Emirates Airlines (Comments about Emirates Airlines): December 2007

Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year from Jawad

Human beings do kill each other. Some times we kill others on personal
vendettas, sometime sacrifice innocent lives in the name of collateral
damage for some "noble" cause and some times death is delivered by the
state as a punishment. We believe killing is solution to many
complicated problems.
History has shown us that it is understanding, education and
persuasion with which people change and by this we could prevent these
problems to occur in the first place. "Prevention is better than cure"
is true in all walks of life.
Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year.

Jawad

--
Rana Jawad Asghar MD. MPH.

Coordinator South Asian Public Health Forum
jawad@alumni.washington.edu

http://www.DrJawad.com
Typhoid Net http://www.typhoid.net

# posted by Jawad @ 2:37 PM

Monday, December 24, 2007

MY EXPERIANCE WITH EMIRATES

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: mazher khan <altamash_m@rediffmail.com>
Date: 23 Dec 2007 21:15:01 -0000
Subject: MY EXPERIANCE WITH EMIRATES
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Hi
i am Mazher Khan an eye specialist by profession , this ws my first
flight ever in my life till nw was exited and i booked my tickets in
emirates i flew from banglore to dubai where i was supposed to wait
for my flight to Qatar, finally i reached Qatar on 18th of Dec and my
baggage had not yet delevered , when asked the lost and found dept in
the airport asked me to fill a form and promossed me that i'll get my
baggage in one day , its been 6days by today n i hv not yet recieved
my baggage when ever i call the lost and found dept the only answer
get is "sir we have no information about ur baggage " i came to Qatar
for hilidays n got struck here, can u pls help me in this...

# posted by Jawad @ 12:04 PM

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Emirates will never see my money ever again!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sandler Family <sandler@aapt.net.au>
Date: Dec 20, 2007 7:42 PM
Subject: Emirates will never see my money ever again!
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Last Year I made the mistake of booking a holiday to UK from Perth Western Australia, I was offered the option of flying Quatar Air but as I hadnt heard much of Quatar I opted to book with Emirates for a total cost of around $800.00 over the cost of three tickets (total cost of the return flights was around $7, 500.00) my wife, Daughter and I were travelling and opted for a two day stopover in Dubai on the way to England but came back Via Dubai and had a stopover there for aircraft change which involved a few hours wait.

We had crappy seats on every leg of the flight, always up the rear end of the plane and never once got a choice of meal as there were no choices left by the time the trolleys got to us.

Our seats for the two return legs of the trip were allocated at Gatwick airport, when I saw how bad the seats we had been allocated were I politely asked if there was anything that could be done to get us better seats as I am 6 ft Tall and 17 stone.

The person who allocated the tickets told me that he couldnt change them but to speak to the staff a Dubai and he "was sure that they would be able to help", well I spoke to one emirates staff member in Dubai who reffered me to another person who in turn did the same thing.

All three of them just lied to me and kept us in hope of getting better seats right up to the final boarding call for the last leg.

This leg was 11 hours, we were in the very back row of the aircraft in front of the toilets which absolutely stunk from the time we got on the aircraft, these seats have very limited back rest adjustment, as well as this the in flight entertainment had no audio for the whole flight.

In the position I hold in the company I work for I am a State Manager looking after 28 retail auto workshops, I look after all customer complaints and issues for all of these stores, and I can tell you from direct experience that Emirates have no clue how to address customer complaints.

After several emails to and from Emirates they finally offered me three vouchers (one for each ticket) to the value of US$30.00 to be used within 12 months at the duty free shop in Dubai airport, "WHAT THE!", I live in Australia for Christs sake!

I sent the vouchers back and suggested that if Emirates were serious about ever getting us to travel with them again that an offer of an upgrade on our next flight would be closer to the mark, "one good flight in exchange for a really bad one".

I got no further response to this complaint so now I just tell everyone I know who is travelling by air, of our experiences with emirates.

As well as the above complaint there seems to be a common thread with lots of Emirates travellers whose letters I have read, that if you ask for anything, drinks ect, they will smile, say yes then not come back!

If my experiences are anything to go by Emirates are either way out of touch with their customers or just simply dont care!

kind regards and happy travelling,

Tony Sandler

# posted by Jawad @ 11:33 PM

Bad experience

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: yousuf <horn@hornofafrica.net>
Date: Dec 21, 2007 2:06 AM
Subject: Bad experience
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Last year January 207 I traveled with Emirates air from Portland PDX to Addis Ababa Ethiopia my final detonation was Dire Dada. when I got to Addis my baggage are not there because of emirates air mistakes I have to stay over for a night in Addis at my own expenses I was so frustrated for I did not get on time to my intended destination, time is very important I could not finish my job on time I was behind in all my projects. I said one time ok and for give them.

Again December 207 I decided to travel with Emirates through the same route, this time I have two kids with me who wanted to see the family and we have to be there on time and come back on time for the children's' school. All together we had 6 baggages, when got to Addis which again this is not our final destination and our baggage's are not there. This time they pay for our hotel for one night and told us that the baggage will be here next day, the next day we went to emirates baggage claims office it was not and we have tickets to go to the next city which was Dire Dada. This time it was disaster all clothes we took with us are in the baggage we did not even have extra close to change, my children are so frustrated. Since we are US citizen they charge us in dollar or foreign currency we have already spent over six hundred dollars in two days, and we are still in Motel in Addis and we don't know when our baggage will be here also we have tickets for next city which we planned to travel directly the same day did not happen. My husband has been calling to check out what went wrong and we don't know how much the telephone bill will be. Therefore, I have share my night mare experience with travelers when got back from ruined trip. I am still in a Motel praying to God to take me out of this chaos. Bad Bad Bad !

Khadija Yousuf

# posted by Jawad @ 11:29 PM

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Emirates Complaint

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Steven Davey <steven.davey@slingshot.co.nz>
Date: Dec 13, 2007 5:06 PM
Subject: Emirates Complaint
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Emirates denies and responsibility, they ruined our holiday and denied and liability. I wonder if they paid the fine in BKK.

I am writing regarding my family's recent experience attempting to go on holiday. Our family holiday that we had been planning for over 5 months was completely ruined by the negligence of Emirates and incorrect advice given to me by the travel agent.

A few weeks after booking and paying for our holiday tickets and some accommodation (approximately mid April) we went to the travel agent that we used and asked about visas required for our trip, we advised that we were planning to travel overland from Thailand to Malaysia and then to Singapore and then again returning to Bangkok. We were advised that no visas were required for my wife as she was on a Fiji passport, we specifically asked about my Wife's passport. As we did visit the agency some weeks later and we also asked (about the visas required), we took it for granted that their advise was correct. I also phoned Emirates and asked their advise regarding a Visa to Thailand, and was told it was not necessary on a Fiji passport for a visa for Thailand. I also phoned EMIRATES before our departure and faxed through our passport copies, we were told this was normal procedure, EMIRATES had knowledge that my wife was traveling on a Fiji passport for many months. I asked EMIRATES if my wife needed a visa, and I was told no visa required.

We had booked accommodation, paid for some of it. We had paid for transfers, airline tickets, train tickets, changed currency and purchased travel insurance.

On our departure I checked in online and a question regarding Advanced Passenger Screening came up, I entered the passport details and thought that everything was fine. I know what APS is, it is when the carries must check that the person entering the country must have the correct documentation. So when we checked in at Emirates Auckland Airport and nothing was mentioned by check in staff, I actually thought everything was fine. If we had been denied boarding I would have understood.

We had a very good flight over, and we must say that the service on the flight from AKL – SYD was exceptional. The food was excellent, the range of drinks offered good. I did not find the cabin cramped or seats any narrower than Air NZ (whom we travel frequently on). The ICE system was excellent and the crew were all friendly and helpful.

Things went wrong when we arrived in Bangkok, the immigration girl said we 'need visa for Fiji passport' and 'no come Thailand', I said that the travel agent said we did not need visa. We were taken to the immigration section and I explained that we were here for a holiday and showed them out tickets to Malaysia and Singapore. We asked if we could apply for a visa now we were here. We were given no answer. We were taken to the immigration supervisor (I think) and processed with a Chinese passport holder. We explained our planned trip and showed the tickets (again) and asked if we could apply for a visa. We were told to wait for Emirates staff. I THOUGHT THAT AS WE WERE CUSTOMERS OF EMIRATES THAT THE STAFF WOULD BE OF ASSISTANCE TO US, but NO. As the staff entered the office they greeted the immigration supervisor and completely ignored us. They told us that my wife was to be returned and I informed them as we had a baby with us we would not be separated. As a customer of Emirates we THOUGHT that they would be there to assist us, they were no help at all, they would not interpret to the immigration person when I asked, when I requested that the supervisor see me, he refused. Only when I asked 'who shall I sue?' did the supervisor speak to me over the phone, distancing EMIRATES from my problem, saying it was the problem only of the Auckland EMIRATES staff and that he could do nothing for me. Onboard the aircraft the announcements referred to Emirates Award Winning Service, there was no service for us on the ground at Bangkok. The Chinese national was seen by the Air China representative and given entry into Thailand, we were not given entry. The EMIRATES staff in Bangkok were of no assistance to us at all, saying it was all Auckland's problem and not their problem. I explained to them that it is the same company and it is their problem. I am disgusted with the ground service in Bangkok on EMIRATES, all ground staff were completely useless and unhelpful, with the exception of 2 members. The first one being a young boy who was on the international transfer desk that day, he was as helpful and apologized about our bag loss, he was genuinely helpful. The other girl who was mildly helpful was the girl who apologized for losing our pram, but not for the predicament that the airline put us in.

My wife was detained, we were not offered to be put up in the Airport hotel, this was only offered after I confirmed it with a staff member in Auckland, and by that time we had spent over 9 hours in the Airport. We had an immigration and security personal with us constantly. We were treated like common criminals, when in-fact we were genuine tourists that wanted to contribute to the local economy.

Our bags were searched at the cabin bag screening point – when I had asked EMIRATES staff to check them in for me, I was accused of being a THIEF as we were given 2 packs of baby amenity kits and we had put them in our suitcase and our suitcase was bought to the hand luggage screening point, then I lost my 'rag' as the screening people called the EMIRATES staff to check my suitcase, I then explained – with voice raised, that EMIRATES had checked my wife in without checking her documentation and we had been in detention, and now on top of everything we were being accused of being thief's, because we took what the airline had given us. Even when the airline staff came over to the screening point the screener tried to accuse us of stealing airline 'property' it was only when our guard stepped in and explained our side of the story to EMIRATES staff that they waived us through.

We were waiting for our bags to go onto the aircraft at the gate, the EMIRATES staff did not do anything until I insisted that the bags be stowed in the hold, then I had to check the tag receipt numbers were correct. Due to the fact we had not had any sleep in about 42 hours, I did not check the tag destination, only that the numbers matched. If I had not done that we may have never seen those bags again. On arrival in Auckland our bags were missing. Also lost from AKL – BKK was our baby pram. My Wife and I had to carry our child everywhere in Bangkok Airport.

We were frog-marched through the Airport in front of our peers, with deportation papers stapled to the outside of a large A4 envelope for everyone to see. We were absolutely HUMILIATED in front of everyone. In Sydney we were assisted and guarded every step of the way by staff – like a criminal. Why did this happen? Because we were given wrong advise regarding visas by the travel agent and EMIRATES. EMIRATES should have denied us boarding at Auckland, but due to their negligence we have lost out on our holiday.

We were not offered an upgrade on the return flight, even though we asked. We were offered 4 seats across the middle all the way to Auckland – BUT GUESS WHAT?? When we got back on the Aircraft at Sydney, there was someone sitting in one of the seats in that row. DISGRACEFUL! We were even paged when we got back to Auckland. The cabin crew did not have the discretion to look up the passenger list to find us, they just called out our names. DISGRACEFUL.

We have NEVER EVER been so ABSOLUTELY HUMILIATED in our lives. Even when my wife and I were accused of have a marriage of convenience by the New Zealand Immigration Service 11 years ago, they did it with some form of dignity and we were never treated this badly.

We are truly disappointed, distressed and humiliated regarding the way we were treated by EMIRATES staff with the exception of 1 person in Auckland. Our long haul trip and last planned long haul holiday for some years has been COMPLETELY RUINED by the negligence of EMIRATES check in staff and advise given us.

What we expected from EMIRATES is full compensation for what we had lost. If we were denied boarding in Auckland I would have changed the flight dates by a few days (costing $100NZD per change per ticket) and we would have applied to the Thailand Embassy in Wellington for a Visa. The $100 per ticket is what I am prepared to concede.
EMIRATES have accepted that they were wrong to let my wife board the aircraft to fly to Bangkok. This they have accepted as they have had to pay a 20,000 baht fine. EMIRATES and their check-in staff are liable for costs incurred by us.

Our complaint to EMIRATES took 7 weeks to process and they offered us nothing. They are disgraceful. If I treated my guests as these people treat their customers I would be out of business with in 6 months.

# posted by Jawad @ 8:04 AM

Monday, December 03, 2007

Our experience flying with Emirates

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Iyer, Suresh <suresh.iyer@softbrands.com>
Date: Dec 3, 2007 11:43 AM
Subject: Our experience flying with Emirates
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

I reproduce herewith the mail written to Emirates.

Hi,

Initially I was thinking of visiting Dubai on my way back to home, but I no more have the eagerness to visit Dubai.

We had a terrible experience travelling by Emirates. I completely understand that flights can be cancelled for various reasons, but the situation needs not be handled in a hostile way. The ground staff is grossly incompetent to handle the situation, both at Mumbai and at Dubai.

1. Flight No.EK 0503 L 17NOV 1900 from Mumbai got cancelled due to fog. After a very long delay and unlimited confusion, we were was put up in a Hotel in Mumbai.

2. Next day morning we were in the Airport by 7 AM and stood in a queue till 10:45 AM and the flight left for Dubai at 11:15 AM. This too was possible only after Air India staff were pressed into service.

3. We had a connecting flight EK 0701 L on 18NOV 0235, this we missed, so our connection turned out to be for 19th Morning 0235. There was a huge crowd but only a few counters to handle all cancelled flights and their food and accomodation. We stood in the queue for 3 hrs and only 2 people in our queue were cleared. We asked many officials in the airport for help but each was very curt. We just gave up and sat in the airport for the next 14 hrs! It was just horrible.

4. We had requested for "Asian Vegetarian meals" for the previous day's flight, but as we had missed the flight, this flight had no food for us except a few fruits.

5. The last straw was when we reached Mauritius to find that our baggage was missing! We received the baggage only after 3 days. You can imagine the pain we underwent, we were in a business trip, without our luggage which had our books, presentation materials etc.

To sum it all up, it was a horrible experience for us flying Emirates. We are forced to take the same airlines back home because we want a direct flight to Bangalore. We are just hoping that atleast this journey is hassel free.

Our plans of applying for a visa and visiting Dubai are ruled out with the attitude of the officials we had to put up with. I am sure you will take it seriously and correct the lapses, so that people do not suffer the way we did. Also please instruct your staff to be little polite and should extend help instead of having a rude attitude. Please remember, we too pay for our tickets and are not travelling on complimentary passes.

Best regards,

Thanks and regards,

G.R.Suresh

Senior Business Analyst
Business Solutions
*****************************************

SoftBrands India Pvt. Ltd.

# posted by Jawad @ 2:29 AM

Emirates Airlines (Comments about Emirates Airlines)