Hi there,
This is my first post. Really interesting reading the big differences in customer service due to cancelled/delayed flights. This is my experience flying with the new Qantas/Emirates partnership.
Booked international economy return flights, for a family of four, through Qantas website at last minute due to a sudden family bereavement. Return journey, via Dubai with Emirates.
· Arrived 3 hours early at airport to what became a shambolic check in as the flight was delayed.
· Because of delay, we'd miss our connecting flight from Dubai to Australia and got really messed around, getting passed from counter to counter being told we'd been rebooked and then told we hadn't. We were calm the whole time until I eventually said, “You’ve got to be kidding” when we were sent to wait in yet another queue. Not really what you want when you’ve just been to your father’s funeral.
· Eventually, got told we'd been rebooked on flight from Dubai 24 hours later than the original and we'd been booked hotel accomodation etc and not to worry everything including meals etc would be taken care of on arrival at Dubai .
· Got on the plane (I hadn’t checked the boarding passes) and we’d been reallocated seats from the ones we’d originally booked and were given 4 seats all over the plane despite one woman having a middle row entirely to herself.
· Get to Dubai and get told at the customer service counter there’s no hotel booking for us as they hadn’t confirmed it and there’s nothing they can do for us and we aren’t allowed to stay in the airport for 24 hours. Get handed an Emirates customer complaint form.
· Get ourselves a cheap Premier Inn room and finally leave the airport after 4am.
· Flight to Australia next night (day) at 2am and again we don’t have seats together – teenagers each on their own.
· Get back to Australia and get really messed around with Qantas customer service. Have to keep emailing and calling until eventually told, rather curtly, we'd be reimbursed our costs (all in approx. $400 for 4 people) but really it was Emirates fault not Qantas and I have to expect teething problems! As if that's not bad enough, I'm still waiting for my refund over a month later! We did eventually get our points after a few phone calls because when Emirates rescheduled, they didn’t enter our FF number so Qantas apparently had no record of our flights. Compensation? A real grudging 2000 ff points and when I said I wasn’t happy with that, was told too bad. And I’m still waiting for my $400 out of pocket expenses!