[Marcella Willis]

I purchased a ticket online to fly from Panama to Kenya. Admittedly it was my fault not to look carefully at the receipt until a week later, but there was an additional "International Surcharge" of $295.00 added on to the list of fees and taxes. This was definitely not listed in the original list of fees and taxes. And for the same flight currently listed online, this fee is not listed amongst the fees and taxes. When I called their customer service, I was told this fee would be applicable to all flights-both the one I purchased and even the ones posted currently. When I said it's not listed on their website for this same flight as of now, the customer service person told me I was wrong. But then she refused to look at the public website to see that I was right. She told me it doesn't matter if these are hidden fees/taxes are legal or not, but she would not do anything for me. She told me I could write an email and complain, but they would not do anything about it. That was after 45 minutes on hold to finally speak with a rude and surly supervisor. Sure I should have checked the receipt more carefully as soon as the payment went through, but even then they would not refund/rectify it. I think this is a case of non-transparent and hidden fees. But there is no recourse as far as just sending a letter of complaint. Any advice?