get charged." "WHAT?!" I shouted. "THAT MAKES EVEN LESS SENSE THAN WHAT THE MYSTERY MAN SAID! WHATEVER! JUST GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!"
Pierre was definitely terrified now, as he asked me for a phone number and said he would put the instruction through on my dossier that I wanted to be reimbursed. He then explained that once Apple France received the package that I had rejected, I would be reimbursed fully and completely. "What, so like, 2 weeks from now?" I asked. "No, it should only take about 5 business days," said Pierre. "Yeah, whatever," I snarled. "That means it will be 6 months from now." Then I hung up.
30 minutes later, Pierre called me back in a complete panic, saying that he had been working on my dossier since I had called and he rushed to speak to his supervisor who told him I had to take it up with Apple Tech Support, and that if I called Tech Support RIGHT NOW it would only be a 5 minute wait. So I promptly hung up on Pierre and called Tech Support (it was an 8 minute wait) and was connected to Charlotte. I explained the ENTIRE STORY AGAIN to Charlotte, who seemed thoroughly confused by the time I finished talking 15 minutes later. She looked up my dossier, then said, "Ah, okay, I see," and I said, "Yeah, so give me back my money." Charlotte said, "But we sent you the bill, we didn't charge you yet." "Oh yeah?!" I snarled again. "Let me inform you that I happened to check my bank account online and indeed, I am short exactly 95.68 euros in my account and it just so happens to have been charged by APPLE FRANCE." "Please hold," said Charlotte, and left me there for 20 minutes before coming back and saying that she spoke to her supervisor, who put in a "request for reimbursement, so you should be receive your money back in 3 - 6 weeks." "Daaang," I said, "you guys work REALLY slow. 8 weeks to get my prepare my one lousy CD for shipment, then 6 weeks to reimburse me the money you WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE TAKEN??????? You're supposed to HELP people, not PISS THEM OFF," I said pointedly. "Yes, well, I'm very sorry, ma'am, but we have to wait for the package to come back, since you have rejected it, and then we have to put in a request in the computer to reimburse you, so it takes a long time." "Yeah, well, you weren't even supposed to CHARGE ME," I said. "I know, because I called your tech support line on November 17th and I waited on hold for an hour and the guy who wouldn't give me his name said I wouldn't be charged. And yet, YOU CHARGED ME," I said meanly. "Oh, well, I'm terribly sorry that there has been a mistake, but do feel free to call us back if you haven't been reimbursed 6 weeks from now," said Charlotte, before she hung up on me.
Great. Now the H is going to be really mad at me. He's going to be all "I told you so". I mean, excuse me, but it's called CUSTOMER SUPPORT. I'm sorry if I happen to be from somewhere outside the alternate reality bubble of France, but in normal-people world, customer support does not make up random delivery dates, insist that it is against the law to cancel an order, or go around charging you for stuff you don't want. Plus, I really hate it how they make you pay a high fee for customer support, then put you on hold for 20 minutes and come back explaining "I spoke with my supervisor" when you KNOW that they totally went outside for a cigarette and coffee break, chatting for 20 minutes with their colleagues about where they will be vacationing and what they are going to do with their 300 RTT's.
As you may remember in a previous post, I had been having major problems with Apple
Last night, the messenger rang the buzzer, I let him upstairs, and then I signed my name and wrote "Refusé" to prove that I had indeed REFUSED the stupid package. The messenger, breathless from climbing the 6 flights of stairs was all, "Why are you refusing the package?" "Because," I said, exasperated at the mere thought of it all, "I called them like a zillion years ago to cancel the damn thing and they wouldn't cancel it and said I had to refuse the package." "Oh, uh, okay, have a nice evening," said the messenger, then he fled at top speed, probably because he could see I was so going to launch into a tirade if he stayed another minute.
So I thought the problem was solved, as I had still not been charged 95.68 euros or anything and I was in a relatively upbeat mood as not only was the problem solved, but I will also be heading back to the good old USA in 8 days.
Imagine my anger when I picked up the mail this afternoon and opened up an envelope addressed to yours truly, which happened to contain a bill from Apple France for 95.68 euros. And which also happened to say that the bill was PAID WITH MY CREDIT CARD.
I was REALLY PISSED OFF.
I called the Apple Store, as Mr. "It's Against the Law to Give Out My Name" had suggested that for any further problems, I should call them rather than tech support. So I called a toll free number (yay!) and was immediately connected to a nice guy who introduced himself as Pierre. I told Pierre the whole story whereupon he sounded very confused and was all, "Yeah, I don't have anything about this whole wanting to cancel the order in your dossier." "I KNEW IT!!!" I literally shrieked. "THAT GUY I TALKED TO WOULDN'T GIVE ME HIS NAME!! NOW I HAVE NO PROOF! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!!" Pierre was starting to sound a little nervous, as now he was saying, "Well, effectively, the person you spoke to was not correct, and what you are supposed to do is sign for the package, then call us back and we send another messenger to pick up the package and THEN you don't get charged." "WHAT?!" I shouted. "THAT MAKES EVEN LESS SENSE THAN WHAT THE MYSTERY MAN SAID! WHATEVER! JUST GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!"
Pierre was definitely terrified now, as he asked me for a phone number and said he would put the instruction through on my dossier that I wanted to be reimbursed. He then explained that once Apple France received the package that I had rejected, I would be reimbursed fully and completely. "What, so like, 2 weeks from now?" I asked. "No, it should only take about 5 business days," said Pierre. "Yeah, whatever," I snarled. "That means it will be 6 months from now." Then I hung up.
30 minutes later, Pierre called me back in a complete panic, saying that he had been working on my dossier since I had called and he rushed to speak to his supervisor who told him I had to take it up with Apple Tech Support, and that if I called Tech Support RIGHT NOW it would only be a 5 minute wait. So I promptly hung up on Pierre and called Tech Support (it was an 8 minute wait) and was connected to Charlotte. I explained the ENTIRE STORY AGAIN to Charlotte, who seemed thoroughly confused by the time I finished talking 15 minutes later. She looked up my dossier, then said, "Ah, okay, I see," and I said, "Yeah, so give me back my money." Charlotte said, "But we sent you the bill, we didn't charge you yet." "Oh yeah?!" I snarled again. "Let me inform you that I happened to check my bank account online and indeed, I am short exactly 95.68 euros in my account and it just so happens to have been charged by APPLE FRANCE." "Please hold," said Charlotte, and left me there for 20 minutes before coming back and saying that she spoke to her supervisor, who put in a "request for reimbursement, so you should be receive your money back in 3 - 6 weeks." "Daaang," I said, "you guys work REALLY slow. 8 weeks to get my prepare my one lousy CD for shipment, then 6 weeks to reimburse me the money you WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE TAKEN??????? You're supposed to HELP people, not PISS THEM OFF," I said pointedly. "Yes, well, I'm very sorry, ma'am, but we have to wait for the package to come back, since you have rejected it, and then we have to put in a request in the computer to reimburse you, so it takes a long time." "Yeah, well, you weren't even supposed to CHARGE ME," I said. "I know, because I called your tech support line on November 17th and I waited on hold for an hour and the guy who wouldn't give me his name said I wouldn't be charged. And yet, YOU CHARGED ME," I said meanly. "Oh, well, I'm terribly sorry that there has been a mistake, but do feel free to call us back if you haven't been reimbursed 6 weeks from now," said Charlotte, before she hung up on me.
Great. Now the H is going to be really mad at me. He's going to be all "I told you so". I mean, excuse me, but it's called CUSTOMER SUPPORT. I'm sorry if I happen to be from somewhere outside the alternate reality bubble of France, but in normal-people world, customer support does not make up random delivery dates, insist that it is against the law to cancel an order, or go around charging you for stuff you don't want. Plus, I really hate it how they make you pay a high fee for customer support, then put you on hold for 20 minutes and come back explaining "I spoke with my supervisor" when you KNOW that they totally went outside for a cigarette and coffee break, chatting for 20 minutes with their colleagues about where they will be vacationing and what they are going to do with their 300 RTT's.
Monday, December 3, 2007
DVD night
So, last night the H and I decided to rent a DVD from downstairs. Renting a DVD means that we end up browsing the store for about an hour before the two of us finally agree on something. (Though part of the delay is that the films don't seem to be organized in any specific order, so it takes a long time to figure out where, say, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 might be located. Which, by the way, we rented last week. It was good, despite the fact that neither of us really understood the plot).
H: Ooh! Look! Let's rent "Night At The Museum".
Me: Ugh, it looks so stupid!
H: What are you talking about? It's got Ben Stiller! He's funny. And look, all the animals and stuff in the museum come to life!
Me: How about "21 Grams"?
H: (skeptically) I don't know. It looks depressing.
Me: Ooh! How about "The Black Dahlia"? You like Scarlett Johanssen.
H: I don't know. It looks depressing. How come you don't want to rent "Night At The Museum"?
Me: It looks stupid! Anyway, it'll probably be on HBO when we go to NY for Christmas. Ooh! How about "Munich"? Remember, we wanted to rent that one like, last year, but there was never a free copy available?
H: (skeptically). I don't know. I don't like Mathieu Kassovitz. He's annoying.
Me: Oh, but it's Steven Spielberg! You know I like Steven Spielberg. You know, I think Steven and I would get along really well. Cause Steven is a WWII fan just like me.
H: I know, you told me a million times already.
Me: Come on! We might learn something from it. Like, all about the 1972 massacre of the Israeli athletes during the Olympics. In MUNICH.
H: (inspecting DVD cover) What movies has this Eric Bana person been in?
Me: Ummm. "The Incredible Hulk". I didn't see it though.
H: What other movies has he been in?
Me: I don't know. Lots. Eric Bana. He's kind of famous.
H: Uh, yeah, for being the Incredible Hulk, and that's it. I'm not convinced.
Me: You wanna rent "Just Like Heaven" with Reese Witherspoon?
H: Hmmm. Well, "Legally Blonde" was funny. But I don't know. It's got some Mark Ruffalo guy in it. What's he been in?
Me: Ummm. Oh! That movie where Gwyneth Paltrow becomes a flight attendant and he plays her boyfriend who goes to law school.
H: Okay. I guess we can rent "Munich". I don't know. It looks depressing. And it's got The Incredible Hulk.
Me: Yay! (grabbing "Munich" off the shelf). It'll be good - remember, we wanted to rent it last year?
PS: Munich was quite a good movie (though the H was outraged because it was a good 2 hours, 40 minutes long) and Eric Bana was also in "Troy" with Brad Pitt.
H: Ooh! Look! Let's rent "Night At The Museum".
Me: Ugh, it looks so stupid!
H: What are you talking about? It's got Ben Stiller! He's funny. And look, all the animals and stuff in the museum come to life!
Me: How about "21 Grams"?
H: (skeptically) I don't know. It looks depressing.
Me: Ooh! How about "The Black Dahlia"? You like Scarlett Johanssen.
H: I don't know. It looks depressing. How come you don't want to rent "Night At The Museum"?
Me: It looks stupid! Anyway, it'll probably be on HBO when we go to NY for Christmas. Ooh! How about "Munich"? Remember, we wanted to rent that one like, last year, but there was never a free copy available?
H: (skeptically). I don't know. I don't like Mathieu Kassovitz. He's annoying.
Me: Oh, but it's Steven Spielberg! You know I like Steven Spielberg. You know, I think Steven and I would get along really well. Cause Steven is a WWII fan just like me.
H: I know, you told me a million times already.
Me: Come on! We might learn something from it. Like, all about the 1972 massacre of the Israeli athletes during the Olympics. In MUNICH.
H: (inspecting DVD cover) What movies has this Eric Bana person been in?
Me: Ummm. "The Incredible Hulk". I didn't see it though.
H: What other movies has he been in?
Me: I don't know. Lots. Eric Bana. He's kind of famous.
H: Uh, yeah, for being the Incredible Hulk, and that's it. I'm not convinced.
Me: You wanna rent "Just Like Heaven" with Reese Witherspoon?
H: Hmmm. Well, "Legally Blonde" was funny. But I don't know. It's got some Mark Ruffalo guy in it. What's he been in?
Me: Ummm. Oh! That movie where Gwyneth Paltrow becomes a flight attendant and he plays her boyfriend who goes to law school.
H: Okay. I guess we can rent "Munich". I don't know. It looks depressing. And it's got The Incredible Hulk.
Me: Yay! (grabbing "Munich" off the shelf). It'll be good - remember, we wanted to rent it last year?
PS: Munich was quite a good movie (though the H was outraged because it was a good 2 hours, 40 minutes long) and Eric Bana was also in "Troy" with Brad Pitt.
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