Erfolgreiche Ausgleichszahlungen

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Ein kleiner Sieg für mich, eine noch größere Motivation für viele andere.

 

Ich hab EK eine Mail geschrieben und eine Antwort mit 600EUR erhalten.

 

Dear Emirates Customer Services,

 

thank you for taking the time to read my inquiry. I travelled with Fly Emirates from Athens, Greece to Bangkok,Thailand for a total of three weeks this summer.

 

Here are my flight details:

Mr. *******

Bookingnumber: ****

EK **** 24.7.2010 - 16:20 arriving 22:05

EK **** 25.7.2010 - 09:40 arriving 19:00

EK **** 18.8.2010 - 21:10 arriving 00:30 +1

EK **** 19.8.2010 - 10:05 arriving 14:00

 

Firsty, I want to compliment Emirates on the outstanding in-flight service provided by your crew on board. The crew were very friendly, and tried to make me feel as comfortable as possible at all times, even providing me with a toothbrush for my layover in Dubai! I was also greatly impressed by the condition of your fleet, which in my case was also equipped with a very modern in-flight entertainment system (ICE) with the latest music and movies avaiable. After the professional and freindly approach I experienced with the company on a whole I am very keen to travel with Fly Emirates again as soon as I plan another holiday or business trip to the East.

 

Nevertheless, I happened to be a victim of some unfortunate circumstances during my trip with you, which I believe are the exception, which however, I still wanted to bring to your attention.

After our EK 106 flight took-off it started having some technical problems due to bad maintenance with the secundary surveillance system, also known as the transponder, and was forced to go back to Athens for maintenance. After long hours of waiting we were booked into a nearby hotel and provided with food. It was very nice and comfortable. Still the circumstances were pretty chaotic. To my astonishment we were told to call to Dubai from our personal cellphones to find further information about our trip and our connecting flights. I will quote the representative at the desk: "I have no idea how the procedure will be done. I haven't worked at the desk for months, I'm actually belong to the cabin cleaning crew. I was just told to book hotels." I don't believe Emirates customer service is to be blamed for this episode because Goldenair Handling was taking care of the ground handling of the Emirates flight. I was therefore left alone at the airport in Athens, with no idea when I will be arriving in Bangkok, which to say the least, greatly disrupted my onward plans in Thailand. We were also not provided with the oppurtunity to make a call in order to rearrange meeting or such in Bangkok, which forced me to make expensive many calls each time with different updates which we were provided with. I approached the desk staff who had not idea about anything and the staff at the hotel expected from me to buy a telephone card charged with above 100EUR.

 

After the cancelled flight we were able to continue our trip with a 24h delay which I thankfully could reduce to 7 hours by taking an earlier connecting flight by flying stand-by. The desk service in Dubai handed us some papers where we could fill in our complaint to receive compensation according to EU regulation. I decided, which I hope you understand, to eMail this complaint once I got back home so I would not have to think about this stressful episode during my stay in thailand. The rest of the trip was very comfortable and flawless.

 

Another small thing which occured during my flight back was that during my lay-over in Dubai I was not provided with neither a hotel nor with meals, a service which you provide for long stopovers. According to your website the policy for long stopover service, which applied to me, is: "Economy Class passengers: If the connection time until the first avaiable flight is more than 8 hours and less than 24 hours...." In my case my stopover was exactly 9:35 which should entitle to that service.

After arriving in Dubai I went to the reservation desk and they forwarded me to the customer service desk which was 2 levels below it. The operating assistant checked our flight and the system and said: "Your flight has not been cancelled, and you are neither a first class nor a business class passenger so you are not entitled to accomodation. Please go to the hotel reservation desk if you want to book a room." I belive it was at 2 AM, so I would like to presume that she was just tired and forgot about this service, nevertheless she would not discuss the matter with me, and I had no avaiable internet access there to show her Emirates' online conditions. After sleeping a little bit uncomfortably on a bench I continued my trip back home, with the impressive onboard service that I am used to by Emirates.

 

At this point I do not want to come accross as an angry nasty passenger who exploits his "passenger rights" and tries to get the outmost out of the airline for some mistakes, however, I felt very helpless during those two circumstances. Especially having payed so much money for longhaul flight I expect to be treated decently, even if I am not a business class or first class traveller. After all comfort and service is a decisive factor when booking a longhaul flight.

 

I am convinced that this "bad side" of Emirates which I experienced were caused due to unlucky circumstances. I look forward to a friendly and helpful response, and that Emirates will provide me with the adiquate compensation to prove to me that Fly Emirates has indeed an outstanding customer service and deserves to be a five-star airline in the very near future!

 

Yours sincerely ,

******

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Antwort ca. 1 Monat später:

 

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Dear *******,

 

 

 

Thank you for your email of 08 September 2010, which was received by us on 10 September.

 

 

 

I regret the inconvenience you experienced due to the delay incurred to flight *** from Athens to Dubai, on *** July 2010. I understand that flight *** returned to Athens due to technical difficulties with the operating aircraft, and was re-scheduled to depart as flight ***, from Athens to Dubai on ***+1 July.

 

 

 

Although every effort is made to achieve on-time schedules, which is an integral part of our product, there are occasions when flights are delayed due to circumstances beyond our control. Flights are only operated when it is safe to do so. Emirates will never compromise on the safety of our passengers and crew.

 

 

 

Whilst we make every effort to transport passengers according to planned schedules, sometimes technical difficulties cause changes to these schedules. When this happens, we do our utmost to minimise passenger inconvenience.

 

 

 

A report from our Airport Services Manager in Athens shows that passengers were offered complimentary hotel accommodation in Athens, and some passengers elected to return to their own accommodation/residence in Athens.

 

 

 

In this type of situation, passengers will be re-booked onto the first ‘available’ flights to their final destination. Our Conditions of Carriage state that the carrier undertakes its best efforts to carry passengers with reasonable dispatch. Times shown in the timetable are not guaranteed. The carrier may alter stopping places, and schedules are subject to change without notice. The carrier assumes no responsibility for making connections.

 

 

 

It is regrettable that you misconnected to flight *** from Dubai to Bangkok on ** July. Our Reservations team managed to re-book you on flight **** from Dubai to Bangkok on **** July.

 

 

 

Notwithstanding our position, we remain concerned at the inconvenience you experienced due to the delayed arrival to your final destination. As a goodwill gesture, without prejudice or admission of liability, I am pleased to offer a compensation of EUR 600.00, in accordance with the EC regulation 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union.

 

 

 

Please complete and sign the attached ‘Release Letter’ in the presence of a witness and mail it to the following address, for my attention, quoting reference AU/6714747

 

 

 

Emirates Airlines,

 

Customer Affairs & Service Audit,

 

P.O. Box 686,

 

Dubai,

 

U.A.E.

 

 

 

On receipt of the letter, I will arrange to issue a cheque in the currency of your choice.

 

 

 

Thank you for allowing me to explain and for your understanding.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

******

 

Customer Affairs

 

 

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Da ich selbst davor nach etlichen erfolgreichen Fällen mit Ausgleichszahlungen gesucht habe und selten was gefunden habe, dachte ich mir dieser Post könnte dem einen oder anderen hilfreich sein bzw. als Motivation dienen!

 

Grüße,

Martin