Emirates Airlines (Comments about Emirates Airlines)

72 Hours on Emirates Airlines

2009-10-07T11:34:00.000-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Annie Saputri <ahsaputri@hotmail.com>
Date: 2009/10/7
Subject: 72 Hours on Emirates Airlines
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Dear Jawad,

Thank you for putting this blogs for us Emirates passengers. I would like to share my delay experience to all of you.
This is a complaint mail/email copy to Emirates Customer Affairs,
Emirates Customer Affairs
Emirate Group Headquarters
Dubai PO Box 686 UAE

CC: HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum – CE Emirates Group
CC: Tim Clark – President Emirate Airlines

London – Jakarta – 3 Days! Correct not a typing mistake 72 hours on a usual total trip time of 16/17 hours.
I have detailed below the following on my recent return journey from London Heathrow to Jakarta, via Dubai using Emirate Airlines, as you will see this is totally unacceptable that a "leading " Airline takes 3 days to complete this journey.

I have also cc & mailed the two gentlemen above, no doubt they will never see these types of letters/complaints, as only interested in the marketing/PR aspect, never the reality.

27th Sep
Original departure times:
EK006 – LHR to DBX @ 22.15 arr @ 08.05 - 34K
EK358 – DBX to Jakarta @ 10.55 arr @ 22.35 - 30K

EK006 was delayed initially by 2 h! ours due to a technical fault, however I boarded the flight @ 1.00am, sat on the plane for 1 hour, then told that it couldn't fly & that overnight accommodation would be provided, whilst I appreciate that safety is paramount. The decision to cancel could have been made earlier as it was almost 04.00am before I got to my Hotel room. With no real assistance from any Emirates ground staff, the Hotel, The Park Inn rooms were really basic, no basic amenities such as toothbrush, pastes etc.

I hope you have a good warranty compensation clause against AirBus on these A380's, they shouldn't be this unreliable.
Managed to call the Emirates Manchester service team & they confirmed my new bookings for LHR to DBX now @ 15.00 on the 28th Sep & my connecting flight from DBX to Jakarta @ 04.15 on the 29th Sep.
The coaches would collect us from the Hotel @ 12.00pm, in fact they turned up @ 13.00, and I eventually boarded flight EK006 @ 14.45, but the flight still di! d not take off until 16.00.

29th Sep
Landed at DBX @! 02.25, after a long queue at the transfer desk, I was then informed that the 04.15 flight to Jakarta was fully booked!!!
I said yes I know, the Emirates Manchester office have booked me on it yesterday & given me the seat number 34C.
I then realized that I had been "bumped" as you call it, what's more annoying is the data that the Manchester office had given was just pure lies, no one likes being lied too.

30th Sep
So another overnight stay was arranged at the Millenium Hotel while I was re-booked again on EK356 seat #: 21K on the 30th Sep @ 04.15.
As I had now been in the same clothes for almost 3 days I asked if my luggage could be delivered to the Hotel, yes was the answer, but it never arrived, I had to go out & purchase new underwear, shirts, toothpastes etc, as again the Hotel amenities were very basic.
I repeatedly asked about my luggage, & ended up back at the Airport where after many conversations I was told it had gone to Jakarta! !!! & I had to make a baggage claim!! How much worse could this nightmare journey go on, but eventually one extremely helpful baggage attendant went out of his way & actually located it, sitting on the ramp!!
I eventually landed in Jakarta on Wed 30th Sep !!! with my luggage, well at least that arrived!
The consequence of being this late is that, I missed the opening day of my Pre-school in Cikarang.
Again how would you feel if your children returned home early from school because their teacher was delayed by this type of delay?.. not happy I presume.

I travel frequently between Jakarta & London, now reading this would you fly / use Emirates again?

Give me a three good reasons why, would be so interested to hear your views on this, but perhaps with most "blue-chip" companies today, once they have your money there not bothered about individual concerns & it will be the standard typed letter stating "reasons beyond our control" etc, etc! .
Emirate Airlines are in my opinion falling into the same trap as B! A did about 10 years ago, they wanted the passengers / business & ran a smart advertising campaign with attractive prices / routes, won the customer over but didn't have the infrastructure behind the gloss to manage the increased volumes & now if your honest, although it will never be admitted, customer problems have risen.
What process steps are you putting in place to ensure that Emirates can overcome these problematic areas in line with you increased passenger volumes?

Yours faithfully

Annie Saputri
EK 235294986
E-Ticket #: 176 2128445938
Reference : DXB/X/041009/6670611‏

Windows Live: Friends get your Flickr, Yelp, and Digg updates when they e-mail you.

Emirates has bigoted booking policy

2009-08-31T01:30:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: papaleblanc@netzero.com <papaleblanc@netzero.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 6:01 AM
Subject: Emirates has bigoted booking policy
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

I recently tried to book a flight on-line from SFO to ADD but was rejected for on-line payment as my destination was Africa. I called their customer service & was told that was their policy, but if I wanted to book for Europe, I could pay on-line. The customer service rep, bless her for her honesty, then informed me I could go to SFO & pay with my card in person. The next day, I spent my lunch time & paid $8 to find out it wasn't true. I complained to SFO customer service, who were very responsive, especially after I explained the reason for being at the airport was due to Emirates racist payment policy. The airport customer service manager, Mr. Birch, connected me to an employee of Emirates, "Samai," if I am spelling it correctly & she confirmed that travelers with African destinations have to pay in person, no telephone or internet credit card charges. Apparently, she was willing to show up & sell me a ticket, but after I explained my lunch break time was nearly up, she put me on hold and left me there. After 3 minutes, I just hung up. She never called back. I phoned Mr. Birch & related my experience with her to him & he was astonished she never bothered to call me back. His suggestion was a complaint letter, not an email, to the US Dept. of Transportation at:

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

If you must email, the web address is http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/problems.htm. There is a link for email.

The DOT does track complaints & posts the numbers.

James
San Jose

____________________________________________________________

EMIRATES BLAH

2009-08-17T06:54:00.000-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: shabir rahman <shabirabd@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 2:31 PM
Subject: EMIRATES BLAH
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Dear Jawad

Thanks for putting up the blog for us the passengers that have been poorly treated by the airline
I have been a frequent flier with Emirates and when they do a job hey DO do it well like every now and then they do excel and then on the next leg of the journey they really screw up sooo badly you wonder how could an International airline that boasts so many awards frustrate so many people so easily. Furthermore their response to the H1N1 virus is all but non existent for those that fly with them. The crew are more concerned with their own safety to bother with the passengers

Its an airline with very serious racial profile that are terribly biased to the Indian community because they ( the Indians )don't complain much but like Gandhi are tolerant

--
Shabir
Only you can make the difference
Try it

Fwd: Complaint against the Emirates Ground Staff in Dubai International Airport.

2009-07-22T02:11:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Honey Praveen <honey.praveen@mit-group.com>
Date: Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 1:31 PM
Subject: Complaint against the Emirates Ground Staff in Dubai International Airport.
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu
Cc: alex@mit-group.com

Hello Mr.Jawad,

I write this mail on behalf of Mr. Alexander John, Freequent Flyer No. –EK 113401002

My CEO –Mr. John have always been a very pleased customer of Emirates Airlines'. I write this to complain about the unhelpful and rude behavior of your Emirates Staff in the Dubai International Airport.

On his most recent visit to India on July 16, 2009 on EK-858 on Business Class, which he was on a transit journey from Kuwait to Kochi.Mr.John was treated rudely by an Emirates staff who was on duty at that time at the baggage counter.Mr.John, only had a hand baggage which was his only luggage. Instead of politely informing him about the change in baggage policy, she was quite rude with her words. Mr.John, I understand was eligible to carry Kg 12 with him as hand luggage as he was travelling on Business Class. So I don't understand why my CEO had to be disrespectfully dealt with to the extent of even asking him to reduce his luggage to 7kg, where the total weight of his baggage was 11 kg.

I think that someone like Emirates who pride themselves on being a top end airline should definitely ensure that they train their staff to deal courteously with the passengers.

I am quite confident that you will look into the matter and take remedial measures and revert with a positive reply at the earliest.

Thanks,

HONEY PRAVEEN

General Manager

Minnesota Intl.Gen.Trading&Cont.Co.L.L.C.

P.O.Box:2157

Hawalli-32022

Kuwait

(Phone: + 965 22641230

(Mobile: +965 67030212

Fax : +965 2264 1251

Mail: honey.praveen@mit-group.com

gm@mit-group.com

URL: www.mit-group.com

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble".

Fwd: Emirates experience

2009-07-13T03:32:00.000-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: NABILA KHAN <bili5000@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 12:06 AM
Subject: Emirates experience
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

My brother was travelling back to Pakistan via Dubai from Manchester Airport, my husband and I were with him seeing him off. Apparently the computers were down and they were checking in manually. When we got to the terminal, I nearly fainted as the queue for check in was over a mile long. Desparingly, we joined the ended of the queue, after 3.5 hours of queuing we finally got to the check in and the fellow Pakistani check in assistant for Emirates was as rude as anything. When I told him we had queued for 3.5 hours he was scarcastic and unsympathetic and just said it was one of those things. I had my toddler with me, it was a hot, sweltering day and half way through the queuing I had to ask the Emirates woman to give us at least some water. The staff at the Emirates looking after the queue/passengers were as rude as anything. We have paid for them and but they really aren't interested. This delay resulted in my brother in law losing his connecting flight, my husband and I had to pay an extortionate car park fee, my toddler was agitated and I was late in picking my other children from school and had to deal with an irate teacher on a Friday evening. This knock on effect was caused by Emirates not getting their act together and caused us endless misery. Surely they could have opened up extra counters, got the business class to do the economy once business class had been dealt with. In the mile long queue there were alot of elderly people, some in wheel chairs who were so uncomfortable and agitated but nothing was done to make them comfortable. No-one other airline (Monarch, Turkish were booking also) was experiencing their computer being down as the rest of the terminal was 'business as usual'. I myself worked at Manchester Airport for Servisair at check-in and have never come across a computer being down. Perhaps they didn't have a plane arrive on time. Whatever, all the hype about Emirates being the 'best' airline is overinflated and just rubbish. Bring on Virgin, will you fly to Pakistan. Also, try and avoid flying to Dubai as the tap water is contaminated and a major health hazard (search on internet on this).

Mrs N Khan

Fwd: Emirates

2009-06-10T07:04:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <Pam.Allott@adare.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Subject: Emirates
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

My partner and I travelled with Emirates to Dubai two weeks ago. On boarding the plane in Manchester, my seat had no seatbelt - the attendant was informed and nothing done about it - hence travelled without seatbelt - is not against the law?

On leaving Dubai we had pre-booked seats only to be informed the plane was full, and we would be luck to even board the aircraft. I informed them that I had to be back in the UK, and we were allocated seperate seats.

All in all a very bad experience with Emirates, and I would think twice before booking again with them

Regards

Pam Allott
Senior Account Executive

Problems with Emirates Airlines.

2009-06-09T04:20:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: NICO FAMELIARIS <nicofameliaris@imaginet.co.za>
Date: Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 11:31 PM
Subject: Re : Problems with Emirates Airlines.
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

My dear Friend.

I travelled last year from Johannesburg via Dubai to Greece and back via the same way boarding 6 planes and I saw that bad same service on the plane flight from Dubai to Greece the one flight attendant was very rude at one stage and at the Dubai International Airport it is chaos and some of the staff especially the arabs speak broken English and are very rude as I saw in the free restaurant

Where the waiters treated the Pakistani and Indian passengers very rudely you know you are jetlagged when you come off those planes and to them it is about money not customer service making more money more more money.Only the medical centre was friendly to me when the doctor was good to me.Before boarding for the plane for South Africa we were delayed

About 8 hours we were not put into a hotel to sleep for a couple of hours and were kept on delayed it is tiring when you travel such long distances and they treat you like cargo not like a human being suffering from Blood Pressure and Panic Disorder it is hard for me to travel such long distances but what can we do we are not rich but are treated like beggars because they are doing us a favour and remember that we are paying for the ticket they would be out of a job without us.

It is time they improved their service if you are delayed for 8 hours or more they must accommodate you to rest but who cares as long as the dollars euros come in we are just Cargo at Emirates Airlines not human beings.They say that if you pay more you get better service but the beggars have to go for economy class because we are poor and have saved that money for years.Good Luck my friend complain complain and its time they treat us with dignity.

Kind Regards

Nico.Fameliaris. (From South Africa.).

Emirates staff

2009-05-15T04:26:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <cartide@yahoo.com>
Date: 2009/5/14
Subject: Emirates
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Dear all,
We'd the worst experience with Emirates staff. On 27 we flight to Cairo via Dubai by Emirates airlines. Our destination vacation was Egypt, Dubai, Milan, Rome, and Paris. We were trip on group (company's incentive trip). My husband lost his passport when we were transit at Dubai on the 1st day. At the end, our Indonesia Embassy issued a passport for my husband, then we can fly to Cairo. We buy visit visa at Cairo airport. After few days at Cairo, we back to Dubai, at Dubai we also can go inside the country coz our visa is group visa. We stay at Dubai for about 3 days. On 3 May2009, from Dubai we shd fly to Milan. The staff at boarding room's gate not allowed my husband fly, coz there's no Schengen Visa at his passport (ofcoz, coz his passport is new. Insert his passport, there's a Dubai police' letter about the lost passport, also a note from Indonesia' Embassy that the passport is a substitute of the lost passport. We also has a copy of the lost passport, copy of Schengen Visa). Then we have to wait at Emirates Airlines counter on that day, 3 May 2009. Emirates staff who's handle us is XXX. He said that he has had email Milan about our case. Our group has had left us& fly to Milan. We waited for the email's reply from Milan. I often asked many times, XXX always answer no reply from Milan. Our tour leader who's arrived Milan told me that my husband's Visa was no problem at all, can fly to Milan. Our tour leader asked me to told XXX that XXXX shd email to the address' given or fax to the number given, coz it was sunday & no one at the office Mohammad has had email to. But what XXX reaction?? He is very unpolite when saying that he has on procedure he shd do, and he didn't want email nor fax to the address given by our tour leader at Milan. Our tour leader called wanted talk to XXXX, he also didn't want to receive the phone. I called Indonesia Embassy that help us.XXXX also didn't want to talk to our Indonesia Consul !! What a rude. Until the head of police at Milan (named: Mr. XXXX) angry and scold why Emirates has had make difficult their tourists to come to Milan, what Emirates purpose is. That nite,another Emirates staff ( NOT XXXX anymore, I don't know why, maybe XXXX has lost face), told us that we can fly to Milan, but the next day coz thatnite no flight anymore. Coz of XXXX's stubborn and didn't coorporate at all, it's cost us a lot which we'd to stay a nite a airport hotel, pay reinstate cost for the ticket, and lost our 1 day tour at Milan. We had to catch up our group to Rome once we arrive Milan, which we hv to pay the ticket from our own. At Milan, the process very simple. The imigration at Milan, sent us to police station then the police station gave us SCHENGEN VISA. So easy and helpful. The Milan police so helpfull. the question is: WHY Emirates so strictly didnot allow us fly to Milan, which Milan's immigfration and Head of police at airport had allowed us to come? Is that any hidden purpose or politics behind this? WHY Emirates hire a staff like XXX? I thought Emirates has a wonderfull professional service as we've heards that Emirates want to be number 1 beat the Singapore Airlines. From our experience (compare to our friends experience fly with Singapore Airlines when they got problem)Singapore Airlines is still the best and the staff of Singapore airlines is more helpfull and makes us more convinience..
Hopefully, head of Emirates Airlines has his wisefulness towards this case. Our friends and colleges said that's the service of Emirates..

Regards,
Veronica
Indonesia
Sent from my BlackBerry®
powered by Sinyal Kuat INDOSAT

NAMES DELETED

Airlines

2009-03-24T06:39:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mal Bowker <malbowker@three.com.au>
Date: Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Subject: Airlines
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Hello

I am a National Sales Manager with an International company and I fly international often. 17 flights in the past 6 months. I have no alliance and have flown recently with Scandanavian, Qantas, Thai and Emirates. I have never been treated badly and in fact have had some good times with air crew. Treat people well and they return the same. Treat them badly and get what you deserve. The people complaining about in-flight service are the same people who treat restaurant waiters and hotel staff badly and complain about their service too.

My two most recent flights were Qantas and Emirates and they were two of the best flights I have ever had. The meal on the Emirates flight was the best in-flight (economy) meal I have ever had on a plane and better than some I have had on the ground. I have never had a bag lost or damaged in 30 years of travel and never been overly delayed. With millions of people flying billions of air miles each year the complainers are a very small minority and should stay with Easy Jet where they belong.

Kind regards

Mal Bowker

Fwd: I too had a insulting experience

2009-01-06T05:38:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Subbaiah Meyyappan <Subbaiah_Meyyappan@symantec.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 3:34 PM
Subject: I too had a insulting experience
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

In emirates airlines I too faced a bad exp. , I travelled on 28-12-08 to Dubai . the flight crew was such bad , they were literally insulting and disappointing the passengers in economy class , I don't believe this , we are paying them , they can at least do it with a smile . Maars airlines is far better . these people are il treating Indians I guess . this is such a bad thing in their crown .

- Shankar

bad experience to India with Emirates

2008-01-16T06:41:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Hema Patel <hemi72@rogers.com>
Date: Jan 15, 2008 9:15 PM
Subject: bad experience to India with Emirates
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

To whom it may concern,

This past Nov 16 2007 my family and I chose to fly with Emirates to India flight EK 242 seats 30 d,e,f,g. We had heard very good things about this airline and so we decided to give it a try. My complaint is not regarding the flight itself. The on flight staff was very pleasant both to and from India. On our way to India we left from Toronto and arrived to Dubai without any difficulty, until we got off our flight to transfter in Dubai to our connecting flight to Ahmedabad. We then found out that our flight had been cancelled due to fog in Dubai. Please understand my complaint is not regarding the cancelled flight, I understand these circumstances arise my complaint is the hell we experienced thereafter. It was a nightmare to say the least no one at the airport in Dubai would inform us of anything everyone just shrugged their shoulders at us as if this was an everyday experience for them. We later spoke to others in the same situation as us and decided that we would all wait in a line where apparently we were to reschedule our flights out of Dubai. My husband and I stood in a line not longer that 7 metres for 6 hours with our 2 children who were tired, hungry and crying. After 6 hours we were told that our flight out of Dubai would be leaving after another 30 hours. My response was to please try for a sooner flight because of my children, the attendant just starred at me as if she was looking right through me she said no, this is all she could do. I asked about hotel accomadations since there was no way I could spend 30 hours in the airport with my 2 children, she responded with I can't do anything, and looked at the person behind me as if to say move out of the way now.

After spending over 6 hours in a line watching so many people, elderly people, people with young children, one woman was pregnant and also expected to wait in line,treated with such ill manner I became irate, there was absolutely no organization at all. I lost whatever patience I had and began yelling at the top of my lungs for someone to please help me get hotel accomadations so my children could rest.shower and eat before our transfer out. After 2 hours we finally got a hotel by which point I vowed I would never ever fly with Emirates ever again and I would never allow anyone else I knew to do so either.

The next day Nov 19 we arrived at the airport and began the rest of our journey flight EK 506 from Dubai to Mumbai seats 18 a,b,d,e. Instead of a direct flight to Ahmedbad we now had to go to Mumbai and then to Ahemadabad. When we arrived in Bombay our luggage was not there surprise surprise. We then filled out a claim form and were assured that we would receive our luggage at our residence in India within 24 hours, and we only had a short while before our connecting flight to Ahmedabad(flight 9w 232 Jet Airways seats 16 a,b,c,d) was to leave so there was not much we could do and by this point we just wanted to get our children home at our destination in India. The next day after I arrived in India I contacted your office in Mumbai to find out the status of my luggage their response I am sorry we don't know where your luggage is. After tons of emails back and forth over a four day period and upsetting phone calls I enquired at the Ahmedabad airport they informed me that my baggage had just arrived and that I had to pick it up myself the next morning. I then called your Mumbai location again to see what they would say regarding the status of my luggage, their response still was we don't know where you luggage is, even after I already knew my luggage had arrived in Ahmedabad. What the hell are your staff doing?

You may ask was I compensated for the 4 days without my luggage? Barely, I was given 23,000 rupees in compensation 2 days before my return flight back to Canada, I was in India for 5 weeks, just to give you an idea of how long it took to be partly compensated. The purpose of my trip to India to attend my brother,s wedding I had packed everything I would need for the wedding all of my family's clothes, shoes , accesories etc from Canada so that I would not have to make any extra expenses in India. Therefore, I had not only to buy everthing for the 4 days we didn't have our luggage but also every single thing I would need for the wedding on Nov 23 I spent close to 50,000 rupees as an added expense due to my luggage delay I had valid receipts for everything that I bought which I submitted in Ahmedabad airport and gave it to Hiral your representative there when I picked up my luggage and all I got was 23,000 rupees, again 2 days before I left India and even that my husband went back to Ahmedabad to pick up. I want the rest of my money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as well as some compensation for the worst experience my children endured because of the lack of humanity I saw in your staff in Dubai and India. Out of my 5 weeks in India I probably spent more than half of my time, first trying to track my luggage and then the rest of it trying to get compensated. This experience has completely tainted my flying experience with Emirates and especially my kids. I will continue to persue this until my family and I are compensated.

My hand luggage was also damaged on my return flight EK 539 from Dubai to Toronto by an inflight attendant she had us fill out a claim form for that under my husband's name Amarish Patel seat18 d I have not been compensated for that either.

I hope that something positive will come from this extremely negative experience. If any further details are required contact me and please send me something so that I know my email has been acknowledged and something will be done about it

Hema Patel

emirates

2008-01-10T03:31:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Europanel - MDT <sales@mdt-sa.com>
Date: Jan 10, 2008 1:27 PM
Subject: emirates
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Good Day,

I am writing to you from South Africa in the hope that you can help me.

I have lodged a customer complaint at Emirates Airlines about lost luggage on a trip to Shanghai late November 2007.

(I can send you the details if you would like).

Bottom line: we planned 3.5 days business in Shanghai and had no luggage for 3 days. Therefore we lost an enormous amount of time and money.

For over 40 days Emirates has simply not answered at all and the matter is still "under investigation"…

How can I get the airline to at least reply with a decent solution on the problems that they have caused?

I have to escalate the problem in order to get them to respond. In this respect I've e-mailed IATA and the Arab Airline Organization already.

Maybe you have obtained individual e-mail addresses of the Emirates management structure?

I simply cannot understand that an Airline with such a marketing budget and campaigns is nor reacting to a simple and for us costly problem. I cannot leave it at this and will take this matter further.

What is your proposal?

Respectfully Yours,

Enjoy your day,

Jan Lievens

Civil Engineer (B)

Happy New Year from Jawad

2007-12-31T14:37:00.000-05:00

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

MY EXPERIANCE WITH EMIRATES

2007-12-24T12:04:00.000-05:00

---------- 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...

Emirates will never see my money ever again!

2007-12-20T23:33:00.001-05:00

---------- 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

Bad experience

2007-12-20T23:29:00.001-05:00

---------- 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

Emirates Complaint

2007-12-13T08:04:00.001-05:00

---------- 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.

Our experience flying with Emirates

2007-12-03T02:29:00.001-05:00

---------- 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.

My nightmare with Emirates!

2007-11-27T05:57:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Motlatsi Shale <m.shale@lec.co.ls>
Date: Nov 27, 2007 3:51 PM
Subject: My nightmare with Emirates!
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

I will never in my life fly Emirates. My very first experience with it was a living hell. I live in Lesotho, Southern Africa , and I boarded this plane EK 766 in October heading for London where many of my English friends anxiously waited for me to land. I boarded a plane from Johannesburg, and there I was in Dubai. I approached gate number 50 in order to connect to London , and this was my first trip to London.

This XXXXX guy looks at me with suspicion, takes my passport and tells me to step aside and he would call me. I waited, and time was running out. I went to him and asked as to what was wrong because it was late, he told me that the plane would not leave me. I felt so humiliated and belittled. He eventually told me that I was going to work illegally in UK so he would not allow me to pass. I tried convincing him that I have a very good paying job and have no reason to seek work in UK. I tried convincing him that I was just visiting for two week and coming back, but he would not listen. I showed him my return ticket, ohh, he would not listen.

He eventually told me that I did not have a visa to enter UK . Now this was terrible! I told them that UK immigration laws do not require me to have a visa, but they said I talked too much and from then, they avoided me. I stayed there like a Hobo sleeping on a bench, I don't even want to think about that experience. Actually they were just looking for any reason to deport me. They told me that they would deport me and would refund my ticket. I insisted that they should let me pass, and if there is a problem the immigration officials in UK would turn me back, but I only spoke to myself.

Let me tell you that I was deported back to Johannesburg , and surprisingly they are now telling me that I will not get my money back at all. What can I do to get my money back? If the UK immigration rules required me to have a visa, and I did not have it, I would understand if they did not refund me. But they deported me on the basis of their misconceived and apparently very wrong opinions. Please what can I do?

Shale

A very Bad Day in and out of the Aircraft

2007-11-22T03:00:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Zahid Khan (Khan Trucking) <zahidkhan@iway.na>
Date: Nov 21, 2007 11:14 PM
Subject: A very Bad Day in and out of the Aircraft
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Dear Sir,

My Father is 69 years of age,I lives in Namibia" Windhoek",I brought my father with me from Karachi Pakistan,for a visit,He left Namibia on 16/11/2007 with emirates from JNB to DXB, ETA DXB was 05h00

he only arrives next day 17h00 local time,and then next day I-e 18/11/2007 he arrived in KHI.

When I got hold of him at the air port in DXB,He told me that Crew of flight EK refused to fly any longer to Dubai,they park the plane no where before the airport, according to the crew on board "there time was over and the other crew will come and take over the plane then only all the passenger can see the terminal.

On arrival at the airport building,according to my father,It was a chaos,We arrange for him a wheel chair etc etc,The poor old man had to stood for more than 8 hours on his feet with out any assistance,being a senior citizen,In my opinion if some one have to stay more than 12 hours in the terminal building he has got the right for free accommodation, His received his luggage only today,

We are flying frequently with emirates science 1989 when the terminal building was not more than micky mouse.But now we will reconsider, and advice our friends and family not to fly emirates,Although it will not effect the sales and service of the said airline,The worst thing is attitude of the XXX peoples,not very professional.AND ALL THE MARKS IN THE LIFE AND THE BUSINESS BASED ON ATTITUDE!!!.

Regards,

Zahid Khan

Khan Trucking

email: zahidkhan@iway.na

Horror Trip with Emirates from Bangkok to Hamburg 16/17/18 of Nov, 2007

2007-11-20T05:51:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tom <Tom.Griese@web.de>
Date: Nov 20, 2007 3:15 PM
Subject: Horror Trip with Emirates from Bangkok to Hamburg 16/17/18 of Nov, 2007
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

Horror Trip with Emirates from Bangkok to Hamburg 16/17/18 of Nov, 2007

Nice blog to read because I never thought that such an unbelievable experience could ever happen to me anyway….but when I go through these different mails I understand better the Way Emirates acts…..in short words: Make as much money as possible and do not care about any customers requirements…we were really not alone during last weekend at Dubai. punished by absolute incompetent, arrogant and rough treatment of Emirates Ground staff and also by Dubai Information Center.

Also interesting to read the "well well well" mail from a member of Emirates board staff

Does it clearly show how the attitude of the employees of Emirates to their "customers"(passengers pay your income !!!!!!) is and how they think , behave and care…..further I noticed unacceptable English knowledge and low education.. verified by my experiences with Emirates Staff Members during my unintended stay at Dubai during last weekend

Here is the Story:

We were booked on

EK385 Economy 17^th of Nov, 2007 BKK TO DBX

Dept 01.30 Arr.05.00

EK205 Economy 17^thof Nov, 2007 DBX TO HAM

Dept 08.55 Arr 12.55

Departure Bangkok right in time, we were informed by the Captain in the early morning hours that Dubai Airport cannot be reached due to Fog (??) or stormy weather, that we would have to land at Muskat and wait for better conditions.

We had been already 5 hours on the plane and did not even get a Breakfast.

After landing the aircraft stood 6 hours at Muskat. We couldn't leave the plane, the information flow way quite thin and we did not even get any beverage. Finally some passengers went to the kitchen to ask for water, which they got and distributed by themselves. In the meantime the Captain said that it would be difficult to arrange catering service for such a large numbers of passengers shortly. In the Bord Menu Card Breakfast was mentioned but latest during the Airport hours at Muskat it became quite clear that there was no breakfast on board….means considered as a night flight by Emirates they do not even plan beverage and breakfast to the passengers. Looking out of the window meanwhile we could see 8 Emirates Aircrafts standing at Muskat waiting for further instructions.

After these 6 hours we took off again and landed at Dubai 1 hour later. No need to say that the connecting flight probably also did not start , but we couldn't find on the information display panel EK 205 . No gate, no time…nothing.

Checking with the Dubai Information Center we learned that Dept will be 1700 and we should check the panel constantly…Boarding cards are still valid. So we had to wait and starred at the expected changes.

When it became 1600 we asked again and where informed again 1700 Departure. Still no gate, no time on the panel.

When it became 1630 we become quite nervous due to running out of time and asked the Information Center again. Still he said 1700 ( no gate no time on the panel)

After 1700 still the same answer….we decided to check with Emirates Office.

The funny thing is that there is no Emirate Office except the business and first class lounge.

So we went into the lounge and had to meet a lot of embarrassed and upset passengers asking for information. One older Gentleman shouted at an Emirates employee that he told him 11 times the same lie and he wants to speak to a competent manager……Answer: The manager is not on service.

Several also economy passengers complaint heavely to the staff getting no answers. After strong and unfortunately loud protest (normally not my style but here it's a must) we are told by an unfriendly Emirates Lady that the flight is probably delayed and we should check the display panel !!!! ????

Frustrated we returned to panel and saw to our surprise suddenly JFK New York which was the following destination of EK 205 after Hamburg boarding 20.30. So we moved to the Gate and waited with a lot of unsatisfied passengers listening to their experiences of the day.

You will not believe what happened then…..

Time 1930…. 2000…. 2015….boarding 20.30 blinked…..a man sitting a the counter and wait the same way we did (crowded area in front of the gate) and suddenly the blink stopped and he disappeared with out any words. It was a tumult situation of a lot of people shouting after him….and a big crowd moved to the lounge again. The scenes there are nearly indescribable….an American Lady shouted all over the people that the does not want to sleep another night on the ground of the airport and asked for immediate clarification when her flight will go……she got a lot of applause, women crying, enraged people shouting to the staff……business dates could not be fulfilled…etc etc

After a while we got trough to the same Emirates unfriendly Lady who now informed us that

we will have to change our boarding cards to tomorrow, but we are "only economy"

and so have to check at the economy counter. Until then we did'nt even know that there was an economy counter and she sent us to Gate 7 for clarification. We reached there round about 2100 but no one was there so we returned to the lounge , waited and asked again. Now we were sent to Gate 18…..and this is such a horrible place nobody can imagine.

Understandable that this room is n o t located at the so "beautiful" Dubai Airport with all the luxury shops and offers but in the first floor over Gate 18 in a very bad condition with " emirates economy counters". Hundred of People where standing in front of the counters squeezed like a audience in a rock concert. Childeren, old people, handicapped and what ever, nobody takes care. The Emirates employees behind the counters work so slowly, unfriendly and arrogant that the impression of harassment cannot be debarred ( because this is "only" economy ).Old people fall down because they cannot stand such a long time, push to the front was apparently essential, consideration not to be seen.

Short example (there are a lot more) a French group presented 15 Passports asking for new boarding cards….the Emirate female employee changed 14 board cards and went to break for about an hour. The people had to stand in this rows hours and hours, some times it takes more then half an hour to change one single board card only.

What can I say, I stood there from 1000pm to 0600am next morning, means 8 hours and finally my girlfriend came off and needed another hour until we received bloody simple boarding cards after total 9 hours of waiting. Think a lot of passenger could't make it just because they were too late for boarding.

Ultimately we got out aircraft Sunday morning and reached Hamburg Sunday the 18^th of November, 2007 after more the 60 Hours without sleep and minimum beverage and food.

Trying to complain here in Hamburg at Emirates is not possible, because the phone Number, the Fax Number and the e-mail address is wrong and even checking with the local Airport Press effected no different results.

For me and my girlfriend it is quite simple to tell our final decision after this weekend of pain:

FLY EMIRATES ???

NO, NEVER AGAIN

Thanks

2007-11-19T03:27:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: George Yu <h2c00yu@yahoo.com>
Date: Nov 18, 2007 1:39 AM
Subject: Thanks
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

After reading so many bad stories about Emirates Airlines, my wife's experience seems not to be as bad as we first thought. I will write our story later. But first I want to thank you for hosting this blog. Do Emirates managers see these comments? If not, a link should be sent to them. This is an airline with such bad reputation and deserves to be punished by the general public.

George Yu

Saudi Arabia

emirates airlines

2007-11-12T06:38:00.000-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: glen <glen_boi@hotmail.com>
Date: Aug 8, 2007 7:46 PM
Subject:
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

well well well,
another boring web site, good to see,
and let me guess the maker is from india or pakistan,
i find it quiet funny that even the crew that are hired from these 2
countries that work for the airline industry cant stand doing the
flights to there own countries because it is never enough
the more the airline gives to the passagers the more they want and say
that it still never enough, bad emirates, right i guess that is why
they are the best airline in the middle east how many years in a row
now, with qatar and air india has never won it, it really is easy you
dont like the service fly someone else but see how long it takes
before you come back, and if you dont get your meal chioce then order
it, the airline is not a mind reader, and i love the way it is always
the cabin crews fault when it's not, they dont do the seating, they
dont load the food, they dont put your bags in the plane, the ground
staff of the airports you go to deal with that, so if something does
go wrong, maybe you should think about complaining to the ground staff
not the crew, i also find it funny that the more you do complain and
cause problems on the plane, the more the crew do things to your
drinks, food, seats, have you every complained and then more things
start to happen like your tv stops working or you feel ill thats the
crew saying to you they have had enough of your bitching, i end by
saying if your expecting the best fly in a high class then economy or
if you think you are that you are that good fly in a private jet but i
guess you are not donald trump so deal with it or fly someone else
kind regards
all cabin crew that are sick of the complaining passangers

Fwd:

2007-10-19T03:05:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: jack hope <jackhope007@gmail.com>
Date: Oct 19, 2007 11:46 AM
Subject:
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

well were do i start, my wife went to europe with emirates, i thod

there the best in this, my wife luggage got lost on the way back from
her trip, its been two month still haven't got any phone call or email
to my all ruqest, and staff on the phone always try to brush you of
for some reson,, i seriously gave up calling them, my next choise is
not going to be with emirates from now on,, worst airline with there
follow up, and they charge you mega bucks for there service {rubbish}

--
JACK HOPE

Emirates Customer Services or lack of.

2007-10-12T02:54:00.001-04:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ains <gaddingfragment@yahoo.ie>
Date: Oct 12, 2007 2:39 AM
Subject: Emirates Customer Services or lack of.
To: jawad@alumni.washington.edu

I am writing with regards to the appalling service or indeed lack of that I experienced during the aftermath of my flight with Emirates from Johannesburg to London Heathrow via Dubai on August 26/27 ^th 2007.

My friends and I arrived safely in London after a comfortable flight but unfortunately my luggage did not. After chaos at the Emirates baggage desk at Heathrow a member of your staff showed me a printout indicating that bag my bag was still in Dubai. I was scheduled on an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin the following morning and the lady informed me that they were expecting a further two Emirates flights to arrive from Dubai before I departed to Dublin the following morning and that the probability was that my bag would be on the same flight as me to Dublin. I received a wallet containing a letter with a number to call if my bag wasn't on the carousal in Dublin. I called that number several times over the following hours and days.

I'm very surprised that an airline that has received over 300 international awards of excellence, a professional global company, doesn't have a personalised greeting. I'm not sure how many times I was welcomed by "the BT message minder or 02088973063 " and more times than not being told that the mailbox box was full and was unable to take any more messages. This really didn't install any confidence of every having my bag returned.

Out of all those international calls I reached a human voice only once, a fairly unhelpful voice it has to be said. I politely expressed my concern at being unable to talk to anyone about my problem but I was simply told that there was no point in getting frustrated or calling again because I would be contacted when my bag had been found. I was not given any indication of time or what to do in the event that I would not be contacted.

I continued to call several times each day hoping to meet a more helpful person but alas I was only ever greeted by BT. I left a couple of messages over that week leaving my name and contact number asking for someone to return my call. I also called every other UK Emirates number I could find hoping that someone would be able to talk to me but I was always directed back to the same number. I also tried Emirates in Dubai but not surprisingly they don't answer their phones either. I couldn't believe how arduous it was to get somebody to speak to me.

On day four I checked the Worldtracer website and saw that the status on my bag had changed from unknown to "arrived at airport". Which airport? Which country? From the information on the wallet I had received at Heathrow it read that I could use the link on the page to contact your airline. There wasn't any link on the page. Does Emirates have a customer service department? I only then noticed that the telephone number entered on my file was incorrect. Because of this little error made by the hasty Emirates staff member at the baggage desk in Heathrow I had nearly given up hope.

I decided to call Aer lingus in Dublin confirmed that my bag had arrived in Dublin but told me that the only party authorized to make changes on my file was the airline that logged the file and that I should get in contact with Emirates, easier said than done! To be honest as much and all of an inconvenience it was to have to make the trip to the airport it was well worth it for the hassle to be over and to put an end to the international calling charges. Aer Lingus also told me that my luggage came to Dublin with BMI. It's really quite pathetic when another airline with absolutely no involvement with this delayed bag saga was able to help me with the retrieval of my bag and you couldn't even pick up your phone.

I collected my bags seven days after arriving to London. Now I do realise that a week is not a huge amount of time. My problem lies elsewhere. Firstly I expected somebody to able to tell me what the delay was in getting my bag from Dubai to London. From the printout in London I saw that my bag along with others hadn't made the flight, fair enough but Emirates fly several times a day to London. If the bag wasn't lost then why did it take so long to put it on a flight to London?

The second and probably more frustrating issue to understand is the complete lack of customer service. Was it a bad week? Were they understaffed? Why bother giving out that number if nobody is going to grace you with answering the call? I believe there is another number and address for contacting if your bag is over five days late. Are you just expected to wait until the five days is up in order to get somebody to speak to you? And to top it all off I have to resort to a blog because I was unable to find an official email address to lodge a complaint!

Emirates your customer service is a disgrace.

Reference Number : LHR 18958

Johannesburg-Dubai : EK 766

Dubai-London : EK 003