First Choice - I think not! (First Choice)

Member Name: jeanjeannie

Product:	First Choice
Date:	06/05/04 (2037 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: on time

Disadvantages: poor customer service

I have already posted this review under Air 2000 but, as it is now first Choice I thought I should post it here too.

this is an extract of a letter sent to Air 2000/first Choice recently.

my husband, was taken ill shortly after take-off. he appeared to faint and the crew asked if there was a doctor on board. a nurse, responded to their call and she attempted to take his blood pressure. she said that it was virtually impossible to do this with the stethoscope & cuff provided and i heard her say to the cabin crew supervisor that it would be advisable to have bp monitors so that the readings could be read rather than relying on the stethoscope. the supervisor replied saying that the air 2000 crews had been asking for these for a long time but that their request had fallen on deaf ears but she would again put this in her report. at exactly the same time a passenger in the row in front of us also fainted & i wonder whether there was a drop in cabin pressure which caused this.
when my husband regained consciousness he was violently sick & the nurse suggested that oxygen be given to him. this was done immediately but his sickness continued for the rest of the journey and oxygen was administered throughout.
i should say at this time that the crew did everything they could to help both my husband & myself and radioed ahead for a paramedic to come on board when we arrived in tenerife.

he was then transferred to the medical centre at the airport; he was given a cardiogram & had his blood pressure taken and was pronounced fit although still being sick. he was given an anti - sickness injection and was wheeled up to the arrivals where a first choice rep told me that i would have to go & get our luggage! however, she must have seen the state i was in and eventually went & retrieved it for me. she then took us to the taxi rank and we went to our apartment.what a great start to our holiday!

fortunately, after a couple of hours sleep
he was feeling much better and it looked as though we were going to enjoy our holiday after all.
then, the fiasco started!

1. Monday ? 23rd. Feb: We received a message form the Rep that he wanted to talk to us &, he said that he had been told that we must pay for the oxygen used on the plane. Fine, we said, do you want our credit card? I will just check again with the office, he said & he returned from the phone saying that there would not be a charge as it was an emergency. Very generous we thought.

2. Tuesday ? 24th. Feb: The Rep told us that my husband would need to get a ?Fit to Fly? certificate from a doctor & gave us a card with the address on it. We got in a taxi, and off we went to the main hospital in Las Americas only to be told that it was a bank holiday & we would have to return the next day. However, the translator could not understand why we had been asked to get a certificate as he had not been hospitalised and had not received any treatment other than the anti- sickness injection.

3. Wednesday ? 25th. Feb: We again spoke with the Rep and he rang his office & told us to go to the English-speaking doctor just around the corner. This we did, Mike was examined, pronounced fit to fly & the certificate was faxed to the office. The doctor did say that he was obliged to complete the certificate in his own language but would add, ?fit to fly? in English to avoid any doubt.

4.The next thing was a phone call from our daughter saying that the Travel Agents with whom we had booked the holiday had received a call from Air 2000 saying that we didn?t have the money to pay for the oxygen! Unbelievable. Who said we didn?t have any money? Why was this call made to a third party? Surely a breach of confidentiality & contrary to ABTA?s code of conduct? Not to mention VERY embarrassing for us!

I rang First Choice & was told that we DID have to pay for the oxygen but Air 2000 would contact us when we got home. She also
said that the certificate wasn?t valid, as it didn?t state that oxygen would not be required on the return journey. By this time we were both so stressed by the whole situation & worried that we would not be able to get home that the holiday was totally ruined.

5. Thursday ? 26th.Feb: I?m afraid that this day is lost in total confusion as by this time I was so depressed that it was difficult to keep track of events. All I can remember is receiving another call form a First Choice Rep asking us to ring Air 2000 in the UK. What for we asked. Not sure said Louise. Well, will you ring them we said & give them our credit card number & perhaps that will stop all this nonsense over £50. Why, Oh why, had this not been done in the first place? We had a further conversation regarding the certificate & were told that it had been translated and that Air 2000 now accepted it. Big sigh of relief.

6. Friday ? 27th. Feb: Our last day. Got up, started to pack when the phone went. Mike was out & I can?t tell you how I felt when I answered it. It was Joanna from the Resort Office saying that she had translated the certificate for the office in the UK & it wasn?t valid as it didn?t say, ?No oxygen required?. We would have to return to the doctor & get this put on the certificate. But it says fit to fly surely that meant that he was fit to fly I said & broke down in tears. My husband returned about 10 minutes later & when I told him he was furious; we were just about to leave & go back to the doctors when the phone rang again ? Joanna to say, certificate HAD BEEN ACCEPTED. Everything now all right! This was about 9.50 am. on the day we were due to leave. A whole week of torment & stress. Totally unnecessary turmoil & stress due to a combination of
· Incompetence
· Lack of communication.
· Poor standard of service.

Still, it was all over now, all we had to do was get on the plane; or so we thought.
When we got to the check-in desk & my h
usband was asked, again, if he required oxygen. No he said. We showed the Fit to Fly certificate & was then asked again by the translator do you need oxygen? She then asked a Rep to get the certificate copied AGAIN before we were given our boarding cards.

Finally, we boarded the plane only to be confronted by the flight supervisor in front of a plane full of passengers & asked to sign a disclaimer. It was nothing less than blackmail as, if he didn?t sign it, we would have been put off the plane. Not to mention the additional embarrassment caused by the pilot who apologised over the intercom for the delay due to some paperwork being completed! We felt completely humiliated.

Finally, this morning we were told by our Travel Agents that Air 2000/First Choice had telephoned them yesterday asking for our insurance details! They refused to give this information so at least they adhered to the Data Protection Act.

This whole unfortunate episode was made a thousand times worse by the attitude of Air 2000 /First Choice over a paltry sum of £50 & a Fit to Fly certificate & I find it difficult to believe that there are no clear procedures for this eventuality but, if there are, why were they not followed?

Update -
3 weeks later I am still waiting for an explanation &/or apology. The complaint has been passed to 4 different people & I am not happy!

Update -3/5/04
this is now in the hands of ABTA. We were sent a voucher for £100.00 as compensation but, as we would never, ever travel with this company again - it is worthless.
They have denied phoning our travel agents despite the fact that I sent them copies of letters, from the agents, confirming the conversations which they have on record.

Watch this space!!
JJ

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