June 5, 2009
Q: My sister and I have a major complaint about the IACE Travel Company located on Yokosuka Base by Starbucks. We have tried to resolve it with IACE. They apologized, explained their actions and offered to “make us whole.” That did not happen. Red Cross notified us that we needed to go on emergency leave for our Dad. We went to IACE and made a reservation. Several days later we went to pay for the tickets. It was about 4 p.m. Initially my sister said she would pay by check…the clerk said that was not possible if you had not held the reservation for 30 days (With an emergency, how was that possible?). Ironically, there was a poster assuring Yokosuka members that they were there to handle emergency leave. My sister then said she would put the charges on a credit card but discovered it would cost three percent more (the previous travel company allowed personal checks for travels). The only choice to pay for what was charged was with cash. At 4 p.m., a tough detail. At any rate, it ended up that the tickets were eventually paid for in cash. When we asked for the tickets, we were told we’d have to wait until the next day to get them. We were hoping to get upgrades based on mileage rewards, since we have serious health issues. When I called to determine whether we could get the upgrades, we were shocked to learn that the ticket agent at IACE had cancelled our paid tickets! Given that we were trying to get out on emergency leave, this caused us a great deal of distress and anxiety. We contacted IACE and were told we had to accept a reservation made two weeks after the initial paid for date! We contacted Mr. Lopez at MWR, who was very helpful, understanding and willing to try to resolve our problem. He was the only bright spot in this whole situation. IACE Vice President Mr. Kawabata saw us and assured us that they would restore the original tickets and would get us the upgrades. A few days later, IACE agent Yukie wrote and said they had secured the upgrades along with our original travel dates. When we traveled we discovered that the upgrades came not from them, but they used the personal mileage from our own accounts! What happened to the global upgrade promised and paid for from your agency? Even after calling again about this, we were promised a fix but IACE took our miles to fix their mistake. We can’t believe that people who need travel services must use IACE. Is there any recourse for a dissatisfied customer?

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A: We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you have suffered. However, the facts of the matter are that IACE, the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) contracted Japanese travel agency, made a sincere and ultimately effective attempt to resolve your travel issues. The credit card charges, check-cashing and payment policies you mentioned are a standard Japanese practice and do not conflict with contractual obligations made with MWR. The “Emergency” poster that you mentioned was a generic Commander Naval Installations Command (CNIC) poster titled “Are you and your family ready for an emergency?” and is a general public service message intended to raise awareness for families to be prepared in case of emergencies as a result of a natural disaster, and does not specifically refer to IACE or any other MWR travel service. IACE does in fact, however, routinely extend additional services and temporary exceptions for time-sensitive issues such as emergency travel. It appears the original reservation was inadvertently cancelled when you asked for additional time to arrange cash payment vice paying by credit card, and while IACE admittedly did not handle your particular situation in the best possible manner, they made an earnest effort to fix any errors. Your original request was to travel on specific days and to use your accumulated frequent flyer miles to pay for seat upgrades, and through IACE’s efforts you did in fact travel on the original days requested and did so with upgraded tickets. In discussions with IACE management and Mr. Lopez of MWR, both parties notably recall the reference made about complimentary upgrades; however, both clearly understand the comment was made by you as a suggestion and certainly not acknowledged or promised by IACE as a form of compensation. IACE did inform us, however, that they had to take a company loss of $200 per ticket in order to rebook your tickets at short notice and to arrange for your ticket upgrades. While we understand that this whole process could have been done in a manner that minimized your stress at a difficult time, it appears IACE made a concerted effort to make you “whole” and ultimately you travelled on the exact original dates with upgraded tickets purchased in the original manner intended. While we certainly hope that you and other Yokosuka Base community members will use the convenient and professional services of IACE travel you are certainly not “required” to do so as there are numerous online and other options available to you. Indeed, if a traveler on a true emergency calls the airlines directly they can frequently get discounts and additional services not easily available when booked through commercial travel agencies. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact the ITT Manager Al Maige at 241-5056. Thank you for your feedback and the opportunity to respond, and may I offer my apologies again for any inconvenience you have suffered.

I've used IACE for six years now and have not had a single problem with them--they are great!

Having said that, I'm sorry the person had so much trouble. And in the worst possible time.