Don't ask, don't get...

For as long as I can remember, and to use the words made famous by our good friend Forrest Gump, "My momma always used to say: 'Don't ask, don't get'". Not sure if Forrest's mother ever gave him that particular piece of advice, but my momma sure did give it to me. It took a while before I figured out what it really meant, but I think I have a pretty good idea now.

On my way to Spain last April, I found myself staying an extra night in Kuala Lumpur... non-courtesy of KLM airlines. My booking suffered a mysterious malfunction, and I was denied boarding at the airport and given substandard customer service. I'll spare you the details, but you can imagine how quickly your spirits change when you realize the plane you were supposed to be on is no longer blinking on the departure board. We'll never know exactly why my booking was cancelled, or why I wasn't notified about it, but as it so happens, there is always a time and a place to try out the "Don't ask, don't get" theory.

I tried it at the airport first, but it didn't work. I asked to be put on the waiting list, I asked to be put on another flight, I asked to be put up at a hotel... It didn't really work, but I didn't loose faith in my momma's words.

Having a pretty good idea of what setbacks traveling may involve, I wrote a letter to KLM after I returned from Spain (after my initial anger had abatted and could actually talk about the incident without a demented tone in my voice), demanded an explanation, and asked for a full refund for my ticket. Truth be told, apart from the incident at the airport, the staff at KLM headquarters in KL as well as the KLM customer service staff were quick in attending to my requests and investigating the nature of the incident. And as a result, I have been reimbursed the full airfare (return ticket) from KL to Amsterdam. Yey!

Not bad, huh? Remember, "Don't ask, don't get". You may not always "get", but you should always "ask"... just in case!

Oh, and my piece of trivia for the day: What's the capital of The Netherlands? Well, according to the constitution it's Amsterdam, but the government sits in The Hague. This causes a lot of confusion, but Amsterdam is usually preferred by trivia quizzes (or so I've heard).