Budget airline Fastjet launched in Kenya on 11th January 2016 with flights to Nairobi from Dar Es Salaam and Kilimanjaro. Flights to and from Kilimanjaro were later suspended due to low uptake. When the airline launched here Kenyans celebrated it because they saw it as much needed competition for Kenya Airways. At launch, they were touting their service to be better than others but a comparison of the two showed that Kenya Airways had a much superior product.
There hasn’t been too much chatter about the airline’s service in Kenya except for a few Tweets and Facebook posts complaining that the Kenyan number on the website wasn’t working. That changed today when a Kenyan, David Waweru, shared his terrible experience with the budget airline on Facebook. Here is his experience.
“This is far from funny. It’s a horror story. The thought of writing it gives me goose bumps. It’s about #Fastjet.
Don’t ever, ever, ever think of using this airline. And if you must, be ready for the worst ever customer service.
First, they have a last minute cancellation of my flight from Nairobi to Dar. By email. A very poorly written email, all in capital letters. I call the number on their website. No response. A second and third time, it goes to voicemail. Finally, a lady picks the phone. She’s rough. She’s clueless. Promises to call back. Zilch. I call again, and again. Anyhow, I’m finally put on Kenya airways. I almost miss the flight. Why? Fastjet has not issued a replacement ticket. By this time, the gates are closing.
“Fast forward to last evening. I need to change my flight back home. I try to change online. Nada. I make calls. I’m informed that I must go to their airport office at… wait, at 4am. Yes, 4am. That way, I’d be within time not to attract full penalty. No worries. I arrive at the kiosk office 3:55am. I wait. I call. I go online on my phone. I pace. I pant. I huff. I puff. They arrive at 5:30am. Looking unperturbed. No smile. No good morning. No apology. I say I’ve been waiting for over 90 minutes. They stare. Blankly. I’m listening. She says, sourly, that the driver picked them late. My foot!
The rugged laptop takes eternity to startup. She announces (yes, announce) to me that I must still pay full penalty. I’m piqued. I explain, all over again. Stonewall. I pay. Unenthusiastically. So, I’m now back to the hotel, feeling rather bruised.
I reminiscence. I’ve flown many years. Many airlines. Many places. This is the worst experience I’ve ever had dealing with an airline. I hope it won’t be yours.