Maybe I am recovered from my ordeal or the time to do this is now, I don't know. I just know that not writing about this will be an injustice. Our latest export product to the world seems to be.....well, you name it, I don't know what to call it.
We were booked to travel on United Airlines from Lagos to Houston and then onto our final destination. Because it was a late night flight, we left Ibadan later in the day and made the airport shortly. We checked in effortlessly and then set about finding stuff for the kids to eat on the plane. At 7:00pm when boarding was to start, we hung about the area with Daddy who tried to look stern as against his usual mien.
Eventually, after several rounds of hugs and kisses, we went ahead and left Daddy behind. We knew he would hang around the airport for a while longer and would be in touch on the phone for even longer. At around 10:30pm, it became apparent that something was wrong. Our flight had been scheduled for 10:50 so we knew if we were not on board by 10:30pm, there had to be an explanation. We got one. A lady who we later knew to be the one in charge (let's call her Responsible Lady) took responsibility and little did we know our ordeal had only just begun.
Story was, this United flight had left Houston (not on its maiden flight) with not enough blankets for the second leg of the journey and diligent crew they had, they refused to fly without the blankets or so we were told. Let's call that story 1.....We waited patiently for maybe two hours and then we asked to see the Responsible Lady. We were being held in horrible conditions, no drinks (not even water) and quite a number of children were getting antsy and their mums (one of whom I was) were just tired of asking these children to be still.....for the umpteenth time. We requested some water and an explanation.
Story 2 was that the crew needed some essential supplies before they would fly. What?! What happened to the blanket story? Well, said blankets are enroute, while the used ones were being laundered....seriously?! We'll call that story 3. In a couple of minutes, a number of people ( and No! I was not chief!) requested lodging and in under 5seconds, Responsible Lady acquiesced. Seemed fishy to me but the final story at which I then realised that this holiday would have to start another day was that the crew was refusing to fly because they did not have medical equipment and were unwilling to risk any emergencies while flying. Story 4 and lights out!
We were taken to a hotel that looked dodgy on the outside (probably due to the absence of any street lighting in the neighbourhood where it is located) but was not half bad on the inside,plus I was not worried. Daddy and the best man for him were right behind the bus that took us to the hotel.
I must pause at this point & give it to Nigerians! We can spin tales!!!If we are not the rumour mill of the world, I doubt the world will have any rumours, haba! At every point, people just kept mute and then thought up their version of what was going on and passed it on as gospel. Na wa! What did I not hear? 'I came on the plane and it was bad, its the reason they are keeping us, to fix it before they let us on'. 'They usually don't have enough passengers and so they stop the flight one day and merge the second day's passengers to get a full plane'. 'I was going to a doctor's appointment that was for 3pm tomorrow, now I can't make it, I want a refund as my doctor can't reschedule'. Now, there is no way to ascertain the veracity of that last one but then you make the flight uncomplainingly the following day?! We try!!!
Now United did not help matters by spinning tales and my daughters learnt a valuable travel lesson from the episode. When travelling, your hand luggage should have a change of clothes and clean undies! I think one of the things they have always taken for granted was that and its a well-learned lesson.
Bright and early the next day, we are at the airport, ready to board, have to check in all over again and when we do, there are changes to flight times (twice!) and I am so fed up, I am almost ready to go back home. We have to let Daddy go as he's been hanging around the airport all day this second day too! Plus, Squeegee (our Alsie) has to eat. The new story which evokes sadness in me now rather than anger, is that the catering needed to be unloaded and a fresh batch loaded on. I felt that was a given and should have been done while we were being re-boarded but I guess that would mean things would be done properly and that would be too much to ask for a flight leaving Nigeria. We eventually board and leave at about the same time we had been scheduled to leave a day earlier and we all are just grateful to be on our way.
We had a bit of drama on board but it was such an anticlimax that not very many wanted to be bothered with it. Also, the staff on board were so rude & condescending that my girls wanted nothing to do with them. Never mind that we got a hotel stay when we landed and a meal (which we were almost not served by some fuddy duddy hotel staff, but in all, it was an experience I am not in a hurry to repeat.
It appears everyone who comes into Nigeria to run a business learns (sometimes better than we) our inability to demand service commensurate with whatever it is we pay for it. It was such an affront to me that no explanation was given after we boarded and when I tried to raise a fuss, all I got was, 'better be thankful, at least they have given us something for wasting our time'. Is that really all it takes to placate us? A hotel stay and a meal? My time is far more valuable and throwing in my daughters heavily tips that already weighed-down scale.
I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the experience but at the risk of being labelled 'trouble maker' I choose to back down but nothing stops me from writing about this nasty new culture that we are currently exporting to the world at large....
I think you ought to have written a letter of complaint and handed it in to the UA staff when you landed in the US. From experience, the only way to get recourse in situations like this is to put your grievance in writing. The reason why multinational companies get away with shoddy practices in Nigeria id because everyone complains vociferously, but no-one details anything in writing, and so the cycle continues. Putting you up in a hotel was not compensation in any form..you ought to have made things official by putting it in writing to the relevant authorities, you'd have been assured of it getting to the right hands had you done that while abroad, now you are back home, I don't know if that would happen...it's still not too late though. Pele.
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