Christopher Gray advises to take care when booking a holiday online

The Internet is a hugely convenient way of buying things, with many hours saved in not having to trudge around bookshops, outfitters, travel agents and the like. I may be stating the obvious, though, when I point out that it can have its down-side in the possibility of a wrong order being accidentally made.

For folk of my age, who exhibit an increasing tendency for error in many aspects of life, I suggest it is probably as well to have a second person in front of the screen when an online purchase is being made. This might help you to avoid the sort of pickle I was plunged into last week, while booking a holiday flight in Greece for Rosemarie and me.

Going to the easy-to-use Olympic Air website, I had soon ordered tickets for the May trip from Athens to Naxos and paid with my credit card the near 200€ cost of them. Only when the confirmation came through did I realise the howler I had committed. The flight left Athens at 11am, I now noticed for the first time; we were arriving from Heathrow at 3.30am. Whoops! My instructions from home had been to book a flight back from Naxos to Athens; we were going out to the island (I was supposed to book this too) on the Blue Star ferry, so that we could sleep in a cabin for most of the six-hour trip.

No matter: I instantly sent a message to Olympic’s reservation department, believing that the mistake could quickly be rectified. I continued to think this would be the case when I received this reassuring reply from Chantal Kolasi: “Thank you for contacting Olympic Air’s Customer Service Department and please accept our best greetings for a prosperous and happy New Year! [Less prosperous through what was to come, you will discover.] “In reply to your email, please kindly note that you may change your tickets . . . (for the same passengers/route) free of charge at this point under record locator: XXXXXXX online via our official website at www.olympicair.com.

“Alternatively, in case you wish to modify your tickets, via our Call Center and Reservations department at 0030.210.35.50.500, 7 days a week from 07:00 to 23:00, a re-issue fee of 20€ per ticket will have to be collected upon new request/booking and ticket’s re-issuance process. Your tickets remain currently active as initially reserved until further notice from your end.

“Remaining at your disposal for any future communication, we look forward to welcoming you on our flights and serving you on board.”

So I went to the website to alter my ticket for a journey on what was — let it be noted — the same route. I found that while it was possible to make any change I wished in the date of my trip to Athens, I could not alter the ticket for travel in the opposite direction. I emailed Chantal: “Thank you for your advice. Unfortunately, when I went on to your website I discovered that the mistake I made could not be corrected. In fact, we are now going to stick with the booking and stay for a few hours at the Sofitel [at the airport, cost 150€]. I do think it unfortunate that the mistake of a moment cannot be instantly rectified, as I tried to do, without the imposition of a 40 Euro penalty.”

Chantal showed her mettle (and Olympic Air’s intransigence) in her reply: “Following our email correspondence, please kindly bear in mind that the re-issue fee of 20€ per ticket cannot be waived as per Olympic Air’s standard re-issue policy (for tickets modified via our Call Center department). In case the route had been correct [I would contend that it was; routes run in both directions], you would have not met with any problems in changing your tickets online at this point. As re-routing is requested, procedure can only take place via our Reservations department with respective charges.”

I returned: “My point was that it is every bit as big a mistake to book a ticket for the wrong day as for a journey in the wrong direction. It seems unfair to me that you penalise a traveller in the second case but not the first, especially when he is one who sought to rectify the error within seconds.”

From Chantal, now deep into the jargon of her trade, came: “Corresponding to your email, please kindly note that we appreciate your comments and notifications as Olympic Air is firmly committed providing [sic] high quality services throughout its network. The feedback we receive from our passengers, contributes significantly in maintaining and improving the services provided. Every passenger is important to us. Your safety, comfort and convenience, are some of the most important concerns for us. Remaining at your disposal for any future assistance, please kindly bear in mind that we look forward to welcoming you on our flights and serving you on board.”