Games your trusted brands play…..
Logically everyone knows there’s nothing called a FREE LUNCH..but still as a loyal consumer you tend to have high hopes in your trusted brands..
I have been a Qatar Airways fan for as long as 5-6 years now..why not, National Airways, 5 star Airlines and real good deal for money etc etc…but my conception is dented following what I experienced in the last few days…
I planned to spent Eid holidays with friends & family in Bahrain..Went ahead to one of their most reputed booking agents (Al Deera) and negotiated the so called best deal @ QR 830/-…following day I just compared the prices online & found the tickets 40QR cheaper..i know its not a big difference but still checked with the QA and they confirmed there’s some SERVICE CHARGE of 5% that a walk in customer needs to pay…I mean I don’t know wht’s the difference there….anyways…what happened next was even more shocking…
I saw a SAMSUNG – QATAR AIRWAYS promotion ad in the newspaper & Carrefour…on purchase of a Galaxy 550 @ QR 999* people are getting a round-trip to Bahrain, Dubai or Abu Dhabi…I checked the normal price of this phone without the promotion & it’s at QR 950…which means customers is getting the ticket at 49 QR…even if I add taxes of QR 480 & a 5% on top…the flight charge is around QR 555 only…which means QR 270 odd lesser than booking with Airline direct…
When I tried cancelling my tickets with the Dealer…he wasn’t supportive at all…so now I am stuck with a ticket (the so called BEST DEAL) offered by my trusted Airline which I know has cheated me off 270 QR..cost of my loyalty to them…wherein a SAMSUNG customer can smile wide…I wonder who’s fooling who here??
onena,
The kit kat example was an exaggerated one for you to understand the innumerous possibilities of the Marketing world! The campaign can be the entire responsibility of Kit Kat with none or little involvement of the airline! Who knows?! The ordinary consumer wouldn’t know the details of a partnership like that!
On top of this, this is Qatar! You can’t expect companies or their employees to behave professionally.
I am surprised also for the fact that you have not noticed the difference after all these year here!
so u are sure even a kit kat chocolate can bring out the National Carrier's ticket for FREE..and the reputed dealers will keep mum about an ongoing offer..just to make money & margin rather informing your loyal customers about a promo...and yes so much so for Qatar Airways to not put a special promo they are having in the market on there website for general awareness......
Onena,
Not psycho, perhaps just ill-prepared.
next time: go to the airline website, simulate the issue of your ticket, choose their best offer (varies with dates and ticket class), verify all the ticket conditions and restrictions and once you are sure that you have the best deal that suits you, press "purchase ticket".
please be reminded that even when you have done your hard work of making sure you have the best offer, and your ticket is issued, nothing guarantees you that the next day, you won't find a promotion of a kit kat chocolate, that offers you a 1st class ticket around the world if you buy 1 kit kat.
This is marketing and the world we live in, today!
Nic - no offense, but i knw from my sources that the difference is a 'fuel surcharge' which they mention as Service Charge..i mean give your dealer a margin..but
dont kill your own customers..
might not be an expert in whats teh deal in real..but common people who are shelling out money 2 buy it has a voice if they feel cheated ryt??? cant always be showering blessings on blogs..have to keep check with reality too...
i aint talking about any1 in particular @ the dealers shops...i am taking about the entity & the way the principles run teh show..
and thanks again for the pshyco analysis on me...
onena,
Are you joking?
Have you heard about?
- On line ticket booking? (cheaper than traditional travel agent or airline counter)
- Marketing campaigns? (You can't tell the deal between the two vendors involved)
- Restrictions applied after airline ticket is issued? (its nothing to do with the person who sold you the ticket, there are pre set conditions inherent to the ticket class you buy)
Sorry for being so harsh, but its somehow reflected in the naive words of your OP, that you are either joking or you are missing a huge chunk of many facts of today’s life!
Now everybody want to follow the trend..
@smoke - but the point is its not separate & a joint venture promo...i just care for being tricked by QA...
@Nic...thanks for being so nice...but whats teh point again???
@Baldrick - ya sure..if only i have the mechanics 2 know how many diff ways the same thing is sold 2 the consumer...
Maybe you should have shopped around BEFORE buying the ticket, not after the fact.
onena,
are you being serious with this post or are you just playing an idiot's role?
Here’s the latest@@@@
My friend yesterday bought a ticket voucher alone from the market @ QR 100, from one of the dealer in souq..no phone…only voucher…
So now he pays some tax & flies off……
So in case you guys wanna bennifit like my smart a** friend…go out & check with dealers mentioned in there ad’s…I am sure you’ll get lucky too…lolzzz….
And hey btw…anyways they have lots of asterisk ***** in there ad’s..no terms & conditions etc etc…so why you guys complaining….they’ll just use one of those asterisk to cover up your complaints & call it ‘company policy’….
They are SMART people guys!!
I think you are confusing a mobile promotion with a airline promotion...they are two different things all together. Without knowing the specifics behind such deals that Qatar Airways has with Samsung. That being said at the end of the day its all business :)
In fact I have a similar experience, I wanted to but a SAMSUNG GALAXY S for long so have been following the prices & offers closely.
Few days back I checked with some know dealers of Samsung like Ghasham, intertech, RP tech Lulu & Dreams etc. and this phone was priced around QR 2499, but when I checked the prices yesterday I was shocked to see that the prices went up like anything –
Galaxy S was before @ QR 2499, today @ QR 2699
B7722 was before @ QR 1100, today @ QR 1199
While I was wondering what may be the cause I saw the Qatar Airways promotion ad & your message now, so it’s a clear case of cheating the consumer by increasing the price by 100-200 QR and then putting a promotion in t so that when a lay-man/ consumer compares, the perceives a very high value of the promotions which is not there at all.
Man they think they are so smart, I don’t mind but why do they take the customer to be a fool!!