Sometimes it's good to complain.

[firth1974 2,659]

Sometimes its good to complain.

 

6 weeks ago I endured the journey to hell to get to Bangkok, so I decided to email Etihad and complain, and this is what happened.............

 

 

 

Good morning Etihad Airways,

 

After making a post on your Facebook page regarding delays, whoever it is that replies to posts on that page(on your behalf), advised me to email you with my comments and information regarding a flight delay on Monday 27th January 2014, due to land in Abu Dhabi on that date.

 

I was aboard flight EY 18 out of LHR, inbound to AUH. We were due to land at 07.10am, but due to fog we couldn't. After circling for 2 hours, at approx. 09.00am the captain said due to fog and a now (serious???) problem with the undercarriage, we were now being diverted to Al Ain. After landing in Al Ain, we were kept aboard that plane for 2 hours before a decision was made with what to do with us. That's 2 hours, with no food, only ONE DRINK being served, and your flight staff couldn't even be bothered to re-turning on the IFE, so as to give us something to do whilst waiting for such a long time!!!

 

So, after sitting aboard your aircraft( a very nice A340-600) for 2 hours, we were than herded aboard buses for our journey to AUH. Bearing in mind we are now 4 hours delayed. Half way through this next stage of our "journey", your bus drivers refused to pull over and let people off to use toilets. We did actually park up after 1 hour, but that was because the drivers wanted the toilet and still wouldn't let us off either!!! Now, I understand that that none of us actually had visas to be in the U.A.E, but surely they could let us off to use the toilet!!! That's just common courtesy and partly good customer service and relations. Eventually, the drivers relented and we could get off and relieve ourselves.

 

Eventually, after a very long journey we finally made it to AUH, where, it was a pleasant surprise to actually find that you had held our original Bangkok bound flight (EY 404). Very little information, actually no information at all, was dispensed by your airport staff regarding the delay and other issues arising because of the delay. Infact, your staff just wanted rid of us, get us out of their hair and onto that flight!!!!

 

EY 404 was due to land in Bangkok at 19.45pm, but because of this delay, we actually landed around 01.00am approx. My paid for taxi that was waiting for me at the airport had already arrived and left without me, and because of this delay I had to forgo that cost of the taxi, and also my first nights accommodation in Bangkok as well!!!

 

Now, im not looking for a refund for that, or toeven be reimbursed, but after reading on Facebook about another flight delay of 6 hours and offers being made to compensate about this with Etihad guest miles, I would like to know if you would consider making me an offer of free miles onto my Etihad guest account or maybe even a free upgrade next time I fly with Etihad?? There are so many different and cheap options of flying from London to Bangkok, that I may have to change my preferred airline of choice to one of your other competitiors, if you cant take care of your guests that have being affected by delays.

 

If you would like to look into this, the information for my flights was,.......

 

 

26 Jan 2014

- 27 Jan 2014 London Heathrow Airport

20:20

TERMINAL 4 Abu Dhabi International

07:10

TERMINAL 3 EY 18 Confirmed

Economy Saver

27 Jan 2014 Abu Dhabi International

10:40

TERMINAL 3 Suvarnabhumi Airport

19:45

EY 404 Confirmed

Economy Saver

 

Booking reference TPxxxx

Eticket number 6072121xxxxxx

Frequent Flyer Number EY1000xxxxxxxx

 

I look forward to hearing your reply to my email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Mr Chris

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

 

And then 2 days later, I get a reply back from Etihad..............

 

 

 

 

Ref: 205xxx

Date: 09 March 2014

 

Dear Mr. Chris,

 

At Etihad we place great importance on maintaining the highest levels of personal service and hospitality. Clearly on this occasion, we were not able to provide this to the standard that you, or we, would have liked and for this we offer our sincere apologies for the disruption that the flight delay caused.

 

Disruptions are inconvenient and unpleasant and I am sorry that you were caught up in this situation. Whilst we do not undermine in any way the disappointment caused however, we sincerely hope for your understanding as safety is always our first concern. We would never compromise the safety of our Guests or crew irrespective of any consequential disruption or service difficulty. Notwithstanding this, most disruptions to our flights are caused by factors outside our direct control although this is of little consolation to our customers and crew.

 

It is my sincere hope that you can accept my apology for the delay experienced, in addition we would like to offer you 20,000 Etihad guest miles to be awarded to your account as way of a goodwill gesture, these miles can be utilized towards future Etihad flights and/or any of the 6000+ rewards available on the Etihad Guest Reward Shop. www.etihadguest.com I hope that you will accept these miles as an extension of our apologies for not meeting the expectations.

 

If you wish to avail to our offer please confirm so the Etihad Guest miles can be added to your account accordingly.

 

It is my sincere hope that you will be able to put this experience behind and continue to travel with Etihad in the future.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Hamza Omishat

 

Guest Affairs Officer

 

Etihad Airways

 

------------------------------

 

Upon checking my Etihad account online, the miles have been credited to my account, and ive also had my account upgraded from Guest( bottom level) to Gold card. Extra miles, lounge access and all the other usual benefits. Well done Etihad for listening to your customers and making me happy.

 

Sometimes, its good to complain.

[jacko 8,822]

Glad to hear you got something out of the discomfort of the trip here.

The 'Gold card' pretty much means you will be flying Etihad again I bet!

I spoke to someone only yesterday who had a 2 hour + delay landing in Dubai (Emirates Airlines) due to fog.

[globaljonesey 6]

When you complain about something genuinely, you are helping the company - good organizations recognise this, crap ones dont!

 

Good on Ethihad

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

Well done to Etihad. However, I dont fly on Arab airlines.

[Sailfast 503]

Sending an email or letter that gets to the right person is crucial. So many preople call and it's likely a waste of time.

 

Chris Elliot is a good person to contact if you need an email address. He has a travelers advocate blog and writes for CNN. Elliot.org

 

I was getting stonewalled by United/Ana. He gave me someone's email address at United and in MINUTES my problem was solved. After it was solved I still had three VP's email me trying to help.

 

They credited me 30K in miles and wrote me an apology letter.

[Sailfast 503]

http://elliott.org/contacts/

 

A list of customer service executives email addresses they don't want you to have

[Obsession 571]

Hi,

 

Well done to Etihad. However, I dont fly on Arab airlines.

 

Why not?

 

Nice result Firth. I have neglected writing , regarding huge delays.

[short 215]

In the US every company is required to publish a number to the IRS that will be promptly answered. Those numbers are tabulated in a book that is published every year and every US library keeps a copy (sorry I don't remember the name of it). I have called a library and asked the librarian to look that number up for me.

[firth1974 2,659]

It seems it is worth it to complain.

 

Checking on Facebook lately, Etihad have been having quite a few problems with fog and delays in Abu Dhabi in the past 8 days. It was only because I read about these problems and heard Etihad offering Miles and/or free flights that I decided to chance my arm and see what happened!!

 

Seems I decided right for a change.

[Fatboyfat 361]

A couple of years back I complained to them about continually "parking" the Manchester flight (both inbound and outbound) on the tarmac involving a bus trip to the old terminal and then a long old hike thru' the airport to their dedicated new Terminal 3, which always had many airbridges available. Aircraft was always on time arriving, although inevitably late when departing. They offered me several thousand airmiles as recompense, which I declined and asked them to donate them to the young wheelchair passenger who had been severely inconvenienced by the outbound ordeal; and suggested they sort the damn problem out for the future. Suffice to say my very next outbound flight from MAN ..... parked in the cargo bays !! It's been Emirates for me since then, but other reasons have influenced that choice tho'.

[jacko 8,822]

A couple of years back I complained to them about continually "parking" the Manchester flight (both inbound and outbound) on the tarmac involving a bus trip to the old terminal and then a long old hike thru' the airport to their dedicated new Terminal 3, which always had many airbridges available. Aircraft was always on time arriving, although inevitably late when departing. They offered me several thousand airmiles as recompense, which I declined and asked them to donate them to the young wheelchair passenger who had been severely inconvenienced by the outbound ordeal; and suggested they sort the damn problem out for the future. Suffice to say my very next outbound flight from MAN ..... parked in the cargo bays !! It's been Emirates for me since then, but other reasons have influenced that choice tho'.

I think they had a spell of parking the aircraft on the tarmac, again a couple of years back, it happened to me with Qatar too.

I was pissed of paying Biz Class and crammed into an over packed shuttle to the aircraft and having to stand. Couldn't really blame the airline as I thought it was a Manchester Airport issue.

[Fatboyfat 361]

I think they had a spell of parking the aircraft on the tarmac, again a couple of years back, it happened to me with Qatar too.

I was pissed of paying Biz Class and crammed into an over packed shuttle to the aircraft and having to stand. Couldn't really blame the airline as I thought it was a Manchester Airport issue.

Sorry, I wasn't clear there; my problems were occuring at Abu Dhabi airport.

[jacko 8,822]

Sorry, I wasn't clear there; my problems were occuring at Abu Dhabi airport.

Too hot there to be wandering around outside!

[BeerBelly 1,026]

Nicely written complaint letter. Far too often people complain, but then forget to say what they want out of it.

 

Personally, I think their response was crap. Basically they were simply claiming "safety", however, the issues you were pointing out were not safety related. Seriously putting on the in flight entertainment would be risky to the aircraft? Letting people use the restroom is unsafe? I get the feeling they gave you the miles simply to "shut you up".

[tombon 113]

I few years ago, Etihad cancelled my flight, I only found out when I contacted there customer service a few hours before the flight. They give me the number for MAN office. When I called them they confirmed the flight was cancelled and I was booked onto the flight the following evening. I asked them when was you's gona tell me about the flight being cancelled, when I got the airport. The lady didn't give a reply. I said I can not fly out tomorrow I need to fly out today, she said nothing we can do, I said there is I know you's can book me onto another airlines flight. She gave a snotty reply and I asked to talk to her boss. her boss called me back 15 minutes later and said if I can get the airport within 1 hour they will book me onto a lufthansa flight. i got their within the hour and booked onto Lufthansa. So it woked out will in the end, as i had flown out at an earlier time and the flight was 2 hours shorter.

I did make a compliant to Etihad guest services cos i was not happy about the fact that they would not of told me about the flight being cancelled until i had arrived at the airport. They did give me 20000 miles, mainly cos i didn't get any miles for flying with Lufthansa.

I used to use Etihad all the time and was a gold card member. but i have not used them for the past 2 and half years, mainly cos of the poor in flight service from the air attendants and the IFE never worked on about 75% of my flights, i just had enough of flying with them.