A glitch?
How coincidental and convenient, just when a guaranteed demand for tickets comes along.
I was listening to Radio Cayman throughout the power loss and on the phone in show on the Monday Mr. Strasburger phoned in (before Mr. Clifford was on) and just spent his total airtime giving his company a pat on the back for the work it had done during the evacuation. Not a single mention of ‘the glitch’ and that refunds would be forthcoming!
It was only after a lady caller came on, after Mr. Strasburger, and mentioned that she could not afford the quoted prices to get off the island that Mr. Clifford mentioned that he had previously spoken to Mr. Strasburger to alter the prices.
I wonder what would have happened, if anything, if the matter had not come to light?
My wife and two-week-old child wanted to leave the island, when it seemed that the hurricane would be making a direct hit. I looked at the CAL website late on Saturday evening and noticed that there was three extra flights added and there was availability.
The only one that was still available to book on line, probably due to the time I was looking, was the last one leaving at 11:50 (I think) Sunday. The price quoted was $850 which was more than we could afford so they stayed on island.
Firstly, CAL states that not many passengers were involved in paying the gouged prices – sorry, suffered from the glitch – but isn’t that kind of missing the point? How many people did not leave the island because they couldn’t afford the prices and subsequently had to stay and take their chances? These people also have to be considered victims of the glitch.
Secondly, I believe that Mr. Clifford had told Mr. Strasburger that the pricing should be changed on Friday. If that is the case, why would the fares still be quoted at $850 late on Saturday night? Surely that would be enough time to fix a minor glitch.
I understand that CAL is not the most profitable business in the world and the extra revenue would have come in handy. I also appreciate the fact that they did actually put on extra flights to evacuate people, but please be honest and own up to the fact that the extra demand caused an opportunity to charge higher prices rather than insult our intelligence and say it was a glitch.
Geoff Loadman
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