Emirates Airlines Skywards - Rude Emirates Ground staff at Auckland airport- Be careful next time you fly Emirates

Emirates staff at Auckland airport are shockingly rude. I will leave a detailed feedback about my check-in experience today on EK413 flying AKL-SYD. However, I wonder if this will really help airline take remedial actions to improve its image and customer satisfaction experience. My checked in baggage was only 3 kgs more than the allowed airline allowance of 30 kgs. I was subjected to more than an hour of harrasment and rude behaviour by the ground staff of airline and it's agent, even to the extent of threatening me to stop board the flight when I said that I will voice my concerns to the media about airlines such policy. All this happened inspite of the fact that my carry on baggage was way less than the allowed allowance. Ultimately I flew with the same baggage by moving 2 kgs from my checked in baggae to the hand bag. I very much wonder if it is Emirates policy to be spot on accurate with the checked-in baggae allowance without proper training /instructions to its ground staff to use their common sense and discretion in certain matters like the one in my situation today. I must say that in my over 35 years of flying experience this one was the most horrible one and that too with an airline claiming to be an aviation leader.- Very unhappy passenger at seat 60A.

It's every airlines' policy to be accurate about the weight of bags. If they let everyone drag an extra 7 pounds on board they would be overweight. Sorry you had a rough time but that's the way it works.

Yea, I don't get this. They have the policies for a reason and are entitled to enforce them.

Moving this to the Emirates forum.

___________________

Cholula
CommunityBuzz! Co-Moderator

With respect, it sounds as though the check-in agent was being perfectly reasonable. You didn't happen to make the mistake of uttering the phrase "Do you know who I am?" did you?

My checked in baggage was only 3 kgs more than the allowed airline allowance of 30 kgs. I was subjected to more than an hour of harrasment and rude behaviour by the ground staff of airline... All this happened inspite of the fact that my carry on baggage was way less than the allowed allowance. Ultimately I flew with the same baggage by moving 2 kgs from my checked in baggae to the hand bag..

Sounds as though you could have saved yourself a lot of hassle by packing correctly in the first place ... why on earth waste an hour of your life arguing when , as you have pointed out , you could easily remedy the situation . Still , I guess if you enjoy arguing , then maybe it was an hour of your life well spent .

BTW , could you be more specific about what exactly the 'harrasment' and 'rude behaviour' involved ? Was it simply pointing out that you were over your permitted limits ? If so , then it hardly qualified as either .

Yet another example of someone registering with FT simply so they can post their "complaint" and then disappear! :rolleyes:

If you've been flying for 35 years you should know the rules and avoid the problem by packing correctly, and within the limits allowed by the carrier.

I haven't had a problem with EK in AKL.

BTW check in is done by contract agents and they are just following the rules required by EK.

Lucky you weren't flying JQ (or almost every other airline) on this route. Their checked baggage allowance is lower (zero on some economy fares) and they have high excess baggage charges.

Yet another example of someone registering with FT simply so they can post their "complaint" and then disappear! :rolleyes:

If you've been flying for 35 years you should know the rules and avoid the problem by packing correctly, and within the limits allowed by the carrier.

^^^

EK ground staff in JFK recently were not allowing overweight bags on board. I agree this is a reasonable thing to do. If you can easily move items from a checked bag to a carryon to avoid being overweight, simply do so and move on. No need to create a scene that's going to delay other passengers.

The Auckland staff were rude because they refused to check in bags which are beyond the weight which they are permitted to check in?

The business allowance is 30Kg and you were over the allowance
Even more importantly you were over the 32Kg limit which is an absolute max per bag regardless of which carrier you check in for in AU/NZ

Even if the 32Kg was not exceeded "discretion to allow" does NOT mean that they HAVE to allow excess baggage for free.

Why is it "common sense" to allow people to exceed the baggage limits without being charged? Common sense would seem to me to charge for it and make additional revenue

Dave

What he said..

The 32kg limit is an OH&S matter.. and as already pointed out, is an absolute.

You COULD of course have shipped the bag as CARGO which is the correct procedure for anything over 32kg..:rolleyes:

Yes, most check in agents will let the odd kilo over slip through.. (25 kilos rather than 23 fr'instance).. THIS istuation however is entirely different..

..and your carry on was below the allowed weight... Ummmm.. SO? Just what relevance does that have to the overweight CHECKED bag? (Other than - of course - the fact that YOU could have avoided the whole probelm by balancing them out BEFORE check in):td:

Given the way you tell the story you'll have to excuse me for making my own mind up about just WHO was "rude and harassing"....

Who wants to schlep a bag that heavy around anyway????

I've only been to Auckland once (in Feb this year) and I have to say that the ground staff there were amongst the best I've met in many more than 35 years of flying. They were fun, friendly and helpful. The staff in the Emirates lounge couldn't have done more for us. They reflected the approach of almost everyone we met in a one month trip to New Zealand. I suspect that my experience is more typical of Auckland and I wonder if Sid-au approached the staff in the same way I did.

The Auckland staff were rude because they refused to check in bags which are beyond the weight which they are permitted to check in?

The business allowance is 30Kg and you were over the allowance
Even more importantly you were over the 32Kg limit which is an absolute max per bag regardless of which carrier you check in for in AU/NZ

Even if the 32Kg was not exceeded "discretion to allow" does NOT mean that they HAVE to allow excess baggage for free.

Why is it "common sense" to allow people to exceed the baggage limits without being charged? Common sense would seem to me to charge for it and make additional revenue

Dave

The pax was in Y and not J bcoz the EK allowance for Y is 30 Kgs now & for J is 40 Kgs & F is 50 Kgs.

Safe Flying

EGT

The pax was in Y and not J bcoz the EK allowance for Y is 30 Kgs now & for J is 40 Kgs & F is 50 Kgs.

Safe Flying

EGT

Ya, that would explain the 60A seat number, but the key issue of 32Kg MAX per piece regardless still would exist even in 1st

I forgot the change in baggage allowances

Dave

Emirates limit per bag is 32kg per bag as previous statyed it is on there web site and in there terms and conditions i found emirtates staff to be good and qantas t be good when i have been over the limit but not over 32 kgs (ohs issue)

Emirates staff at Auckland airport are shockingly rude. I will leave a detailed feedback about my check-in experience today on EK413 flying AKL-SYD. However, I wonder if this will really help airline take remedial actions to improve its image and customer satisfaction experience. My checked in baggage was only 3 kgs more than the allowed airline allowance of 30 kgs. I was subjected to more than an hour of harrasment and rude behaviour by the ground staff of airline and it's agent, even to the extent of threatening me to stop board the flight when I said that I will voice my concerns to the media about airlines such policy. All this happened inspite of the fact that my carry on baggage was way less than the allowed allowance. Ultimately I flew with the same baggage by moving 2 kgs from my checked in baggae to the hand bag. I very much wonder if it is Emirates policy to be spot on accurate with the checked-in baggae allowance without proper training /instructions to its ground staff to use their common sense and discretion in certain matters like the one in my situation today. I must say that in my over 35 years of flying experience this one was the most horrible one and that too with an airline claiming to be an aviation leader.- Very unhappy passenger at seat 60A.

If in 35 years of flying this has been your "most horrible" experience, then you have led a charmed life!

There is no reason for the airlines to let you fly with excess luggage. Sometimes they may, and I have personally benefitted from such leniency in the past, but one shouldnt take it for granted, or even hold it against them.

[QUOTE=Sid_au;12669428] I said that I will voice my concerns to the media about airlines such policy.

I look forward to this being headline news in NZ. Please forward me the link when it appears;)

Anyone take me up on a bet that we'll never hear from the OP again :D

Cheers,
Rick

Actually, my wife flew AKL - BNE last Sat night, and she rang me from the terminal telling me how rude the staff at check in were.
She is not a whiner nor complainer when it comes to travel, even declining to use points for a Y-J upgrade on her flight.
She has flown extensively and this is the first time she has ever said anything to me, so the OP is not alone in his observations.
For the record, she did not have overweight bags, but asked for a change of seat. She has no status in Skywards.

I have not flown out of AKL on EK - but the CHC EK ground staff are outstanding.

I have flown very frequently SYD CHC SYD in both Y and J cabins, and always found the staff to be outstanding.

Recently I flew J with 2 large bags - totally 47kg - 7 kg over my allowance - nothing was said.

Another trip on a very cheap $88 AUD fare - I had a large box - oversize - my total luggage came to 29.5 kg - within the Y allowance - and the way i was dealt with (for the large box) was fantastic. The Check in agent explained that EK would not be liable for damage etc, the item was fragile, she applied fragile stickers - made me sign a disclaimer - and was excellent to deal with.

Considering a freight company wanted $1200 for this item - to have it shipped as part of my allowance was awesome.

For the record - it arrived safely in SYD no breakages. The Dnata ground staff in SYD were great, I was speaking to an older gent who spent many a year in a QF cabin as a Cabin Manager.

Maybe it is just 1 particular staff member at AKL who is being unpleasant, but then I would not want to do their job and deal with some of the more unpleasant members of the traveling public.

Adam

I agree with all who came up with the fact that what airline staff did at the check-in desk was as per their policies, but there is absolutely no justification of them being rude. Even if they are contracted-company's staff, the damage with their attitute is always attributed to the airline they are working for at that time. There is same concern at the Frankfurt airport. Emirates has troubled me so many times with the delayed-luggage problem but the staff at Frankfurt is always strict by weighing the checked baggage as well as carry on bag. I never have to adjust mine but have seen so many people transferring stuff from one bag to another and on top being shown attitute by the check-in staff. Passengers do have to abide by the rules but having their own house in so much mess regarding the baggage transfer and delivery, the least Emirates can do is to be polite.

Wish my Bank would give me 3K Extra Free when I deposit 30K:D

I agree with all who came up with the fact that what airline staff did at the check-in desk was as per their policies, but there is absolutely no justification of them being rude.

I agree with you that there is no* justification for airline staff being rude , but we have absolutely no evidence of rudeness .

In spite of the OP having said that he would leave 'a detailed feedback' his post is actually very lacking in detail . He has not specified what this 'rudeness' or 'harassment' actually consisted of , all we know is that he tried to check in with baggage which was outside both the airlines own limits and Occupational Health and Safety legal limits , and that he took exception to the way in which the staff handled the situation . Unfortunately we do not know exactly what he took exception to since he didn't bother to tell us , I also suspect that we will never find out since I doubt very much if the OP will ever submit a follow up post .


*Actually , it would be more truthful if I said that I believe there is little justification rather than no justificiation ... I am sure that there is one customer , once in a while , who frankly deserves to be shot down in flames without mercy .