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Bujar,
As you requested, I'm writing to tell you how things went at the Pristina airport. They did not go well.
Mr. Bardy found me and invited me to the lounge for a drink. At first, he was very gracious, but once we sat down, he became argumentative. He began by telling me that I should have obtained receipts from the taxi cab drivers. Without them, how does On Travel know that I really paid $90 for taxi rides? I admit that it would have been better had I gotten receipts, but I still don't think receipts should be necessary. I have a used plane ticket to Skopjė. The plane landed after the last bus to Kosova had left. Doug can attest that I arrived in Prizren at 10:30 on Thursday night. How does On Travel think I got from Skopjė to Prizren? By bicycle?
Bujar, you know how much cab drivers charge in that area. If On Travel will not accept your word on the matter, I suggest that the next time you're in Skopjė, you find three taxi drivers and ask how much they would charge to drive to Pristina. (Notice that I said Pristina and not Prizren. Pristina is where On Travel was obligated to deliver me.) I would be willing to accept the lowest of the three bids.
Next, Mr. Bardy criticized me for not having the unused ticket to Skopjė that On Travel in Istanbul had purchased for me. He said that the used ticket that I gave to you and then to him was not good enough because On Travel in Istanbul will claim that they paid for that ticket and so should not be required to reimburse Mr. Bardy. He argued that I should have taken the ticket that On Travel offered me.
As I repeatedly explained to Mr. Bardy, I never touched the On Travel ticket. I knew that if I did, On Travel would then say: "We promised you a ticket to Skopjė. We bought you a ticket to Skopjė. We handed you a ticket to Skopjė. You took the ticket to Skopjė. If you then went and bought a second ticket, that is your problem. We will not pay you for the second ticket." On this point, we argued back and forth for several minutes. At times, our voices became loud enough to attract the attention of other people in the room. Mr. Bardy then said to me, "You are wrong and you know that you are wrong."
That is an outrageous statement to make to someone to whom you are trying to apologize. I purchased a roundtrip ticket for a flight that was to take me to Istanbul and back to Pristina. Through no fault of my own, I was forced to spend an entire day at the airport and then find my own way back home. When I ask to be reimbursed, I am told that I am wrong for not having all the "facts." Just for the record: I am right and I know that I am right.
To make matters worse, Mr. Bardy argued that I might have had both tickets and sold one of them to someone else. Thus, he was implying that I was a thief as well as a liar. I pointed out to him that it would not have been possible to sell one of the tickets because the purchaser would still need to obtain a boarding pass. The airline would not have issued two boarding passes for "Rick Tucker."
Next, Mr. Bardy argued that maybe it was my own fault for not getting on the flight to Pristina by failing to get to the counter on time. I had hoped that my word as a customer of On Travel would be sufficient, but if necessary, I can find witnesses to verify everything I wrote in my original statement. I was not the only On Travel victim who was kept off the fight to Pristina. There was a man and woman, both Kosovars, who had to be put on the flight to Skopjė. I spoke with the man while we waited for our plane to Skopjė. In fact, he said that he had a friend at On Travel in Istanbul and that he would contact him. He tried calling him on his cell phone, but was not successful. Nonetheless, the man and his wife know everything that happened to me up to that point and I'm sure On Travel can track them down. Furthermore, I'm sure the lady who was selling tickets to Skopjė will recall the conversation we had about the two tickets. She also had a negative opinion of On Travel.
Mr. Bardy also made the point that On Travel in Pristina is a separate company from On Travel in Istanbul and that it was On Travel in Istanbul that made all the mistakes. In his mind, they might be separate companies, but as far as I am concerned, they are not. Legally speaking, if you are going to present yourself to the public as On Travel, then you must be responsible for everything that On Travel does. You cannot accept the benefits of using the name On Travel and not accept the obligations. If On Travel in Pristina has difficulty in getting On Travel in Istanbul to cooperate with them, that should be their problem and not mine.
In the end, Mr. Bardy reluctantly agreed to pay me for the airline ticket and the taxi rides. However, I did not realize until later that he paid me only 310 DM. I paid $115 for the airline ticket to Skopjė, 60 DM for the first taxi, and $60 for the second taxi. You do the math.
At this point, I don't care about recovering the additional money. I have gone through too much aggravation already. I am writing this letter so that you will have all the facts. The last thing Mr. Bardy said too me was that you had told him that I was bringing him the used ticket to Istanbul, the used ticket to Skopjė, and the unused ticket to Skopjė. I gave him everything I had given to you, which never included the unused ticket. When I left, he was talking to you on his cell phone. I can't imagine what he was telling you. Now you know the full story.
We argued for so long that I almost missed my flight to Vienna. They held the plane for me. When I approached the plane, the captain personally came out and yelled at me. He was so upset that he wasn't speaking in English. I could do nothing but ignore him and make my way to my seat.
When I went to bed that night, I was still upset as a result of my conversation with Mr. Bardy. It was the first thing I thought of when I awoke this morning, so I decided to sit down and write this letter.
I realize that Mr. Bardy is a friend of yours, but you should be aware of how he is treating his customers. Ultimately, it will hurt your business. I am not angry with you. I know that the poor performance of On Travel was not within your control. You did everything you could to help me. But I feel that I have been mistreated by On Travel. I will advise friends who will be traveling to Kosova to not make any travel arrangements that involve On Travel.
Incidentally, Mr. Bardy never did buy me that drink. That is just one more in a long line of broken promises from On Travel.