Editor,

The week that followed the birth of twin gorillas made international news. However, it is regrettable that RwandAir customer care department has done its best to alienate me as a possible tourist.

The RwandAir website states that one of RwandAir’s objectives is "To serve customers warmly and efficiently, continuously benchmarking with the best-run competitors and globally.”

Apparently, this is not the case. I have been trying to make a reservation on RwandAir. The reservation option on RwandAir’s website has been offline since I first tried to make a booking recently.

Emails to ask when this will be online remain unanswered. When I call the telephone numbers given on the website for the Johannesburg office, the telephones remain unanswered.

The one cell number (again, from the website) that was answered, was by a person who said he had nothing to do with RwandAir.

I made a last desperate attempt to get to your beautiful country. I emailed all the email addresses I could find of employees of RwandAir, hoping that I would get to one employee who agrees with the rosy picture painted on RwandAir’s website was in vain. I even posted a message on the CEO’s facebook page.

So far, I have not had any response. While the gorillas are doing their best for the country’s tourism industry, the customer care department at RwandAir seems to do their best in dissuading visitors.

Gert Coetzee
Cape Town
email@gertcoetzee.com