KLM Business Class - First Time Thoughts
Dec 6, 2017, 12:23 am
#31
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: CDG/AMS
Programs: FB Plat for life, FB PC, M&M FT, Hertz President (+ many low tier cards)
Posts: 2,777
I did J to GIG last week on 772. Good food. Good crew. Too hot for me onboard but overall it was fine. No complaints about the service onboard the AMS-GIG leg.....but the DUB-AMS leg, KLM ticketing, KLM customer service is shocking. Deplorable in fact.
The return on Friday from GIG was 3 hours late. We all watched from the terminal as a couple of technicians sat on the engine, tools in hand, looking utterly clueless. It didn't inspire confidence.
I was given misinformation by ticketing which caused major problems, treated like a dog on the DUB-AMS leg and bounced around KLM staff at AMS (with my young daughter in tow pointlessly). I was finally told to contact KLM via whatsapp. I told my story....6 days later "sorry we cant help take it up with customer service" ...(I thought that's who I was talking to), anyway so I did. The replies i am getting are just mindless. They haven't even read my complaint properly! Looks like I'll have to go legal on them.
Shocking airline. Worse customer on any airline I've ever travelled with. .
The return on Friday from GIG was 3 hours late. We all watched from the terminal as a couple of technicians sat on the engine, tools in hand, looking utterly clueless. It didn't inspire confidence.
I was given misinformation by ticketing which caused major problems, treated like a dog on the DUB-AMS leg and bounced around KLM staff at AMS (with my young daughter in tow pointlessly). I was finally told to contact KLM via whatsapp. I told my story....6 days later "sorry we cant help take it up with customer service" ...(I thought that's who I was talking to), anyway so I did. The replies i am getting are just mindless. They haven't even read my complaint properly! Looks like I'll have to go legal on them.
Shocking airline. Worse customer on any airline I've ever travelled with. .
What information did ticketing give you? Why did you contact ticketing, and not simply directly customer service? And what major problems emerged as a result? Also curious to know what they did that made you feel being treated like a dog!
Dec 6, 2017, 12:07 pm
#32
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 68
I ostensibly had a relatively tight connection at Dublin of about 80 minutes. Being not too good on my feet and travelling with a minor. I telephoned ticketing to ensure that the trip I was about to purchase would enable me to check in online as the answer was affirmative I proceeded to purchase the ticket.
30 hours before the flight I checked in online and of course boarding cards could not be printed so I called the ticket office in Amsterdam and they told me there was a serious systems failure and that they apologized profusely. I asked them if I ought to speak to customer service or anywhere else in Amsterdam and they said no we deal with issues such as this but don't worry as there are kiosks airside as you deplane in Dublin which will allow you to print your boarding cards at that point.... naturally this was not the case and we had to leave the airport after getting our bags, change terminals and made the check in desk in some discomfort and literally a few minutes to spare where at that point we upgraded to J. Ticketing were extremely apologetic and wrote some notes on my account and said that would assist in me getting some compensation as I had booked another flight with another airline a couple of hours later as an insurance policy (which was ultimately pointless as a KLM rep on the gate told me that they would not have allowed me to board the Rio flight if I had missed the KLM flight from Dublin and flew to Amsterdam on another airline)!
We were were rushed through fast track by one of the check-in staff at DUB to ensure that we made the flight. I didn't really have time to scrutinise the new boarding cards to the nth degree however it was fairly clear we were in World business so we sat in the seats that we figured were designated to us. The purser had also checked our boarding cards and we were seated un 2a abd 2b. Hiwever she could see we were in J between Amsterdam and Rio but could not see on her manifest that we were in J between Dublin and Amsterdam and so she moved us into economy just as the plane was about to leave and everybody was buckled up. Obviously I protested and was supported by some of the other business class passengers, however we were ushered to the rear of the plane where our original Y seats had been taken!
As the flight was full the purser at the rear of the aeroplane asked what on earth we were doing walking down the aisle to economy at this stage....after we had explained she instructed us to return back to business class where the purser then sent us back to economy... the 2 ladies "had words".....We simply stood in the aisle of the plane not knowing which way to go and i have to say I got rather annoyed at that stage as did my young daughter. Frankly I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Finally one of the flight attendants found two seats in economy and after scrutinising the tickets it appeared that our upgrade was only between Amsterdam and Rio, although the purser apologised profusely afterwards and was sincerely saddened by what had happened. She made notes and told me to approach ground staff snd explain the situation, she told me that if I had been charged between Dublin and Rio then I could claim a refund so I spoke to the KLM desk in Amsterdam and recounted the story and there was nothing that they could do.... so they send me to ticketing upstairs and I recounted my story and there was nothing that they could do apart from to confirm I had only paid for an upgrade apparently between Amsterdam and Rio. They were very polite and apologetic and understanding and they suggested I ought to be upgraded to business on the return leg to compensate me for the inconvenience however they had no authority to do this and requested that I speak to KLM customer services on whatsspp (or who they thought was KLM customer service on WhatsApp) notes were added to my booking to assist in this and i whatsapped KLM....after 6 days.... there was nothing that they could do either. I asked Klm again at this stage to upgrade me from economy comfort (which I had booked on the return leg) to business as compensation for what had happened...they told me they could not do this and to take the matter up with customer services at this point I was getting confused! I thought I was talking to customer services.
The return flight was 3 hours late and although I really enjoyed economy comfort and I got some sleep (which is unlike me on a flight) the unprofessional and unedifying sight of technicians apparently not knowing what to do with the engine cover off for two or three hours on the tarmac at Rio was a little concerning to say the least, so I put all this information together succinctly and emailed it to KLM.
I have had 2 replies so far basically saying "I'm sorry there's nothing we can do" and the first one was "sorry we cannot upgrade you"....bit late for that!!!
I do not blame KLM for all the matters that conspired against us on this trip, however the incorrect information, the way we were ran around at AMS from pillar to post, the way we were treated DUB-AMS, (especially after paying a hefty sum to upgrade to business and on the return leg in economy comfort), was unacceptable and the responses I have had from KLM, since returning on Sunday, are less than satisfactory in fact you would call it deplorable if you were honest.
30 hours before the flight I checked in online and of course boarding cards could not be printed so I called the ticket office in Amsterdam and they told me there was a serious systems failure and that they apologized profusely. I asked them if I ought to speak to customer service or anywhere else in Amsterdam and they said no we deal with issues such as this but don't worry as there are kiosks airside as you deplane in Dublin which will allow you to print your boarding cards at that point.... naturally this was not the case and we had to leave the airport after getting our bags, change terminals and made the check in desk in some discomfort and literally a few minutes to spare where at that point we upgraded to J. Ticketing were extremely apologetic and wrote some notes on my account and said that would assist in me getting some compensation as I had booked another flight with another airline a couple of hours later as an insurance policy (which was ultimately pointless as a KLM rep on the gate told me that they would not have allowed me to board the Rio flight if I had missed the KLM flight from Dublin and flew to Amsterdam on another airline)!
We were were rushed through fast track by one of the check-in staff at DUB to ensure that we made the flight. I didn't really have time to scrutinise the new boarding cards to the nth degree however it was fairly clear we were in World business so we sat in the seats that we figured were designated to us. The purser had also checked our boarding cards and we were seated un 2a abd 2b. Hiwever she could see we were in J between Amsterdam and Rio but could not see on her manifest that we were in J between Dublin and Amsterdam and so she moved us into economy just as the plane was about to leave and everybody was buckled up. Obviously I protested and was supported by some of the other business class passengers, however we were ushered to the rear of the plane where our original Y seats had been taken!
As the flight was full the purser at the rear of the aeroplane asked what on earth we were doing walking down the aisle to economy at this stage....after we had explained she instructed us to return back to business class where the purser then sent us back to economy... the 2 ladies "had words".....We simply stood in the aisle of the plane not knowing which way to go and i have to say I got rather annoyed at that stage as did my young daughter. Frankly I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Finally one of the flight attendants found two seats in economy and after scrutinising the tickets it appeared that our upgrade was only between Amsterdam and Rio, although the purser apologised profusely afterwards and was sincerely saddened by what had happened. She made notes and told me to approach ground staff snd explain the situation, she told me that if I had been charged between Dublin and Rio then I could claim a refund so I spoke to the KLM desk in Amsterdam and recounted the story and there was nothing that they could do.... so they send me to ticketing upstairs and I recounted my story and there was nothing that they could do apart from to confirm I had only paid for an upgrade apparently between Amsterdam and Rio. They were very polite and apologetic and understanding and they suggested I ought to be upgraded to business on the return leg to compensate me for the inconvenience however they had no authority to do this and requested that I speak to KLM customer services on whatsspp (or who they thought was KLM customer service on WhatsApp) notes were added to my booking to assist in this and i whatsapped KLM....after 6 days.... there was nothing that they could do either. I asked Klm again at this stage to upgrade me from economy comfort (which I had booked on the return leg) to business as compensation for what had happened...they told me they could not do this and to take the matter up with customer services at this point I was getting confused! I thought I was talking to customer services.
The return flight was 3 hours late and although I really enjoyed economy comfort and I got some sleep (which is unlike me on a flight) the unprofessional and unedifying sight of technicians apparently not knowing what to do with the engine cover off for two or three hours on the tarmac at Rio was a little concerning to say the least, so I put all this information together succinctly and emailed it to KLM.
I have had 2 replies so far basically saying "I'm sorry there's nothing we can do" and the first one was "sorry we cannot upgrade you"....bit late for that!!!
I do not blame KLM for all the matters that conspired against us on this trip, however the incorrect information, the way we were ran around at AMS from pillar to post, the way we were treated DUB-AMS, (especially after paying a hefty sum to upgrade to business and on the return leg in economy comfort), was unacceptable and the responses I have had from KLM, since returning on Sunday, are less than satisfactory in fact you would call it deplorable if you were honest.
Dec 6, 2017, 12:57 pm
#33
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: CPT,AMS
Posts: 4,412
You had a connection in Dublin for a DUB-AMS-GIG flight? In which you had to get your bags, change terminals and check-in again? Did you have 2 separate tickets confused to be a connecting flight?
Perhaps if you can stick to the facts, explaining what tickets you had purchased, in which class, what did your boarding pass actually show, what was the upgrade all about etc. it will help understand what was going on.
Perhaps if you can stick to the facts, explaining what tickets you had purchased, in which class, what did your boarding pass actually show, what was the upgrade all about etc. it will help understand what was going on.
Dec 7, 2017, 3:19 pm
#36
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: CPT,AMS
Posts: 4,412
Ohh I see several issues but they mostly seem like your own wrongdoing.
- You had an 80 minutes "connection" on 2 separate tickets in DUB, where you had checked luggage
- You paid for a "backup" ticket which would have not helped you have you read the conditions of your KLM ticket
- You did not check your boarding pass correctly (no need to scrutinise!) and assumed you should be seated in J on the DUB-AMS flight, all the inconvenience that was caused by that could have been averted by spending not even 1 minute looking at your boarding pass and taking your allocated seat to begin with
All in all you had a bad experience with the crew, due to no fault of the airline, yet if you write KLM a complaint explaining your issue clearly and sharing your disappointment you stand a chance on getting some miles or even a voucher as a gesture of good will from customer service, but in no way they are obliged to upgrade you for free on a long-haul flight or give you any refund, so demanding that will get you a clear no.
- You had an 80 minutes "connection" on 2 separate tickets in DUB, where you had checked luggage
- You paid for a "backup" ticket which would have not helped you have you read the conditions of your KLM ticket
- You did not check your boarding pass correctly (no need to scrutinise!) and assumed you should be seated in J on the DUB-AMS flight, all the inconvenience that was caused by that could have been averted by spending not even 1 minute looking at your boarding pass and taking your allocated seat to begin with
All in all you had a bad experience with the crew, due to no fault of the airline, yet if you write KLM a complaint explaining your issue clearly and sharing your disappointment you stand a chance on getting some miles or even a voucher as a gesture of good will from customer service, but in no way they are obliged to upgrade you for free on a long-haul flight or give you any refund, so demanding that will get you a clear no.
Dec 7, 2017, 4:12 pm
#37
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 189
For me it is honestly unclear what the issue in DUB was.. call me stupid, but for me its unclear if you had a connection flight before Dublin. It seems you did, yet you do not confirm this.
My first thought; it seems it all started there to be honest.. 80 minutes with checked luggage and a minor is harsh. And it sounds you landed at the low cost terminal and had to move to the other where KLM is departing from.
In the end, shouldnt there be some reflection this might have been a bad gamble? KLM clearly advices a longer arrival at checkin (believe its 120 min)..
I do not say you might have some points, but to blame it al on KLM the way you present your case here.. hmm...
My first thought; it seems it all started there to be honest.. 80 minutes with checked luggage and a minor is harsh. And it sounds you landed at the low cost terminal and had to move to the other where KLM is departing from.
In the end, shouldnt there be some reflection this might have been a bad gamble? KLM clearly advices a longer arrival at checkin (believe its 120 min)..
I do not say you might have some points, but to blame it al on KLM the way you present your case here.. hmm...
Last edited by Gajan; Dec 7, 2017 at 4:36 pm