Left high and dry by Air Malta

Air Malta owe me £540 dating from June 2020, representing the cost of flights that had been cancelled due to COVID. Nearly three years later, countless e-mails to Air Malta, Expedia and the consumer protection office, as well as hours spent on chat support and phone calls, have not resulted in a refund.

Air Malta refers to Expedia; the consumer protection office don’t think it’s their remit, while Expedia repeatedly and in writing state that the ticket responsibility now lies with Air Malta. Expedia, in my presence, called Air Malta, who advised to wait five days for a reply. Months later and no reply has been received.

Recent contact by Expedia with Air Malta results in the latter stating the matter is now in the hands of a separate unit, accessible only by e-mail internally.

A registered letter to the Air Malta CEO  went unanswered.  Air Malta should be aware that I have given it priority over other airlines over a period of 24 years. The handling of this request is a shambles, and not refunding the money is theft.

Air Malta, and any other company which is due to inherit its business, should not expect any loyalty from me considering the lack of respect for their customers. I do wonder how many others have been left high and dry. Shame.

Adrian Galea – Eastbourne, East Sussex

Renovation of houses

Photo: Jonathan Borg

Return visits to Malta, particularly after years of absence, often highlight to the visitor matters that are otherwise generally taken for granted locally, and may indeed have been completely ignored for years.

In this respect, the number of seriously derelict and dilapidated houses located just outside the centre of Valletta, frequently with ill-matching cement breeze blocks replacing doors and windows, is such a case in point; added to which on these properties are a generous helping of unartistic obvious graffiti.

These once upmarket and thriving residences do not need searching for on the sides of the Grand Harbour, and also with some frequency along the coastal roads of Msida, Gżira, Pietà and Sliema. They are much too obvious, are seriously off-putting and terrible eyesores which give a rather poor general impression of the Maltese.

Central government and local councils should be given the legal wherewithal to compel the owners to carry out the bare minimum of essential external repairs and face-lifting. Such powers  should be used  to ensure an amelioration of these rather too obvious and seriously off-putting eyesores that greatly detract from the general ambience of the country, and give a rather downmarket impression of the central parts of Malta to its visitors.

In the same vein, the grounds of Buskett Gardens need an aggressive major restoration programme if these continue to be places still worth visiting and enjoying.

Anthony Busuttil – Edinburgh, Scotland