i write to you in regard to my recent unpleasant experience flying with Emirates airlines.
I booked 5 return flights at the Emirates office in Perth for myself, my partner and my 3 children to fly to Paris via Dubai with Emirates. I had a connecting flight from Paris to Dublin with Aer Lingus. This was supposed to be our big family vacation, an occasion which was supposed to be a holiday of a life time for all concerned, a first ever visit for my children to visit their family in Ireland, to attend my brother’s wedding and my nephew’s christening.
The 5 return tickets to Paris cost over $10,000.
==Dude, you sound really unhappy for about your flights - were the flight attendants rude on the plane? plane delayed ? what was unpleasant about the flights? $10,000 although a lot of money - sounds like you got a really good deal! I wish I knew your travel agent.
The major complaint I have with this air line is that you lost all our luggage en route to Paris and took 9 days to return our bags, but if only that was the only issue.
Below is a brief overview of our experience with your air line.
3rd July 2008 – Our party of 5 checked in at Emirates desk at Perth International at approx 3 am to avoid the children having to queue. We inform the Emirates employee that we have a connecting flight from Paris to Dublin with Aer Lingus and require our bags to be checked all the way through to Dublin. The emirates desk employee adamantly informs us that it not possible to check our bags through to Dublin as this is a different air line. He insists that we will have to remove our luggage at Paris and take it to the Aer Lingus desk. Shocked by this sudden policy change in international air travel, I argued this with the emirates employee for some time until he finally agrees to refer the matter to his supervisor who promptly instructs him to check the luggage through to Dublin as requested. I don’t know if this problem was caused by arrogance, ignorance or laziness on the part of the check in employee.
:idea: Only working as a travel agent before.. this is an easy one! Now for some questions.. Did you buy either an Emirates ticket all the way? or an Aer Lingus ticket all the way? If the check in person said 'no' it could mean only one of two things : 1) you did neither of the above and went for the cheap and nasty.. ie buy tickets separately.. (A large number of travel agents do this to save money for the customers - a definite No No) You need to have all your flight details with one airline so both airlines know your sectors.
Recommend you double check with your travel agent.. maybe you got the raw end of the stick!
3rd July 2008 – On arrival at Dublin airport, we went to baggage claim to pick up our bags, to our horror none of our bags had arrived. We immediately informed Aer Lingus lost baggage counter at Dublin airport, they took our details and issued us with a lost baggage claim reference, . We can accept that sometimes a bag can be mislaid but when all our luggage is mislaid, that cannot be explained as purely accidental
==You must have been really angry - I sometimes have bags lost! I guess harder if you have a large family. I would be pushing Aer Lingus for some type of cash payment.. usually would give it to you within the first few days..unlucky i guess FYI - accidents do happen.. Aer Lingus has humans working for them.. human error is a big factor. Besides, at least you got your bags back.. where they damaged ? was anything missing?
4th July – 9th July – we contact Emirates office in London, they advise that they cannot assist with locating our luggage. We contact Emirates office in Paris, they are extremely difficult and unhelpful, they disclaim any responsibility and inform us that this is an Aer Lingus problem as they are the final carrier, we inform Emirates Paris that Aer Lingus didn’t lose our luggage but Emirates Paris are completely disinterested. We contact Emirates in Dubai but again we get a similar response as we got from Emirates Paris. Meanwhile we are in daily contact with Aer Lingus lost baggage office in Dublin, Aer Lingus staff were most helpful, they returned our calls as promised and were in regular contact with Emirates staff at both Paris and Dubai. Meanwhile from 3rd July to 10th July my partner, my 3 children and I were left without any clothing or personal belongings. Amongst items in our lost luggage that caused most distress were my daughters’ dresses which were specially made for my brother’s wedding, my children’s dolls which they have had since they were babies, and christening and wedding presents. We were forced to attend my brother’s wedding and my nephew’s christening in substandard replacement clothing and of course did not have the gifts that we purchased. What had been planned to be a joyous family reunion was quickly turning into a nightmare.
==Dude, you made it to the wedding in one piece? Trust me - there is more to life than worrying about bags that were lost and then found.
If mean, was there an emergency landing or parts of the plane falling off?
9th July – Aer Lingus inform us that 1 of our bags had been located in Paris. The bag is delivered on the 9th July, all tags, luggage ref numbers and my name still on the bag. At this stage we were just glad that our luggage had finally been located but with all original tags, names and numbers still on the bag we’re stunned that it’d taken so long for Emirates to locate the bags.
10th July – Aer Lingus inform us that the 2nd bag had been located in Paris. The bag is delivered on the 10th July, again all tags, luggage ref numbers and my name still on the bag. Why both bags weren’t returned together is a mystery.
==that's an easy one - they are two separate items. Again, accidents do happen. I've had about 3 bags lost already this year.. 3 bags in how many million people traveling.. no all that bad.
24th July – we attempt to check in at Emirates desk in Paris to return home to Perth. The Emirates employee at the check in desk informs us that my 7 year old daughter’s passport is invalid and she cannot travel with us. We were again stunned by this, my daughter’s passport was only issues by the Australian passport office in June ’08, she had travelled from Perth to Dublin, via Dubai and Paris on this passport without any problems and now suddenly her passport is no good. The child is completely distressed and sobbing at the check in counter as the Emirates check-in representative adamantly insists the passport is not valid, I show her the stamps from the previous legs of our “holiday of a lifetime” but to no avail, as far as this Emirates employee was concerned, my daughter was not gong to travel with us. I ask her to get her supervisor, reluctantly she calls someone to review the issue, after some time the supervisor advises that there’s a problem with their computer and all is good with the passport. Does the Emirates check-in rep offer any apology for her adamant refusal to let the 7 year old travel? No chance!
We ask the check-in rep to confirm our vegetarian meals which we ordered in Perth prior to setting off on the start of our journey. Unsurprisingly, there is no record of vegetarian meals being ordered. We ask if vegetarian meals could be arranged, absolutely not she replies, 48 hours notice is required for special meals. I booked the vegetarian meals 6 weeks prior to this but that doesn’t matter apparently.
:idea: I suggest you write to Emirates about this. I once had a similar problem when I was a permanent resident of Australia.. I think airlines are connected to the Australian government somehow. I would be shocked if they denied a child to travel - that's just stupid. Is she Irish or Aussie?
25th July – we’re on the final leg of our trip home, just happy to be getting off this disaster of a holiday, Emirates cabin crew are serving drinks, my son is sitting on an aisle seat, the stewardess attempts to reach across my son to give a drink to a passenger sitting inside him, she drops the entire glass of drink on his head. Does she offer an apology? Absolutely not! She hands him a couple of serviettes and keeps going. The poor child is left sitting there dripping in orange juice with his chair soaking, I tell him he’s lucky she wasn’t giving the other passenger a cup of coffee or he would have been heading to the burns unit. Finally, just to add some comic relief to this trip from hell, as every one is relaxing, watching a movie or whatever, the stewardess for no apparent reason runs down the aisle from the middle of the plane to the back waving her hands frantically in the air like she’s been chased by a gun wielding terrorist. I look around to see startled passengers darting looks around the cabin in search of the person who had frightened the stewardess so badly to cause her to run like an Olympic sprinter through the plane, fortunately for all concerned, it’s a false alarm, though none of us would have been surprised whatever had happened, such was the catalogue of disasters we encountered with your airline
:arrow:Sound like your family isn't having much luck traveling on planes. Maybe should have taken a cruise .. hehe. I don't get your point - were the flight attendants rude? Dude, relax! laugh it off.. don't cry over spilt milk or orange juice in this case. Having said that, I would at least ask for some form of an apology. Another question : How come the flight attendant was reaching over your son? who was sitting next to him ordering OJ? I don't really understand the seating on the plane in economy as I generally travel in Business - would a flight attendant reach over more than two people to hand them a drink? hmm.. sounds strange for someone who didn't even say 'sorry'.. How did she get the attention of that person?..
My question now is what compensation Emirates airlines are prepared to offer my family and I, to in some way make up for the appalling customer service we experienced. I would expect far better from an airline purporting to be a world leader in it’s field. Am I to believe that our experience was a one off isolated incident that doesn’t accurately reflect their standard of customer care and professionalism? I suspect their handling of my complaint will indicate their degree of commitment to customer care and good public relations.
