I would gladly receive 150k miles rather than $200 ;-)

of course! didnt complain about the 150k, however just saying, Ive asked only for 200$ instead they gave me 150k miles. really dont get the customer service (sure it worked in favour for me this time)

EK service recovery seems to be completely haphazard with no real consistency - minor broken J seat on ULH results in 20k miles, broken IFE in Y between 0 and 15k, complete failure to arrange WCHR (even though pre-booked etc. etc.) and nearly missing a connecting flt because of it results in nothing.

I'd have to completely disagree with HMPS assertion between "Western" ways and "ME/Indian subcontinent ways"/The West and "The Rest" regarding customer service and don't feel it is a cultural or racial thing per se - I know plenty of Western companies and individuals with utterly abysmal customer service. In fact, there are plenty of Western countries and regions with stereotypes of infamously poor customer service.

The deciding factor, imho, is simply the organisation and its internal cultural attitude to customer service. I have been in many places in "The Rest", both in the ME, the Indian subcontinent and throughout Asia where the service and service recovery have been outstanding, both on a commercial basis and in the hospitality industry. Likewise in "Western" countries. And similarly poor service in "Western" countries, and in "The Rest".

What we have with airline customer service specifically is a department that receives many nasty complaints on a daily basis and staff that really don't care or are numb to it (understandably).

However, I find that a critical skill in dealing with customer feedback is to separate the merits of the case from the professionalism in your reply - the main trait in a poor customer service department is being unable to separate the two, and allowing a bad day, or customers with complaints with no merits affecting their job performance too much, without a consistent policy to fall back on.

Except that the customer is not always right ; the customer can be wrong.

If a customer was insisting that the world was flat, I don't think it would be correct

The customer is not always right - but he is the customer :D

imho, it is manner of reply - good customer service departments can determine the merit of any individual complaint and give a response based on that.

Poor customer service questions the integrity of anyone complaining in their response (absent any sustained record from an individual customer).

"The customer is always right" cannot be taken literally. He can be wrong (voluntarily or not). It just means : "don't bruise his ego".

What's the cost of an apology ? Some paperwork, some skywards miles ? Then who cares ? It's a cheap cost compared to a dissatisfied premium customer.
Premium customers often don't only fly by themselves, they are also prescribers among fellow colleagues, team members, family, well-positioned friends.
Companies don't have ego, only balance sheet and shares. Customers do have ego.

If a customer was truly convinced that the world is flat, I would advise him to stay away from the edge and use my product (whatever it is).

Coming from a hospitality back ground, I am a) appalled at the handling of this and b) amazed that some people feel the Emirates response is ok. In the service industry, the golden rule of thumb is that the Customer is right until proven wrong!! Yes, we all know there are serious complainers out there (always easy to spot!) but this situation is far from that. And this should be adhered to even more so when dealing with the top level of passengers I.e. The ones who generate serious revenue. I always find it quite sad when businesses becomes so big they forget their most important department is CS. It really is make or break as to how a situation is handled. Whilst the outcome and resolution may be the same, it is in the handling and explanation which makes such a difference as to how the customer perceives it.

I was flying First only once in my life (on LH) on miles. Booked seat 1A. When on board, crew privately asked me if there's any chance to switch my window seat with an upset F passenger seating aisle. He was disappointed not having a window seat. Of course I was kind and switch. The crew captain came to me mid-flight with 200 eur vouchers as a thank you...
First world's problems.
What I want to say is that in this case, the customer was the king. And LH took an F passenger with all respect and fulfilled its wish. I was also happy to get 200 EUR. However, if I had 10kEUR to pay for F, 200EUR was only pocket money. But the gesture was in favour of the other passenger and he surely was happy and did not think of booking the next F travel with AF or EK for example. If he was right or not, there's no correct answer. He wanted that and got it.
I don't know if EK does the same with F passengers or Platinum status members but to certain extent they (EK) should be careful. Their neighbours don't sleep. I, as a Y passenger, see EK superior of LH (which I usually fly with) for certain candies such as: emergency seat request fulfilled almost every time, best of best IFE, great seats and interior, smooth boarding and good schedule for my Asia travels. I'll hit Silver but has no benefits other than silver colour card. With LH, silver is a ticket to european lounges and also gave me a couple of op-ups. But it's difficult to reach it with my booking classes that usually gave 25% - 50% miles. Anyways, I'm good with EK so far and don't feel they're over rated in Y class.

If I was in position to fly even more frequently and high class (F, J), I'd certainly split business. Flying 3-4 times in F on LH gets you 2-year Senator for example. Being a premium member (on long term) in several alliances can give a good comparison which airline fights for its customers best.

In terms of customer service, I think the important thing is that if a business makes general or specific representations to a customer through marketing, etc, then it is honour bound to meet that (and if fails to do so, to promptly apologise and make good). Too often, you'll find businesses that'll take your money but then act like they are somehow doing you a "favour" by providing you with what were enticed to treat with.

Airlines, for example, often promote their First Class offerings as exceptional experiences in the sky, with world class food and beverage, plush and comfortable seating/lie flat "beds", personalised and responsive service both on the ground and in the air, and many other fancy claims. The reality for a lot of airlines is much more down to earth. Given that discrepancy, the least they can do is handle any issues for these passengers with due care and skill.

To be fair I don't think Dave was saying EK's reply in this instance is correct. I assume he was just pointing out that there are customers can be wrong.

EK will need to reply in a suitable manner (subjective), that shows their sincerity and apologize for assuming customer was lying.

Sorry if this has been addressed, but how can you compare short haul flights to any route that EK operates? Even the short 5th freedom routes they do are on a380s. There's so much that are fundamentally different in aircraft types, ops...

Also, what is it with people in Y liking to compare FOOD? All airplane food in Y is the same. Inedible

Hey! We enjoy aceboy44's mini rants.

Leave him be. :D

Not true. SQ, NH & TG have very good food even in Y.

Don't forget TK!!!

You know, I agree with a lot of the comments here regarding the EK service, I am generally flying twice a week at the moment with a mixture of F and J, when you get a good crew in F then the flight is wonderful, but get a crew who is off the ball then it can dip below expectations.

My big bug bear with EK is the grand handling when you arrive at Dubai if you are flying F, as soon as you leave the aircraft then the first class experience is over and you are just another passenger. I arrived back from BKK 2 weeks ago and for some reason my card would not work in the smart gate and ended up waiting over 70 minutes in the fast track queue for immigration. This i find unacceptable and not an isolated experience.

As has been said earlier, the time has now come to spread my business around, I have already re-qualified for Plat in the first for 4 months of my membership year so now it is time to try the airline down the road for a few of my trips.