LATER, LAN Airlines!

Dear Blog Readers,

It's been a while since I've written a letter to a random company, which, I have to say, is one of my favorite things to do. I recently wrote to a Staples store in Charlottesville, Virginia and raved about the incredible customer service I experienced there. I also wrote to Pepperidge Farm complimenting them on a job well done in the creation of graham cracker goldfish. And one of my favorite parts of working in university relations is getting to send thank you e-mails and notes to the people who meet with me when I visit college campuses, or to the people who plan and host campus career fairs and study abroad events.

Of course, I occasionally have to send some constructive criticism, as in the letter I sent to AT&T when my poor, sweet grandmother was charged a monstrous fee for accidentally calling the Dominican Republic three times while trying to dial my sister's cell phone number...and the time I wrote to Turkey Hill to complain against their deliberately unannounced decrease from half-gallon ice cream cartons to 1.5 quart containers without any decrease in cost. (And seriously, since when does Turkey Hill think it's okay to convert to the metric system? I think not.) These matters merit a response, and I am willing to be the one to pen the sentiments of the many!

All this to introduce today's letter, which I wrote--rather ferociously--to LAN Airlines. LAN is the airline on which my brothers flew en route from Lima to Cusco and back again. My parents will also be arriving to Cusco via LAN. There are four main airlines that fly into Cusco--TACA, LAN, Star Peru, and Peruvian Airlines, and after a bit of cost comparison, I went for the LAN option. Silly me. I think further explanation is unnecessary if I simply share the letter with all of you. Here you are:

June 15, 2011

Dear LAN Airlines:

My name is Sarah Whitman, and I am the recent purchaser of four round-trip tickets from Lima to Cusco, Peru, two for my brothers and two for my parents. I am working out of Cusco for three months, and while here, I have been able to host my brothers and will soon act as host to my parents. I assisted both parties in purchasing their tickets between Lima and Cusco on the LAN.com website. Obviously interested in saving money, I opted for the least expensive tickets available on the dates I desired. I was satisfied with how simple it was to purchase these tickets on LAN’s website. Later, however, I learned that my brothers had been charged an excess fee of over $300 upon leaving Cusco because their tickets were designated for Peruvian nationals only. My parents, who will be arriving in Cusco next week, will be charged the same fee, which is equal to more than the costs of their flights, upon their departure from Cusco in July. The subtlety with which LAN makes its passengers aware of these fees is akin to deliberate deception, and not at all an effective means of increasing the airline’s clientele. I therefore respectfully request a refund of these charges, which total $708 in unexpected fees.

Yesterday, I visited the LAN Airlines office in Cusco, Peru to see if I might be able to help my parents to avoid paying the excess fees that my brothers were recently charged. The kind woman who assisted me regretfully informed me that the only alternative to the paying of said fees would be for my parents to cancel and repurchase their tickets, which would ultimately cost more than the $177 each that they are now obliged to pay. In making economy tickets so easy to purchase and so difficult and expensive to alter or upgrade, LAN Airlines essentially ensures that they will receive an extra $177 from every non-Peruvian customer who purchases tickets at the most economical rate advertised. $177 can easily cover the cost of at least one, and often two, additional round trips of one hour in length. To charge such an amount to an unsuspecting passenger is not only audacious, but also very often a hardship for the many passengers who may not have $177 to place atop the fare they have already paid.

During the process of purchasing my brothers’ and parents’ flights on LAN.com, I was prompted to provide the nationalities and passport numbers of all four passengers. It strikes me as odd that LAN would allow me to go forth with the purchase of tickets priced for Peruvian nationals immediately after I had specified that the passengers were not Peruvian citizens. It would make sense for LAN Airlines to provide a conspicuous warning regarding the restrictions surrounding the fare. (By conspicuous, I am suggesting a pop-up window, or a warning that passengers must read before being able to continue the purchasing process.) Even more sensible would be to forbid the passenger to purchase the restricted tickets until he or she is able to provide a Peruvian citizen’s identification of some sort. The current, vague presence of the restriction on the website is easily overlooked, and I would hope that LAN Airlines would not deliberately mislead customers for the sake of receiving $177 from them at a later date. This would of course represent an absolute mockery of the very customer service that keeps the best airlines in business.

Having seen and understood the socio-economic challenges of many Peruvians, I do not argue against the existence of special, in-country fees for Peruvians. I do, however, argue against the wrongful deception of non-national customers. The world’s best companies are those with great customer service and a high level of transparency, and LAN has sacrificed both these merits for the sake of unjustly acquired financial gain.

I apologize for the evident frustration that can be easily felt in this letter, but perhaps it may be advantageous to understand the frustration that can come from being customer to an airline that has placed its customer service by the wayside. I ask that you, the executives of LAN Airlines, reconsider the way in which you make customers aware of the costs they will incur in choosing to fly with LAN. I also request that you refund the $708 total incurred, and soon to be incurred, by my brothers and my parents, whose names and flight booking codes I have included below.

I thank you for your time and attention, and look forward to receiving a response to these concerns.

Best,


Sarah Whitman


Thoughts? Am I in the wrong here? I certainly don't think so! :-) And I certainly won't be flying on LAN Airlines anytime soon. If anyone needs an opinion letter written on their behalf, just let me know!

xoxo
Sarah