EK004 Regular

So the final straw was on my last trip.

Arrived in Singapore and found my bad damaged and I was surprised it had stayed together. I don't know what it is about DXB but when ever I transit through there my bags bet beaten up. Normally I don't bother claiming but this time it was a new bag, so reported it straight away. The whole process took ages, no responses to phone calls, or e mails and when I was leaving for another stop 7 days later I still didn't know where my bag was or what was being done to replace it. I was eventually offered, 24 hrs prior to departure 20% of the purchase price of the bag. Didn't accept, got a new bag in Singapore and 48hrs later I was offers more money but nowhere near the orignal cost, but I was now out of Singapore.

I was then told EK1 had been cancelled due to the strikes in London, so I spent a lot of time trying to rebook, which was very disappointing to me as I had to cancel some business meetings and fly home a day early. It was also disappointing as I had booked F as a treat to myself after a tough year. I found out that there were no F seats available and that I would have to take J if I wanted to get home before Thursday" as EK1was cancelled for Wednesday and I had to be back in London for a meeting Thursday, so a later flight wasn't an option.

Found out on EK1 this morning that the flight hasn't been cancelled but that EK were doing all they could to get people to rebook on other flights" now it might be cancelled but at the time I was told it HAD been cancelled and I would not be able to fly it. I have now lost two business opportunities because I could not make meeting due to needing to take an earlier and I also missed flying F for my final trip home.

To top it all off i was flying on a -300 with a single row to DXB and I had booked myself in to row 7 as this is a mini cabin with just one row of J seats. Upon boarding I was offered a drink or a hot towel and no crew came to see me. I was the only one in the section and when I asked for an orange juice before departure I was told that they didn't have time to serve me, and that they were sorry but the ground staff had said all J pax were in the main cabin, so I was forgotten about. I was then told that the galley in front of me was the main Y galley and was very noisy in flight, being pissed off I said that's your problem, not mine.

So all in a rubbish year, with few highlights and now with a new client in a different location I have many options, including EK, but I feel they will be at the bottom of the list.

Thanks to everyone's help here, eight back and ing1 stand out. I will be flying EK for sure next year but only to use up my 200k of miles left.

WouldLoveToFlyFirst

Let's tackle each of these in turn

- Firstly, I have to say, your postings on here have generally found something to be unhappy about most of the time - I will not be surprised to see you have all the same issues with another airline.

1. Damaged bag

You don't really specify the damage. Do you have a photo? Also this is what travel insurance is for...

2. EK1 and getting home

Can't really understand what you're saying as this is a bit of a ramble.

No F seats available - with all the chaos being caused by the strike in the UK, this is hardly surprising with most people trying to rebook either side of yesterday. Can't really blame EK for this one.

The strike has also had plenty of notice.

3. Business opportunities

Ah, this often used complaint - 'the airline cost me this business'. If it was really important to you - you wouldn't have flown home earlier and made those meetings.

Did you not call these people and explain the situation? Most people will be understanding when it comes to flights etc and if the meeting really is that crucial then you shouldn't be relying on flight plans happening 100%.

4. Single Row J

You can't complain about this seat selection and the noise when you're on FT. Numerous threads would advise against Row 7 in J.

No OJ / hot towel - yes a problem, but not the end of the world. You should have had plenty of time to hydrate yourself in the lounge and if desperate, you also have a bottle of water in your seat pocket.

Final thoughts

You need to re-adjust the way you look at things. This is commercial plane travel - things happen, things will go wrong and service will not always be 100%.

I suggest on each and every flight you do the following :-

1. Arrive at the gate area when boarding and look at the number of ppl travelling in Y who have had to wait in the airport / the gate a lot longer than you

2. As you board through the priority line, look at the queues on the jetbridge for Y

3. When in flight, take a walk around the aircraft through Y, then head back to your seat in J / F and realise how fortunate you are.

Finally, watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk and spend more time worrying about far more important things in life.

Zol

^

I agree, if everyone reacted the way you did nobody would end up flying anymore. I'm not saying you don't have a right to be upset about what happened especially damage to your bag but these things happen and that's why I choose to inconvenience myself during my last flight with a heavy carryon rather than check-in my bag even though there is no space in the Suites for luggage.

Have you not had a good flight with EK since you started your SIN trips?

ELITEGOLDTRAVELLER

I don't think anyone could have put this better than the way you have.

Hats off to you sir.^

Safe Flying

EGT

DYKWIA

Mr Mod, can we have a post of the year competition? This would get my vote

Woofy

OMG! The video is hilarious! I love it! Thanks for sharing!

Love it! Love it!

"We are in a chair... in the sky!"

matthandy

I think that you guys are being a bit harsh to the OP.

Being 'lied' to is a bit subjective really. There is a difference between being told incorrect information and purposefully being lied to with malicious intent. Perhaps the person that you spoke to had incorrect information at the time.

With regards to your bags being damaged this is not what "insurance is for". The airline has a duty of care (up to specified limits) and should have handled the situation better. EK004 Regular did you visit the baggage desk straight away and report the problem? When this happened to me with Qantas, I reported it at soon as I picked up my bag from the baggage belt. I was given a replacement bag the same day (although I had to go to the luggage shop myself).

I don't agree with comments like 'go and check out the Y cabin to see how lucky you are'. That kind of comment is not helpful. You have paid for a product, you expect that product, it is a simple as that. That's like telling someone to be happy that the folding roof doesn't work on their BMW because some people can't afford a BMW in the first place. That isn't acceptable.

With the re-booking of your flight, that is very unfortunate, but it does sound like you had a very tight schedule. What would have you done if the plane had gone tech? With respect, notice of the strikes has been out in the public domain for a while now and the potential effect on air travel was also known for some time. I think that you should have tried to be a bit more flexible in your schedule or accept that you might be affected. It is not EK's fault.

I'm not familiar with the seat map that you describe, but sitting where you did isn't an excuse for poor service at all. Again, you should have got what you paid for. To everyone saying 'you are a member of FT, you should know', well not everyone has the same level of detailed knowledge that other people have. I for one was surprised to learn that the first meal on my DXB to SIN was some crappy sandwhich service. I've flown loads (although not much on EK) and had never been on a flight before where the first meal was not the 'main' meal, particularly as the flight left late at night/early in the morning. I'm a member of FT, should I have known?

Having said all of this I wouldn't dismiss an airline based on a couple of bad experiences if you've had mostly good ones so far. But that's up to you.

eightblack

Sometimes I wonder if this is the same reaction and conversation we would all have with each other if we were sitting around a bar having a beer.

That's the challenge of the web. And symptomatic of a passionate community whose main platform is an internet bulletin board.

I too think we might have been too quick to condemn the OP. I remember having an issue recently at the CP Changi. I started waving my arms. And I was so pissed off I vented on FT and TripAdvisor. FT's - being true to their form, lambasted me for being a fool and someone said "since you travel so much, you should have known better..."

I wasn't expecting that reaction at all. I was hoping for a bit more sympathy. But you know what, the feedback was generally spot on - even if it stung a little bit.

I just wanted to vent. Which in most cases, most people want to do when things like this happen.

I'm proud of the EK community - and I would encourage newbies and oldies alike to engage in vigorous conversation, as long as it doesn't get personal.

Dave Noble

Well, I wouldn't be doing so :P

Here I disagree; look at the title of the thread; saying that going to throw teddy away and not come back doesn't really elicit much out of the sympathy jar

Baggage does get damaged; that has probably happened to most that travel a fair bit and ime Emirates is fine at doing repairs

The UK issues were well known and well advertised

That the crew was misinformed that there was none in the small cabin is a slight annoyance, but it was just an orange juice

Dave

sadiqhassan

I am sympathetic to the OP.

However, in my [very humble] opinion, EK did a great job of dealing with the strike or whatever it was. The website clearly stated that flights MAY be cancelled and that the flight status tool should be used. EK029/030 were then officially cancelled and the site listed them as cancelled. However, AFIAK, no other flight was listed as being cancelled on www.emirates.com although I could be wrong.

I think what EK was going for was - "hey, your flight might be cancelled. if you need to be in LON / leave LON by wed, then well change your flight for you. But if not, then just sit tight."

rathin100

Couldn't agree more with all your comments and especially the ones above. And particularly on the reaction to complaints about J/F. You see the same you are so lucky to not flying Y stop complaining" posts on many other threads

I never fly Y. And I'm not lucky, I choose not to. Like i choose not to own a car. That's my choice, and therefore the trauma or whatever that Y pax on my flight are going through are not relevant to the service I receive.

So whatever view one takes of the OPs complaints I disagree with the insinuation that they are invalid for of the reasons adduced

B747-437B

My only comment here is that if you think your experience was something unique to Emirates, you have a rude shock coming your way sometime in the future.

matthandy

Thank you! To me there is a difference between feeling lucky about flying J/F and then using that as a reason to excuse failings in the service. Those will always remain seperate in my mind.

Totally agree. All airlines have issues at some point. It is, unfortunately, part of flying.

Dave Noble

The only substantive items mentioned by OP specifically about business class service was not getting an orange juice before take off and at that level of whine, um, well.. um.. ok..

The rest was nothing to do with being in business class at all, but that the flight was apparantly said to be cancelled and that luggage got damaged

I do fly 1st and do expect decent service, but sometimes somethings go wrong and this really seems at the low end of severity of poor business class service

rathin100

Very true!