m3red

Reminds me of the time my wife and three colleagues all got food poisoning on a flight back from Pakistan. They all complained.

Emirates denied food poisoning (of course they would) and they denied anyone else complained (all complained...)

eternaltransit

I remember you said that in a post before - totally agree the back-office customer service is abysmal and not at all joined up. One-oiffs you can perhaps put down to bad luck, but when it keeps on happening to multiple people you know it's an internal issue.

lighthand

EK's ground customer service reminds me of an introduction I've heard on a NZ flight.

FA: "Ladies & Gents, Welcome onboard flight NZxxx. We will begin the safety briefing shortly, and in the meantime I just want to say that we will do our best to let you enjoy your flight with us today. But once you're off the plane, that's not my business anymore..."

P.S. There was an exception in her amusing announcement though, cause she added "...unless you are rich, good looking and know how to treat a lady." The whole plane was howling by that point.

avcritic

It is just customer service agent's failure, nothing more. CC cannot keep every single pax happy. That is a fact.

Fact checking with Purser!!! they are CS not CSI. What is the purpose of fact checking, do they expect Purser to remember every pax they served over last few days.

Company gives nice office space, comfy chairs, headsets, HD eye friendly displays and ergonomic keyboards so that CSA will be able to resolve any situation and keep customer happy, even if CC did something totally inappropriate. Not to put on extra pounds and write harsh e-mails to customers.

subject2load

I've read your post carefully (twice), and in all honesty I'm struggling to understand what precisely you are saying here.

As many others have concurred, the quality of the response from EK Customer Service to pomkiwi's complaint was highly unsatisfactory. That much is clear. But you say that "it is just customer agent's failure, nothing more" and that "CC cannot keep every single pax happy".

Let's not forget the actual cause of the original complaint : it was the very poor service received - in First class - throughout a seven hour sector. If cabin crew rostered on that flight are not totally responsible for service standards .....then I wonder who on earth is ......

The purpose of the "fact checking" (which you seem to think is a pointless exercise) is to allow the Purser to make any comments which could usefully add to the overall picture, and influence the nature of the response eventually made by Customer Service.

Whether or not the Purser is, or is not, believed is another matter entirely. And whether or not the incident can be remembered at all is, in itself, no reason to dispense with any attempt at investigation. The alternative would be to allow crew to behave exactly as they wish onboard any given flight, safe in the knowledge that they will never subsequently be spoken to/questioned at base about their performance. Like many of us here, pomkiwi spends a lot of money with Emirates and has certain expectations. Rightly so.

Regardless of whether or not a Purser (and/or members of that Purser's team on the day), can remember the specific incident, and regardless of whether or not they choose to accept ownership for service failures, there is a fundamental responsibility on the part of EK management to do what they can to a) address fully all complaints when received and b) take steps to minimise their recurrence.

Where customer-facing roles are concerned, any action taken in respect of failings should obviously be proportionate and fair, taking account of all circumstances. But once you go down the route of treating such failures as in any way acceptable, the entire reputation of the organisation is at risk.

avcritic

@subject2load

You got it exactly right. Even though initially mistake was by CC, it is CSA job to change customer's opinion. I think who ever handled this complaint failed miserably knowing they are dealing with a premium pax.

Both CC and CSA are customer facing jobs.
One in a dynamic environment with little control, other in a controlled environment. CSA has lot of time to think on how to respond to a complaint. "We fact checked and you are wrong" is the least appropriate way to respond to a complaint.

Lets check with the customer about my comment.

@pomkiwi
Even though your in flight experience was bad, would a sincere apology from customer service agent change your opinion and give another chance?

subject2load

Ok, fair enough avcritic, thanks for coming back to clarify.

I understand your perspective better now and we seem to be pretty much on the same wavelength.

The reality is that things can, and do, go wrong even in the best-run service industries, and complaints - to one degree or another - are thus inevitable. It is the manner in which those complaints are subsequently handled that distinguishes the truly customer-focused organisations from those that just go through the motions.

I know it can seem like a bit of tired jargon but the old business 'mantra' about treating any problem as an opportunity still holds good I feel.

As implied by your question to pomkiwi, the benefits to be gained by efficient service recovery should be maximised wherever possible.

pomkiwi

I have only complained once previously about a flight. It was with BA and related to CC behaviour. After an apology, I was phoned and my concerns discussed. I felt that I had been taken seriously, believed and that some action to improve service might occur. That was what I was seeking (no compensation offered or sought).

Thinking about EK I'm not sure how I might recognise a sincere apology now. It is not about giving them another chance - I have a couple more sectors coming up in a few days and hope they will be as good as my recent Australian flights. I will however think about future trips seriously and will probably place some business elsewhere unless EK give a very clear benefit in schedule or price. I see no evidence that EK 'values' a relationship with customers or at least not this Plat. It is on such an emotionally influenced basis that a significant number of purchasing decisions get made......

m3red

I agree with this, great post.

I'm interested to see what the supposed enhancements are to platinum but not looking like it's going to be worth the effort. I do fancy trying Qatars new product.

saint77

as much as Emirates charges to fly 1st Class, they should always concede there was a problem and offer some sort of rebate

if it is proven there was a major shortcoming in connection with the crew or flight, the concession should be nothing less than generous

I have flown Emirates every month for 10 years now and I definitely think they are beginning to take our business for granted

I just completed the Qatar Globetrotter offer and will be Platinum in 2016, planning to split up my flight "spend"

Dave Noble

I disagree - that someone complains does not mean that the complaint is valid and the airline shouldn't automatically concede that there was a problem

By actually writing back detailing the situation as the airline sees it seems better to me. If what is written is inaccurate, then the receipient can write back detailing why they believe it is wrong

saint77

sorry I come from the school of "The Customer is Always Right"

if a customer complains, they must feel they have legitimate gripe whether it is actually justified or not, I am definitely not going to question their honesty or sanity

1st Class passengers pay a lot of bills and I would do whatever is reasonably necessary to retain them, even if I have to give up a little of the profit margin to please them

there is simply not an unlimited number of potential 1st class passengers out there

stanontour

I reported my broken first class seat to the pursar. The lower part would not raise properly.
with the 8 op ups on my flight i was unable to change seats. She said she would make a note of the faulty seat and I should fill in the customer complaints form.
Twice i filled in the online complaints form. After a few weeks i got the below response!!

Thank you for completing an Online Booking Query Form.

It is of concern to learn of your disappointment with the incident you have described on board your recently travelling with Emirates.

Emirates place a great deal of emphasis on the high standard of in-flight service and the facilities that are provided to our passengers, and it is regrettable that we have been unable to meet your expectations on this occasion.

May I assure you that your comments have been forwarded to the concerned departmental heads for their review and action, as appropriate.

Although we have not lived up to your expectations on this occasion, I do hope your recent experience has not marred your impression of the service offered by Emirates and that we will be given another opportunity of serving you in the future.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention, and for allowing me the opportunity to respond. We look forward to welcoming you on board our flights again soon.



I replied again saying the above was not satisfactory. That was in April. Never heard a response back.

kuroko

and then there is also this side from their customer service:

flight was delayed for several hours due to a technical problem. Ask them to reimburse my lost night at the destination (the room was 200$ per night) but not other compensation etc.
They did not reimburse me with 200$ as they should have however they gave each of us 75K miles (so 150K miles vs 200$)

HMPS

Pomwiki consider yourself very lucky re your BA CUSTOMER relations experience. judging from several threads / posts at BAEC, you were lucky + !

What is at play in general here is that there is a " cultural " difference between Western ways and the ME or Indian sub continent. In the West we are service minded most of the time....the rest always find it difficult to " back down" and " admit" a fault. one of the reasons I find is there are oceans of consumers for most products to replace ones lost due to poor CUSTOMER handling.