Continental Airlines has greatly disappointed myself as well as several
others.  I just spent an exhaustive week trying to fix a problem that
Continental caused.  Let me tell you my story, the other people are free
to tell their stories with Continental if they so choose to.
 
But I am flying to Amsterdam in January.  I talked with a woman in
Amsterdam who has ferrets that are ADV tested and will be tested again
prior to them leaving, up to date on shots, microchipped (her country
requires it) and a clean pedigree including the parents names and
grandparents names.  As a part of our breeder program to help restore the
original health and longevity of the ferret we do select breeding to help
produce healthy kits.  Over the years, we have helped deter pet stores
from using Marshall Farms or other Farm Ferrets and instead they refer
them to us and we properly interview them and offer the rescues first but
if they still want a baby and they have had previous young ferrets, then
we consider it.  We are very strict and by no means are we endorsing a
breeder over a rescue, we always offer the rescues and then if they ask
and we have retired breeders or babies available we let them know but
only if we feel comfortable.  Sorry to have elaborate on this but I
don't want any flames to people misunderstanding our reason for doing a
breeding program.
 
But anyhow, I worked everything out with the woman and all i had to do
was find an airline that would allow us to fly with them while they were
in the cabin and/or allow us to check them in between flights and make
sure they had food and water and were okay.  Well I found there Airlines
that all told me that they were okay and Continental was one of them.  I
talked to a woman named Kathy on 06/30/04 and she answered my questions.
She told me that they could fly in the cabin, that the price was $120 in
cabin and what their requirements were, ie., health cert and up to date
shots.  Well after review the prices and reputations of the companies
based on other people's experiences, I decided to use Continental.  So
on 7/19/04, I booked my reservations online and proceeded to call
Continental to book the pet reservations.  Well I found out that what the
original girl told me was a lie and that the rep should have documented
my phone call.  Well first of all, I checked with her and based my
decision on her answers and now I found that she was incorrect in
everything she told me.  The airline didn't transport ferrets and if
arrangements could be made with another of their airlines, the ferrets
would fly cargo at $299 per ferret per carrier and .35 per kilomile.
Quite a difference between the original information and the new
information.  So I talked to a couple of people who told me that KLM -
Dutch Airlines, commonly used by Continental, doesn't allow ferrets.  So
the rep named LIZ, from the Live Animal Help Desk at Continental told me
that if I flew Contintental Direct, that they could be flown but the cost
would stand.  They only allow Dogs, Cats, Rabbits and Birds in the cabin.
Her comment was only Domestic Animals were allowed in the cabin.  I
explained to her about the ferret and educated her.  She agreed that she
didn't quite agree with their reasoning why ferrets wheren't allowed in
the cabin but she could not change the rules.  So I asked for my money
back to I could use another airline.  They told me that they would charge
a $200 change/cancel fee plus, I would receive a voucher for the leftover
cost and it would only be valid on international flights (so if I wasn't
going to fly international in the next year, i would lose the money).
 
Well, during my fact finding I found a wonderful airline called Lufthansa
that would fly them cargo but they would allow me to check on them
inbetween flights and their flight schedule was close to mine with
Continental.  Well I wanted to just fly Lufthansa but I would lose the
money I already put out.  So I arranged with Lufthansa to have special
permission to check on them inbetween flights (see they have a special
cargo hold for ferrets which is pressurized and temperature controlled).
Well the flights were very close but one problem, Continental sent me
an update to my flight and changed the arrival time to two hours later.
Well that wouldn't work, the ferrets would be sitting at Newark Airport
for 1 1/2 hours without anyone to pick them up.  So again, I had to call
Continental who at this point had hung up on my 12 times.  I got a hold
of a woman named Diane who told me that in order to change the flight to
the original time, i would cost me $200 plus the fare difference making
it $405.97 just to change it.  Each and everytime I contacted them, I
made sure they documented our conversations especially since the first
girl didn't.  Well needless to say after arguing with them, I ended up
paying the $405.97 to change my ticket and this time I got a permanent
ticket (which I didn't know my original ticket wasn't a "permanent
ticket").  But after all that I went through and their rep giving me
misinformation, they refused to satisfy the costumer.
 
Another woman with whom was making flight reservations through them to
fly two the rescues i have from PA to MN, had a similiar problem.  She
booked the flight and paid for everything and then when she called them
to find if the health cert should be 30 or 10 days prior to flying (since
I needed to know) and they told her that they didn't ship ferrets cargo.
She told them that she had already paid for the flight and they refused
to refund her money.  They told her it would be a $125 cancellation fee
and then she would receive a voucher for the remaining balance.  She is
still fighting with them but in the meantime is flying them United
Airlines to her house in on September 17th.
 
But my reason for letting everyone know this is that CONTINENTAL
AIRLINES, does not believe in customer satisfaction.  This seems to be
a recent problem, everyone who has had the problem has contacted them
in the last two months.  So perhaps their policy has changed but this
certainly has left a sour taste in my mouth.  I am writing letters to the
proper divisions in the airline but to the consumer protection bureau,
better business bureau and anywhere else, I could send this letter to.
But I didn't want anyone else to end up the same problems as others have
already had.  They used to be a reputable company but when a company
refuses to correct or acknowledge their mistakes, it's not good business
practices.
 
I will probably have letters disagreeing or flaming me for my reasons
of flying but the point is not why I was flying or someone else, it is
that if you should ever have to use Continental, don't use them for
transporting pets.
[Posted in FML issue 4588]