US contact for problem resolution?
Jul 24, 2005, 7:15 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: From and of Boston.
Posts: 4,973
US contact for problem resolution?
I’m looking for the best way to escalate and resolve a ticketing problem. There was a schedule/class change on an LH-issued RTW ticket, and the problem was apparently resolved by the LH telephone agents by rerouting me. I went to BOS to have the ticket reissued, but the agent there would not reissue it – the BOS agent said that the new itinerary, which had been approved by the supervisor at the telephone desk, did not conform to the RTW rules, and that there was no one was available at the rate desk to approve the reissue.
I’d like to get this resolved without feeling like a yo-yo between the telephone people and the BOS ticketing people. I have the LH North American customer relations address and FAX number – would I be best sending the info to them, or to some other group? Unfortunately, I won't have elite status on LH until I am midway through the RTW.
Any help would be well appreciated.
I’d like to get this resolved without feeling like a yo-yo between the telephone people and the BOS ticketing people. I have the LH North American customer relations address and FAX number – would I be best sending the info to them, or to some other group? Unfortunately, I won't have elite status on LH until I am midway through the RTW.
Any help would be well appreciated.
Jul 24, 2005, 7:21 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: US
Programs: LH and BA
Posts: 2,324
Originally Posted by wideman
I’m looking for the best way to escalate and resolve a ticketing problem. There was a schedule/class change on an LH-issued RTW ticket, and the problem was apparently resolved by the LH telephone agents by rerouting me. I went to BOS to have the ticket reissued, but the agent there would not reissue it – the BOS agent said that the new itinerary, which had been approved by the supervisor at the telephone desk, did not conform to the RTW rules, and that there was no one was available at the rate desk to approve the reissue.
I’d like to get this resolved without feeling like a yo-yo between the telephone people and the BOS ticketing people. I have the LH North American customer relations address and FAX number – would I be best sending the info to them, or to some other group? Unfortunately, I won't have elite status on LH until I am midway through the RTW.
Any help would be well appreciated.
I’d like to get this resolved without feeling like a yo-yo between the telephone people and the BOS ticketing people. I have the LH North American customer relations address and FAX number – would I be best sending the info to them, or to some other group? Unfortunately, I won't have elite status on LH until I am midway through the RTW.
Any help would be well appreciated.
Jul 24, 2005, 8:08 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: From and of Boston.
Posts: 4,973
Originally Posted by roundtheworld
Stange .. is it only the next leg that is changed.
The problem is the ticketing agent in BOS, who is being over-cautious (IMO). I don't think it's worthwhile to go into all of the routing details here (as with any RTW, it's never simple) or discuss the virtues of the BOS ticketing agent; I'm mostly looking for the best LH contact to get the problem resolved.
Jul 25, 2005, 3:28 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,201
Originally Posted by wideman
No, it's not the next leg, which is why the ticket would need to be re-issued.
The problem is the ticketing agent in BOS, who is being over-cautious (IMO). I don't think it's worthwhile to go into all of the routing details here (as with any RTW, it's never simple) or discuss the virtues of the BOS ticketing agent; I'm mostly looking for the best LH contact to get the problem resolved.
The problem is the ticketing agent in BOS, who is being over-cautious (IMO). I don't think it's worthwhile to go into all of the routing details here (as with any RTW, it's never simple) or discuss the virtues of the BOS ticketing agent; I'm mostly looking for the best LH contact to get the problem resolved.
If you are sure, that you are right, I would seriously suggest, you go back to the ticketing counter in BOS, trying to find another agent or the supervisor. I have worked with at least 2 very competent ticketing agents in BOS who know their job very well. Normally it is best to talk to one of the elderly ladies. They always resolved problems for me, that where originally created by the usually absolutly incompetent UA ticketing agents in smaller US airports. I would not try any US phonelines on an issue like that. From my experience even calling the US SEN line would not take you anywhere.
You can of course complain in writing if you like. The reservation line can give you a fax number for this. BTW I have several personal email adresses of LH management in the US, but I would never share them unless I understand the validity of your complaint.
Jul 25, 2005, 5:51 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: From and of Boston.
Posts: 4,973
Thanks for the response, ulev. Here is the full story:
I booked and purchased a FRTWSTAR2 ticket through Lufthansa in April; the first flight will be in about 1 month. One of the trips is from VCE to MHT (Manchester, NH), and it was ticketed as VCE-FRA-PHL-MHT.
A problem arose last week when the PHL-MHT segment was changed from First Class on a mainline flight to Economy on a single-class commuter aircraft. No reasonable alternative flights were available to MHT (either through PHL or via an alternative routing) – all of the possible connections included a single-class aircraft, extremely early or late departure/arrivals, or layovers of more than 4 hours. After speaking with the LH telephone agent and unable to find suitable flights to MHT, I agreed to fly from Venice to Boston via Munich, taking surface transportation to Manchester.
LH’s telephone agent verified the new routing with her supervisor, and the telephone supervisor acknowledged that the rules of the RTW ticket did not normally allow two stopovers in the same city. (Another part of the RTW ticket already includes a BOS stopover.) The supervisor at the telephone said that the 2 stopovers would be allowed in this instance because of the schedule/class change for the ticketed flight, and that I would need to have the ticket reissued.
On Saturday (July 23), I went to BOS to have the ticket reissued. One LH ticketing agent there told me that she did not have enough experience to reissue the ticket, that only a more senior agent could handle it, and that the senior agent would arrive in about an hour. After waiting for the hour, I spoke to the senior agent, Mr R., and explained the situation. Mr R. told me that the RTW rules did not permit the change that the telephone agent’s supervisor had approved, but he suggested the alternate routing of VCE-PHL-MHT on US Airways. I knew that the US Airways flight offered only business class and not 1st class, so I declined this suggestion.
Mr R. told me that he could not reissue the ticket without authorization from the rate desk. He called the rate desk, and the rate desk agent appeared to tell Mr R. that it would be ok to reissue the ticket. Mr R. expressed his concern to the rate desk, telling them that the ticket had been “reissued 3 or 4 times already,” that it would “probably be reissued 3 or 4 more times,” and that he was concerned that “someone would notice that it included 2 stops in the same city.” [I do not know why Mr R. chose to exaggerate this point with the rate desk. The ticket has been re-issued exactly once, for an involuntary routing change. My plans for the trip are firm, and the itinerary will not change, at least not by my choice.]
Mr R. concluded his conversation with the rate desk because, he told me, “no supervisor was at the rate desk to authorize the reissue.” Mr R. said that he would he would send a message to the rate desk, and they would respond later in the week.
By this time, I had spent 3 hours at the airport (it cost me $14 just to park my car!), and my problem had not been resolved. I went to the ticket counter at the instruction of LH’s telephone agent – who had seemingly resolved the problem and verified the resolution with her management – only to be stonewalled by their ticketing personnel in Boston.
Those are the details – I had nothing to conceal in my previous post, but was trying not to muddy the waters.
I booked and purchased a FRTWSTAR2 ticket through Lufthansa in April; the first flight will be in about 1 month. One of the trips is from VCE to MHT (Manchester, NH), and it was ticketed as VCE-FRA-PHL-MHT.
A problem arose last week when the PHL-MHT segment was changed from First Class on a mainline flight to Economy on a single-class commuter aircraft. No reasonable alternative flights were available to MHT (either through PHL or via an alternative routing) – all of the possible connections included a single-class aircraft, extremely early or late departure/arrivals, or layovers of more than 4 hours. After speaking with the LH telephone agent and unable to find suitable flights to MHT, I agreed to fly from Venice to Boston via Munich, taking surface transportation to Manchester.
LH’s telephone agent verified the new routing with her supervisor, and the telephone supervisor acknowledged that the rules of the RTW ticket did not normally allow two stopovers in the same city. (Another part of the RTW ticket already includes a BOS stopover.) The supervisor at the telephone said that the 2 stopovers would be allowed in this instance because of the schedule/class change for the ticketed flight, and that I would need to have the ticket reissued.
On Saturday (July 23), I went to BOS to have the ticket reissued. One LH ticketing agent there told me that she did not have enough experience to reissue the ticket, that only a more senior agent could handle it, and that the senior agent would arrive in about an hour. After waiting for the hour, I spoke to the senior agent, Mr R., and explained the situation. Mr R. told me that the RTW rules did not permit the change that the telephone agent’s supervisor had approved, but he suggested the alternate routing of VCE-PHL-MHT on US Airways. I knew that the US Airways flight offered only business class and not 1st class, so I declined this suggestion.
Mr R. told me that he could not reissue the ticket without authorization from the rate desk. He called the rate desk, and the rate desk agent appeared to tell Mr R. that it would be ok to reissue the ticket. Mr R. expressed his concern to the rate desk, telling them that the ticket had been “reissued 3 or 4 times already,” that it would “probably be reissued 3 or 4 more times,” and that he was concerned that “someone would notice that it included 2 stops in the same city.” [I do not know why Mr R. chose to exaggerate this point with the rate desk. The ticket has been re-issued exactly once, for an involuntary routing change. My plans for the trip are firm, and the itinerary will not change, at least not by my choice.]
Mr R. concluded his conversation with the rate desk because, he told me, “no supervisor was at the rate desk to authorize the reissue.” Mr R. said that he would he would send a message to the rate desk, and they would respond later in the week.
By this time, I had spent 3 hours at the airport (it cost me $14 just to park my car!), and my problem had not been resolved. I went to the ticket counter at the instruction of LH’s telephone agent – who had seemingly resolved the problem and verified the resolution with her management – only to be stonewalled by their ticketing personnel in Boston.
Those are the details – I had nothing to conceal in my previous post, but was trying not to muddy the waters.
Jul 29, 2005, 2:27 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Taunton, MA
Posts: 447
I had a problem with LH last year that the phone people didn't know how to resolve so would not.
I sent a letter to the Customer service people in Long Island, NY with a copy to Company in Cologne.
I live south of Boston so the letter probably made it to New York the next day. and by 10:00am the following day I received a phone call from Customer Service. She resolved the problem real fast
Later that day I got another call from a different person in the same office to tell me that the problem was resolved and since I said I didn't care if it was an e-ticket or paper, she gave me the reservation number to go in and print the e-ticket from the website.
Be very detailed and send a FAX since you have the number.
Good Luck
I sent a letter to the Customer service people in Long Island, NY with a copy to Company in Cologne.
I live south of Boston so the letter probably made it to New York the next day. and by 10:00am the following day I received a phone call from Customer Service. She resolved the problem real fast
Later that day I got another call from a different person in the same office to tell me that the problem was resolved and since I said I didn't care if it was an e-ticket or paper, she gave me the reservation number to go in and print the e-ticket from the website.
Be very detailed and send a FAX since you have the number.
Good Luck
Jul 29, 2005, 5:35 am
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 13,344
Originally Posted by ulev
From my experience even calling the US SEN line would not take you anywhere.
I have an award ticket on hold from NYC to BKK and the lovely S. African agents are telling me there are no flights from YYZ to NYC to connect to it. HELLO - there are flights every hour on AC, but no, they can't figure that one out.
I do have a physical mail address for LH in NY if you need it.
Good luck
Jul 31, 2005, 9:05 pm
#8
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: US
Programs: LH and BA
Posts: 2,324
Originally Posted by wideman
Thanks for the response, ulev. Here is the full story:
I booked and purchased a FRTWSTAR2 ticket through Lufthansa in April; the first flight will be in about 1 month. One of the trips is from VCE to MHT (Manchester, NH), and it was ticketed as VCE-FRA-PHL-MHT.
A problem arose last week when the PHL-MHT segment was changed from First Class on a mainline flight to Economy on a single-class commuter aircraft. No reasonable alternative flights were available to MHT (either through PHL or via an alternative routing) – all of the possible connections included a single-class aircraft, extremely early or late departure/arrivals, or layovers of more than 4 hours. After speaking with the LH telephone agent and unable to find suitable flights to MHT, I agreed to fly from Venice to Boston via Munich, taking surface transportation to Manchester.
LH’s telephone agent verified the new routing with her supervisor, and the telephone supervisor acknowledged that the rules of the RTW ticket did not normally allow two stopovers in the same city. (Another part of the RTW ticket already includes a BOS stopover.) The supervisor at the telephone said that the 2 stopovers would be allowed in this instance because of the schedule/class change for the ticketed flight, and that I would need to have the ticket reissued.
On Saturday (July 23), I went to BOS to have the ticket reissued. One LH ticketing agent there told me that she did not have enough experience to reissue the ticket, that only a more senior agent could handle it, and that the senior agent would arrive in about an hour. After waiting for the hour, I spoke to the senior agent, Mr R., and explained the situation. Mr R. told me that the RTW rules did not permit the change that the telephone agent’s supervisor had approved, but he suggested the alternate routing of VCE-PHL-MHT on US Airways. I knew that the US Airways flight offered only business class and not 1st class, so I declined this suggestion.
Mr R. told me that he could not reissue the ticket without authorization from the rate desk. He called the rate desk, and the rate desk agent appeared to tell Mr R. that it would be ok to reissue the ticket. Mr R. expressed his concern to the rate desk, telling them that the ticket had been “reissued 3 or 4 times already,” that it would “probably be reissued 3 or 4 more times,” and that he was concerned that “someone would notice that it included 2 stops in the same city.” [I do not know why Mr R. chose to exaggerate this point with the rate desk. The ticket has been re-issued exactly once, for an involuntary routing change. My plans for the trip are firm, and the itinerary will not change, at least not by my choice.]
Mr R. concluded his conversation with the rate desk because, he told me, “no supervisor was at the rate desk to authorize the reissue.” Mr R. said that he would he would send a message to the rate desk, and they would respond later in the week.
By this time, I had spent 3 hours at the airport (it cost me $14 just to park my car!), and my problem had not been resolved. I went to the ticket counter at the instruction of LH’s telephone agent – who had seemingly resolved the problem and verified the resolution with her management – only to be stonewalled by their ticketing personnel in Boston.
Those are the details – I had nothing to conceal in my previous post, but was trying not to muddy the waters.
I booked and purchased a FRTWSTAR2 ticket through Lufthansa in April; the first flight will be in about 1 month. One of the trips is from VCE to MHT (Manchester, NH), and it was ticketed as VCE-FRA-PHL-MHT.
A problem arose last week when the PHL-MHT segment was changed from First Class on a mainline flight to Economy on a single-class commuter aircraft. No reasonable alternative flights were available to MHT (either through PHL or via an alternative routing) – all of the possible connections included a single-class aircraft, extremely early or late departure/arrivals, or layovers of more than 4 hours. After speaking with the LH telephone agent and unable to find suitable flights to MHT, I agreed to fly from Venice to Boston via Munich, taking surface transportation to Manchester.
LH’s telephone agent verified the new routing with her supervisor, and the telephone supervisor acknowledged that the rules of the RTW ticket did not normally allow two stopovers in the same city. (Another part of the RTW ticket already includes a BOS stopover.) The supervisor at the telephone said that the 2 stopovers would be allowed in this instance because of the schedule/class change for the ticketed flight, and that I would need to have the ticket reissued.
On Saturday (July 23), I went to BOS to have the ticket reissued. One LH ticketing agent there told me that she did not have enough experience to reissue the ticket, that only a more senior agent could handle it, and that the senior agent would arrive in about an hour. After waiting for the hour, I spoke to the senior agent, Mr R., and explained the situation. Mr R. told me that the RTW rules did not permit the change that the telephone agent’s supervisor had approved, but he suggested the alternate routing of VCE-PHL-MHT on US Airways. I knew that the US Airways flight offered only business class and not 1st class, so I declined this suggestion.
Mr R. told me that he could not reissue the ticket without authorization from the rate desk. He called the rate desk, and the rate desk agent appeared to tell Mr R. that it would be ok to reissue the ticket. Mr R. expressed his concern to the rate desk, telling them that the ticket had been “reissued 3 or 4 times already,” that it would “probably be reissued 3 or 4 more times,” and that he was concerned that “someone would notice that it included 2 stops in the same city.” [I do not know why Mr R. chose to exaggerate this point with the rate desk. The ticket has been re-issued exactly once, for an involuntary routing change. My plans for the trip are firm, and the itinerary will not change, at least not by my choice.]
Mr R. concluded his conversation with the rate desk because, he told me, “no supervisor was at the rate desk to authorize the reissue.” Mr R. said that he would he would send a message to the rate desk, and they would respond later in the week.
By this time, I had spent 3 hours at the airport (it cost me $14 just to park my car!), and my problem had not been resolved. I went to the ticket counter at the instruction of LH’s telephone agent – who had seemingly resolved the problem and verified the resolution with her management – only to be stonewalled by their ticketing personnel in Boston.
Those are the details – I had nothing to conceal in my previous post, but was trying not to muddy the waters.
Thus the reissue is ok
Jul 31, 2005, 9:07 pm
#9
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: US
Programs: LH and BA
Posts: 2,324
Originally Posted by roundtheworld
As you arrived in BOs, but not leave from BOS , BOS is NOT a stopover, the next departue city is counted as a stopover.
Thus the reissue is ok
Thus the reissue is ok
Oh you can go to ANY *A office for reissue... maybe UA is better, as they change the schedule. Airport offices are often quite good.... At least in Johannesburg the LH guys are good..
Jul 31, 2005, 9:49 pm
#10
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: USA Philadelphia
Programs: LH SEN, BA Gold
Posts: 54
Originally Posted by roundtheworld
Oh you can go to ANY *A office for reissue... maybe UA is better, as they change the schedule. Airport offices are often quite good.... At least in Johannesburg the LH guys are good..
Bochaco
Aug 1, 2005, 12:38 am
#12
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,419
That's absurd bochaco - I think you got a wrong answer from SQ.
By its very nature, RTW tickets almost always involve places where there is no ticketing office of whoever ticketed. These RTW tickets are allowed to be amended and reissued.
By its very nature, RTW tickets almost always involve places where there is no ticketing office of whoever ticketed. These RTW tickets are allowed to be amended and reissued.