Qatar Airways insensitive and horrid CS
 

I wanted to share this horrid experience that I had with Qatar airline staff.

My wife and I flew Qatar from IAD to BOM, I am back in the US but my wife needed to postpone her ticket as she is undergoing medical treatment and the doctor had advised her not to travel for a month. I had provided medical certificates to substantiate this to both the US and the India office.

I called up reservations which always takes more than 30 mins and I must add they have a bunch of very rude agents sitting there. I was then transferred to customer service and was told that my ticket is valid only for 3 months which I wasnt aware of and that a change of date would cost me 950$. Nowhere on the ticket or in the terms and conditions did it say that the ticket is valid for 3 months. I was ok with paying for the change in fare of 250$(which was known to me when I bought the ticket) but the 700$ to extend the validity was very unfair and I requested for that to be waived on medical grounds. I was then asked to email the consolidator which I did twice but got no response. I was in a catch 22 situation as CS in the US told me to contact CS in India as the passenger was in India and the CS in India asked me to talk to US office as the ticket was booked here.

I have to say that I am extremely disappointed in Qatar's customer service and the way my request was handled. Having a medical emergency was bad enough but dealing with Qatar was worse.

Worst customer service and policies ever.

Kind of a pain to pay the change fee I realize but that is a pretty common response. You bought a ticket with restrictions. I'm sure if you had asked to see all of the fare rules that these restrictions were in there. Whether we like it or not, anything short of full-fare Coach, Business and First has restrictions. And sometimes changes can be rather costly. Its just part of traveling.

Rude customer service is inexcusable however. That said, I would have a very hard time working in the airline industry where customers were always trying to tell me that charges were "ridiculous," "unfair," etc.

If your ticket is only valid for a certain number of months, that is what you have to stick by. UNLESS the ticket has conditions that allow it to waive change fee rules, there is nothing anyone can do... medical grounds or not.
What you should have done from the very very beginning is to have bought travel insurance which would have covered you for this sort of thing. ie the travel policy would have covered you to buy a new ticket even! But you didn't. So who is to blame for that?

Yes, so the consolidator didn't reply. Email? Have you even thought of calling them? CS cannot do anything. You have to talk to QR sales/res. But then again, they have to abide by the rules of the fare.
This goes with any airline and is not restricted to QR.

You just didn't forsee any problem when you bought a ticket. Next time. Best be safe and buy that travel insurance!

Travel Insurance!!!!!!!!!!!!

or buy with a credit card... that often protects you too.

First of all, I hope your wife is better.

When buy or purchase your ticket, you should always ask the agent:

1. What is the cancellation policy?
2. How long is the ticket valid for?
3. Can i change the date of my ticket? If so, what are the fees/penalities?

I know you had a hard time with emergency medical circumstances, but it was not QR's fault that they made you pay extra. You get what you paied for. If i bout your same ticket with a higher price, but chose a flexable option, I will have the liberty to change the dates. However, you didnt pick this option. As for rude customer service, I am not sure how they reacted, but i am sure they told you the first time that there is a penalty tarriff for a change of date in a kind way.

Next time, remember what ticket you choose, cause not all tickets are the same.

Why do people become new members to FlyerTalk, spill out their problems in one post, and then go away without following up on what advice is given?

Yep. These one post ranters are becoming more common in all forums in FT.

tjk
Form your post, I understand you are an Indian. That's exactly how most airlines treat Indian passengers. Your experience has not come as a surprise to me. Believe it or not. QR has a policy of service based on national origin. Read this report written by an European gentleman based in South America who witnessed the "service based on national origin" policy of QR. http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...d.main/146050/