Yesterday evening, we bought a bottle of local white wine and sat on our terrace, enjoying our very own Santorini Sunset.

It was bliss…..

But our flight to New-York/Chicago/Cincinnati leaves from Athens tomorrow!!!

The Greeks were on strike. Our luggage WOULDN’T have arrived one day later.

And had we stuck to our original plan of flying-in today, we wouldn’t had been here either.

Shit happens, huh?

“Yes, madam: I can confirm it. Your luggage IS checked all the way through to Santorini’s Thira airport.”

The woman at Zürich‘s check-in counter then proceeded to stare at us, eyebrows very raised, as if daring us to question the vital piece of information she had so kindly confirmed…again.

So when we arrived in Athens, knowing we had a leisurely three hours to before our connecting flight was due to leave, we unsuspectedly looked for the transit signs.

Which, for some reason, we didn’t locate

But we did suddenly find ourselves in the luggage reclaim hall. And as I was due to refill my nicotine tanks and there just happened to be a pit stop just right there, I couldn’t think of a better 3-minute occupation for the girls than send them to watch other passengers luggage being reunited with their relieved owners.

NOT A Transit sign!

And besides: despite that lady’s eyebrows, I still had this weird feeling….

So off they went, surprisedly enthralled by my brilliant idea, before returning 150 seconds later with our three suitcases and a puzzled look on their faces.

We then proceeded to pass the customs, head back to a check-in desk, re-deposit our luggage, exhorted a confirmation and a stern look from yet another lady, before sailing through security where, after successfully confusing a security agent about the validity of bringing a liter of (liquid) duty free back airside, we were ready to relax.

Ok: most probably we would only have had to wait a day for our stuff to arrive (and I’ve that Greek toothbrushes are not so bad). But I promised myself to go pluck someone’s eyebrows when we got back!

Definitely! Like tickets booked, hotel and car reserved.

It could have been Egypt again, with some friends this time, but our plans of first visiting Cairo before lazing around in the sun just weren’t compatible with our buddy’s one-week-only availability.

Then it could have been Madeira: pretty nice this time of the year. Flowers, good food, hiking up and down mountain slopes rather than beachin’ it out. Alas an expat confirmed that they hadn’t quite recovered from the massive mudslides yet. Strike Madeira.

The Azores? Now that’s a place and a half: wind-swept islands, a gorgeous landscape, wild weather. And did I mention the food? Our fingers were literally poised over the SATA web page “Book Here” button when I mistakenly inquired about the weather. Big mistake: 17 degrees and rain. Today, tomorrow, and the day after AND… Well you get the picture. Besides, our pics would have came out all gray so… Strike Azores.

The Cap Verde islands were then THE option. Just off Senegal, we could have enjoyed a week of “that Caribbean Feelin’” without breaking the bank. 6 and a half hours flying time and a sudden slipped disk put an end to that.

This was two weeks ago. We knew we were going SOMEWHERE, we just didn’t know WHERE or WHEN. And then I had a vision of little white houses with blue roofs, sun-baked Greek islands and liters of Ouzo. Must have been the fact that Greece was being mentioned every day, but to me it was subliminal: it HAD to be Santorini!

Two days later we had booked the flights and I started my hotel research……

Santorini, you see, is a small croissant-shaped island, barely a couple of kilometers long and, other than its fabled blue roofs, is famous for one thing: its sunsets over the bay. And thus, I couldn’t imagine booking ANY place which didn’t offer us the chance of lounging on OUR terrace (a balcony would have been valid alternative), a glass of Retsina in one hand while gazing at the setting sun, over and over again.

So I searched and I searched, and I actually found a whole bunch of suitable places which offered accommodation for a mere €100 per night. For the a view of the island. Unless you were willing to add another €200 for the “other side” of the hotel, that is.

So I searched and searched and searched. And then DBW searched. Found. And booked the ideal place. With our view and everything.

“I just didn’t enter any dates in TripAdvisor“, she said.

And smiled.

One of those women-ish smiles….

Claim #1, including our lost hotel room booking, was submitted using their online customer services form. A problem ticket number was received within a couple of minutes followed by a mail, 3 days later, confirming their intention to reimburse the full amount.

Claim #2 was originally submitted using the link provided via the cancellation mail. As no ticket number was returned, a week later I re-submitted the claim via the above-mentioned form and was duly treated to the (ticket) number I had sought after. And today I received the reimbursement confirmation mail for the second amount.

The moral of this story? Simple and pretty obvious: when dealing with a helpdesk or customer service organisation, ALWAYS make sure your issue is referenced via a ticket number.

“Oh why didn’t I request a problem ticket?”

This not only means that your problem will be handled accordingly; it also means that it will officially become subject to quality management, and quality is all it’s about, right?