Paid seat selection in Y

[Jusrus]

Hi all,

Regular Etihad MEL -> MAD flyer (6 times this year). Generally no real problems, enjoy First Class lounge etc.

However on my flight earlier this week, was bumped from my chosen extra leg room seat to 44H (back row, aisle OK, but very little recline) on the MEL to ABU leg. I paid 100€+ for this pleasure.

Is there any recourse for this? I sadly didn't check my boarding pass at checkin - why would I, it was listed correctly when I checked in online. Staff were horrified on board, took photos of my receipt etc. Sadly then also basically ignored me for the whole flight, I guess worried I would kick up a fuss (not my style).

When I arrived at First Class lounge at stopover, asked the clerk on the desk, who said he could see no record of the seat reservation, even though he agreed when I showed him the receipt. He kind of giggled, said he couldn't do anything, and to fill out the feedback form.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind just an apology, and surely not unreasonable to ask for my money back??

Thoughts on best way to approach this?

 

[TMP]

Fill in the feedback/complaint form, attach the receipt, state that you want a refund, and see what happens.

 

[IrishPete]

I find Etihad to be quite responsive if you send them a message through Twitter. At least, I get a response. It isn't always very helpful.

I had major issues with the seat selection on our recent Melbourne-Dublin-Melbourne trip. It kept trying to get me to pay, even during online check-in when it's supposed to be free, but I ignored the demand for payment, and we got the seats I had tried to choose.

I was never offered Neighbour-free seats, and also couldn't get it to allow me to pay for Priority Access, but maybe this was all because it was a trip paid for with Virgin Velocity points. The one noticeable perk of a points flight was 30kg luggage allowance instead of 23kg.

 

[p--and--t]

Hi all,

Regular Etihad MEL -> MAD flyer (6 times this year). Generally no real problems, enjoy First Class lounge etc.

However on my flight earlier this week, was bumped from my chosen extra leg room seat to 44H (back row, aisle OK, but very little recline) on the MEL to ABU leg. I paid 100€+ for this pleasure.

Is there any recourse for this? I sadly didn't check my boarding pass at checkin - why would I, it was listed correctly when I checked in online. Staff were horrified on board, took photos of my receipt etc. Sadly then also basically ignored me for the whole flight, I guess worried I would kick up a fuss (not my style).

When I arrived at First Class lounge at stopover, asked the clerk on the desk, who said he could see no record of the seat reservation, even though he agreed when I showed him the receipt. He kind of giggled, said he couldn't do anything, and to fill out the feedback form.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind just an apology, and surely not unreasonable to ask for my money back??

Thoughts on best way to approach this?

Had a similar situation with BA a couple years ago.

Tried to complain on arrival in LHR and BA staff refused to deal with it and said all complaints had to be in writing on the website.

Lodged a Written complaint asking for “leg room charge” to be refunded. Followed up regularly for a few weeks and they ignored me.

As I always pay via PayPal where possible, I lodged a complaint with receipt and boarding pass with Paypal and within around a week received a full refund.