londonienne

Hi all,

Let me preface this post by saying that I have never written about an incident like this in the past and am usually extremely forgiving of overworked and underpaid airline employees, but this was just so over the top I have to consult all of you about how to approach this situation with Lufthansa.

I was a first-class passenger from Paris to San Francisco via Frankfurt on 8 April 2010, departing at 6:30 AM from CDG (the earliest flight out). My journey was configured at the last minute as a response to my father's severe stroke and sharp decline in health on 7 April 2010 in California, requiring my immediate departure. As such, I did not sleep on the night of the 7th and instead arrived at CDG at 3:45 AM on the 8th so as to be certain that I would make the flight and receive the best of care as I returned home to be with my family during this difficult time.

I was instead, however, yelled at, insulted repeatedly, and verbally abused by one of the two Lufthansa employees opening the first-class check-in area during this period. It was so unbelievably vicious I'm going to expound below:

The incident began when a Lufthansa employee opened up the check-in area around 4:30 AM. After being told extremely sternly in French to exit the check-in line -- a request I complied with immediately -- I attempted to ask this woman to help me check-in at the kiosk to the right of the desk, since it rejected the information that I had entered earlier. Unfortunately, I was unable to even articulate my request to this woman before she broke out yelling and screaming at me, saying that I was "incompetent" and "stupid". She also mocked me by screaming, "Oh, je veux ceci, je veux cela…" (I want this, I want that) -- only because I had politely asked her to help me check in at the kiosk!

Unfortunately, the situation got worse from there. When it came time to check-in at the actual desk (since the kiosk didn't issue both boarding passes), I purposely avoided this agent at the first/business-class desk and instead waited to be helped by the other agent. However, as I was nearing the desk, the agent who had previously harassed me said to the other -- in French -- loudly enough so that I could hear that I had previously "pissed her off" ("me soûle"). How appalling and how unprofessional for these two first-class agents to comport themselves in such a manner!

Upon the completion of check-in, I politely and quietly requested the agent attending to me to give me her first name and that of the other agent (since I fully intended to write a letter about this experience and how demeaning it was to be treated in such a manner.) Knowing that she would be reprimanded, the other agent who had previously harassed me interjected and started yelling and screaming, "Mais je n'ai pas de nom!" (But I have no name!) and started attacking me with extremely vulgar language in French (enfoiré, enculé etc). Repeating to her colleague very politely that I needed her name to write a letter about her comportment and she jumped up and started screaming at me even more loudly because I remained very calm and composed during this entire affair. To wit, she said "Vous jouez la précieuse!" and "Écrivez votre lettre, en anglais de plus!" Again, how vulgar of this woman to treat me in such a manner! First-class passenger or not, I told the agent who had checked me in (who did give me her name and refused to give me that of her colleague), that I had never been treated in such a manner and that I needed to contact customer relations.

To end this horrific affair, I attempted to take a photo of the gate agent who was screaming at me and treating me with such disrespect for no apparent reason -- I had only politely requested her help checking in -- and she then turned her head away for 25 seconds and, realising that I was not yielding, ran up to me and barked in my face that she would report me to security and that it was illegal to take pictures at check in. Whether or not this is the case, she was evidently fully aware of how out-of-line her comportment was and did not want to be disciplined by being identified.

As there were only two check-in agents at the first/business-class check in desk at that time (4:30 AM to 5:30 AM), I fully expect Lufthansa to reprimand this woman and, if possible, to have her apologise to me by phone for her behaviour.

I have never been treated in such a manner by anyone in my entire life, and even though the rest of my journey was relatively enjoyable -- the in-flight crew personally apologised for her behavior and said that they would endeavour to address it -- I will never again fly with Lufthansa if this is the way that that the airline contents itself with treating its passengers. I was already under a great deal of stress due to the purpose of my journey, and being verbally abused and harangued by an unhinged check-in agent for 10 minutes did not constitute the experience I expected when I reserved my ticket.

I am a frequent British Airways FIRST and Club World passenger, and indeed live between London and San Francisco. Because of the ongoing industrial action issues, I've been avoiding BA -- but I will never again spend a single farthing with Lufthansa or any of its affiliated airlines if this is the kind of service that I can expect.

I would appreciate your comments on how to approach this situation and to ensure that the airline is made fully aware of what happened.

Thanks very much.

dabears1020

This is pretty surprising and if it really happened, definitely quite serious. If all happened exactly as you said, the first agent should be fired, no question whatsoever, and the second should be disciplined. I would hope Lufthansa gives you some pretty hefty compensation for that. Never heard of an employee, in any industry for that matter, treating a customer with such disrespect. Absolutely no excuse for that.

Most definitely write a letter to Lufthansa. Include the exact time and any relevant details with the letter so they can make sure exactly which agents were there. If she honestly acted like that, I would bet this is not the first time a customer has had a run in with her.

londonienne

This happened in the exact manner I'm unveiling it -- and yet the more over-the-top manner in which this agent acted, the more unbelievable it became and the more unwilling her colleague was to give me her name.

I wish I had recorded this woman instead of attempting to take a picture.

I am still horrified by the entire affair, and it made my journey back to the US that much worse.

Does anyone else know about the agent I'm referring to? I cannot be the only person she has abused.

Doc Savage

Incredible!

DownUnderFlyer

Complain to LH. The behaviour displayed by the agent is not acceptable. As simple as that.
You might also want to contact our resident LH Representative to bring this issue to her attention.

Airgroovin

This is absolutely appalling and I am sorry to hear that you had such a horrific experience during a stressful personal time - F check-in, or not!

You must contact LH and have this rude employee dealt with, it appears that she may very well dig her own grave anyway... someone that rude eventually does.

Cheers,

AG. :-:

naitkris

Shocking behaviour - and to someone booked in F who should be LH's most valuable customer

bsb21

Wow! That should not have happened even if you were flying Ryanair!

I would try to get a hold of someone at the LH Corporate Office if I were you and certainly contact our LH lurker.

londonienne

Thanks for your expressions of support. I would be most interested in following up with the LH Corporate Office or Customer Relations regarding this incident should they maintain a presence on this forum.

DownUnderFlyer

Just look at the Sticky at the top of this forum.

weero

Definitely go this way as in my experience LH management doesn't voluntarily read passengers' complaints not even written ones.

I can understand that you could not take any risks in your situation but the few times I have been abused by agents at airports, I actually always accepted the threat to call security and I did so twice myself. That way you have a report and witnesses and it will make it much harder for the agent in question and LH in generally to talk themselves out of the situation.

What I fear is that LH will once more resort to the whitewash excuse that these agents are not actual Lufthansa employees and that they are just hired guns etc etc etc. So you need to really push the issue.

meng79

this is appalling, I'll be interested to see how it turns out

londonienne

I will be sure to let you know what LH does to rectify this situation, if anything.

The only part I left out from the initial recounting of the story is that I actually requested to speak to the superior of my check-in agent when I was refused the other agent's name. My agent, S., told me that nobody was there at that hour; while I don't know if that's true, I do know that it is not that useful to have S. as a witness to this entire affair given that she declined to reveal the other agent's name, and is clearly out to protect her colleague.

Oh, I should also mention that the one who was provoking me at one point said, "Vous m'agressez depuis que je suis ici..." (You've been aggressing me since I've gotten here...) Frankly, if I hadn't been so exhausted, the taunting might have worked in getting me to respond.

Loalq

Welcome to France...

I have experienced similiar behaviour from AF crew before. From my experience living in Europe, the best way to deal with rude french people is to confront them immediately, as they usually don't expect this to happen.

And you definitively should write LH about, and ask for this woman's head. This is absolutely unnacceptable no matter if you are flying first or economy, Singapore or Ryanair.

Let us know how the situation develops and good luck!

sebastravel

Frankly, it seems either the agent is somewhat mentally unstable, grossly misunderstood your request for assistance, or is a hard core syndicalist that considers any premium pax to be fodder for guillotine. Either way, I doubt LH can find any way to get rid of her, not for lack of will, but rather for obstructive unions, labour law etc. not that easy to fire somebody in Europe, even less so in France.