CX Dusseldorf fail

[dmitri]

Hi team, just a short rant about an epic let down from CX recently.

Myself, wife and 4 month old were booked on DUS-HKG in J in February. We got to the airport a few hours early and the check in was closed due to a mechanical failure with the plane (Check in opened at 900am for departure at 1225pm) After multiple issues with check in when it opened around 1030am, we got to the lounge and found out around 1pm that the plane would leave at 500pm (there was little info from CX the whole time we were waiting) Then at 430pm the CX rep comes to the lounge and says the flight is cancelled (this is after 30+ pax again complaining of receiving no information) They had flight cancelled written in German on the lounge screen which wasn't much help. Around 530pm the rep came into the lounge and asked for "PAX WHO WANTED TO BE RE-BOOKED TO LINE UP AND GET THEIR NAME ON A RE-BOOKING LIST FOR AN EMIRATES FLIGHT THAT NIGHT"??? At this time I was out of the lounge and my wife was having a snooze so we missed out on getting re-booked, along with multiple F and J passengers. After multiple arguments with the CX manager we had to go down stairs, get our luggage and talk to booking agents about flights. In the end we HAD TO RE-BOOK OUR OWN FLIGHTS (other F/J pax included). We ended up staying at the DUS airport hotel and flying out the next day. DUS-LHR then LHR-HKG. In total we got just over $1000 AUD in compensation due to our hotel booking cancellation at the Kowloon Intercontinental HKG and multiple mobile phone calls from Dusseldorf to the CX booking centre in Hong Kong.

The only upside of this debacle was getting to check out the new BA first lounge at LHR. I would use cx again but definitely not out of Dusseldorf, ground staff were totally un-prepaired for cancellation issues and the CX manager had no idea how to treat F/J/OW high status passengers.

Rant over-

Cheers, Dmitri

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Not a great experience at all, many upset passengers for sure.

This is a relatively new route for CX, so the ground handling staff appear to have failed dismally to provide decent communication to CX passengers.
Let's hope they improve quickly.

 

[dmitri]

I hope so, Dusseldorf is quite a handy stop I thought, seems like the idea went ahead with out the necessary training and experienced staff to man it

 

[Buzzard]

I would have thought that with a 4 month old they would have given you priority. Obviously not.
Hopefully you get the SC for the routing you were sent on but I doubt that too.

 

[dmitri]

4 month old baby, business class and One world emerald (QFWP) Buzzard, still nothing

 

[anat0l]

Sounds more like the ground staff seemed to fail at the basic provision of services pursuant to EU 261/2004.

You might have been rightly criticised for not paying attention to announcements to get rebooked etc., but "better late than never" and I don't think that's grounds to deprive you of your rights.

When you say you had to "rebook your own flights", how did you do this? This was out of your own pocket? Who compensated you in the end, and how much - if any - were you finally out of pocket (that could not be covered by travel insurance, less excess)?

 

[dmitri]

Sounds more like the ground staff seemed to fail at the basic provision of services pursuant to EU 261/2004.

You might have been rightly criticised for not paying attention to announcements to get rebooked etc., but "better late than never" and I don't think that's grounds to deprive you of your rights.

When you say you had to "rebook your own flights", how did you do this? This was out of your own pocket? Who compensated you in the end, and how much - if any - were you finally out of pocket (that could not be covered by travel insurance, less excess)?

Hi anat0l, we had to call the booking centre in Hong Kong, tell them what happened and go through our options with them to sort out an appropriate flight. We weren't out of pocket for this, the only costs to us were the hotel booking in HKG and mobile phone calls to HKG. CX covered all costs of this and gave us US$100 each "compensation"

 

[anat0l]

Hi anat0l, we had to call the booking centre in Hong Kong, tell them what happened and go through our options with them to sort out an appropriate flight. We weren't out of pocket for this, the only costs to us were the hotel booking in HKG and mobile phone calls to HKG. CX covered all costs of this and gave us US$100 each "compensation"

As CX are not an EU carrier, however they were operating a flight out of an EU country, they are bound by regulation to offer you your rights under EU 261. The exact reason for the cancellation would have been useful; in this case you would have been entitled to EUR 600 in compensation unless CX could prove beyond doubt that the circumstances leading to the cancellation of the flight were absolutely unforeseeable and could not have been avoided by any reasonable measure (mere technical faults generally do not count for these purposes). This amount is not negotiable and in addition to any other entitlements you would have been offered.

Apart from that, re-routing as soon as possible to the same destination under comparable conditions is also part of the deal. This ideally should be handled at the airport, but thankfully you were able to talk to CX in some shape or form to get this to happen.

I suppose since you are no longer out of pocket (and strictly speaking CX were not bound by any law to cover your hotel booking in HKG plus all of the costs of your phone calls), all's well ends well and it probably doesn't pay to go through the hoops to try and force CX to cough up its EU 261 obligations.

That said, I'm surprised that CX's DUS ground crew - who I assume would be contractors - were not quite clued in on how to handle a case like this effectively.

 

[dmitri]

Some good info there mate, thanks for the heads up.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Why not stay another night in Dusseldorf and shift flights back a day?

I often wonder if there's scope for a "super insurance" product in the market. Whereby airlines could subscribe to it for J/F/Elites (thus outsourcing to third part) and they act like an elite crack squad that gets **** done fast and efficiently. Rebooking, hotels, transfers - the lot. Then charges the airline a premium. It would make the experience of going through an ugly delay like this exactly how you think it should be (ie: Instantly rebooked without question on a better carrier or better class, hotels organised, transport etc - and all EU/regulatory compensation fronted up to you before you leave the airport).

There's no shortage of '**** THIS AIRLINE' stories online - and makes you wonder why nobody has seen a commercial opportunity in all of this.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Some good info there mate, thanks for the heads up.

I would absolutely follow up with CX for Eu261 compensation - Euros 600 per person is worth the short amount of time it will take you to complete the paperwork.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Why not stay another night in Dusseldorf and shift flights back a day?

I often wonder if there's scope for a "super insurance" product in the market. Whereby airlines could subscribe to it for J/F/Elites (thus outsourcing to third part) and they act like an elite crack squad that gets **** done fast and efficiently. Rebooking, hotels, transfers - the lot. Then charges the airline a premium. It would make the experience of going through an ugly delay like this exactly how you think it should be (ie: Instantly rebooked without question on a better carrier or better class, hotels organised, transport etc - and all EU/regulatory compensation fronted up to you before you leave the airport).

There's no shortage of '**** THIS AIRLINE' stories online - and makes you wonder why nobody has seen a commercial opportunity in all of this.

This exists! When we had a JQ cancellation in HNL there was a company rep from a dedicated service recovery agency at the airport in about 20 minutes. They had buses, hotel rooms, meal vouchers and phone cards all ready. We were in the hotel quick smart (lovely extra day in a sea-view room at Waikiki beach courtesy of JQ!). The company had a couple of representatives at the hotel to oversee check-in, and were with us again next morning for check-out, the bus trip, and at airport check-in.

The service recovery company apparently has a list of hotels all set up (they just call and pick the one with the required number of rooms), have bus companies on standby etc.

no doubt a significant cost to the airline, but very happy passengers.

 

[Isochronous]

This exists! When we had a JQ cancellation in HNL there was a company rep from a dedicated service recovery agency at the airport in about 20 minutes. They had buses, hotel rooms, meal vouchers and phone cards all ready. We were in the hotel quick smart (lovely extra day in a sea-view room at Waikiki beach courtesy of JQ!). The company had a couple of representatives at the hotel to oversee check-in, and were with us again next morning for check-out, the bus trip, and at airport check-in.

The service recovery company apparently has a list of hotels all set up (they just call and pick the one with the required number of rooms), have bus companies on standby etc.

no doubt a significant cost to the airline, but very happy passengers.

Do you remember the company name? I would be intrigued to learn more.

 

[dajop]

Hi anat0l, we had to call the booking centre in Hong Kong, tell them what happened and go through our options with them to sort out an appropriate flight.

Often in the case of IRROPS at remote airports (i.e. not hub for the airline) , calling is the best approach from the get go. Often a small number of staff have to deal with a plane load of passengers, and even just a cabin full of J pax takes time to process.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Do you remember the company name? I would be intrigued to learn more.

No idea. I know we didn't get anything with the company logo on it - it was all JQ branded (letter explaining pick up times etc).

 

[Fiches Mouser]

Why not stay another night in Dusseldorf and shift flights back a day?

I often wonder if there's scope for a "super insurance" product in the market. Whereby airlines could subscribe to it for J/F/Elites (thus outsourcing to third part) and they act like an elite crack squad that gets **** done fast and efficiently. Rebooking, hotels, transfers - the lot. Then charges the airline a premium. It would make the experience of going through an ugly delay like this exactly how you think it should be (ie: Instantly rebooked without question on a better carrier or better class, hotels organised, transport etc - and all EU/regulatory compensation fronted up to you before you leave the airport).

There's no shortage of '**** THIS AIRLINE' stories online - and makes you wonder why nobody has seen a commercial opportunity in all of this.

This exists! When we had a JQ cancellation in HNL there was a company rep from a dedicated service recovery agency at the airport in about 20 minutes. They had buses, hotel rooms, meal vouchers and phone cards all ready. We were in the hotel quick smart (lovely extra day in a sea-view room at Waikiki beach courtesy of JQ!). The company had a couple of representatives at the hotel to oversee check-in, and were with us again next morning for check-out, the bus trip, and at airport check-in.

The service recovery company apparently has a list of hotels all set up (they just call and pick the one with the required number of rooms), have bus companies on standby etc.

no doubt a significant cost to the airline, but very happy passengers.

I too am fascinated by this. It's exactly what I expect when traveling J and F. I guess it's the same way QF proactively monitor P1 flights... why doesn't this exist for all premium pax? It's not like the processes can't be automated, and when disaster strikes, a portion of your phone agents can be dedicated to re-booking and contacting pax.

For service recovery on the ground, you'd obviously need a contractor when away from the hub, but the re-booking process could be improved for sure.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I too am fascinated by this. It's exactly what I expect when traveling J and F. I guess it's the same way QF proactively monitor P1 flights... why doesn't this exist for all premium pax? It's not like the processes can't be automated, and when disaster strikes, a portion of your phone agents can be dedicated to re-booking and contacting pax.

For service recovery on the ground, you'd obviously need a contractor when away from the hub, but the re-booking process could be improved for sure.

I think a lot of it depends on where you are and service frequency. For the JQ flight ex HNL there wasn't much choice but to find accommodation for the whole plane... nothing else was leaving to Australia for 24 hours.

At hubs or stations with increased frequency there are so many options that might render a service recovery company redundant.

We don't have it so good in Australia - if your QF flight is delayed they will put you on the next QF flight. Proactive monitoring and rebooking is probably the way to go. But in the USA or Europe passenger have so many choices - you can be rebooked on any airline via any number of routes. That takes time. And in the USA airlines are open to passengers suggesting their own alternatives.

With problems into HKG - for example severe delays from China, or typhoons in HKG itself - there could be thousands of passengers stranded. No hotel rooms (even for premium), and countless alternative options. Not really much choice sometimes but to queue up.

 

[anat0l]

Why not stay another night in Dusseldorf and shift flights back a day?

I often wonder if there's scope for a "super insurance" product in the market. Whereby airlines could subscribe to it for J/F/Elites (thus outsourcing to third part) and they act like an elite crack squad that gets **** done fast and efficiently. Rebooking, hotels, transfers - the lot. Then charges the airline a premium. It would make the experience of going through an ugly delay like this exactly how you think it should be (ie: Instantly rebooked without question on a better carrier or better class, hotels organised, transport etc - and all EU/regulatory compensation fronted up to you before you leave the airport).

There's no shortage of '**** THIS AIRLINE' stories online - and makes you wonder why nobody has seen a commercial opportunity in all of this.

Well, you're a businessman, right?


One note is that although it is often the right choice, strictly speaking not every passenger may want to be rebooked, and necessarily on another carrier (even if a better class). There may be reasons that a passenger may want a different routing or airline to that offered. By regulation, customers from a cancelled flight are entitled to delay their rebooking to a future date, or seek a refund (including any previous flights if the trip has now served no purpose).

Someone who can get the EU stuff done would be handy, although there are companies like that now, who normally take a 20% cut on whatever the passenger claims back from the airline (or nothing if the airline doesn't cough up anything). Truth is that it shouldn't be cardiac surgery to get airlines to front up on their EU 261 obligations, though the EU regulators and associate regulatory bodies in each jurisdiction don't have any more guts than a blind albino mouse to actually get airlines to act more honestly and quickly. Ironically, the regulators are rather good at prosecuting airlines who fail their obligations, but should it really have gotten that far in the first place, wasting time?

This delay experienced by the OP wasn't even that ugly. A case like this should have been routine. Once de-icing vehicles and a shortage of glycol are involved, that's ugly.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

This exists! When we had a JQ cancellation in HNL there was a company rep from a dedicated service recovery agency at the airport in about 20 minutes. They had buses, hotel rooms, meal vouchers and phone cards all ready. We were in the hotel quick smart (lovely extra day in a sea-view room at Waikiki beach courtesy of JQ!). The company had a couple of representatives at the hotel to oversee check-in, and were with us again next morning for check-out, the bus trip, and at airport check-in.

The service recovery company apparently has a list of hotels all set up (they just call and pick the one with the required number of rooms), have bus companies on standby etc.

no doubt a significant cost to the airline, but very happy passengers.

Great! Now to set it up in other major ports ;-)

Well, you're a businessman, right?

I've been called many things but never a businessman ;p 'Product Innovation' what I'm best at. Helping biz generate new revenue and here I am sharing billions$ in new product lines on AFF!

It's exactly what I expect when traveling J and F. I guess it's the same way QF proactively monitor P1 flights... why doesn't this exist for all premium pax? It's not like the processes can't be automated, and when disaster strikes, a portion of your phone agents can be dedicated to re-booking and contacting pax.

There's a larger revenue opportunity at play where these service disruption companies would want control available room nights. Could be a new revenue stream for hotels by selling room options (like a soft-blocking of rooms) in case of disruption and hotel 'buys' the options back at a lower rate if a paid guest walks in. This also lends well to real time revenue management strategies where hotels can jack up rates the second any major aircraft departing the airport is delayed more than X/hours.

But the hotel rate an airline pays isn't what you or I would pay. They would be paying their standard rate - which if they're smart (like some airlines) - is priced by the hour so if you have a 2am check in and 10am check out - it's not the full nightly rate but more on par with a distressed inventory rate minus commissions.

Now - if you owned one of these service disruption companies - one of the first calls I'd be making is to Plaza Premium in Hong Kong to work out a partnership. They're always looking for new product lines which leverage their existing infrastructure and human capital in 100's of airports.