Hi FT! It has been a while!

This is definitely a first world problem, but I am pretty annoyed at Qatar. We booked tickets to from Dubai to Singapore via Doha. Dubai-Doha in First, the rest in business. No issue using the first class lounge in Dubai, but we were denied entry to the First Lounge in Doha. We were told we'd no access to the business lounge either. Spoke to three levels of staff there, but was told the ticket was a "light fare" and lounge access was not included. The ticket had been bought on a third party website, not Qatar.

We have since checked the email from the original agent, and an email from Qatar that makes no mention of us having paid a light fare. (BTW it was not particularly cheap either).

This is the first time I have come across this for any carrier, and it really falls well short of how I would perceive Qatar as a brand.

When the issue was raised with their customer service on twitter we were told all first tickets had lounge access. We were also given an email to address our concerns to.

You probably won't be surprised that we got nothing but a "bot" response. In fact, checking in for the return flights now, their one intervention seems to have been to print "no lounge" on the boarding cards.

I don't expect to get something for nothing, but this to me seems like very deceptive business practice. Would be annoyed to receive this treatment anywhere, but it really surprises me that Qatar behaves in this way.

Although scanning the other threads here, it probably should not be such a surprise.