purple1addict

Thankfully not. Once in English (with Arabic subtitles) is more than enough for me

plunet

I guess we can be grateful for small mercies.

Personally I have no interest in football, and very much less in football 'celebrities', so I am very much less inclined to watch this at the appropriate time than I would be a normal safety video.

ph-ndr

Another foul found today: my flight depart departs from E18, try finding that on the QR app’s map of the airport. Is this perhaps HIA’s gate 9 3/4?

-A

Traveller999

Come on guys, its not that bad. It´s just an approach to gain attention for safety in a "funny" way (i did laugh about ;-) ) - and as I can read here, that did work ;-)

Gabbr

Hi everyone, this obviously will not come as a surprise for any of you but I'd like to share my experience with this ...... company.

I haven't even flown with them yet and they're already giving me a hard time. And all I've been trying to get is some straightforward answers to simple questions relating to the Excess Value Declaration for Checked Baggage, sort of a increase in the liability limit in case anything happens with my baggage. I'm only 4 days away from my trip and they're still giving me the run-around.

Firstly, I'd like to point out how terribly unprepared their customer service staff is. I tried getting answers calling the number +61 291654313 (linked to Australia, where I'm departing from) and not surprisingly, the call was directed to a call centre in India. After spending almost an hour on the phone, the agent was not able to help me with my enquiry because she didn't know anything about the subject nor even after checking with her superior/manager.

The incompetence of their customer service department is not limited to the call centre in India, but also to the Canadian office. I had my sister who lives in Canada phone their office in the Montreal airport and they also don't know anything about the checked baggage special declaration of value, even when it was pointed out that it is clearly addressed under item 9.7.1 of the air ticket contract.

At the same time, I've tried getting the answers I need emailing [email protected] also to no avail. All I got was the same generic, copy+paste reply that ends with "We have forwarded your email to our local reservation office and our staff will check and contact with you. We regret all inconvenience and we look forward to welcoming you on board our flights in the near future."

It's been a week since I first emailed them and their local reservation office and staff has not contacted me at all!
I even managed to find QRs' Whatsapp number (same as Doha's Main Office number) and they still refuse to answer my simple questions!

QR is obviously stalling to give the answers because it's of no interest of theirs!

And here's the exact message I communicated with them through all the channels mentioned above:

"In your Conditions of Carriage (www. qatarairways. com/content/dam/documents/legal/conditions-of-carriage. pdf), under Article 9 (Baggage), item 7.1, it is stated that I may declare a value for Checked Baggage in excess of the applicable liability limits and that I will pay for such declaration.

1- I looked all over Qatar airway's website and there is no special form for Excess Value Declaration for Checked Baggage. So how can I file it? Can it be done online or only at the airport?

2- Does the fee for this declaration depend on total value declared on the special declaration form or is it a fixed fee? Can it be paid with debit card?

3- Please send me this special declaration form to [email protected] so I can already start filling it."

I've managed to find 2 other airlines' form for this just to have an idea of what info exactly I should put in it, but obviously it needs to be filed with QR using their own form.

Does anyone here knows what I'm talking about and can help me? Preferably send me the form itself.
Also, I'd appreciate any legal advice relating to what I can do regarding their refusal to respond to my request for more information if anything happens to my checked baggage, if it comes to that.

Thanks in advance,

Gabriel.

ISTFlyer

Although this is an old post,
Number 1 is partially incorrect. Cheese is not available and anymore, however, butter is available upon request on QR Y.

plunet

I have never needed to do this, and don't know the procedure, but if I were in your position and wanted to be as prepared as possible with the lack of progress on where your query is going...

1. If you are able to get to the airport and can get into the terminal as far as the check in counters at a time when there is a QR flight departing before you depart then you could go and enquire what the process is for this with a check in agent. If they don't have a clue ask them to get the QR station manager down to check in to speak to you.

2. If you can't get to the airport, try to call the airport switchboard and ask to speak to the QR Station Manager about 1 hour before an inbound plane is due to arrive (they should be onsite but possibly not super busy at that point). If there are no other QR flights before your flight leaves at your airport, any other national airport would probably work just as well.

3. If the above fails or doesn't work, draft your own declaration form based on what other airlines are asking for, and at the top refer to the QR condition of carriage and that you are making a declaration. If the check in agent really don't have a clue, you can at least serve notice in a relatively easy way at check in. You will probably need to do this with the supervisor or station manager.

I sympathize with you that it shouldn't be complicated like this

brunos

I never heard anyone using an excess valuation form on QR (or any other airlines).
All that QR mentions in conditions of carriage:
7.1 If in accordance with our regulations at some locations we offer an excess valuation facility, you may declare a value for Checked Baggage in excess of the applicable liability limits. If you make such a declaration you will pay any applicable charges.

I would assume Canada is not one of those locations. I would also assume that this is just a boiler plate and that there is no QR location where it applies (maybe USA).
Airlines apply the usual Montreal convention. Some countries have a specific law regarding maximum amount covered. The US has a maximum of $3,400, and US airlines routinely sell extra cover, but that is rare elsewhere (I don't know about Canada).

I strongly suggest that you forget about getting it from QR and get some additional insurance cover from a third party (maybe your credit card). Otherwise do what plunet suggested.

ft101

It was a common ploy when a certain LCC airline wanted to gate check your luggage to ask for this as they invariably let you go and picked on someone else.

Gabbr

Thank you so much for your input. I will definitely arrive at the airport with my declaration ready, with a detailed, itemized list of my belongings.

Not according to the Montreal Convention (which by the way, is my final destination), so if someone is travelling to a place where this Convention applies, the airline has to abide by it. They do this mind-game of misinformation because it obviously is of no interest to them as this only increases their liability in case anything happens to my baggage. I should not and will not pay for extra insurance (and by the way, this is not a free service) since all airlines have to offer this option to every passenger where the Montreal Convention applies. Clearly, very few people know about this so get to know your rights in order not to get effed by these greedy companies.

"Montreal Convention and lost baggage

You are liable for compensation if the carrier admits your luggage has been lost. Note that if your checked bags have not arrived within 21 days, they are officially considered lost.

Airlines are required to compensate you both for the cost of your suitcase and its contents.

In case of damage caused by delay, destruction or loss of baggage, airlines have to pay up to 1,131 SDRs [now 1288 SDRs] per passenger (about EUR 1,400).

If you are carrying any expensive items, you can file a special declaration. You will have to pay a supplementary sum for it. If your luggage gets lost in this case, the carrier is liable for a sum not exceeding the amount declared in your form."

Source: https://skyrefund.com/en/blog/montre...tional-flights

plunet

Just for some more awareness, if you do need to make a claim, airlines usually like to have evidence that the value you assign to the articles has some basis of reality linked back to receipts. You probably don't need this at declaration (although knowing QR you never know!) but if there was a need for a claim later you would need to think about some evidence of the actual financial cost to you at time of purchase.

Good luck and if you get time, let us know how you get on.

rickygodf

Truly shocking experience with Qatar Airways customer service! Been a loyal customer for 13 years, gold member for the last five or six years, traveling Business class quite often with them, I always enjoyed their on-board product but this time they managed to ruin my trip and take no accountability for it.
The complete itinerary BKK-DOH-FRA-VCE, the last leg being operated by Lufthansa, part of the same ticket. At check-in Qatar Airways managed to somehow loose the last leg (it turned out after investigating with Lufthansa that the flight changed a month earlier and despite showing confirmed on the app, Qatar forgot to reissue the ticket so the leg was automatically removed from the itinerary).
Those sort of issues should be sorted at the airport without fuss, yet Qatar Airways kept insisting that Lufthansa cancelled the flight, refused to check us in, and promised to call us back within a couple of hours with alternative solution. Nobody ever called.
They refused any sort of assistance, compensation, help in rescheduling the flight. To date I spent over USD30 in phone calls to Qatar and countless emails yet after all the excuses from them (but never an apology) they only managed to book me in economy for a week later (the flight was originally upgraded to business using Miles). Despite being pretty empty in all classes, they claim upgrade is currently unavailable. Yet as an insult today they send a special offer for upgrade upgrade for EUR 1000+.
It is a shame that such a great in-flight product is supported by such arrogant and incompetent people on the ground.
I heard stories about this but thanks to the good in-flight experiences I had I always overlooked. Well, it will not happen again, my QRPC card will go into the bin together with any hope to travel Qatar again.
Sorry for the rant and thanks for all the tips you all provided in the last few years.

Schwann

Well, it sums up the general experience with QR:

In the air = Outstanding
In the airport = Generally good (such as lounges), marred by people making up rules and excuses for not doing stuff (example: through checking bags on seperate OneWorld tickets)
On the ground/contact centres = Useless and infuriating.

IntrepidAfrican2

precisely why EK gets more of my business. The QR onboard product isn’t better enough to offset the on-ground hassles. Never once had a problem that EK didn’t want to or try to solve.

rickygodf

The impression I had in dealing with them is their staff is absolutely terrified to do anything “outside the box” to solve a problem or to help a customer.
They will refuse to admit an error even if you have all the evidence of a mistake in their part.
They will refuse to approve a solution even if you suggest it to them and it costs nothing to the airline,
It probably goes down to their company culture, and being scared of loosing the job if someone higher up finds out and doesn’t agree with whatever was done.