Home > Jetsgo > 2004 > Review

Taken December 2004 from Calgary, AB (Calgary International Airport) - YYC to Toronto, ON (Lester B. Pearson International Airport) - YYZ

It would seem to me that if Jetsgo is planning on expanding its business, it might try and offer some customer service.

Booking this flight was a nightmare in itself - I was booking it quite late in the evening, and was having trouble booking it on their website. There was some internal error every time I tried to purchase the flight - not very reassuring, but I understand that it happens. So, I opted to call the call centre instead. I wound up staying on hold for 45 minutes, despite the fact that it was just past midnight (MST). When the agent finally picked up, he sounded like he could care less about my business - and I soon found out why. He informed me that he was the only agent in the call centre. One telephone agent for the whole airline? I realise it was the middle of the night, but that's a bit much. I thought the whole idea of these new airlines was too offer better service than we Canadians have received in the past (Air Canada, for example...) For the record, I was not able to get a very competitive fare for my flight back, so I called WestJet right afterward. The phone was picked up automatically and they had 20 agents in the Centre at the time (or so I was told.)

The price of the flight was quite economical, but you get what you pay for. When I arrived at the airport, I saw that my flight was delayed 45 minutes. Not a big deal in the big scheme of things - it happens. When I asked about it, though, I received a very surly attitude from the agent, who seemed she would rather be anywhere than at work. She said she didn't know why there was a delay, I should just go to the gate. After that kind of service, it seemed kind of obvious why there was no line-up at check-in.

At the gate, our delay was bumped from 45 minutes to 1.5, then 2 hours. The agent came to change the display board, then walked away without explanation. Finally, another agent came back and announced that there was mechanical problems with the plane and they were fixing it. Once again, it happens, but I have heard of this from others who have flown Jetsgo.

When we finally took off, I once again experienced surly attitude. The Flight Attendants were not very attentive, and the pilot gave explanation in French as to why we were delayed, but not in English. I am bilingual, so it was alright for me, but if you are flying out of Calgary, you should be aware that the majority of the passengers are not going to be able to speak French. It's unfortunate, but true. The flight attendants were all from Montréal, so I tried to converse with them in French when they came by selling drinks, but they were not interested. I would sooner receive service from a unilingual flight attendant with some manners than a "bilingual" one with attitude.

All in all, the flight was alright. I didn't expect much room in the seats (cheap fare, after all), but in a business that is so competetitive, the customer service element really has to be there. I fly between Calgary and Toronto, Ottawa, and Montréal very frequently, and I have had varying degrees of service, but this was definitely one of the worst. The savings really only amounted to about $20, which was not worth the service I received. Delays are inevitable, I realise that, but for the money I pay, I expect decent customer service. I may fly Jetsgo again to give them another chance, but I would sooner fly with WestJet, with whom I have never had any problems other than one occurrence of delayed baggage. My flight back with WestJet was wonderful - especially in comparison to this.