Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles - Downgraded, humiliated and ignored - Turkish Airlines -what to do?

I was flying today on VIE-IST with Turkish Airlines on a a paid an confirmed D-class ticket. Upon check-in (at the gate due to transfer, came in from CPH) I was assigned seat 26C - since obviously this flight was operated in an all economy layout.

I then asked to be re-booked to another flight where I could receive the business class service I had paid 1300 Euros for. The gate agent just told me to forget it, "no more flights today" - and then insinuated that I was a racist because I did not want to sit in a crowded Economy cabin on my way to Turkey (a trip which was needed as efficient working time to prepare a major company acqusiion deal).

First of all, I am surprised that THY can operate such a relativley long haul fligt as all-economy. However, directly upon landing at IST I went to the Turkish Airlines Ticket Counter. They barely spoke English, and just ignored me. I finally got to speak to the airport manager, who was just as ignorant and only told me to write to customer relations.



We all know - let's not pretend here - that Turkish Airlines has a ZERO response ratio on any customer complaints whatsoever. I personally know of 22 cases only in my company that have gone totally ignored. So that we can already forget...
To contact Turkish Airlines back in Europe (for let's face it... Turkey, after todays experience will NEVER, NEVER EVER - over my dead body - be Europe for me!!!!) would seem like an option, because there they would at least probably be able to speak at leas some English (for let's face that ... well- the language skills of THY staff isn't exactly brilliant....) But they would probably (in nicer words though) just tell me to f**k off, meaning that I should have done that back when i was on Turkish soil.

So what should I do???? What I suppose would be a reasonable compensation would be at least 1) Mileage credit (SK) for class paid, PLUS, cash/voucher compensation for fare difference, PLUS - I also presume - an upgrade voucher for any coming flight!

Dou guys think I am right or wrong here???

I am at the moment so furious and upset abouy the way I was treated so I would really appreciate some advice on what to do.

IF ANY TURKISH AIRLINE EMPLOYEE OR MANAGEMENT READS THIS:

If anyone has any experience from dealing with Turkish Airlines customer relations who has ever 1) either received a response from them and 2) found anyone there who masters basic English skills I would be happy for some advice on how I could get the same luck in my contact with them.

:confused:

So you paid for business class on CPH-VIE-IST but it only operated economy VIE-IST? Weren't you aware when you bought the ticket that this would be the case?

:confused:

So you paid for business class on CPH-VIE-IST but it only operated economy VIE-IST? Weren't you aware when you bought the ticket that this would be the case?


Of course not. This was - I also presume - only temporary today. The confirmed booking vlass was D, the ticket was 1500 Euro and this is the itinerary confirmed by Turkish Airlines:

Vienna (VIE) To Istanbul (IST)
Airline: TURKISH AIRLINES (TK)
Flight Number: TK 1884
Departure Terminal: no departure terminal info available
Class: Business
Departing: 10:00 Tue 7 Jul 2009
Arriving: 13:15 Tue 7 Jul 2009
Arrival Terminal: I


Otherwhise I would of course never have made an issue out of it....

Did you use a credit card? If so, complain to the airline then file a complaint with your credit card and ask them to stop payment.

Did you use a credit card? If so, complain to the airline then file a complaint with your credit card and ask them to stop payment.



Unfortunatley not. :( Corporate account. '

If paid by my own CC it would have been a chargeback directly.
And again- complainint to Turkish Airlines is - unless anybody disagrees with me - probably like talking to a wall.

But I would still like to know what an airline from a western, civilized and developed country would have considered appropriate compensation in a similar situation???

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Turkish Airlines Forum..
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Even though Turkey is only a "Candidate" country of the EU, EU regulation 261/2004 still applies as you were departing from a member country (VIE, Austria).

For such involuntary downgrading of flights less than 1,500Km you entitled to minimum compensation of 30% of "the price of the ticket" (€450 if your ticket cost was €1500).

More here:

Passenger rights - Air - legislation in force since 2005 (http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passengers/air/air_en.htm)
REGULATION (EC) No 261/2004 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:046:0001:0007:EN:PDF) [see Article 10 2 (a)]


As to how to claim this I am not sure. Perhaps contact the "National Enforcement Body (http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passengers/air/doc/2009_04_08_national_enforcement_bodies.pdf)" in Austria.

It is unfortunate that the aircraft swap prevented you from getting the class of service that you paid for. That happens, perhaps less on the highest- quality airlines, and you certainly should be compensated.

Although I have always had good service on probably two-dozen short-/mid-haul TK flights (mostly in economy and occasionally in business), I can imagine that they were curt in informing you that there were no more flights that day, and certainly not as helpful in trying to brainstorm alternative solutions (e.g., putting you on Austrian Airlines) as they should have been.

I find your post a bit suspicious, however. You say that they "insinuated that [you were] a racist." Might there be more to the story, e.g., you used abusive language at the gate? I find it highly unlikely that they would communicate with you that way out of the blue. I am sure that you are not a racist, and it is not unreasonable to expect them to speak English on an international flight, but yet you feel compelled in your post to express your opinion that Turkey is not a western/European country.

I am also astonished at your statement that your company has made 22 complaints to the airline??? :rolleyes: If that's true, then I wonder why you are surprised that you received poor service -- and why you keep patronizing such a horrible company? There are countless options for one-stop CPH-IST service that avoid TK. If a service provider had so aggrieved me and my colleagues, I would avoid doing business with them at all costs. It seems clear from your post that you have some axe to grind with the company and perhaps the country in general.

I am sure that your business is very important, and the major deal that you were set to work on on your flight was also very important, but, still, this is a two-hour flight. Having a bit less space than you expected really isn't the end of the world, is it?

I was flying today on VIE-IST with Turkish Airlines on a a paid an confirmed D-class ticket. Upon check-in (at the gate due to transfer, came in from CPH) I was assigned seat 26C - since obviously this flight was operated in an all economy layout....

The sounds as if the flight was oversold and that the Business Class cabin was full and you were downgraded to economy.

As you obviously was on 2 seperate tickets, otherwise SK would have been able to check you in from CPH with connecting boarding passes.

Did you see that the flight was in an all-economy layout? Was there at least what seems to be a dividing curtain in front? TK has no difference in seating arrangements for its narrow bodied fleet. Its the same cramped sort of seating. The only difference is catering.

But still, you should have been seated in the cabin that you had paid for, and you would therefore have to take this up with TK or for that matter OS, as they were probably the handling agent in VIE. Were you not given any voucher or anything else?

It is unfortunate that the aircraft swap prevented you from getting the class of service that you paid for. That happens, perhaps less on the highest- quality airlines, and you certainly should be compensated

You say that they "insinuated that [you were] a racist." Might there be more to the story, e.g., you used abusive language at the gate? I find it highly unlikely that they would communicate with you that way out of the blue. I am sure that you are not a racist, and it is not unreasonable to expect them to speak English on an international flight, but yet you feel compelled in your post to express your opinion that Turkey is not a western/European country.

I am also astonished at your statement that your company has made 22 complaints to the airline??? :rolleyes: If that's true, then I wonder why you are surprised that you received poor service -- and why you keep patronizing such a horrible company? There are countless options for one-stop CPH-IST service that avoid TK. If a service provider had so aggrieved me and my colleagues, I would avoid doing business with them at all costs. It seems clear from your post that you have some axe to grind with the company and perhaps the country in general..?



Hello and thanks for taking the time to try to help me out here!

The "racist" insinuation came from the gate agent when I tried to explain that I had some work to do onboard, preferably in peace and quiet, while most of my fellow passengers were families with 4-5 children, plus 26 A+B (while I was on 26C was an elderly couple of which the woman did - to be a bit more diplomatic - not appear to be in the best state of psychological ballance. She was - crying and screaming, for a reason that I do not know but for which I as a person surely can feel compassionate with - regardless of race or nationality (I am not even cacucasian myself). What I said,litterally was "Surely I can not be expected to sit and work around this???? " - - fair enough, also pointing out on my fellow passengers. Racist or nor??? Well, not in my opinion. Wouldn't have mattered where they were from for this purpose...

Yes, we have, since 2006 filed 22 complaints with THY resulting in iether 1) no replies at all 2) nonsense replies 3) replies written in totally illegible English. The only reason we keep flying them is that we are a real estate company and the activities that force us to fly THY are conducted in remote domestic destinations that are only served by THY, and with connections out of IST that can only be reached (without layovers etc) if coming in on a THY flight. Otherwhise we would of course have left THY a long time ago!



I am sure that your business is very important, and the major deal that you were set to work on on your flight was also very important, but, still, this is a two-hour flight. Having a bit less space than you expected really isn't the end of the world, is it

Absoultley not. The issue here is not the downgrade itself. Involuntary downgrades happen to me roughly once a month and of course is never a problem - the problem here is the complete refusal from THY to either acknowledge that they did anything wrong, and even less offer any sort of apollogy or compensation. That every single THY employee I tried to speak with just shrugged and walked away and told me the standard BS about "writing to customer relations", which probably all of aús in this forum already know is, again, just like talking to a wall). *That* is what I take personal. Of course the legspace and the meal on a 2 hour flight doesn't kill anybody

The sounds as if the flight was oversold and that the Business Class cabin was full and you were downgraded to economy.

As you obviously was on 2 seperate tickets, otherwise SK would have been able to check you in from CPH with connecting boarding passes.

Did you see that the flight was in an all-economy layout? Was there at least what seems to be a dividing curtain in front? TK has no difference in seating arrangements for its narrow bodied fleet. Its the same cramped sort of seating. The only difference is catering.

But still, you should have been seated in the cabin that you had paid for, and you would therefore have to take this up with TK or for that matter OS, as they were probably the handling agent in VIE. Were you not given any voucher or anything else?



Nope, I was not on two separate tickets, but I was in deed very late for check-in at CPH,; that's why CPH staff simply did not have the time to issue the VIE-IST boarding pass.

There was a dividing curtain, but it was never folded down so I do trust that it was in fact an all-economy flight, since this is what all of the ground crew as well as the flight crew said and I do not believe they would lie about that. ´

No voucher, nothing..... not even an exuse. That is the reason of why I am so upset. Otherwise it would have been just another bad day at work, one of those things that happen, case closed - and no more hard feelings from my side. I am not unreasonable ;-)

Hmn.... Just another morning anectdote to further illustrate my frustration. Turkish Time, to call THY Customer relations, on their official phone number : + 90 212 465 22 69 . Again: Only Turkish spoken....... I asked them for anyone to speak English. They hung up on me. And yes -of course I was polite.... don't even question that ;-) I do know enough about dealing with customer relations from 10 years as gold level frequent traveller to know that that is of course the first key to getting anything at all in the first place.

But right now I feel like sitting in the movei "Midnight Express" LOL

I have to say that if your verbal complaint at the time was anything like your posts are I am not surprised that they accused you of being racist

frankly , if your previous complaints have included inflammatory questions / statements such as below then I am not surprised that you have not received any responses .

"But I would still like to know what an airline from a western, civilized and developed country would have considered appropriate compensation in a similar situation??? "

or

"for let's face it... Turkey, after todays experience will NEVER, NEVER EVER - over my dead body - be Europe for me!!!! "

try leaving the insults out and actually sticking to a plain unemotional statement of facts and you might get more sympathy/results. Using insults just tends to distract from the fact that you do actually have a valid complaint , however poorly you have chosen to express it , you paid for one product and recieved another . That , and that alone , is what you should focus on when making your complaint , not offensive and irrelevant rants .

Nope, I was not on two separate tickets, but I was in deed very late for check-in at CPH,; that's why CPH staff simply did not have the time to issue the VIE-IST boarding pass.

There was a dividing curtain, but it was never folded down so I do trust that it was in fact an all-economy flight, since this is what all of the ground crew as well as the flight crew said and I do not believe they would lie about that. ´

... I am not unreasonable ;-)

If SK had the time to issue a BP for you from CPH-VIE, they would have time to issue the connecting flight. As a matter of fact, it would be automatic for SK to issue your BP when you checked in.

If there was a dividing curtain, then that would have been business class. The curtain rarely gets folded down. Just like the US flights !

I have to say that if your verbal complaint at the time was anything like your posts are I am not surprised that they accused you of being racist

frankly , if your previous complaints have included inflammatory questions / statements such as below then I am not surprised that you have not received any responses .

"But I would still like to know what an airline from a western, civilized and developed country would have considered appropriate compensation in a similar situation??? "

Well I am sorry, but in my opinion any western airline, acting in civilized ways, would have taken appropriate action and compensated me.

Thurkish Airlines do not.

The whole day today they still continue to refer to other departments, do not speak proper enough English to understand me, or is just "unavailable".

That is not racism.

That is the fact.

Are you not interested in following up an EU based claim for €450?

Well I am sorry, but in my opinion any western airline, acting in civilized ways, would have taken appropriate action and compensated me.

.

I agree that any reasonable airline regardless of where they are based would have compensated you , I merely observed that by bringing in completely unnecessary and inflammatory language you do yourself no favours in pursuing your claim.

Time and again on this website people asking advice on action to take for complaints have received similar advice which could be paraphrased as follows :

'when complaining stick to the facts and leave emotive/abusive/irrelevant items out'

- the fact that your thread title included the words ' what to do?' seemed to me to indicate that you were seeking advice , but apparently I was mistaken :rolleyes:

:confused:

So you paid for business class on CPH-VIE-IST but it only operated economy VIE-IST? Weren't you aware when you bought the ticket that this would be the case?

... apparently neither did THY know they flew only coach when the OP was allowed to book the ticket in business.

David

Not sure why the OP does not follow up the e450 suggested.

Cannot believe SK 'did not have time' to issue boarding pass for 2nd flight. Maybe they preferred not to give the OP the bad news at that time?

Reading OP's post I must concur that inflammatory language and talking (quote: "What I said,litterally was "Surely I can not be expected to sit and work around this???? " - - fair enough, also pointing out on my fellow passengers. Racist or nor???") must have played here and impacted the response he got. Pretty horrible language is used here.

I always had good experience with TK and my only recent unhappy experiences in Europe are with SK. Nothing dramatic, but just so not customer focused. Anyway, no need to get dramatic or emotional, and defintely not to feel humiliated.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Your colleagues were right.

Writing to Turkish Airlines Customer service is a waste of time. So far in my case a waste of 7 months, with regular e-mails. I have even had the Star Alliance people contact them on my behalf. They just don't reply.

Imagine this. They cancel a flight, say sorry. Finished. The connecting flight- Star alliance also - (Swiss) was missed beacuse of this.

I am of course demanding and waiting for compensation. They think I'll just stop asking and it'll go away, they picked the wrong person to screw out of money...

Their English is not the problem, their unwillingness to reply to customers is the issue. Particularly in instances where they believe they should have to pay. They give you the run around until you give up.

Just keep on going. Never stop.

Turkish Airlines::td::td::td::td::td::td::td::td::td: :td::td:

Ps. In the future I'll be taking buses in smalltown Turkey. They get you everywhere you want to go.

I am sorry but this posts smells extremely fishy to me...

1. I have flown over 100 times with TK and never had a problem with speaking English. Some of them are pretty fluent in German as well.

2. Of course the airport manager won't help you... the issue between you and TK is none of his business.

3. Personal observation: The way you have stated your case in this thread has been extremely aggressive and I, too, would have told you to "f**k off" ...

I find this thread 1/10 on the credibility scale.

By the way, I just called Turkish Airlines HQ at +90 212 463 63 63 and had no trouble speaking English to a perfectly fluent rep.

Also, you can send me your information via PM and I'll forward it to my contacts at StarAlliance to check up on it... but really, you really need to reassess the way you tone your arguments.

+90 212 4636363 HQ operator. Also They have online customer service as well +90 212 4684848 there is Turkish and English greetings. As far as I had experience with them they have nice service via e-mail or phone. Well but there is always some people bad or not like to work.

Well I am sorry, but in my opinion any western airline, acting in civilized ways, would have taken appropriate action and compensated me.

Thurkish Airlines do not.

The whole day today they still continue to refer to other departments, do not speak proper enough English to understand me, or is just "unavailable".

That is not racism.

That is the fact.

Ryanair is based in Dublin so must be considered a western airline. Clearly you have never dealt with them. They would probably have laughed in your face.

Sorry I am missing something here. Had the ticket agent conducted herself like that nothing would have got me on the flight. I would have rung my employer and got them to sort it out. You may have had to change flights somewhere en route as it is entirely possible that there were no more direct flights that day.

Still your title containing "humiliated and ignored" - the downgrading is another matter - rather surprises me as you do not seem to be someone who is used to being either.

Pucci Galore: As you can see, he hasn't responded to most of the recent suggestions, hence I consider this issue abandoned... probably there was no issue to begin with, but oh well :)

Cheers.

Pucci Galore: As you can see, he hasn't responded to most of the recent suggestions, hence I consider this issue abandoned... probably there was no issue to begin with, but oh well :)

Cheers.

Thanks for this - no it's a shame when that happens.

There is not an airline going where everything runs smoothly the whole time but even though I am far from an expert on Turkish Airlines this sounds so strange. At least this is not just confined to my regular Forum.

Never thought that I would ever post here!!

Nope, I was not on two separate tickets, but I was in deed very late for check-in at CPH,; that's why CPH staff simply did not have the time to issue the VIE-IST boarding pass.


Depending on ticketing rules, if this was 1 ticket and your first leg was on SK, might it be an SK ticket and you can go after SK for the refund?

Maybe the OP just wanted to vent some anger. After all (s)he did write this on the very day of that particular flight.

Regardless, if you DO want to follow up, then I suggest you start with serfty's advice in post #7.

Also since your company seems to use TK a lot AND it appears from your posting that you do all bookings via a corporate travel agency, I would suggest having them talk to TK, possibly the DK country manager (if there is one) bringing up all 22+ complaints. Hopefully they should have more weight than going individually.

Quite amusing to read that the OP's company already had 22(!) unresolved customer service issues and yet they still continue to book flights with them ?? :confused:

At which point do they draw the line ?

Interesting story and I am certain that part if not all is correct. Being based in IST I avoid TK like the plague, but sometimes have no alternative. I think the OP was furious and emotional after dealing with TK, very understandable. Unless you are Turkish and know who to scream at, you won’t get far. My assistant does a marvelous job when I have an issue.
Few weeks ago from CAI to IST I was downgrade from C to Y. The gate agent was nice enough to write on my B/C “VD”. When my assistant did her deed and was told that I had accepted the downgrade and as such no refund or apology!
TK has improved over the past 8 years but I will fly an additional three hours to avoid using them and dealing with the lack of beverages, service, and attitude from staff that spend more time on their make up during the flight than on service.

Youa re echoing what I have written about TK for the last decade on FT.

Youa re echoing what I have written about TK for the last decade on FT.

This is a bit dissapointnting as I went out of my way to book on TK one way ORD-IST-SVO just to try their C product (I heard great things about it from other sources). Should I be worried?

This is a bit dissapointnting as I went out of my way to book on TK one way ORD-IST-SVO just to try their C product (I heard great things about it from other sources). Should I be worried?

No need to worry actually. I did DEL-IST-SVO & return in J with TK and everything was just about ok.

I have nothing to complain but TK is no SQ or EK or 9W.

Safe Flying

You'll be fine.

No need to worry actually. I did DEL-IST-SVO & return in J with TK and everything was just about ok.

I have nothing to complain but TK is no SQ or EK or 9W.

Safe Flying

I agree with the above. I've done 8 sectors with TK, half of which in C including 2 long haul, and IMO all were at least adequate if not memorable or outstanding, although the 77W C product (hardware) was certainly excellent. From what I gather, TK is an airline that is acceptable when everything is (relatively) smooth running and expectations are not high, but is potentially problematic during IRROPs or incidents of customer dissatisfaction, during which the apparent lack of English fluency on TK's part is an additional obstacle. For those reasons, I would avoid the TK FFP but still continue to fly TK judiciously.

Firstly its generally the opposite, if you DO NOT speak Turkish, you are more likely to get a resolution to your problem, as they are especially bad with Turkish people (although many don;t know any better, but I'm not going to get into that). Furthermore, quite a fair bit of TK personnel speak English, so I do not know where that canard is coming from.

The point that those of us that know TK well are trying to make is that TK is a decent airline, on par with many second and even one or two tier one European carriers, its not Ali BAba and the 40 thieves, thrid world or anything like that. They have consistantly had one of the youngest fleets in Europe for more than a decade now, they are growing, the pilots are generally good. Where they fall down is their general overall cabin service which is generally just enough and not an inch more, furthermore most TK FA's act (on purpose) like autometrons who do not want to listen and understand a problem, whether you explain in English, Turkish or Martian. They generally fall aprt when there are irrops and even though they have been trying to improve their CS, it still isn't there. Ataturk once said "I have taught my people so much, but despite how much I try I cannot teach them how to render good service", this is indicative of the country where service is either spartan or overbearing, too flowery and with too many people trying, but almost never great. At times I have no choice and have to fly them. Then every three years or so they suppoosedly improve and I want to like them, I really do, and then I'll gener ally get a good flight, then 6 bad ones and go off them again for a few years.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Turkish airlines continues to delete my e-mails to customer relations, or changes the message's status to "completed" without replying. They even lied to Star Alliance, sending an e-mail which was then forwarded to me, claiming that a reply was sent on a certain date when no reply was ever sent. I tried speaking to someone in person at the airport and received no more help than being given the e-mail address which has achieved nothing over the last 8 months.

Avoid them like the plague.

Ps. I have not given up. I will not stop writing.

It sounds incredible to me!
In the last 12months I flew many times with TK and even if their customer care attitude is not at the top (I think they lack instructions and savoir-faire) I have never been offended or humiliated.
But it is true they didn't let-me enter in the IST lounge because the voucher issued in CPT (because they didn't know if correspondence was guaranteed or not in IST) was not valid for them....that was the only time I didn't feel symphaty for them.

Anyhow I earned easily my *A Gold status very fast with them...with LH would have been impossible and so I enjoy *A benefits because of them...my LH Gold I don't use it...

I have to add my opinion that while TK is not quite up to the standard of EK they were fine for the flights I have done (CPT-IST-DKR).

POsitives - food was decent, seat room in economy was fine, service was adequate. Business class seats very comfortable.

Negatives - Some seats in economy have the VOD box taking up a lot of footspace, If there is a problem, customer service is non existent.

I have to add my opinion that while TK is not quite up to the standard of EK they were fine for the flights I have done (CPT-IST-DKR).

POsitives - food was decent, seat room in economy was fine, service was adequate. Business class seats very comfortable.

Negatives - Some seats in economy have the VOD box taking up a lot of footspace, If there is a problem, customer service is non existent.

You went via IST to get to DKR from CPT?! I hope you had some business to do there (IST, I mean), otherwise I salute your FT spirit :D

Hi Nomad,

There used to be a direct flight on Delta but it is gone as of last month. Other option is via JNB but on the way back it puddle jumps through Accra and Libreville. Also, I had never been to Istanbul so I took a layover and spent 2 days exploring the city. Good fun, I can highly recommend it to anyone with the time to take a layover. (No charge on TK for those not familiar).

That said, I wish I had my old direct 9 hour trip back... :)



You went via IST to get to DKR from CPT?! I hope you had some business to do there (IST, I mean), otherwise I salute your FT spirit :D

i would agree with you some months ago as I flew only their F class and everything was smooth and flawless until i started flying C class with them

they truly don t give a toss especially about my turkish speaking companion - i don t think they would respond to me in such a manner

but their reponses to simple questions in turkish are below any standards - my turkish companion was called a joke in turkish (which they would not say in english as their english is too poor)

all in all i believe it s a growing airline and the staff does not get enough training to know how to deal with masses of passengers and how to be simply polite for c classes passengers

i was each time shocked after i learned what was the translation of responses in turkish

seating in C class we asked for fish for both of us - my turkish companion received a response

YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR IT BEFORE (IN A TONE OF COMPUTER SAYS NO - LITTLE BRITAIN)

ANYWAYS - TK needs some extra training and they will do well

their Y C and F products are much better than LH, SK, UA. LO or SN

i will still keep on flying them but with less excitement :( - and flying for me is all about glamour and comfort and fun :))))) which is a shame

i think SQ will remain still the best option in the *A





Firstly its generally the opposite, if you DO NOT speak Turkish, you are more likely to get a resolution to your problem, as they are especially bad with Turkish people (although many don;t know any better, but I'm not going to get into that). Furthermore, quite a fair bit of TK personnel speak English, so I do not know where that canard is coming from.

The point that those of us that know TK well are trying to make is that TK is a decent airline, on par with many second and even one or two tier one European carriers, its not Ali BAba and the 40 thieves, thrid world or anything like that. They have consistantly had one of the youngest fleets in Europe for more than a decade now, they are growing, the pilots are generally good. Where they fall down is their general overall cabin service which is generally just enough and not an inch more, furthermore most TK FA's act (on purpose) like autometrons who do not want to listen and understand a problem, whether you explain in English, Turkish or Martian. They generally fall aprt when there are irrops and even though they have been trying to improve their CS, it still isn't there. Ataturk once said "I have taught my people so much, but despite how much I try I cannot teach them how to render good service", this is indicative of the country where service is either spartan or overbearing, too flowery and with too many people trying, but almost never great. At times I have no choice and have to fly them. Then every three years or so they suppoosedly improve and I want to like them, I really do, and then I'll gener ally get a good flight, then 6 bad ones and go off them again for a few years.

Ah, as Mr H (an obvious champion of TK) would claim , yet another "satisfied" customer.
Frankly, the ONLY way I've ever been able to deal with the incompetents at TK is to sue the Nazi-fied idiots as their so called Customer Service is in name only. They could care less about their customers, paid or otherwise.



If anyone has any experience from dealing with Turkish Airlines customer relations who has ever 1) either received a response from them and 2) found anyone there who masters basic English skills I would be happy for some advice on how I could get the same luck in my contact with them.

Ah, as Mr H (an obvious champion of TK) would claim , yet another "satisfied" customer.
:confused:

I've flown only once on TK, IST-BEY in C about a year ago. It was fine if somewhat unmemorable.

Flew TK for the first (and likely last) time in June, FRA - IST. Had good expectations yet for naught. Sleep was the best aspect.

Hopefully you get some positive response from them, after trying so much.

Without fail, my international TK flights into IST in the past several months always are amusing to watch when it comes to the swine flu-related health declaration forms that the Turkish government wants.

On these flights, there has always been one or more FA demanding that the entire form be fully filled out by some non-Turkish-speaking, non-English-speaking passenger even when (due to language difficulties) no other person in the immediate surroundings of the passenger can adequately assist the passenger to fill out the entire form properly. The FAs seem to have trouble treating such passengers with respect and instead they act as if the passengers having trouble are idiots for not being able to fill out the form fully -- even the sections that weren't relevant when read properly :rolleyes: -- and for having trouble communicating with one another.

The FA's haven't yet internalized the reality of what it means to be such a far flung airline; nor have they internalized the idea that all passengers need to be treated with dignity and respect.

the reality of what it means to be such a far flung airline
But very few places are far flung when you're in them. If you've been born and brought up in Turkey, and so have all your friends, family and work colleagues, then Turkey is the centre of your universe and other places are far flung.

IMO, you should be grateful that they speak English on TK. I have been on airlines that don't.

...IMO, you should be grateful that they speak English on TK. I have been on airlines that don't.

Hmm, I disagree with this. Why should we be grateful?! We are paying customers on an airline that aspires - claims, even - to be a world-class airline with global reach. I would not have the same expectations when flying Air Koryo (http://www.korea-dpr.com//Air%20Koryo/index.htm) (God forbid I'd ever have to do that) or Dirgantara Air Service (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Dirgantara-Air-Service/Britten-Norman-BN-2A-2-Islander/0572553/M/) (once, actually twice, was enough!).

I agree with GUWonder's remarks. TK's issues are emblematic of the country it stems from: the leadership is acting as if it is a mature, international player but the majority of the people have a LOT of catching up to do.

Without fail, my international TK flights into IST in the past several months always are amusing to watch when it comes to the swine flu-related health declaration forms that the Turkish government wants.

On these flights, there has always been one or more FA demanding that the entire form be fully filled out by some non-Turkish-speaking, non-English-speaking passenger even when (due to language difficulties) no other person in the immediate surroundings of the passenger can adequately assist the passenger to fill out the entire form properly. The FAs seem to have trouble treating such passengers with respect and instead they act as if the passengers having trouble are idiots for not being able to fill out the form fully -- even the sections that weren't relevant when read properly :rolleyes: -- and for having trouble communicating with one another.

The FA's haven't yet internalized the reality of what it means to be such a far flung airline; nor have they internalized the idea that all passengers need to be treated with dignity and respect.

A far flung airline. All I can say is that if you don't like it, don't use it.

I trust you won't be darkening TK's doorstep again.

And a hugely good riddance if I may say so!

And for someone from the outposts of humanity (ie the USA) to say this is just reprehensible.

A far flung airline. All I can say is that if you don't like it, don't use it.

I trust you won't be darkening TK's doorstep again.

And a hugely good riddance if I may say so!

And for someone from the outposts of humanity (ie the USA) to say this is just reprehensible.

Surely there is no need for this... :td:

Actually I agree fully with GU on this one (and I speak English and Turkish), I have been on flights from Chine with them in recent months and they have treated Chinese passenegers with contempt. What of course is even more laughable is that the Turkish authorities have changed the form9s) almost monthly and that often the English AND the Turkish contain errors. TK FA's are some of the less compassionate in the industry and has to do with the fact that it is quite difficult to fire them

A far flung airline. All I can say is that if you don't like it, don't use it.

I trust you won't be darkening TK's doorstep again.

And a hugely good riddance if I may say so!

And for someone from the outposts of humanity (ie the USA) to say this is just reprehensible.

I've flown a good number of TK flights this year and will continue to do so. So much for trying to tell me off. :D

TK gets the criticism that TK deserves. I see no harm in appropriate criticism directed at TK as the airline has room for improvement. Speaking of the kind of criticism which I find inappropriate, thank you for supplying it above. ;)