amalkadog

Just how do you complain and who to? I am flabbergasted and frustrated which is not a good start. I'm UK based flying mainly in Europe on KLM/AF

Summary

26/4/2012 booked tickets online but made a date error for the inbound. Tried to change error online but 'system error' kept popping up.

1/5/2012 'Phoned ticketing to sort it out - agent checked it - offered a flight - and confirmed her system showed no further charges except the Ł50 'change' fee = job done? NO

2/5/2012 Gentleman from Spain calls me to get a re-routing charge from me for the change I had requested? "I did not ask for the change - it was offered - listen to the recording." "No I wont" comes the reply - "you requested it so you have to pay"? "I will not pay - and let me speak to your Manager to sort this out". "No and if you don't pay - I will change the ticket back to original date". "Okay - then please change the ticket to a suitable flight with no additional charges" "No I wont" and hung up........

Customer Care - should read Customer Can't

I submitted a complaint online as per the instructions about the agents attitude and the problem now with the ticket - it's changed back and blocked from any new changes? What a total nightmare.

Just who do you complain to about an employee in the first instance? There does not seem to be any such thing as Customer Care? In the second instance - how the jings can I get this ticket sorted out - given I've stumped up Ł50 for a ticket change that's been changed back to the wrong travel date and is now blocked?

Talk about a stunning exposé in Customer Care.

Best, A

irishguy28

Sorry, but unless you book flexible fares, your itinerary cannot be changed for free. Given the way you present your story, it would appear that you immediately noticed you had made an error with the date and tried to change it online. That was the point you should have rung up and asked for a change to be made - an agent may have been able to be somewhat more lenient when you notified them immediately of the mistake. Waiting a further 5 days to ring up to correct the error was perhaps not the best.

You failed to mention which airline you are talking about - and the fact that you received a call "from Spain" doesn't seem to help.

If you go to the UK website of whichever airline it was - www.airfrance.co.uk, http://www.klm.com/travel/gb_en/apps/ebt/ebt_home.htm or http://www.aireuropa.com and click through to their Customer Services/Contact Us pages, you will find the number to ring to lodge a complaint.

Xandrios

My guess is Air Europa as well.

The strange thing here is that the first agent said that there would only be a 50 euro charge (Which I assume was paid?), and later on they called for an additional charge that was not beforehand communicated to the OP. Which is clearly their mistake and their responsibility to fix.

irishguy28

Twice, now, it's happened that I've been rang back (bmi and Lufthansa) with the bad news that they'd calculated the taxes/charges associated with a rebooking incorrectly. If a passenger can make a mistake when making a booking, I'm sure that call centre agents can also make such mistakes when recalculating fares/penalties/fees.

Given that, in both cases, I had initiated the change, I didn't see why I could, or should, object to the news that it was actually going to cost more than what I had originally been quoted.

amalkadog

I know - I knew a charge would be made.

I do these things myself - and the Romani Customer Support closes at 17.00 hrs - not open at w'ends - so it was a tad awkward to fit it in - after all - it can all be done online - no - it can't.

I mainly fly KLM/AF - my route is EDI - BUC every month.

I did - a full written complaint - with the reply - as follows - "In this Customer Care department we only deal with post-flight issues. Since your questions concerns your future flight and is therefore pre-flight issue, I recommend you to contact our Reservations Support. Please have the ticket number ready when calling. You can contact Reservations Support by calling in UK +44 (0) 871 231 0000." No re-direct and this thread has been closed.

Have you ever successfully complained - about anything - in the FB arena? I've only been flying FB for 7 months - 32 sector flights completed with probably the same again to complete - but I am new to this so maybe be gentle with the green gilled flyer. I'm looking to the experienced for assistance especially if similar examples have occurred.

I was maybe a bit vague - it is FB carriers CityJet & Tarom - booked through the FB members site. I take the point of calling about the error - but I was trying to change it online through the Manage Your Bookings - while in Bucharest. My error - their 'system error'. The main reason I did not call the Romanian customer support - they were closed - I was busy and that's that.

The good news is - the ticket has been resolved. Spoke to Amsterdam today - and the agent confirmed the 'system' had produced errors when the re-booking was being done on the 1st May and the tickets couldn't be issued - hence the call from ticketing to get a re-routing charge of €180 euros. The final charge was Ł41 (not Ł50) as the system recalculated a lower tax charge. There was a block on the ticket that would not allow me to make changes - but the agent was able too with ease.

My point - "Complain - Who To" as the heading indicates which seems to have been missed - the ticketing agent wherever she (not a he ) - was rude, intransigent, accusatory and down right insulting. So I or we take this in our stride as passengers, accept it, allow it and move on. Errors are made all the time - I was not looking for a freebie, favour or any such like - just a date change for the fee. But to get it - instead of the computer system working - I had to resort to jumping through hoops. I'm sure you all in your professional lives love to be lambasted and accused by fellow workers and competitors especially when 'hung up on' in mid conversation = not ever? So as a customer it is acceptable?

"Complain - Who To" correct me if I'm totally wrong - there is no system in place at FB KLM/AF that allows a valid complaint to be handled?

Thank you for replies - I really do appreciate it and the advice , best, A'dog

orbitmic

But 26/4 when you said you booked was a Thursday so even if it was after 5pm it might have been better to call on the Friday.

I hadn't realised that yours was an award ticket but the indications mentioned by irishguy28 on where/how to complain about customer service issues (such as if someone feels that an agent has been rude to them) are correct. My suspicion is that because of the specific things that were being discussed, the person who read your message thought you were asking for the reservation to be changed or reinstated, and that is why they directed to the reservation department. I think it was meant as a helpful reply as only reservation departments could have modified the reservation while the customer service department could only explain or compensate (it's unlikely that compensation would be due in your case, and even if it were, we would probably only be talking about a handful of miles).

irishguy28

I'm still not sure which airline you booked the ticket with (you've put "Air France" in the heading of your reply, mentioned City Jet and Tarom), or if it was a Flying Blue redemption (you said it was booked from the "FB Members site"???).

My advice would be: ring the airline of whom the agent you wish to complain about was an employee. (If it was a Flying Blue agent, ring Flying Blue).

If it was CityJet, then clicking on their "Contact Us" page - http://www.cityjet.com/contact-us/ - and reading through it (ie, scroll all the way down) reveals that complaints should be directed to:

Note, however, that a lot of CityJet's functions/administration is carried out by AirFrance (CityJet is an Air France subsidiary) so if AF is the one you should turn to, then clicking on the "Contact Us" link on the Air France UK website I pointed you to above - http://www.airfrance.co.uk/GB/en/loc...htm?menu=false - tells you how to "Contact our Customer Relations Department".

If it's a Flying Blue issued ticket, and therefore a Flying Blue agent that you wish to complain about, then ring Flying Blue and when you speak to an agent tell them you wish to lodge a complaint

I would further advise you to leave out all the other details (online, mistake, error, weekend, rebook, reroute) and just complain about the way the agent dealt with you (without starting off with the long story of how you came to be speaking to him).

Often1

If OP's complaint was anything close to what OP wrote in this thread, it's no wonder he got nowhere and the CSR ultimately cut him off. We don't know what carrier, route, fare basis or anything about the itinerary, so all we can do is offer generalized advice about how to figure out what the correct answer is.

This issue comes down to a simple matter of the rules (which OP needs to go read carefully):

1. He admittedly made a booking error.
2. How long do the rules for his fare allow for a change to be made before a fee is assessed?
3. Did OP request the change within the time allowed under #2?
4. If yes, then OP should get his change without charge.
5. If no, then OP should pay the change fee

The CSR may have been curt, but at some point it makes no sense to argue about something and you have to fish or cut bait.

amalkadog

By jingo thank you for all your learned advice. You will have to excuse my 'green' approach to it all - especially the 'carrier' bit. If this explains it better then super ---- I book my flights online - through the KLM web site - logged in as my FB membership number. So I enter the dates of travel the from/to and the site offers up flights available - in this case EDI/BUC/EDI. 4 carriers are normally involved depending on the routing - so if through AMS then it is only KLM - if through CDG then CityJet/AF/TAR are the potential carriers. The flight to BUC is a 2 sector with a stopover in either Amsterdam or Paris. So - and just how confusing can it get - I have put AF as the carrier because that's what appears on my booking - but the carriers on their behalf are AF, CJ & TAR - actually this explains it better:

Itinerary Information
Date Flight Departing Arriving Date Class Baggage
17JUL AF 1889 BUCHAREST HENRI PARIS CDG 17JUL R 1PC
15:15 OTP CDG 17:25
17JUL AF 5148 PARIS CDG EDINBURGH APT 17JUL R 1PC
20:25 CDG EDI 21:30
29JUL AF 5147 EDINBURGH APT PARIS CDG 29JUL R 1PC
06:10 EDI CDG 09:20
29JUL AF 2356 PARIS CDG BUCHAREST HENRI 29JUL R 1PC
12:25 CDG OTP 16:15

17JUL AF 1889 /STATUS: OK /NOT VALID BEFORE 17JUL /NOT VALID AFTER 17JUL
17JUL AF 5148 /STATUS: OK, FLIGHT OPERATED BY: CITYJET /NOT VALID BEFORE 17JUL /NOT VALID AFTER 17JUL
29JUL AF 5147 /STATUS: OK, FLIGHT OPERATED BY: CITYJET /NOT VALID BEFORE 29JUL /NOT VALID AFTER 29JUL
29JUL AF 2356 /STATUS: OK, FLIGHT OPERATED BY: TAROM /NOT VALID BEFORE 29JUL /NOT VALID AFTER 29JUL

Please advise me how to condense this so in future posts I can report correctly.

Now, apologies to Irishguy28 - I wasn't having a hissy fit - more a frustrated fit. I've quoted your comments more to explain better - not to have a go. It does however read otherwise - apologies.

UPDATE Flights changed as said - and a follow up today from both Reservations & Customer Care. Reservations to make sure I was happy with the changes - do I want to alter them at no cost and apologising for the 'system errors' that caused the whole problem. "Very nice, yes aok and - could I have a Lounge voucher for CDG as a sweetener" - I said tongue in cheek. "No - but here's 5000 award miles to get you into the Business Lounge in CDG (I'm only a Silver for now) as it is an AF booking we can't give a voucher." Now wasn't that nice.

Customer care - only operate after the flight - there is no before the flight care? But - the moral of this story - shout as loud as you feel vindicates your complaint and it will be heard. What a kerfuffle.

Now - just how fair is this Flying Blue award scheme?

Seriously thank you - and I hope in a long winded way - it helps someone else out when a problem arises. I will report back with the outcome of the employee - who has been reported! A'dog

irishguy28

Well, glad it has all worked out for you in the end.

Here, though, there is still a misunderstanding. Of course you can't complain about a flight that has not yet happened. But you were never complaining about a flight (and must have failed to properly express your grievance on more than one occasion, if they came back with the "you can't complain yet" reply). As I understand things now, your complaint was with the way you were spoken to/dealt with by an agent. That's a complaint that has nothing to do with any particular flight or any particular booking - and hence why I was trying to direct you towards general customer service/complaints (rather than specific travel complaints). My references to the "operating carrier" should in no way have been taken as an indication that your complaint should be tied into the actual flight/booking in question - and that is also why I advised you not to refer to the booking/flights/mistakes aspects, which were irrelevant to the actual subject-matter of your complaint and which still seem to be confusing people as to the nature of your complaint - it was more an indicator for you of figuring out who it was that the agent was acting on behalf of, so that you could complain to the correct company. (After all, no point ringing up CityJet to complain about the behaviour of a Tarom phone agent, etc etc)

amalkadog

I never asked or insinuated I wanted a free change - as noted in my OP - Ł50 charge paid with no additional charges. There was no time limit. I did pay the fee. The CSR was from billing - not relations. The CSR went beyond their remit which was confirmed today in the 'phone calls - and Company Policy dictates - you do not hang up on anyone during a call - pass the call on - but no hanging up. The CSR was not curt - the CSR was rude, accusatory, belligerent and intransigent.

The OP admits he's Scottish - but hoped in writing - his accent would be disguised. Maybe I should "cut bait" from the forum - my tie colour might be the wrong shade.

amalkadog

Your trip
Airline company
KLM
Air France
Other
Flight number


Not applicable
Departure date

Depart from

Select destination from list
Not applicable
Arriving at

Select destination from list
Not applicable
Ticket number

Travel class

Trip purpose

The KLM web site - for a complaint through Customer Care - requires these fields to be completed - if you don't the Email will not send. As my complaint was about the CSR - there was no other way to send it without the itinerary details. The purpose of this post was - who do you complain to - when the specific circumstances do not fit in with the forms. Don't worry - last post - thanks and goodbye.

irishguy28

The general advice would be to ring them in a case like this.

However, if you look at the form (part of which you've reproduced above), you can see that you can click "Not Applicable" for each of Flight Number, "Depart From" and "Arrive At" - therefore clearly marking the complaint as not flight-specific.

orbitmic

To be honest this is really not my experience. When I have had to complain, I have always made it very softly, politely, and usually far more briefly than my typical FT posts would make you suspect And I have usually felt well-heard and taken care of. There have been exceptions but not many and I don't think shouting louder would have made things better...