Sabena bankruptcy also cost a tour operator some good will

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 06/23/02

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Albert and Florence Koster were on a river cruise in Europe last November when their air carrier, Sabena Airlines, filed for bankruptcy and canceled all its flights.

To get the Kosters home, the couple's tour operator, Grand Circle Travel of Boston, rescheduled them on other airlines from Amsterdam to Zurich and from there to Boston. Grand Circle's representative in Amsterdam, the last stop on the river vacation, told the Kosters and others on the trip that they would have to pay for the flight to Zurich but would be reimbursed when they got home.

Months after providing the documentation Grand Circle asked for, the Kosters still had not received their refund. Out of frustration, they wrote to the Globe. When the Globe brought the matter to the attention of Grand Circle, it was quickly resolved. But hard feelings remain, in part because of errors and misunderstandings caused largely by Grand Circle, the biggest tour operator in the nation catering to seniors.

"It's their attitude. They have been extremely rude and arrogant," said Florence Koster of Vineyard Haven.

As the Kosters tell it, there was frustration from the very beginning. They were wary of traveling abroad after Sept. 11, but Grand Circle was unwilling to refund their money. Also, there had been rumors of financial difficulties at Sabena, but the Kosters said Grand Circle officials assured them there would be no problem.

So off the Kosters went on a river trip from Vienna to Amsterdam. All went well until about two days before the end of the trip, when Sabena declared bankruptcy. Swissair, which owned a majority stake in Sabena and was in the midst of a wrenching financial reorganization itself, agreed to honor the tickets to Boston, but only on flights departing from Zurich.

The Kosters contacted Grand Circle after their return and were asked to send in paperwork proving they had paid $370 out of their own pockets for the Amsterdam-Zurich leg of the trip. It took awhile to assemble the information, but Grand Circle officials say they received it all by March 29.

On April 11, the Kosters received a letter from Grand Circle promising payment within 30 days. When it didn't arrive, Albert Koster fired off another letter. When that didn't have the desired effect, he contacted the Globe.

Koster said he felt as if Grand Circle was trying to wear him down, hoping he'd give up and go away. "But I'm not about to give up," he said.

Alicia Guevara, vice president of quality management at Grand Circle, said the company wasn't trying to put off the Kosters. She blamed the delay on unfortunate mixups inside the company, and misunderstandings that may have contributed to the problem.

Contrary to what the company's representative told the Kosters in Amsterdam, Guevara said Grand Circle had no responsibility to provide air fare refunds to its tour customers. She said the company's trip terms and conditions spell this out.

"Sometimes people say things they shouldn't say," she said, noting that the firm's Amsterdam worker was an outside contractor.

Ultimately, Grand Circle decided to issue refunds as a customer service. As for the bankruptcy rumors that swirled around Sabena at the time of the Kosters' departure, Guevara said there were rumors of financial problems at most big airlines in the wake of Sept. 11. "At that time, who knew what to believe?" she said.

Once Grand Circle decided to offer refunds, Guevara said, the company fielded requests as they came in rather than seeking out affected customers. She estimated there were about 100 in all.

In the case of the Kosters, a number of mistakes were made in handling the refund. Guevara blamed human error for the initial failure to issue a payment. She said a second attempt to credit Albert Koster's credit card failed because he had canceled it. Now the company says it is planning to issue a check.

Similar problems occurred with several other couples on the trip. One Burlington couple saw their refund wiped out by a bookkeeping error since corrected.

Ruth Deilleux of Centerville received a check for her air fare but none for her traveling companion. Her case was complicated because she was overcharged by the airline and unable to get a copy of her original Sabena ticket.

"I'm so tired of working on this. I'm just going to swallow it," Deilleux said.

Logan smoking

Kurt Heinrich was upset to read of Logan International Airport's decision to offer a smoking lounge for international travelers in Terminal E (June 9 Sensible Traveler).

"The state took the lead in trying to get teenagers to stop smoking. Now we are promoting it?" Heinrich asked. "I'm not saying we should be pushing our values on the rest of the world. But we could lead by example and not have a smoking lounge. When I travel abroad, I have to adjust to other customers. It shouldn't be hard for others to adjust to ours for a little while."

Bruce Mohl can be reached by e-mail at mohl@globe.com.