Postby ironchefchris » Sun Mar 18, 2018 9:53 am
1. Why would there be a penalty for buying a (new) ticket?
2. Contact Latam and/or read the fine print of their policies online.
3. Talk to a lawyer about possible compensation under Peruvian law and if you even really have a case at this point.
4. Talk to a lawyer and/or INDECOPI.
5. Go straight to the source who can answer this question - El Comercio - and ask to speak with an editor about a potential story.
6. Good question. Never happened to me. Nor do I have much experience with lawyers, have only read El Comercio, and have zero experience with INDECOPI.
Since you have no online access to your BCP account and because this happened on Wednesday, did you go into a physical BCP bank on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday and inquire about this situation? What did the Latam rep. you spoke with have to say, specifically, about all of this as to why your tickets haven't been purchased yet? If the answer was unsatisfactory did you speak with a supervisor? Did you go into a Latam office or just call on the phone? In Perú I've always find it better to deal in person as opposed to online or the phone.
I'd talk to Latam again, in person (with a supervisor if necessary) and with your Peruvian wife along, for a detailed answer to your problem, and if they're not going to give you tickets with your confirmation code I'd inform them you're going to BCP to figure this out and that if there's still no solution that you'll be informing BCP not to pay any charges from Latam on the date/confirmation # in question. All in a very friendly, 'oh well, these things happen sometimes,' non-confrontational tone. After clearing up the current situation, if necessary, I'd make a new reservation with Latam, in their office, take the payment printout they give you, go back to BCP, and pay at the bank.
Unnecessarily difficult as it may be to finally get your tickets, I'd skip 3-5. Who wants to deal with lawyers/court system unless absolutely necessary? Who wants to pay an attorney for a consultation over a hypothetical situation that may not ever happen - "probably financial damages?" Negligence? How? Maybe so, but you haven't posted any details yet that would suggest negligence. Who wants to try to prove "emotional damages" on something like this? In Perú? Where screw ups and problems due to bureaucracy are a daily part of life? Maybe in the lawsuit happy US where people's skin is much thinner re: any kind of inconvenience you'd have a chance, after you've gotten a mental health professional who's diagnosed and treated your "emotional damages" to testify - but here in Perú? Who wants to deal with INDECOPI (or any govt. agency) unless it's absolutely necessary? What is your rate of success on your past/current INDECOPI cases and generally speaking, how do you judge them based on your past experiences? That should give you an idea as to whether or not to bother with INDECOPI? I'm guessing a story about an expat gringo with a carnet having troubles with a couple of large, bureaucratic companies doesn't make for a compelling newspaper story to the average Peruvian citizen El Comercio targets it's stories toward, but an editor there could probably tell you in 2 seconds.
Can only go by what you're posting and make an assumption, but it sounds like you haven't exhausted all your options yet. It all sounds like it's more time, trouble, and expense than it'd potentially be worth, but that's just me. I value my time and don't like wasting it or my money. I'm not into making big cases out of relatively little things; especially when it involves large, international companies, banks, lawyers and bureaucratic government agencies. I'd probably rather sit on a wet toilet seat then deal with all that.
What does your Peruvian wife and your Peruvian friends say about the situation and what do they suggest on how to proceed?
These kinds of things can be majorly frustrating. Good luck and enjoy your honeymoon.
