Gate 1 Travel
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Beware! Gate 1 left me alone in Budapest airport without a pre-paid scheduled pick up due to their phone agent mistake. No sympathy at all to me!
I bought a 9 day Central Europe tour with Gate 1 travel last month. They sold me plane tickets via Amsterdam to Budapest despite my warning to them that Amsterdam airport is on strike. But they assured me that the strike is over. I pre-paid Gate 1 travel for Budapest airport pick up and transfer to the hotel. My traveling companion pre-paid his share too. Our connecting flight from Amsterdam to Budapest was canceled. My traveling friend got routed via Finn Air to Helsinki to Budapest, while I was booked to the last flight of the day via KLM from Amsterdam to Budapest. I immediately informed Gate 1 emergency phone twice to make sure that my friend and I were both picked up at Budapest airport in separate times. I was assured 2 times in 2 separate emergency phone calls of both pick ups for my traveling companion and myself. Guess what? Gate 1 picked up my friend at Budapest airport and brought him to the hotel. While Gate 1 forgot to pick me up at the airport at 11:30 PM. I fell in line that night for taxi in heavy rain but there were NO available taxi at that hour of the night in heavy rain. While being soaked in rain, I called Gate 1 travel to ask for the airport pick up. The Gate 1 agent on the phone ( phone call was routed to India) showed no sympathy at all and told me their local vendor office is closed and he could not do anything and I have to wait till the sunrise for taxi. Luckily, after one and a half hour, I was able to beg a couple whom I befriended on the plane for their private car pick up to bring me to my hotel for 25 euros. When I file a complain to Gate 1 travel after the tour is over, I was told by customer relation officer Nikki Hardon that the tour director had already reimbursed me the 25 euro for my hitch ride with strangers from Budapest airport to the hotel, and they can only give me $25 credit because they will give the other $25 credit to my unrelated travel companion who has no issues with Gate 1 airport pick up. This is very unfair. Why do they have to split my due credit between me and my unrelated traveling companion who has no airport pick up issue? Gate 1 emergency phone agents and their customer relation officer don’t pay attention to details. They made a big mess in my travel not only once but twice during this trip. They made mistakes after mistakes. They are so insensitive. Since Gate 1 became a big company, they have lost their personal touch to clients. Customer relations Nikki Handros in her email to me also mentioned since I was re-imbursed with the 25 euros already by the tour director for my hitch ride to the hotel, there will be NO further credit to be issued to me. They forgot the stress they have caused me and the amount of charges my cell phone company charged me for calling long distance phone calls to Gate 1 emergency phone several times to arrange the airport pick ups and to discuss with them to send a airport pick up that night because there were no available taxi that night at the airport. Beware NOT to choose Gate 1 travel for your next trip. Gate 1 has performed very poorly with time. They cannot catch up with their increasing number of clients. They make mistakes after mistakes! BEWARE!