How do you contact KLM?: No one is home!

Old Aug 26, 2021, 9:40 am
  #1  
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How do you contact KLM?: No one is home!

Yesterday I booked 2 return tickets for December YYZ-AMS.
I want to book our dog in the animal cargo hold, which can't be done online.

Phone KLM Canada: phone line is closed down.
Phone KLM NL: After waiting on hold, message says there's no one to answer and please go online.
Now I've been sitting on Facebook messenger for 2 hours, not knowing if there's anyone on the other end.

This is really unacceptable.
Since Covid started I've had to deal with a couple of Canadian airlines. I've always been able to reach them by phone, with even shorter hold times than pre-Covid.

Anyone have an idea how to reach KLM?
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Old Aug 26, 2021, 11:22 am
  #2  
 
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Social media is usually the easiest but I never had an issue where I was told to go there after waiting on the phone, waiting times can vary though.
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Old Aug 26, 2021, 11:46 am
  #3  
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Originally Posted by Ditto
Social media is usually the easiest but I never had an issue where I was told to go there after waiting on the phone, waiting times can vary though.
I've been sitting on FB messenger for several hours now.

After entering my booking #, I got this:

' – To help you in the best possible way, I will transfer you to a service agent. Please note that a response might take some time'

Since then nothing.
There appears to be no phone customer service in Europe or North America.
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Old Aug 26, 2021, 11:47 am
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Well as they say... response might take some time, if the phone lines are busy I'm sure social media isn't any less busy.
But you have ample time to sort it out until December, I'm sure you'll get a reply long before that.
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Old Aug 26, 2021, 11:54 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by Ditto
Well as they say... response might take some time, if the phone lines are busy I'm sure social media isn't any less busy.
But you have ample time to sort it out until December, I'm sure you'll get a reply long before that.
have you actually had anyone pick up the phone recently?
My impression isn't that the call centers are busy, but that they are closed.
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Old Aug 26, 2021, 12:06 pm
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Not so recently no, I have no idea about the Canadian number but I'm sure the call center behind the NL number isn't closed.
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Old Aug 26, 2021, 1:25 pm
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Originally Posted by JeffersonCampervan
I've been sitting on FB messenger for several hours now.

After entering my booking #, I got this:

' To help you in the best possible way, I will transfer you to a service agent. Please note that a response might take some time'

Since then nothing.
There appears to be no phone customer service in Europe or North America.
If thats of any help, every time I had to contact KL by messenger, every single answer took 12-24h to arrive. Theres no use sitting in front of the computer, you can come back to check once a day.
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Old Aug 26, 2021, 7:09 pm
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Originally Posted by maalloc
If thats of any help, every time I had to contact KL by messenger, every single answer took 12-24h to arrive. Theres no use sitting in front of the computer, you can come back to check once a day.
Aha - they said they were going to 'transfer (me) to a service agent' - that sounded like I was about to get an agent via chat, hence 'sitting in front of the computer'.
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Old Aug 26, 2021, 8:45 pm
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Originally Posted by JeffersonCampervan
have you actually had anyone pick up the phone recently?
My impression isn't that the call centers are busy, but that they are closed.
I have had no issue calling them at their regular Dutch number +31 20 4 747 747. One time I had to wait about a minute and a half.
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Old Aug 27, 2021, 12:20 am
  #10  
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Have you tried the what’s App KL message system ?
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Old Aug 27, 2021, 8:33 am
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Originally Posted by Goldorak
Have you tried the whats App KL message system ?
That worked for me yesterday and was fairly quick. Maybe a 5 minute wait.
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Old Aug 27, 2021, 4:12 pm
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I called the platinum line this week during business hours and it was answered within 1 minute.
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Old Aug 27, 2021, 5:10 pm
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Originally Posted by westi2002
I called the platinum line this week during business hours and it was answered within 1 minute.
I tried the NL number this morning and got through - 50 minutes on hold before anyone picked up though.

I've tried both fb and whatsapp - I've never had them answer the question that was actually asked.
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Old Aug 30, 2021, 6:33 pm
  #14  
 
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I have found on Twitter it takes them about 17 hours to reply, less for subsequent volleys.

The key to using Twitter is to just realize it's going to be asynchronous - don't hang around waiting for a response, they may respond when you are asleep and you can respond when you wake up. They don't expect an immediate response from you when it took them over 10 hours to respond in the first place.
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Old Sep 2, 2021, 3:45 am
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The trick with reaching KLM via Dutch number - try different times of the day. The waiting line goes through peaks and valleys. If the stated waiting time is longer than 20 minutes, try a few different times.
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