I am reading a book right now by Sarah McDonald called Holy Cow. It's one of those books about a person's travel experiences. These types of books are rarely well-written, and they're usually only funny if you've visited the same places and/or had similar experiences. That's exactly the case with this one. I'm only about half way through the book, and she's still dwelling on her dismal introduction to hard life in India, but she does make some observations that make me laugh out loud because they're so true. The best for the past few days has been "India is like the Hotel California. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave." However, it seems that India is all too anxious to be rid of me.
I am leaving for Frankfurt on May 30th. Until today, that was what I had to keep saying. I have been trying for about the last three weeks to change my plane ticket so I can stay for the summer and complete my internship. Through a series of mishaps and an apparently different work ethic, it took until today to finally make that happen.
The word "incompetent" is one that I rarely use. But I use it a lot more here. STIC, the travel agency here that deals with STA travel bookings forces me to use it. My Gulf Air ticket to Frankfurt was supposed to have a mere $25 change fee, and I was supposed to be able to change it anytime between now and 2 January 2006. This was assuming that Gulf Air had ANY seats available in my flight class between now and 2 January 2006. Huh. Never assume anything in India. Logic rarely prevails. I'm not leaving India on Gulf Air anymore.
The only option the staff at STIC left me with was to "sell back" my ticket and apply that credit voucher to a new ticket. Seems easy enough, right? It took three weeks. Meanwhile, they held my credit voucher hostage to prevent me from going to one of the other offices in Delhi.
The best situations:
First, I called on Friday of last week to enquire about the status of my voucher. It had been approved, and I was finally authorised to change the destination of my new ticket. When I asked if she could only quote me some fares for the new ticket, she told me she couldn't because the "system was down" (this became a frequent excuse). When I went in early that Saturday morning to take care of it (keep in mind it costs me 65 Rupees and an hour each way to get there), she didn't even use the "system, she looked in a binder and quoted me prices that were twice what I had seen online a few days before. Argh number one.
Second, I went in to the office mid-last week to try and finally book my ticket. Apparently it was their break between the lunch break and the afternoon tea break where they all sit behind the counter and chat on their mobile phones, because I was left waiting for 40 minutes. When I was finally called to the counter and the attendant began booking my new ticket, the power went out and the "system went down" again. I left, nearly tipping over the water cooler on my way.
I went back today to make a final attempt. It was a holiday, so I didn't need to work. Besides, I needed to take care of it before my original ticket, which I was technically still holding, passed on 30 May. Pooja, queen of the incompetents, took my passport and told me to go out into the blistering heat and waste two hours while they contacted the airline to book the ticket (it was really just so they could have their lunch/phone/afternoon tea breaks uninterrupted). I finally have my ticket, and it cost me twice as much as it should have. Grrr.
Flown by mariposa at 07:21 AM on May 23, 2005
