Two cellists separately affected by a booking glitch which left them stranded suggest the issue could be more widespread
Irene Enzlin, cellist of the Delta Piano Trio, has told The Strad about running into problems with a cello booking on KLM.
‘When travelling to the West Cork chamber music festival on Friday I arrived at Zurich airport to find that KLM had cancelled my ticket without telling me. It turns out what had happened is that after reserving on the phone, and calling back to make sure the cello was accepted, they sent me a payment link that was just for me, not for the cello.
‘When the system realised, it just cancelled the reservation automatically – for both me and my cello.’
Enzlin had already printed out her e-ticket, but when she turned up with it at the airport she discovered her booking didn’t exist.
‘KLM refused to help me and left me to book new last-minute flights. They said I should’ve noticed the payment link wasn’t the full amount, so it was my mistake.’ The airline offered to reimburse the cost of Enzlin’s original booking, though this has not yet happened.
‘I ended up having to drive in the middle of the night to Lyon to catch a reasonably priced flight to Dublin and from there a connecting flight to Kerry to arrive just in time for the concert.
‘I posted about it on Facebook and another cellist saw it and realised that the same had happened to her for a flight on Tuesday.’
The pair feel they are the victims of a booking glitch which they should not be held responsible for, and are wondering if other colleagues have had the same experience so they can approach the airline together asking for appropriate redress.
If you have recently found your KLM ticket automatically cancelled along with a cello booking, please email thestrad@thestrad.com or send us a message through www.facebook.com/thestrad.
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