A few days ago I was in the unenviable position of making airline reservations for myself. Not accustomed to this as I had (no longer have) a Personal Assistant. I then attempted to hire a travel agent, she was referred by a friend. She was a total pain. I remained gracious to the end of our WhatsApp conversation – but it was painful. I think Tesy was her name – operates out of Malaysia.
Left on my own I was convinced I could do it. However, something went disastrously wrong. I was under the mistaken impression that I was making my reservations using Singapore Air. But I was not. Instead somehow FlightNetwork raised its ugly head. And it was ugly, for me but not for them, initially.
“Rear their ugly heads” (or “rear its ugly head”) is an idiom describing when an unpleasant, undesirable, or troublesome situation, problem, or feeling appears or becomes noticeable, often suddenly or after a period of dormancy. It signifies the re-emergence of a negative issue that requires attention. It is almost exclusively used to describe negative, unwelcome events such as prejudice, inflation, scandals, or illness.
FlightNetwork, I later learned employs the age old method of bait and switch. I spoke to Artificial Intelligence about the entire matter, saying it seemed like bait and switch. I received a favorable response.
You’re absolutely right about bait-and-switch. It is one of the oldest con games in commerce—older than aviation, older than the internet, older than credit cards. What’s changed is the interface, not the tactic. And you will expose it without theatrics.
With the help of Artificial Intelligence I got to the bottom of things. (Get to the bottom of things is an idiom meaning to discover the truth about a situation. Here it comes:
“Flight Network Ltd is a Canada-based online travel agency that has been in operation since the mid-2000s. Independent consumer platforms like the Better Business Bureau show hundreds of formal complaints filed against the company, and Flight Network is not accredited by the BBB, meaning it has not agreed to that organization’s consumer-protection standards. According to aggregated reviews on Trustpilot, the company holds an average rating of roughly 3 out of 5 stars with thousands of reviews, and a large portion of those reviews describe issues very similar to my own: misleading fare displays, airline substitutions without clear consent, hidden fees, and difficulty obtaining support after purchase. These patterns appear repeatedly across multiple review sites and traveler forums, suggesting that such problems are not rare anomalies but systemic issues that many consumers encounter.”
Apparently, in the last three years alone, the BBB shows hundreds of complaints filed against Flight Network for issues including unresolved disputes, refund delays, customer-service failures, and other service problems. Also on traveler forums (e.g., Reddit and TripAdvisor), many users discuss issues ranging from refunds issued in the wrong currency to misleading advertising tactics and difficulty in getting customer support.
My experience is part of a pattern of consumer dissatisfaction, not an isolated quirk. I experienced misleading fare displays, an airline substitution without any consent, all sorts of hidden fees for seat selection, insurance, etc etc. and total and complete lack of support after purchase.
Well, FlightNetwork was dealing with a Canadian, but that is all that I have in common with that hopefully fly-by-night corporation. Hahahaha Fly-by-night is the absolutely perfect description of FlightNetwork: It is an adjective meaning unreliable or untrustworthy, especially in business or financial matters. More descriptively: Fly-by-night’ is a compound adjective that literally means ‘something that flies in the night’. Yes. ‘Fly-by-night’ originally described companies, who would disappear overnight taking all the money they owed with them. Unfortunately FlightNetwork has not disappeared overnight. Otherwise they would have not been around haunting my life. Hahaha
But you see, poor FlightNetwork had NO idea who they were dealing with. I am not a poor, unconnected, victimized individual trying to save a buck or two. I am a retired lawyer, a Canadian passport holder, a globally read writer and a Chase Private Client. My credit card company was called upon and stepped into save the day. Strangely they had been contacted trying to ‘verify my identity” This seemed ridiculous – the fraud alert had not come from the credit card company but from whom I thought to be Singapore Airlines. My credit card company stayed on the phone with me to verify it was me.
I was originally sent an incomplete flight plan – times and dates of the Singapore flight but with no identifying flight detail. I objected, got no response, saying they had no record. Then I got details of a Batik Air flight. I have flown Batik Air once – to get me to KL in April but I was intelligent enough to come back on Singapore Air. At this juncture decided it was time to get in touch with Singapore Air – they had no record of my name or my flight. Dreadfully, horribly frustrating.
I am a problem solver, and when Singapore Chat could not assist I decided to get in touch with my trusty wonderful credit card company. I have banked with Chase for over twenty years. Talked to Sandy and we worked it all out. She found the charge made to FlightNetwork, not Singapore Air. We immediately filed a disputed charge. I will not be charged – the company has to respond within a certain number of days. If I were them I would not dispute – they do not need another complaint to add to their litany.
With the peace of mind and the available funds provided I got in touch with Singapore who provided me with a link to their reservations. Made the reservation with them and received an immediate confirmation of my reservation. With the flight information contacted Le Chauffer here in KL and a woman who heads a company in Singapore and told them of my flight plans. Problem solved. I hired Ann when in Singapore during my last visa run – she has the contract with the Orchard Hilton.
Sighed, with considerable relief – it took me an entire afternoon to straighten this mess out. Then as peace of mind and ease descended upon me I realized I did have a further responsibility.
As a Muslim, I have an obligation to seek justice where harm occurs, and in this case, that duty simply required telling the truth. Moreover Justice in Islam is not optional; when wrongdoing is witnessed, silence itself becomes a form of harm.
You see the Quran speaks to the world, not as a hammer, but as moral gravity. I was first a very inward Muslim – my faith consisted of solitude, prayer, learning and speaking of the faith through my blog. Now it seems I am being invited back into the world, carrying and speaking of my solitary learning, which began with my reversion to the faith during covid. I had no choice – I had to be solitary at that time.
I definitely, by the way, have mixed feelings about FlightNetwork being a Canadian company. As many of you know Canada is taking a principled position in recent weeks and days. It is taking a principled, future-facing stance—climate, electric vehicles, diplomacy, long-term thinking. But on the other hand a Canadian-based company can quietly engage in sharp practice that erodes trust one consumer at a time.
Both can be true simultaneously, interesting enough. I am not saying “Canada bad” or “Canada good.” I am saying value matters everywhere and at every level- state, corporation, and individual.
Sone of this has personal repercussions. I am a Canadian, I have a close friend who is Chinese. We sometimes are at odds with one another. (Being at odds with someone means you are in a state of disagreement, conflict, or opposition with them. It indicates that you do not see eye-to-eye, often involving quarreling, having opposing views, or a lack of alignment in opinions or actions.) I do love the synonyms: At loggerheads, clashing, in conflict, and not seeing eye-to-eye.
I teasingly sent him a message:
Me: “If Canada and China can get along, there is hope that we can someday get along. Hahaha
Nor received a response to that. Hmmmmm Perhaps not, perhaps there is no hope that someday we can get along. Oh well, as I always say: Easy come: easy go. As they say: The meaning of this idiom is pretty self-explanatory. It means that something that is achieved easily is also lost as easily.
It feels as if I am being optimistic about all of this. I can see, on one hand, geopolitics and brave public decisions. On the other hand small but telling consumer injustice.
I am telling the truth, but still laughing.
Last evening, rather accidentally, took a photo at 7:32 pm. I sent it as my morning greeting with this caption.
Me: Good morning. Photo from last night which climaxed an eventful day with my fighting injustice successfully. Details on the blog soon. I conclude this blog with that photograph.
