Following discussion on
this thread, I've taken the time to post a particularly bad experience with Emirates and hopefully explain what has led to my negative feelings.
DXB-BHX (Y Class)
Worst. Flight. Ever.
Before Take Off
FAs seemed stressed and edgy & unusually weren't addressing passengers by name, instead using "Sir/Madam" and pointing the direction of the seat. This wasn't an issue for me but it was odd.
As passengers boarded (I was already seated), one FA was walking towards the front of the aircraft whilst a passenger was walking towards the rear. She told him to, "get out of the way please." He seemed taken aback and simply moved into a seat row to let her past. Why couldn't the FA have done this and let him pass by?
On previous flights, a hot towel and water/grape juice drink were served prior to takeoff. I asked a passing FA (the one from the previous paragraph) if I could get some water. She said drinks would be served to all passengers before takeoff. Those drinks (and the hot towels) never materialised.
I was really thirsty as the flight into DXB was delayed and we had to go to security and then to the boarding gate of the connecting flight asap. Not a big fan of T3's layout!
After Take Off
As soon as the fasten seatbelt signs went out, I went to the galley and got some water. It felt good.
Speaking of call buttons, passengers pressed them but nobody ever came. The call lights seemed to switch off remotely. Some passengers got up and got drinks from the nearest galley, as did I (two FAs were there happily chatting away to each other).
Meals were served (only one out of three options available but not an issue for me). Nobody came to collect the trays for over an hour after everyone had finished. There wasn't any post-meal tea/coffee as on previous flights. The passenger in the window seat needed to get up (loo) but said there was no hurry. I asked a passing FA if the trays could be collected. She said she was only selling duty free and suggested I pressed the call button. I did but (as expected) nobody responded.
Due to my aisle seat location (C) I managed to get out of the seat, holding my tray and unplugged headphones. The passenger in seat B then got up with his tray, then the seat A passenger slid out and put her tray back on her seat table. The guy in seat B then sat back down and put his tray on the seat table but I went to the galley to get rid of mine. The interim galley was empty so I went to the one at the rear to find all the FAs chatting away. On my journey to the rear galley, I found some passengers had put their empty trays in the aisle. When I asked whether I could leave my tray somewhere, one got up and took it off me whilst another scowled. I didn't return to my seat until I could see the passenger in seat A had returned.
Probably about half an hour later the FAs showed up to collect everyone else's trays. Still no tea/coffee offered though.
When disembarking, there were two FAs at the exit. On previous Emirates flights they'd made eye contact & thanked us for flying/wished us well/etc. but these two were completely blank faced and there was no interaction whatsoever with departing passengers that I could see.
After The Flight
I sent an email to the Emirates booking office (website has no customer service contacts listed) and they sent it on to customer relations. I followed up six months later and was informed that 'due to unprecedented events' they were not able to reply within 30 days but were dealing with customer feedback in chronological order.
Five more months went by (almost a year after the flight) before I received a response saying records showed there were 30 vacant seats in economy and that there were sufficient crew members serving our row of the aircraft. They then said they were sorry that I felt that way.
For me, this was an appalling endorsement of the service received. I replied to indicate I wasn't happy with their response and for it to be escalated to a supervisor/manager. I was then sent an email response that was intended for a different customer. After I notified them about the misdirected email, I received a response saying they were sorry I wasn't happy with the response and that the issue couldn't be resolved amicably.
At this point I'd noticed that the bonus Skywards miles I was supposed to receive hadn't materialised. I contacted Skywards (based in Manchester, I believe) and was told they couldn't apply the bonus points. I didn't pursue it further... why bother chasing miles if you're not going to fly with them again?
The price I paid for the ticket was a lot higher due to it being a peak travel time. I probably wouldn't feel so hard done by if it had cost less. Hope this isn't too long (!) but I wanted to try and explain as fully as possible why I feel negatively about Emirates. The seven hours on that flight felt like several days. Every large organisation will have staff who are incompetent/aren't bothered, but Emirates should have mechanisms for motivating/disciplining/dismissing such staff. They could have easily restored my confidence with a better response. I got the message that they didn't care about the flight experience, they didn't care that I felt hard done by and they didn't care that I wasn't happy with their "I ain't bovvered" response.
Since this flight, I've not booked with Emirates and frankly won't do so unless they happen to be the cheapest option when booking as that's how I rate their service. Hopefully this will help you understand why I feel negatively about this airline & why I'm not keen to give them any of my future business.
