BAAZ

Of course customers can be rude or aggressive etc. But the hallmark of good customer service is for the "customer servant" (for want of a better word) not to respond in kind. (Of course assault is something else entirely, as is disobeying an instruction from someone in authority e.g. the captain or a flight attendant.). That is what one notices particularly in France and (to a lesser extent) in Italy - the feeling that you are expected to be grateful that the "customer servant" is serving you at all, instead of putting his or her own interests first.

I'm not expecting to form a "decent relationship" with them, I just expect to be served. That's all.

Yahillwe

I was never rude nor aggressive... All I wanted, after being told that no we couldn't take a later flight than the 7:30 am, was to get our suitcases and we could manage from there.

And btw since July 1, I had been to 3 continents before going to Palermo...

Alice11 can refute whatever and however she wants with what happened to us... This is 5 voices telling there friends and who ever asks them about their experience. Multiply that and you'll get more people not wanteimg or apprehensive next time they want or have a choice of taking AZ...Simple




Thisnis why I posted my experience here, because the OP was apprehensive about taking AZ...

Alice11

The reference to rude or aggressive behaviour that I made wasn't related to your case, just a general comment about how the situation is deteriorating, at least in Italy, and staff is increasingly under pressure.

Yahillwe

I don't care if the staff is under pressure or not, they just lost a few customers. My son just called me and asked why we were going to Greece instead of Sardegnia, I told him of my recent experience.... And something else wasn't available... Therefore I don't want to go this again, therefore Greece it is...

TWA Fan 1

In the spring of 2009, I flew JFK-FCO-VCE on Alitalia.

I arrived at JFK T1 about 2 hours before my departure and checked one bag.

The flights (in Y) were perfectly fine, nothing spectacular, but they were on time and service was perfectly professional.

Flight from FCO to VCE was on an ancient MD-80, but, again, everything was fine.

When I arrived at VCE, my bag did not show. Yikes! I went to the baggage office, which at VCE, is handled by a sub-contractor. I filled out a form and was told that I would be informed when my bag would arrive.

My trip to Italy involved moving from town to town virtually on a daily basis. Every day I called the phone number for the baggage sub-contractor, but no one ever answered and the automatic system was useless.

Finally, we decided to call AZ in the U.S. It turned out the bag never made the flight in the first place because TSA had inspected it after the x-rays established I had packed some walkie talkies (no lithium batteries). Apparently, they didn't think it was important to get my bag back to the airline and on the flight, or any flight, for that matter.

AZ NYC then sent my bag onto VCE and then to Trieste where I could pick it up. It had been nearly a week since I arrived in Italy, and it was definitely time for a change of clothes...

Funny post-script is that about five days after I picked my bag at the Trieste airport, I got a phone call from the Trieste baggage office informing me that my bag was in Trieste and "ready for pick up."

The moral of the story? AZ may be a little clunky and inefficient, but nothing sows chaos like the TSA...

rathin100

TSA did the same thing to me LGA MIA last month I was a first class passengeron AA, no transfers. I was quite surprised at how clueless AA were about it I had to literally threaten them with a lawsuit to get them to check with TSA in LGA and it turned out that they had kept my bag back for inspection (there was a laptop in it battery removed) and like you say, never bothered to put it back.

Even so, your story inidcates yet another example of why Alitalia, even post proivatisation, is an airline to be avoided.

BAAZ

Do the TSA look out especially for electronic gadgets without batteries? If so, that's useful to know.

TWA Fan 1

Perhaps, although in my case the electronic gadgets did have batteries, just not lithium batteries, which are prohibited from being checked.

TWA Fan 1

Actually, I think Alitalia, while certainly not on the top of my list of the world's best airlines, was the party least at fault in this case.

And while i certainly don't blame the TSA for inspecting my bag (nothing is more important than security), they ought to have seen to it that my bag was delivered back to the airline.

Then there was the baggage contractor in Venice. They were totally useless.

And finally, there was the baggage guy in Trieste, who hilariously called me five days after I picked up my bag to tell me my bag was "ready to be picked up."

But Alitalia got me to my destination in one piece and eventually delivered my bag. Of course, they could have been slightly more proactive, but I'm not sure any other carrier would have been much different in a similar circumstance.

rathin100

I woul treat Venice and trieste failures as AZ failures ... You subcontract or outsource you take responsibility for the consequences..

rathin100

No clue... They had certainly handled my laptop and rummaged in my bag... They didn't steal anything of value though....

TWA Fan 1

Yes, except that these sub-contractors handle all the carriers in each of these airports, not just AZ.

So I think it's more a failure of the system, but not necessarily AZ.

And, Lord knows, the system in Italy certainly has its foibles

Fabmaz6

Dear el porco volante..........are you making a BIIIIIIIIG mix with the Old and the NEW company? I believe it

Fabmaz6

At least 50 flights in the last 6 months....always on late and even in advance.....I think u're unlike.....with time was planned ur flight to rome?

BAAZ

Really?? So you can't carry mobile phones, small cameras etc etc in checked luggage, but have to have them in hand luggage? I learn something new every day - it's true that I haven't been to the US for several years now.