My brother flew back home to Pretoria from Cape Town on Kulula this weekend. Between his wife and himself they had ample weight allowance available, but were shocked with disbelief when told by the check-in staff that the amplifier he had brought along was not allowed as check-in or carry-on luggage. Despite his protests the Kulula check-in supervisor & manager refused to accept the box containing the amp. It had been meticulously packed, sealed and secured with string.
Because the flight departure time was fast approaching they had no choice but to give up and hasten to the boarding gates, after phoning me to come and collect the amp at the airport counter asap, so I could courier it up to him.
When I arrived I collected the amp and then had it out with the check-in moron/manager (... 'damager' would have been more appropriate I believe), who confidently maintained that Kulula do not accept either AMPLIFIERS or SPEAKERS on board as these fell under the category of ' DANGEROUS GOODS ' upon which I challenged him to provide official documentation to that effect. He pointed me to the item on the chart which stated that items with electromagnetic fields were classified as dangerous goods and that amps had large transformers which fell into this category
???
Of course I let the idiot know that I'd never heard such utter bulls...t in my entire life
He then went on to tell me that in any event, an amplifier did not qualify as luggage, as luggage is "something you carry with you ....and besides we have the right to refuse to board anything we want! " A heated exchanged ensued for a brief few minutes, until some passengers arrived, whereupon I restrained myself and resigned myself to the fact that I could not win with such an idiot.
Anyway, I left with the worst possible impression of this carrier, thinking to myself: what if a holidaymaker with no family or friends locally to bail them out, were to experience this unpleasant surprise??? Would they simply have to dump their precious AV cargo?
No Kulula for me thank you!
Because the flight departure time was fast approaching they had no choice but to give up and hasten to the boarding gates, after phoning me to come and collect the amp at the airport counter asap, so I could courier it up to him.
When I arrived I collected the amp and then had it out with the check-in moron/manager (... 'damager' would have been more appropriate I believe), who confidently maintained that Kulula do not accept either AMPLIFIERS or SPEAKERS on board as these fell under the category of ' DANGEROUS GOODS ' upon which I challenged him to provide official documentation to that effect. He pointed me to the item on the chart which stated that items with electromagnetic fields were classified as dangerous goods and that amps had large transformers which fell into this category
??? Of course I let the idiot know that I'd never heard such utter bulls...t in my entire life
He then went on to tell me that in any event, an amplifier did not qualify as luggage, as luggage is "something you carry with you ....and besides we have the right to refuse to board anything we want! " A heated exchanged ensued for a brief few minutes, until some passengers arrived, whereupon I restrained myself and resigned myself to the fact that I could not win with such an idiot.
Anyway, I left with the worst possible impression of this carrier, thinking to myself: what if a holidaymaker with no family or friends locally to bail them out, were to experience this unpleasant surprise??? Would they simply have to dump their precious AV cargo?
No Kulula for me thank you!
