Jetstar... what can I say other than they have a serious weak link in what I've thought to be an otherwise great airline.
Unfortunately, I had a fall in Ubud and fractured a bone in my foot in three places which rendered me none weight bearing. To add to my woes I also hurt the other leg in the fall and because my upper body strength is poor, I was pretty much useless on the crutches resulting with my long suffering husband having to push me around in a wheelchair for the remainder of the holiday.
1 Cover upgraded me to Starclass with wheelchair assistance on the return flight. However, my husband was refused the upgrade despite him being my carer since the fall. It cost us over $US500 for him to sit next to me to look after me. We are going to appeal this decision and possibly take it to the Insurance Ombudsman if we don't get a favourable result from 1 Cover.
However, back to my Jetstar complaint. On arrival at Melbourne airport I was asked by the crew to remain seated until the entire plane disembarked and we was happy to comply with the request. I was met by a female with a wheelchair... chatter amongst her and the crew informed us that the first person sent to pick me up refused to wait when told I was the last to disembark the aircraft.
As I'm being pushed towards Duty Free I told her that my husband wants to go in and buy something and she refused to allow us to go in. I told her he knows exactly what we want and he won't be long... but she still refused. She literally hijacked me and pushed me away from my husband without telling him where she was taking me or where he could find me. About 20 yards up she then asked if I had my passport which I hadn't... so she wasn't best pleased and had to go back to get my passport off my husband.
During my ‘hijack' I asked her the procedure about where she was going to leave me. I told her we had parked in long term car park and that my husband had to catch the shuttle and return for me to load me and the luggage. I thought I was doing her a favour by not expecting her wait until he got back... however, I was told that she was would be taking me outside and leave me on a seat and I was to wait there... (Freezing cold by Bali standards).
So she whizzed me through officialdom and towards the carousels for luggage pick up. She then placed me in a position so I couldn't see my husband coming through... saying she was leaving me here as she had paperwork to do. This wheelchair was not a self propelling wheelchair and by that I mean the wheels are not placed at the front of the chair so it can be easily be propelled by the person sat in it. Anyway, I struggled to turn myself round and slowly slowly I managed to crawl to a position where I eventually spotted my husband and called out to him.
He was bloody furious... he had NO idea where I was and that he had been grilled at immigration also he'd been refused our full quota of duty free as he didn't have my passport or any proof that he was travelling with another person. It was 'more than their jobs worth'. Anyway, the woman finally came back and I told her about the duty free episode and guess what??? SHE DUMPED ME!!!
So loaded up to the gills... We edged our way towards Quarantine ... My husband pushing a trolley with his right hand and me in a wheelchair with his left. The queue was VERY long and started near the steps. The area was roped off in lines but not wide enough for our extra wide load and so we bumped into the poles and ropes ... me leaning out the chair to reposition them out of the way. One officer barked why we hadn't got our passports/paperwork ready and my frustrated husband said 'In which hand would you like me to have them in?' I commented to another officer that this is Jetstars wheelchair assistance and she politely said that this is Quarantine and to take it up with the airline... and fair comment. So I am going to.
Finally... just finally common sense prevailed and we were rescued my a kind Quarantine officer who recognised our plight... not only did he wave us through after questioning what we had to declare but he opened a door and he personally pushed me through and left me INSIDE the building while Paul went and got the car. I was ever so glad as I only had a t-shirt and ¾ pants on. I actually don't remember thanking him but Paul assures me that he did...