Cointreau-Limon

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.

patgarrett

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?

Cointreau-Limon

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....

Rebelyell

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.

Cointreau-Limon

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???

obscure2k

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

serfty

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:As to how to claim this I am not sure. Perhaps contact the "National Enforcement Body" in Austria.

mecabq

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??? 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?

Guy Betsy

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?

Cointreau-Limon

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!



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

Cointreau-Limon

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 ;-)

Cointreau-Limon

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

kiwiandrew

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 .

Guy Betsy

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 !

Cointreau-Limon

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.