Author: Mhix

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ARMS… The Saga continues…

So the saga continues… ARMS (Malta’s Automated Revenue Management Services company that collects electricity bills) have so far ignored me, ignored my lawyer, and ignored my emails… Today I received a letter (scans of the letter at the bottom of this page) threatening legal action and disconnection again… This is despite me sending the following letter to them a month previously (on the 4th December 2012)..

ENGLISH:

I am writing to you about a number of things, including a long standing
issue that is still not resolved. My next step is talk to Parliament
and the Times of Malta.

FIRST:

I bought a house here in Malta in June/July 2010, and was named on the
bill by the former owner as she changed the service from herself. I was
placed on a ‘Residential Rate’ even though I have a residency
certificate and I operate a commercial enterprise from my premises.

In September/October 2011 I was in the USA on business and the meter
reader came to my premises was unable to get an answer at the door (due
to me being 5000+ miles away in the USA.)

ARMS proceeded to ‘Estimate’ a reading (of only some 70ish units) and
mark the bill as a ‘N’ (Non Read) when the actual reading would have
shown considerably more (circa 11,000 units.)

In March 2012 an ARMS employee visited my premises and read the meter
(and the accurate read of some 20,000+ units) and shortly there after I
received a bill for some €12900+. Upon examining it I saw several errors:

1/ The law provided discounted rating had been disregarded and the
20,000 unit difference between the ‘non read’ and the current reading
had been pro-rated to just 6 months (rather than the law provided 12
months.)
2/ The bill showed ‘0 (zero) residents’ – This is wrong on 2 counts.
a/ I am a commercial (non-residential) entity
b/ I am a Maltese resident and therefore should not be paying the
‘Domestic’ ratings.

Shortly after I asked my lawyer and friend Ms G Spiteri to accompany me
to the ARMS office in Pieta for an explanation and correction. Both Ms
Spiteri and I were astonished when the ARMS staff member told us that it
was a computer programming error that could not be rectified (and would
not be rectified) without involvement from the CEO of ARMS. He then
proceeded to inform us that the incorrect tariff would not be corrected
without filling out a change of service form, which I had to download
from the website and fill in. I read your form and noted at the
signature line that there is a statement alluding to the change would
only be applied to the date of signing onwards. This is unacceptable as
it was not my mistake in the first instance.

In September 2012 I receive a ‘notice of disconnection’ from ARMS, I
informed Ms Spiteri, who wrote to yourselves indicating that you would
be held responsible to the amount of €1000 per 24 hour period in lost of
business earnings should you proceed. I repeated the same to your
customer care line, they indicated that I (rather than my lawyer) should
have contacted yourselves. Whom I chose to contact you is dependent on
your responses to me, and so far they have been such that I am
considering taking a very public class action suit against ARMS for this
completely discriminatory, defamatory, inadequate and prejudicial service.

I note that as of today (4 December 2012) responses have been slow (if
at all) and the service is still considered by yourselves as ‘Domestic’
My latest bill shows some €17000+ in arrears and it is getting to the
point when I think if it is even sorted out and I am billed at the
correct rate I will not be able to afford to pay the bill in a complete
hit and may be left with interest charges that you apply without any
credit agreement that enables such.

ALSO:

Last night I suffered 3 separate power outages when the ‘smart meter’
shut the supply off each time indicating ‘Over Usage by 18%’ … The
additional power I was consuming were an electric cooking ring (single)
and the oven. I am sure you are aware the power usage by said items
does not exceed what 3×3.5kw Airconditioning units and a 7kw unit would
use during the summer (which I was using this summer, without issue.) I
am fully aware the ‘Smart Meters’ are remote programmable and remote
controllable and as such you can remotely tell the unit to terminate the
supply at any time without my interaction. This means either one of 2
rational possibilities:

1/ Someone instigated a remote power outage.
2/ The meter is faulty and is incorrectly reading the power consumption.

(a third option would be someone stealing power, however with the
exception of the existing ground level wiring, I am fully aware of all
the connections and intersecting points of my installation as I
installed most of it myself, including additional grounding to bring the
installation to a greater safety level than required by Maltese law.)

The power outages caused several issues. First, I lost 7 days of work
(80 hours of work) due to it as it caused damage to one of my computers
that had not managed to complete it’s backup. Second, it was highly
dangerous to the members of the household, not to mention myself because
we were plunged into darkness, one person in the shower, myself cooking
with a hot deep fat fryer, and someone had to navigate through the dark
building and fumble in the electricity cupboard for the breaker to reset
it (had there been power this could have proved fatal.)

LASTLY:

Some time ago (possibly summer 2011) I requested a larger meter to be
installed in this premises as when the Smart Meter was installed they
installed a 60Amp meter which was lower than the original, and is
totally inadequate for a 4/5 bedroomed air conditioned house. I noted
on your website at that time that you had the option of a larger single
phase meter (80 amp) which is more realistic to the needs of a large
house. I was informed by the ARMS staff that there was no such meter
and I would have to “upgrade” to a 3 phase installation. The internal
wiring of this building is not suitable for a 3 phase installation,
though it is conceivable that I could separate out individual phases for
certain parts of the house. I was informed the cost would be in excess
of €3000 for the said ‘upgrade’ (as opposed to the website quoted change
of €300 for a larger meter – which would put me back to the original
meter size pre-smart meter.)

SUMMARY:

I am to date disgusted with the service of ARMS, I cannot get correct
billing, I cannot get responses from persons responsible, I have an
inadequate service that you refuse to change without exorbitant fees and
considerable inconvenience, not to mention the prejudicial and
discriminatory service I have received to date.

Michelle Sulivan

PS: Please reply in English.

MALTI:

Qed nikteb dwar numru ta’ affarijiet, inkluz kwistjoni antika li ghada
mhijiex rizolta. Il pass li jmiss minghandi huwa li nkellem
lill-Parlament u l-‘Times Of Malta’.

L-EWWEL:
Xtrajt dar hawn Malta f’ Gunju/Lulju 2010, u kont msemijja fuq il-kont
li kien miktub mill-proprjetarju precedenti kif qalbet is-servizz minn
isimha ghal fuq ismi. Kont fuq “Rata Residenzjali” anka jekk ghandi
certifikat tar-residenza u nopera intrapriza kummercjali mill-bini tieghi.

F’Settembru/Ottubru 2011 kont fl-Istati Uniti fuq negozju u it-tekniku
ta’ l-arlogg tad-dawl gie id-dar tieghi pero ma’ fetahlu hadd (peress li
kont 5000+ mili il-boghod fl-Istati Uniti.)

ARMS ipproċedew biex jghamlu “Stima” tal-qari (ta’ circa 70 units biss)
u mmarka l-kont bħala “N” (Non Read) meta l-qari attwali kien juri
konsiderevolment aktar (circa 11000 units.)

F’Marzu 2012 impjegat tal-ARMS żar il-post tiegħi u qara l-arlogg
tad-dawl (il-qari preċiż kien ta ‘xi 20,000 + units) u ftit wara
rcievejt kont ta xi € 12,900 +. Meta eżaminajt dan il qari sibt bosta
żbalji:

1 / Il-liġi provdiet rata skontata li kienu ġew injorati u l-20000 units
differenza bejn il-“non read ‘u l-qari attwali kien distribwit biss fuq
6 xhur (minflok skond il-liġi fuq 12-il xahar.)
2 / Il-kont wera 0 (żero) residenti “- Dan huwa ħażin ghal 2 ragunijiet.
a / Jiena entità kummerċjali (mhux residenzjali)
b / Jiena residenta’ Maltijja u għalhekk m’għandiex ghalfejn nħallas
ir-rati domestici.

Ftit wara tlabt l-avukata tiegħi u ħabiba Sinjura G Spiteri biex
takkumpanjani fl-uffiċċju tal-ARMS fi Pieta għal spjegazzjoni u
korrezzjoni. Kemm is-Sinjura Spiteri u jien konna ixxukjati meta
l-membru tal-persunal ARMS qalilna li dan kien żball ta ‘programmazzjoni
fil-kompjuter li ma setgħux jiġu rettifikati (u mhumiex ha jigu
rettifikati) mingħajr l-involviment mis-CEO tal-ARMS. Huwa mbagħad
infurmana li t-tariffa skorretta mux se tigi ikkoreġuta jekk il-forma
tal-bidla fis-servizz ma tigiex mimlijjha, u ghalek kelli nniżżilha
mill-websajt u nimlijha. Jien u naqra il-formola tiegħek innutajt
mill-linja tal-firma li hemm stqarrija tirreferi indirettament
għall-bidla li tigi applikata biss mid-data tal-iffirmar l-quddiem. Dan
mhuwiex aċċettabli għaliex ma kienx żball tiegħi fl-ewwel istanza.

F’s-Settembru 2012 irċievejt “avviż ta ‘skonnessjoni” minn ARMS, jiena
nfurmajt lis-Sinjura Spiteri, li kitbet lillkom infuskom li jindika li
inthom ser tkunu responsabbli għall-ammont ta’ € 1,000 fuq perjodu ta
kull ’24 siegħa ghat-telfa ta’ qligħ tan-negozju jekk tipproċedu.
Irripetejt l-istess lill-linja taghkom tal-‘customer care’, li ndikaw li
kelli nikkuntatjakom jien stess (minflok l-avukat tiegħi). Lil min
għażilt jikuntatjak huwa jiddipendi fuq it-tweġibiet tiegħek lili, u
s’issa kienu tali li jiena qed nikkonsidra nieħu azzjoni pubblika kontra
ARMS għal dan is-servizz kompletament diskriminatorju, malafamanti,
inadegwat u ta ‘preġudizzju.

Ninnota li mil-lum (4 Diċembru 2012) risposti kienu ftit (jekk xejn) u
s-serviżż għadu meqjus minnkom bħala “Domestiku”. L-ahhar kont tieghi
juri xi €17,000+ b’lura u qed nasal sal-punt fejn naħseb jekk saħansitra
hija mifthiema u jiena ċċarġjata b’rata korretta, mhux ser inkun kapaċi
niflah nħallas l-kont mil-ewwel u nista nithalla bl-ispejjeż tal-imgħax
li inthom tapplikaw mingħajr ebda ftehim ta ‘kreditu li tippermetti tali.

WKOLL:

Il-bierah filghaxija soffrejt 3 qtugh tal-eletriku separati meta
lis-“Smart Meter” wera uzu eccessiv bi 18% … L-elettriku addizzjonali
li kont qed nikkonsuma kien ċirku tat-tisjir elettriku (singlu) u
l-forn. Jiena ċerta li inthom konxji li l-użu tal-enerġija mill
imsemmija oġġetti ma jeċċedix dak ta’ 3×3.5kw units tal-airconditioning
u 7kw units li jintuza matul is-sajf (li kont qed nuża dan is-sajf
mingħajr problemi) Jiena konxja li lis-“Smart Meters”huma programmati u
kkontrollati b’mod remot u bħala tali inthom tistghu iggielhu l-unit
ttemm l-provvista fi kwalunkwe waqt mingħajr l-interazzjoni tiegħi. Dan
ifisser xi wieħed mill-2 possibbiltajiet razzjonali:

1 / Xi ħadd instiga qtugh tal-enerġija mill-bogħod.
2 / L-arlogg tad-dawl huwa difettuż u il-qari tal-konsum tal-enerġija
huwa zbaljat.

(A tielet possibilta’ hija li xi hadd qed jisraq l-elettriku, madankollu
bl-eċċezzjoni tal-wiring eżistenti livell ma l’art, jiena konxja ta
‘l-konnessjonijiet u l-punti li jaqtgħu lil xulxin tal-installazzjoni
tiegħi peress li installajt il-maggorita’ jien stess, inkluż ert
addizzjonali sabiex l-installazzjoni f’sigurta’ aqwa minn dak meħtieġ
mil-liġi Maltija.)

Il-qtugħ ta’l -enerġija ikkawża diversi kwistjonijiet. L-ewwel, jiena
tlift 7 t’ijiem ta ‘xogħol (80 sigħat ta’ xogħol) peress li kkawża dannu
lil wieħed mill-kompjuters tiegħi li ma lahaqx jlesti il ‘backup’.
It-tieni, kien ferm perikoluż għall-membri mimsuba fil-bini, biex ma
nsemmux li konna mitfugħin fid-dlam, persuna waħda fid-doċċa, jien stess
nsajjar bi fryer jahraq, u xi ħadd kellu jinnaviga fil-bini mudlam u
jfittex fil-cupboard tal-elettriku għall-interruttur sabiex jerga
jixghelu (li kieku kien hemm elettriku dan seta’ jirrizulta’ fatali.)

Fl-aħħarnett:

Xi żmien ilu (possibilment fis-sajf ta’ l-2011) jien tlabt sabiex jiġi
installat arlogg tad-dawl akbar f’din ir-residenza bħal meta lis-‘Smart
Meter’ kien installat dawn installaw arlogg 60Amp li kien inqas
mill-oriġinali, u hija totalment inadegwata għal dar b’ 4/5 kmamar
tas-sodod b’arja kundizzjonata. Kif ukoll, f’dak iz-zmien innotajt fuq
il-websajt taghkom li kellkom l-għażla ta ‘phase meter’ singlu akbar (80
amp) li huwa aktar realistiku għall-ħtiġijiet ta’ dar kbira. Pero kont
infurmata mill-persunal ARMS li ma kienx hemm meter bħal dan u li jkolli
namel “upgrade” għal ‘3 phase installation’ . Il-wajers interni ta’ dan
il-bini mhumiex adattati għal ‘3 phase installation’, għalkemm ma jistax
jiġi eskluż li jien nista nissepara l fażijiet individwali għal ċerti
partijiet tad-dar. Jien kont infurmata li l-ispiża tkun f’eċċess ta ‘€
3,000 għal l-imsemmija “upgrade” (kif oppost għal-bidla kkwotata
fil-websajt ta’ € 300 għal meter akbar – li jpoġġini lura għad-daqs
oriġinali tal- ‘pre-smart meter’)

SOMMARJU:

Sal-lum jiena ddisgustata mis-servizz tal-ARMS, ma nistax nikseb
kontijiet korretti, ma nistax nikseb tweġibiet minn persuni
responsabbli, Ghandi servizz inadekwat li intom qed tirrifjuta li tbidlu
mingħajr miżati eżorbitanti u l-inkonvenjenza konsiderevoli, biex ma
nsemmux il-preġudizzju u d-diskriminazzjoni fis-servizz li irċevejt sal-lum.

Michelle Sulivan

PS: Jekk jogħġbok irrispondi bl-Ingliż.

— Michelle Sullivan http://www.mhix.org/

 

One can only hope that the likes of the Times of Malta will take up the story and expose their discrimination and illegal strong arm tactics. (They have ignored at least one law in Malta – my Lawyer has already threatened them with legal action should they not comply.)

 

ARMS Final Notice
ARMS Final Notice (1)

 

ARMS Final Notice
ARMS Final Notice (2)

 

Posted on

Is sena tajba!

So as my first post this year, something quite enjoyable… steak (for 2 so multiply up as your needs require) a very simple and enjoyable recipe that is extremely easy to make!

Steak!
Simply Steak!

Preparation and cooking time: Approximately 20-25 minutes.

Ingredients:

Half a Fresh Lemon
2 Angus Fillet Steaks
1 Small Capsicum (bell pepper)
1 Medium onion
2 plum tomatoes
Half a pint (250ml) of beef stock.
1 tablespoon cornflower.
Salt and Pepper (Cracked Peppercorns, not the ground powder!)
Olive oil as necessary.
25-50ml Cold Water

 

Preparation and cooking:

Chop Onions into small pieces, followed by capsicum and tomatoes.  Place onions and capsicum into a dry pan on low heat. Put a dry skillet on a high heat (Note: I have a wok burner and use that as you need LOTS of heat – electric cookers will need lots of extra time to warm up.) Grind/crack some pepper into the skillet, by this time the pan with the onions should be making a quiet sizzle noise, give a good splash of olive oil and mix to ensure everything is coated in oil. When the onions start changing colour, place lid on pan to keep the steam in.  Stir and monitor. when the capsicum starts changing colour, add the chopped tomatoes and stock.  Bring to boil, lower heat to continue simmering without the lid/cover and add cracked pepper and salt to taste.

Meanwhile, the cracked pepper and skillet will start smoking, at this point place both steaks squarely in the skillet.  Crack some more pepper over the steaks.  Squeeze half of the lemon over both steaks, and add salt to both.  After a few minutes turn both steaks and squeeze the other half lemon over each steak.  Continue cooking to your preference (do not turn the steaks over.)  Remove both steaks to a clean wooden chopping board and allow them to ‘rest’.  Place cornflour in a cup or small jug, add a small amount of COLD water and mix well, pour mix into simmering sauce stirring well to prevent lumps forming, remove heat immediately and continue stirring.

Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetables or chips and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

Posted on

Air Malta… You thought Ryan Air / EasyJet were bad!

A warning of bad service and the dangers of using online shopping services…

Air Malta

WARNING: Do not use AIR MALTA’s online ticket booking system if you want to fly….  here’s why…

First what happened to me, then I will paste response from Air Malta (and explain what they said for those that don’t ‘get it’.)  You will agree, that if you have see the programs made by English TV companies about cheap airline ‘EasyJet’ that often cheapest is not the best.  For that reason and that reason alone I have never used EasyJet, I have always gone with the more expensive ‘Air Malta’ when traveling to the UK. Never again.

Around the 5th December 2012 I decided to go back to the UK for a couple of days before Christmas to see my mother and to do some Christmas shopping.  I booked time off work, I booked a hotel, I booked car rental, all for the few days 16th December 2012 to 19th December 2012… Then I booked the flights using ‘Air Malta’s online service…  For just 3 days this amounted to more than €800.00, an ‘expensive’ shopping trip to say the least, but has I hadn’t seen my mother for 2 years (and she’s 73) I figured that I should even though I am extremely busy with work…

On the 16th December my friend Naomi and I went to the airport a couple of hours early (so I thought) turns out I had made a simple mistake, we had arrived at the airport 2 hours before we were due to arrive in London.. and that was some 20 minutes after the flight left Malta…  This was explained to me, and unlike those on TV, I realised that it was my stupid error and that I had only myself to blame, so I asked if they could move the tickets to the next available flight, Air Malta indicated they couldn’t and that I would have to buy new tickets for the first flight the following day.  They informed me that it would be €241.80 for the new outgoing tickets, I handed them my credit card and it was charged.  About to leave the desk the 2 representatives started speaking together with a look of concern on their faces, my friend Naomi being a native Maltese speaker understood what was being said and let out an exclamation, I asked for an English translation, and she (not the Air Malta staff) told me that they had said that I would need to purchase return tickets as well as the computerised booking system had automatically cancelled without refund the return tickets.  I informed them that I had paid for the tickets,  and was going to be at the Airport on Wednesday evening for the return flight, they informed me I would be refused boarding with no rights to recourse.  I immediately demanded a refund and was given the refund of the tickets I had just purchased and was told I would need to contact their Customer Care center the following day.

I called their customer care number multiple times, and received no response.. few minutes of being on-hold followed by a ‘click’ and was disconnected for each call.

I emailed via their website asking for contact details of a manager.  I received an email response telling me I could not speak to a manager and should forward me complain to their email address: customercare.airmalta@airmalta.com I wrote the following letter:

Ref: ICCHO019286

Here is a brief description of events:

I arrived at MIA at 17:25 Sunday 16th Dec 2012 for the KM102 flight.  It was pointed out to me that my ‘2 hours early’ was actually 35 minutes after departure because I had mis-read the itinerary and the departure time was actually I was ‘arriving early’ for was the arrival time in London.  I felt an idiot, but mistakes happen.  I requested from the Air Malta desk at MIA to see if I could move the flights to the next available, they after 10 minutes on the computer said that they couldn’t access the booking as I was a ‘no show’ and therefore I would need to buy a new ticket.  They informed me the price would be €241.90 for the flight the following morning (at 7:50am) I agreed and handed my credit card to pay for tickets for myself and Naomi Xuereb (my traveling partner) and the staff appropriately charged my credit card.

I was then informed that because I was a ‘no show’ on the first flight, the tickets for my return had been automatically cancelled and they would need to book new tickets for my return at a cost exceeding €500 (or I could travel on another day at lower cost)  I informed them that I had not taken my ticket, I had not canceled it, and it was at least 72 hours from that point and they had no right to cancel my flight.  They informed me (both working staff) that it was ‘the way the computer works’  I told them I would be at the airport on Wednesday evening presenting my tickets and I would should not deny me boarding, they informed me that my ticket was invalid and I would be refused and stranded in London.  I informed them that that was unacceptable and they should refund me immediately for the unused tickets, they refused saying the tickets were ‘lost’ and I would need to contact customer care.

A short discussion/argument ensued and I demanded a refund in disgust for the €241.90 I had just paid.  I returned home with Naomi and called AVIS and LastMinute.com’s customer care inquiring about a refund giving the full list of events.  They both offered their sympathy and indicated they would attempt to refund my bookings (I had prepaid) as the circumstances were unusual to say the least.  They have since indicated that this is not possible.

I am therefore requesting politely in the first instance that you refund my out of pocket expenses.  This amounts to:

€544.40 (Booked flights with AirMalta – Ref: NCWIVM)

€192.16 (Lost hotel cost for 18th-19th Dec 2012: UKP146.88 @ Exchange Rate of 0.7873 (1.2702) + 3% commission [HSBC Malta current rates])

€124.50 (AVIS Car Rental: UKP95.76 @ Exchange Rate of 0.7873 (1.2702) + 3% commission [HSBC Malta current rates])

———–

€861.06 [Sub total]

———–

€241.90- (less amount for replacement ticket that I was able to purchase should Air Malta have not canceled my return ticket, because it was my initial mistake.)

———–

€619.16 [Total]

======

I think you would agree that it is a reasonable request to compensate me for my losses due to ‘the way the computer is programmed’.  I would suggest you amend your computer system programming to avoid other similar incidents as the Air Malta staff indicated that this issue had occurred with someone else on the same day, and as Air Malta is already having Financial issues it would not be a very good idea to have people like myself dissatisfied with Air Malta’s service as it is likely to cause you considerable negative publicity and therefore lost of profits for your investors (not to mention more lay-offs for all staff.)  There is an old saying “a satisfied customer will tell 3 friends, an angry customer will tell 100 people”  Mr Joe Debono Grech found out just how many people I can tell when I’m angry just a few months ago, I pray that you do not have to find out how many people I will tell if this is not resolved satisfactorily.

I look forward to a prompt response.

Regards,

Michelle

 

… I received a response a few hours later indicating that their relevant department would respond to my request soon.

3 Days later…

I emailed them again indicating I had not had a response.

I then received the following:

Dear Mrs. Sullivan,

Customer Care Ref: ICCHO019286

Further to our previous correspondence, please note that we have duly noted the contents of your e-mail and would like to advise you as follows.

Please allow us to express our sincere apologies for any inconvenience that you may have experienced whikst using our services.

We wish to emphasise that here at Air Malta, ensuring total customer satisfaction is one of the maxims that guide our mission as a leading service provider in the travel and transportation industry.

Unfortunately, there may be isolated instances where this required level is felt not to have been provided.  However, this does not detract from the importance of us continually trying to reach the highest possible levels of customer satisfaction.

One of the steps taken in this direction has been to ensure that our clients have full access to the Terms and Conditions of Carriage.  In fact, these may be easily located on the Air Malta website (http://www.airmalta.com/conditions-of-carriage).  It is indeed in these Terms and Conditions that one will find that if the passenger does not show up for any flight without advising Air Malta in advance, then Air Malta may cancel the passenger’s return or onward reservations.

We consider Article 5.6 in the latter Conditions, which you freely accepted to form part of our Contract of Carriage upon purchasing your Air Malta flight ticket, to be very clear.  Consequently, Air Malta cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from the failure to comply with the Terms and Conditions, which clearly state that any changes need to be done prior departure.  In effect, Air Malta’s General Conditions of Carriage regulate the contractual relationship that exists between Air Malta and your good self in this case.  Such Conditions are in line with IATA’s (i.e. the International Air Transport Association) recommended practices. It is ultimately the responsibility of the passenger, as with any other contract, to read through such Conditions prior to purchasing his flight ticket.

For your ease of reference, the aforementioned Article 5.6 states as follows:

5.6            CANCELLATION OF ONWARD RESERVATIONS

Please be advised that if you do not show up for any flight without advising us in advance, we may cancel your return or onward reservations.  However, if you do advise us in advance, we will not cancel your subsequent flight reservations.

You will appreciate that you have violated Article 5.6 of the Contract of Carriage in force between Air Malta and your good self when you failed to show up for flight KM102 on the 16th December, without any advance notice being given to Air Malta.  As a result of your actions Air Malta had every right, pursuant to the aforementioned quoted Article, to cancel your subsequent flight reservations.

In these circumstances we believe that Air Malta acted according to the conditions of the ticket agreement, however if you feel that the matter could have been handled more effectively then please accept our sincere apologies.

Whilst trusting to have informed you accordingly, please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Lilian Farrugia

Customer Care Representative

Air Malta Plc

Customer Care

Sky Parks Business Centre, Level 2

Malta International Airport, Luqa LQA4000

E-mail: customercare.airmalta@airmalta.com URL: http://www.airmalta.com

 

…

So for those that “don’t get it” Air Malta will, if you don’t take a flight and don’t inform them in advance, cancel all your flights for all passengers on your itinerary and will refuse a refund of all costs associated with those flights (including the tickets for flights not yet taken that you would have otherwise taken.) … And you thought EasyJet was bad for charging people for new tickets when passengers turn up 10 minutes late for check-in…  At least EasyJet and RyanAir don’t cancel without refund all your flights in the future.

My advice to people is simple… Don’t fly Air Malta at all… and if you have no choice, don’t book your flights online with Air Malta, and what ever happens book all the flights individually because if one person on your ticket fails to arrive at the airport on time, you’ll have your flights cancelled without refund… including any return..  At least if you have a separate ticket and separate itinerary for each person and flight they cannot use ‘Rule 5.6’ to cancel tickets.. though I expect they will soon amend policy to to cancel anything in your name should you fail to show up for any flight…

Oh, and for reference (and have heard this from others as well) … their ‘Frequent Flyer’ program.. I am a member, I cannot get any credits for my flights (and haven’t for the last 3 years except for the very first flight)… and I fly some 60,000 air mails per year on average…  Others I know have only been credited Economy miles for Business class flights, and several time I have had issues with Air Malta (particularly flying out of London) for being just 1kg overweight… on one occasion they attempted to charge me an addition €150…

So the message is simple…

Use EASYJET or RYAN AIR and discard Air Malta to the bin of ‘never fly with these idiots’…

 

 

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Two years on..

Well almost two years on but the abuse I suffered at the hands of my ex (Katie Crothers) is still affecting my life in a negative way..  Seems no matter what I do there is always someone that knows her, there is always someone that wants to know me that I have the suspicion is just a friend of hers probing for more information….  Checking the logs of the webserver shows continual stalker activity..  and now the TV has ads about how to recognise it..  well just as an experiment I followed the link on the TV and filled out the form remembering how I was 2 years ago today, and here is the result:

 

http://thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/worried-about-abuse
‘This is ABUSE’

I suspect I’m never going to get over this issue, ever, even with psychiatric help, please be aware, and please do not fall victim to a pathological abuser.  If you think you are a victim, go to the website: http://thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/worried-about-abuse fill out the form honestly and read the results.

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“The Western world”.. Are we really free?

So this entry is taken from the blog of someone I love and care about, I’m posting it because I have suffered depression and I know all too well it’s the silent killer that kills more people every year than any other disease.  I am posting it because it talks about how free are we really?  And in truth, the words are so well written that I thought it must be from a world renowned writer..  Well I was wrong, it is written by someone who’s first language is not even English…  This shows (in my opinion) how intelligent this person is, she is a total genius, and with it the same things I suffered, the ability to see how everyone is in it for themselves, how we are slaves to money, possessions and the way society expects us to be.

With no further ado:

As I sit here and ponder with tears about to rupture from my eyes, the phrase “I want to die, I want to die…” echoes in my head and drives me bonkers. Death must be so beautiful. No yesterday, no tomorrow, forget time, just plain silence and peace. How wonderful it must be to die and not have to worry about a thing… to be free! I can’t handle this much longer; life is too much of a heavy burden on my shoulders drowning me deeper and deeper into profound despair. I am sick and tired of everything… such a vile world we live in. The mere thought of being brought up to believe that as humans we are free, incredibly baffles and disgusts me, because, how free are we actually? We are puppets on a string, slaves of our own society and of those who rule it – we are captives of the law, religion, education, work, the economy, media, people’s judgment. Freedom is being able to do or say whatever you want without fear of the consequences – given that no one around you gets hurt; so no, I strongly disagree with the statement that as human beings we are free, and having said so, this absolutely infuriates and distresses me, seeing as, from a realistic point of view, no matter how many causes and rights are fought for, we will never be truly free – that is the painful truth about life.

You call this a life? No one will ever understand how every breath feels heavy in your lungs, how painful it is just to wake up in the morning and force yourself out of bed just to do every-day tasks like every other ‘normal’ person, how disgustingly gratifying it is to drag a blade across your wrist and wait for the courage to thrust it into your flesh.. and at that moment a rush of mixed emotions surface, between rage, helplessness, feeling ashamed, yet also, control and relief. You cannot explain the knot you feel in your chest and the lump in your throat which disables you to voice out what you’re thinking.

I cannot find the strength to wake up in the morning, go to school and face society. I’ve spent so many days locked inside just lying in bed feeling depressed, helpless and suicidal… how can I explain to my teachers that I find it extremely difficult to go to school, not because I don’t want to, but because I’m losing the battle? They won’t understand…. to them I’m just another lazy student who doesn’t give a shit about her education and thus I’ll probably soon be kicked out of there too, and yet again the word FAILURE comes to mind! How can I explain to my loved ones that I don’t want to live anymore? Would they believe me or would they assume that I’m just having a bad day or going through a rough phase?

Is there any solution, any cure, any hope? I’m afraid I’m not capable of answering that question… so instead let’s drink another glass of alcohol to suppress the pain, light another cigarette to feel a certain calmness, roll another joint to feel liberated and at peace, and have sex with another stranger to feel alive for a very short while, let’s swallow another pill because those were the doctors’ orders and supposedly ‘feel better’.

Truth is, I feel empty, miserable, lost, alone, disgusting, hopeless and depersonalized…. these thoughts won’t shut the f*ck up!

Have I perhaps gone mad?

No hunnie, you haven’t gone mad, you have just expressed in words something I could never, my depth of expression, my ability to put into words my true feelings about life in this world of today.  We are all slaves to those who want power and money, even I as an evangelist, as a vigilantly as a person pushing as hard as I can to get society going in the right direction still suffer at their hands.

Chin up hun, I love you and so do all those around you.  You have the power to change the world, let me show you how. <3