INB O X YOUR LE T T E R S
After four hours, I was asked to leave the club. Considering the Travel Club had security and hot food and water provided, I made the decision to stay and negotiated a payment of A$120 (US$82). After six hours I was suff ering from exhaustion, indigestion and gastric problems, and neck pain from my pre-existing cervical disc degeneration had flared. I finally left for the departure gate at 0200 the following morning aſt er a 24-hour stay in the Chennai airport terminal. Staff at the Travel Club asked me to pay the outstanding cost as I left. This time I refused the payment and walked away from the unpleasant situation. Qatar staff at the gate became aware of my neck pain, but did not upgrade me to business class. I arrived in London after 11 hours via Doha with neck pain after sitting in a seat in the last row of economy class. By that time I had accumulated a total of 22 hours’ flight time and 26 hours’ stay in the airport terminal of Chennai. This incident was very unfortunate for me. While I was partly responsible for trying to use the APEC card to enter India, Qatar’s staff in London should have knowledge of how to properly check visas. I am so disappointed with the Qatar Airways ground staff, their lack of knowledge on visas, as well as their lack of understanding of standard operating procedures.
I urge Qatar Airways in London Gatwick and Chennai to train their ground staff to improve their knowledge and the procedure for safety purposes. I also require reimbursement for the costs I incurred in Chennai airport, and compensation on travelling economy class instead of business class. Minghao Zheng, Australia
Q A T AR AIR WA YS RE S P ONDS … As with all airlines, it is the responsibility of the passenger to ensure they have the necessary visa documentation required for the destination they are travelling to. We are sorry to hear that Mr Zheng had a negative experience with us. Our customer service team has been in touch to assist him as much as possible.
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
NO R EFUND S F ROM ROME I had to fl y from Hong Kong to Catania (Sicily) for a friend’s wedding. Since there are no non-stop flights, I opted to transfer in Rome. I booked a CX flight to FCO, arriving at 0735 on September 21, 2019. I had two choices of flight for the same day from Rome to Catania with Alitalia, one at 0900 and another at 1045. Both tickets were paid for and non-refundable. The reason I booked both was if my CX flight from Hong Kong was on time, I could take the 0900, but if the flight was delayed, I could take the 1045.
Fast-forward to when I online checked in – I couldn’t check in for the later flight, only for the 0900 flight. I immediately called up Alitalia. After putting me on hold for 15 minutes, they told me they had cancelled my 1045 ticket (without informing me) because I was double- booked on two flights that day and that wasn’t allowed. This was totally new to me as nowhere had I seen online that it wasn’t permissible to book two flights in a day on the same route. I asked them if they would refund me my 1045 flight for cancelling the ticket, and they refused. I then asked them to rebook my 0900 flight to the 1045 flight (as I wanted to leave a larger buffer in case of delayed arrival of my CX fl ight), and I was told I needed to pay a hefty change fee plus fare difference.
Of course I refused; why would I pay such a fee for a flight that I already paid for and is non-refundable? I told them to talk to a supervisor to reinstate my booking, and after being put on hold for another ten minutes, I was advised there was nothing they could do, but a supervisor would contact me. I left my email address and phone number with the agent. No one contacted me. What ended up happening was my
CX flight to Rome was delayed by 90 minutes due to technical issues and landed at 0900. I missed my 0900 flight and couldn’t check in for my 1045 flight, and I was left stuck at Rome airport.
It has been over a month and I still have not received any response from Alitalia. I am asking them to refund the cost of the 1045 flight as they cancelled
DE CEMB E R 20 19
it without informing me. Their ticketing agents should have notified, called or emailed me that it was not possible to book two flights and asked me which fl ight to keep. I booked the flights on Alitalia’s website, so they have all my contact information. Instead, they just cancelled the ticket without any email or notification and left me to fend for myself without any refund or apology.
Andrew Chan, Hong Kong
A L IT A L IA RE S P ONDS … We are very sorry for the inconvenience Mr Chan experienced at Rome Fiumicino airport while flying to Catania with Alitalia. We confirm, as he stated in his letter, that it is not possible to duplicate flight reservation for the same day of departure. Nevertheless, we apologise if he was not informed and asked which flight of the two should be confirmed. Therefore, as a sign of our kind attention, we’ll provide the prompt refund of his ticket, as our customer requested in his complaint sent dated October 21.
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