FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Beware of Booking Aeroplan Reward Tickets Involving Turkish Airlines
Old Aug 28, 2012 | 4:30 am
  #162  
Markam
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: AA Platinum; UA Gold
Posts: 114
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Originally Posted by Anonym
I think people need to keep in mind this is one side of the story. To think that you caused this kind of a fuss over being downgraded to economy (oh the horror), is the actual most ridiculous part of the entire story. To get to the point of having to be separated by security and personally insulting her by calling her useless is immature and not the way to solve a problem. It gets better with your tantrum over "business class blankets" and "dessert", this is just so over the top. Seriously, get a grip people, there are serious problems in this world and people unfairly suffering every day and this person is throwing a tantrum over having to sit in economy? Take your seat, show some class, and request your compensation after the flight. I would be ashamed to conduct myslf the way you described (keeping in mind i would love to hear the other side of the story in terms of your actions). I really question who the "mentally unstable" party is.
Of course you are right that this is one side of the story, but it is the only one I have, and to be clear, you have misread several aspects of my post:

a) I did not protested to be downgraded to economy, but rather HOW we were downgraded to economy. First of all, it was not an equipment downgauge, they had overbooked the business cabin, knowing that we were travelling on rewards tickets and thinking that they could bump us at near to zero cost (they told us as much as this in Jakarta). Seconly, there is a procedure that I would expect to be followed in this cases. However, they did not offered us any options, no rescheduling, no rerouting, no refunding, they would not even tell us what would be our compensation for accepting to travel in economy class, instead of on business class, which is what we purchased. In Jakarta they just told us that we would be offered those options in Singapore, and in Singapore we were just told that we either boarded in economy or we would be left stranded there. Finally, no matter what is the issue, I expect to, at least, be treated politely and with respect, which was not the case, even taking out the very bizarre incident of the supervisor wanting to hit me. As it has been mentioned, I have recently had a very strong disagreement with Air Canada over compensation after a very long delay (24 hours), which I have actually referred to the EU. However, Air Canada customer service treated me respectfully at all times, even if we did not agree.

b) I did not cause any fuss, the Singapore supervisor working for Turkish Airlines did. The security guard did not have to separate us, because I never raised a finger. Rather, he had to get in between the supervisor and I to prevent her from hitting me. I did call her incompetent, but in the context of her rude treatment of us from the beginning and her appalling performance at giving us options or just telling us how we would be compensated for travelling in economy class instead of on the business class seats that we had purchased. So, I do not think I insulted her at all, it was just a description of her observed capabilities as supervisor. In my view if she does not want to be called incompetent, she should do a better job, or work for another airline (as it has been mentioned before, she may have been passed the ball by her Jakarta colleague, but again, that was not my problem, and she only mentioned that at the end of our discussion, when she calmed down, after, I guess, recovering some of her sense realizing how ridiculous all the situation was).

c) I understand the logistical difficulties involved in providing business class service in economy class, and I would have never expected it had the Singapore supervisor not advised us to expect it. Once I saw that the supervisor had either lied to us, or the purser would not bother to keep her promise even if she could, I just dropped the issue.

d) We did end up taking up our seats, and we did behave properly at all times, which Turkish Airlines cannot claim to have done, at quite a few levels. We asked for compensation afterwards, but we should have been offered it in advance, as the product we were being offered differed substantially from what we had purchased. I work in economic development and know very well that the world has many more important problems than a downgrade to economy class, however I really do not see nothing wrong for standing for one's right as a consumer, if one does it respectfully, as it was the case here, and I honestly cannot understand who you can have made such an interpretation of the events.

To say that you would be ashamed to behave as I did shows to me that either you have not read my post carefully enough, or that you are for some reason interpreting the events in a very wrong light. Either way, it comes without saying that I find it offensive that you intimate that I am mentally unstable, but I can assure you that I am quite sane. In any case, I sincerely wish that you never have to go through the situation that my wife and I had to go trough. Not so much the downgrade, which is not a tragedy, and which we would actually have taken up if we had been treated properly, but the treatment that ensued by Turkish Airlines in general, and by their Singapore supervisor in particular.

Last edited by Markam; Aug 28, 2012 at 4:49 am
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