Air India,
Last month I purchased a Business Class ticket from Oakland to London with return to San Francisco. The cost was $4339.50. Copies of receipts and boarding pass stubs are attached.
The flight to London was fine, but when my plane arrived in New York from London, my baggage did not arrive on the carousel for more than an hour. Air India’s corresponding flight desk refused to take it because my flight back to San Francisco was leaving in twenty minutes. I was instructed to go to the Air India arrivals counter. The clerk there said I would be re-routed to San Francisco on Delta. She filled out a form and instructed me to take it to the Delta terminal.
“Is this business class?” I asked. No, this was coach. She looked at my ticket for a long time and then consulted someone behind the counter. Five minutes later she began looking for instructions on what to do. Nearly an hour had passed. I said I feared missing the Delta flight, the last from JFK to SFO that evening. She had me take my suitcase back to the corresponding flight desk which she had telephoned to expect me. When I returned to the arrivals counter, she handed me the form, stapled to my ticket, said Delta would exchange it for a new ticket, and that I had better hurry to catch the flight. Was this First Class? Yes, she assured me.
I ran to the Delta terminal. They said the Air India paperwork was for a seat in coach. I explained the situation. I had receipts to prove what I’d paid for. Should I run back to Air India? No time for that. I would have to fly coach.
I took my coach ticket to the gate and once again explained the situation. The manifest was closed out. No way they could change things. I should be sure to write Air India for reimbursement.
The Delta flight was delayed several times and we boarded an hour late. Then we sat on the ground half an hour while Air Traffic Control rerouted our flight around a storm. They added 400 miles to our itinerary. In the six hours it took to get to San Francisco, I was fed two “snacks.” A snack is a small bag of something formed out of corn. Having missed my dinner flight, I was starving. I arrived in San Francisco after midnight but didn’t get out of the airport until 1:30 am because my suitcase was back at JFK.
Because your agent at JFK screwed up the paperwork and most likely lied to me as well, I did not receive the service I paid for. I demand an appropriate refund from Air India.
I am posting a copy of this letter on my blog at http://internettime.com. I will post your response there.
jay
Jay Cross
jaycross.com
Internet Time Group
Berkeley, California
1.510.528.3105
52 comments ↓
Are you sure that it was Air India? It seems more like: MoronAir:-)
Jay,
I experienced a very similar situation — flying from Delhi to Seattle, via London. I wasn’t in First/Business class, but they basically stalled me at the transfer counter for 2 hours so taht I would miss the more expensive British Airways flight which I wanted to catch (after I missed their connection because their incoming flight was late.) I ended up purchasing the flight myself (2 tickets on BA) because their paperwork wasn’t proper and the BA agent couldn’t accept it. The BA agent told me that Air India routinely lies to passengers and purposely endorses transfer tickets improperly so that they won’t be able to travel the more costly routes. Sometimes BA ends up eating the costs of the endorsed ticket because the transfer agents mistakenly accept the bad documents.
Do you have an email address for them, and have you heard anything? I can’t even reach the London office by phone. No answer.
Thanks, Irene Taylor Brodsky, Portland, OR
WORST Customer Service– Why shall we pay such a high amount for AI flights????
This is regarding flight number AI0136 LAX to Delhi on June 20th 2007. I am extremely disappointed with the kind of customer service that I have received at the AI counter.
My Mom is traveling today by this flight and I asked for assistance so that some one can help her to during security check and show her the gate 104. Mom has language problem and I am sure you guys may understand the sentimental moments while departure, she was so scared that I felt really helpless.
Question is- My request was turned down saying there is no staff for assisting my mom. What kind of service is this? Aren’t we paying for the service so why can’t air India handle us as customers. We don’t expect any favors and attitude from the AI associates at the airport, we need just the proper customer service. Lack of which will definitely lower AI’s customers interest and sales.
July 1, 2007.
Mrs. R. Adsul
CM-Traffic Services
Air India Limited
Traffic Services Division
Terminal I-B Area, NTB
CSI Airport
Mumbai - 400 099
Dear Mrs Adsul,
In April 23, 2007, I emailed Air India’s U.S. offices at mail@airindiausa.com and reservations@airindiausa.com. That email appears below. I have received no reply.
The Citizens Charter on your website says, “All passenger complaints are actioned swiftly and satisfactorily. A system to handle complaints worldwide is already in place and the procedure followed is both effective and streamlined.” I cannot find anything else about this service on your website.
Once again, I request reimbursement for services denied me by Air India.
jay
a quick response received:
TFC-SVCS hide details 4:33 am (10 hours ago)
to jaycross@gmail.com
date Jul 2, 2007 4:33 AM
subject TS/PFRC/C-435/07
Dear Mr. Cross,
We have your email of July 02, 2007.
We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you when you last
travelled on Air India. We are having the matter investigated and shall
revert on conclusion.
In the interim, we request your forbearance.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. R. Adsul.
I have a complain about Air India. This has happened and still happening that in Kolkata International Airport more as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport the Air India flights going to Dhaka, Bangladesh has canceled it’s flight many times. Passengers were not informed that the flights have been canceled but the thing was that the flight was waiting in the airport but it just didn’t have full passengers and that is why it didn’t fly!……but the thing is that if that’s the problem then you shouldn’t keep a flight like this because it is not certain that all the time the seats have to be loaded! And besides Air India is far more expensive than Bangladesh Biman but the money was not refunded. This is a case which is happening nearly all the time and everytime the ticket is bought from Air India it is delayed then canceled. This is really disgusting and hopeless. I would be obliged if the Air India people think something about this very very very fast!!
This email just arrived. It took six weeks….
TFC-SVCS
4:46 am (1 hour ago)
Dear Mr. Cross,
We have your email of July 02, 2007.
At the outset, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused when
you last travelled on Air India.
We have investigated the matter with our office in New York. The FIM
(Flight Interruption Manifest) which was issued to you for your onward
flight to San Francisco was indeed in Business Class denoted as “I”.
We are unable to establish why Delta did not accept you in Business
Class. We sincerely regret the inconvenience this caused.
On perusing your reservation record we find that the ticket was issued
in Chicago. We therefore request you to kindly send the ticket jacket
along with the boarding cards to the Air India office for their
consideration to ascertain the refund towards difference in fare from
Business Class to Economy Class.
Our address at Chicago is as follows:
THE MANAGER ,
AIR INDIA LTD. ,
33N DEARBORN STREET,
STE 2425
CHICAGO IL60602 .
At Air India, we consider ‘customer feedback” to be our most
valuable resource, after our people. We thank you for taking the time
and sharing your experience with us.
Mr. Cross, we value your custom and feel privileged that you chose Air
India. We request you to consider this as a one-time aberration and look
forward to your continued support. Should you need further assistance
please do get in touch with us.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
S. Ganesan
Traffic Services Division
Air India Ltd.
I sent this to Air India four hours after they had sent the email above:
Does your Chicago office have an email address I can send this information to?
jay
I called AirIndia office here in USA about weight requirements in India. I never got a clear answer. I like to know, I am flying Asiana from Lax to Delhi
then I purchased a ticket from Delhi to Amritsar, a seperate ticket. I will be carring two suitcases 23 kg each. Will I be allowed 23 kg each suitcase?, since I am traveling from USA. I don’t think, you need a rocket scientist or a Brain surgeon to answer this. I hope some authority at Air India can help me out in this matter. Thanks. Arif
Jul 19′07
Dear Mr Cross,
This has further reference to the email dated Jul16′07 sent to you by Mr Ganesan of our office in Mumbai in response to your mail of Jul02′07.
If you let us know your telephone contact numbers, we shall call you and progrss the issue further.
With regards,
Mrs S.M.Mundul
Manager Midwest
Chicago.
This company has the worst customer service I have ever experienced. My wife and I flew Air India on our honeymoon from Newark to Paris. When we arrived in Paris neither of our bags arrived with us. Air France handles Air India’s baggage claims in Paris. AF was very helpful. It took us 4 days and we finally received one bag. The other bag did not arrive until 2 weeks later at our home in the US. I have been trying for 2 months to get reimbursed for our expenses. I was told to send a letter with receipts to an address in Paris. The letter was returned to me. I have emailed someone in Baggage Services in Paris several times and every now and then get a response. I have not heard a response since I emailed a copy of the letter I sent along with a scanned copy of all of my receipts.
If you have a decent contact for customer support could you please email it to me. This has been one of the most frustrating experiences ever.
Air India has listed 1-800-223-7776 as the contact number. When ever you call that number, all that you hear is some music and their announcement that Air India has started daily nonstop flight from New York to Bombay. With this type of service, Air India should not expect to keep their customer base for ever, including many loyal Indians.
Mrs Mundul,
No one from your office has called me. This incident happened more than three months ago. Please call me to clear this up.
jay
Jay Cross
Berkeley, California
510 528 3105
Minutes after sending the above I received a phone call from Air India in Chicago. Arcsana said she thought she had called me back. I said no one had called. And can I send in the paperwork? I said I had sent it to Air India attached to my first email. Could I forward it to her?
I just did….
Could you please give me the email of Mrs S.M.Mundul?
I had sent my parents tickets for reissue since theirs was an open ticket. Its been 3 weeks and we havent got it back.
The chicago office is the wrost I have ever since. I call like a 100 times daily and they dont pick up. How the hell do we know whats going on?I emaield them and they dont reply…I dont think I will ever go with air india again.
Thanks
this is a W-O-R-S-T customer service i have seen in my life. Air india…dont travel unless u have NO option left with u. (go by ship if possible not by air india).
they dont pickup customer calls. I am trying to change my tickets. trying since last several WEEKS.no progress yet.
poor customers like me can understd my situation.
enjoy! with air india.!!
August 22, 2007
Arcsana,
When we spoke, you told me you would figure out how much I was owed and call me back. That was ten days ago.
Please call me tomorrow.
jay
Ref: Ticket PNR No: HGF4S
PULLUKALAYIL / ABRAHAM MR
Sub: Customer Complaint Air India
I have purchased 2Nos Air India tickets from Kuwait to Kochi & return for me and my wife we planned to travel together. We have got Boarding Pass 30th July 2007 for going and 21st Aug 2007 for coming back. As scheduled we travelled from Kuwait to Kochi on 30th July.
After reaching in India I called in AI office for reconfirming our tickets, but my wife ticket is confirmed and my ticket is in waiting list I called many times, went AI office Thiruvella and I called the travel agent in Kuwait but no use no one could do anything, I requested for higher class and I agreed to pay the difference amount. And I requested for another day 24th Aug and also in waiting. Why it is happening? Is it the mistake of travel agent? If it is agent’s mistake how AI is issued Boarding Pass.
I lost my confidence on AI, I have tried for one way ticket through local travel agent in India. The travel agent told me that there is a ticket available in Kuwait Airways on 24th Aug and it is a confirm ticket and I should not cancel. I agreed to take the ticket for RS 18900/- When I got the ticket I found that the ticket is Air India ticket on Kuwait Airways flight on 23rd Aug.
I travelled on 24th Aug 2007 from Kochi to Kuwait with the above purchased new one way ticket. My total losses by the Air India’s irresponsible act are as follows.
RS Pisa
Prise for New one way ticket from Kochi to Kuwait: 18,900 00
Lose of salary for 2 days 9,677 00
We travelled separate and telephone expenses and 20,000 00
Mental tension ________________
Total loss 48,577 00
Air India has to investigate why it is happening in their system and Air India has to pay my damages as above. I will wait for one week for your answer if you are not properly responding I will go for legal proceedings.
Today while I was out, Arcsana from Air India in Chicago left me a voice message. She told me she had to check how much Air India had paid American Airlines, which was originally supposed to handle the JFK/SFO portion of my flight. She said they paid the full amount. I don’t see how this is relevant, given that I flew back in coach on Delta.
She said she had talked with her manager and that because none of this was my fault, Air India would make me a special gift. The amount is $121.73. They will write me a check tomorrow.
I’m emailing Arcsana back, saying:
Dear Arcsana,
I refuse your offer. It is much too low. Also, I am asking for reimbursement for services I paid for but did not receive.
Of the $4339.50 I paid for the original business-class round trip ticket, $840 was for the JFK/SFO portion of the trip.
Due to Air India’s blunders, I had to fly economy class on Delta instead of business class. Today’s price for an economy ticket JFK/SFO on American, Delta, or Virgin is $139.
The difference between between business class and economy fare for JFK/SFO is $701.
Please reimburse me what I am owed.
jay
This morning I received this email from Air India:
Hello,
The matter is referred to the Manager-Midwest. She is out of station and will get back to you
next week.
Thank you
Air-India, Chicago
At least you got a chance to actually have a conversation with someone from Air India. I purchased a flight with them in June (my trip was supposed to be on July 29 going from JFK to London). 4 days before my trip I went online to print my itinirary and found out that my flight was cancelled by the airlines. Nobody notified me. Nobody knows why the cancellation happened. I was advised by my agent to purchase another ticket, and that I will be reimbursed the whole amount since the cancellation appeared from the airlines’ fault. Well, it’s now September 10 and I still didn’t receive any answer after calling, e-mailing, sending letters (certified mail, with returned receipts - I know they received them). I am in touch with Cheaptickets agents trying to get in touch with Air India refund department and get my money back.
Can you tell me HOW to get in touch with them? I would greatly appreciate.
Thanks! And good luck to you!
We all to gether has to raise this concern to AI authorities. And should file a complaint. If we dont take this up and proceed further. We may see this happen to many folks. They are paid to give better service. Will AI official will donate 1 month pay check of theirs. Every one is working for money. why the hell they cannot understand. Shall we take this to court. I will be in the first line of the Q to take this
Your Manager-Midwest has not gotten back to me.
You might want to see the mounting list of complaints about Air India at my website:
http://internettime.com/?p=843
————-
On 8/30/07, Air India chicago wrote:
Hello,
The matter is referred to the Manager-Midwest. She is out of station and will get back to you
next week.
Hi,
I had a similar issue with my recent trip and mis-guided itinerary by the Chennai air India reservation manager.
With that I have written and emailed couple of times to Air India customer service and have not heard anything back from them. See below the details:
I, Lalitha Subramanian traveled with my son AnishArvind Sambasivam, a infant by Air India from Chennai to Newark on the 28th of August 2007. Our tickets were booked in March 2007 at USA. The original ticket issued for return flight on the 28th August 2007 was by AI 641 Chennai to Mumbai with a connection to AI 111 from Mumbai to JFK, NY, USA. The Flight timings given for AI 641 was 12.30am on 28th August 2007 with the connecting flight AI 111 departing at 7.20am on 28th August from Mumbai.
I called up Air India reservations to reconfirm my flight 72hours before on Saturday 25th August 2007. I was given my seat number. No information was provided to me about the change in my flight timing of AI 641 departing from Chennai to Mumbai. When I checked the flight timings on 27th morning, I was shocked to see that AI 641 was scheduled to depart at 3.45am on the 28th August 2007. When I called the reservation number, after being on hold on STD line for half an hour, I was simply told there was a misconnection as the flight timings had been rescheduled. I rushed to the Airport office and spoke with Mr. Muralidharan, Traffic Control officer on duty and informed him that I was traveling with a sick baby. Without giving any information he just rebooked me on an earlier flight by Indian Airlines (departing Chennai at 8.40pm) having to wait for a longer time at Mumbai. I requested that in case of rebooking if I could get a direct flight from Mumbai to Newark (AI191). He booked me on the AI 191 with a waiting list. Further he spoke to Mr. Muralidharan, reservation manager about booking me on the AI 191. He gave me the numbers to contact the reservation manager Mr. Muralidharan by 2.30pm to confirm my status on the AI 191.
I contacted the reservations office for Mr. Muralidharan at 2.30pm on the 27th August 2007. I was informed that he had left the office for a personal emergency. After I asked to be connected to the person who took over as the officer, I was connected to the office of Mr. Sachidanatham, the officer on duty. Mr. Carol on behalf of Sachidanatham spoke to me and confirmed that I could go to the Airport for the AI 191. I called the reservations automated to cross check my confirmation. They still had it as waiting list. At 3pm, there was no more my booking for Indian Airlines flight to Mumbai, but only as a waiting list for AI 191. I called up Mr. Carol again at 3.15pm to find out the details. He again confirmed that the confirmation for my AI 191 booking came from Mr. Sachidanatham and that they had spoken to a Mr. Raja (Traffic officer on duty) about it. I was informed that since it was an internal request it would not show up on the general system, but yes I could take the AI 641 and AI 191 with confirmation.
With the above mentioned confirmations, I reached Chennai Airport at 11pm on 27th August 2007, just to be safe. When I spoke to Mr. Raja the Traffic officer on duty, he says that nothing could be done as the AI 191 was overbooked and there was no way I could take the flight. I informed him of my conversations earlier with Mr. Muralidharan, Traffic officer and Mr. Carol from Mr. Sachidanatham’s office at the reservation center. He said that nothing could be done and I could go and speak to the Reservation Manager (Egmore, Chennai) office the next day. Or I could go ahead and file a complaint where I did my booking. Further to my request, he obtained information from their system that someone had tried to contact me at 7.47pm from the reservations office about the situation. I had received no such call during the time at the mentioned phone number. Even if they had called it was too late for me to report for the 8.40pm flight to Mumbai. I do not know what they had in mind.
Due to my persistence as to traveling with a sick baby, and the need to get to the States on the said day, Mr. Raja and his team informed me that the flight from Mumbai to Chicago was delayed and hence there was a seat available and they could get me on a connecting flight to Newark from Chicago the same day. I consented as that was the only way out for me, though it would be a longer route and having to clear customs at Chicago and transfer luggage to the connecting flight by self. Upon arriving at Mumbai, I again checked with the Mumbai reservations if they had any availability on the AI 191. They informed me none was available and the flight was already boarding and nearing closing.
AI 125 (flight from Mumbai to Chicago) was further delayed by more than 2hrs (departed only by 11am) and hence arrived at London with delay. At London they informed that connecting flight rearrangements could only be made at Chicago. At Chicago, there was only about less than 45mins for my connecting flight and I had already one baggage missing. The reservation people at the desk could only say that I had to contact Air India at Newark for missing baggage and as my baggage was booked through from Chennai to Newark, I could drop the rest of the baggage at the American Airlines (connecting flight AA1914) counter and it would be picked up for the flight. I did see it being put on the ramp of American Airlines counter by an Air India employee. I had to rush to a different terminal for the connecting flight.
Upon arrival at Newark, the rest of my baggage (2bags) was missing. I had to file a complaint with American Airlines. There were no personnel at the Air India terminal of arrival at Newark Airport to file a complaint. After two days of constantly checking on my baggage, my parents had to find out from Chennai that the baggage missing at Chicago was at the Air India Newark office, but no one had tried to contact me. I at last received my baggage on the 31st of August 2007 evening and the baggage from Air India office was drenched (everything inside was wet), one bag badly damaged.
I hereby demand compensation for the trouble I have undergone by making an extra long trip due to the firstly the misconnection and not being informed about it, and then the misinformation by your reservation office at Chennai and the agony suffered in reaching my destination with a sick infant.
Thanks
Lalitha
Air India refused to allow my father who is wheelchair bound onto their plane, even though we stated his disability upon booking the tickets with them. They informed us that he’ll fly the next day. The next day came and went and the same situation occurred, they refused him again. My father flew out 2 days later from London Heathrow to Delhi the Ahmedabad. Although wheelchairs were requested at both Airports, no wheelchairs were given despite repeated requests. It caused so much inconvenience and increased costs not to mention shere anger. Air India staff just ignored our pleas. I am Indian and I was disgusted at their behaviour and rudeness considering we are brought up to respect our elders.
I have called Air India to no avail as nobody answers the phone or emails. Can you help with any London contacts?
I am also extremely upset with air india service. I have sent my ticket for endoresement at NY office as I had an open ticket, but had some problem eith reservation. I have sort that problem out and I am supposed to inform it to NY office.. But how the hell should I inform them? For that I should able to get in touch with them. No one picks up the phone. And even if sometimes they pick up the phone they put it again on hold and then the phone gets disconnected. What am I supposed to do?
email to mail@airindiausa.com, chi@airindiausa.com
Octorber 19, 2007
Mrs. S. M. Mundel
Manager-Midwest
Air India
33 North Deaborn Street
Suite 2425
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Dear Mrs Mundel,
Six months ago, I wrote Air India demanding a refund for services I paid for that you did not provide.
On July 1, I emailed Mrs. R. Adsul, CM-Traffic Services, Air India Limited, Mumbai, who assured me “We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you when you last travelled on Air India. We are having the matter investigated and shall revert on conclusion.”
Six weeks later, S. Ganesan, Traffic Services Division, emailed me, saying “Mr. Cross, we value your custom and feel privileged that you chose Air India. We request you to consider this as a one-time aberration and look
forward to your continued support. Should you need further assistance please do get in touch with us.”
On July 19, you, Mrs Mundel, requested my phone number, saying you would call. When I emailed you at Air India on August 7, someone called me almost immediately, saying they thought they had called me before. (No, no calls; I have an answering machine for when I’m not by the phone.)
On August 30, Air India (Arcsana) emailed me, “The matter is referred to the Manager-Midwest. She is out of station and will get back to you next week.” On September 17, I emailed Air India, “Your Manager-Midwest has not gotten back to me.”
That is the last I had heard from Air India.
Unless I hear from you by close of business Monday October 22, I will send you this letter by certified mail to establish legal notice that you have been informed. I am angry that Air India representatives have lied to me. This incident is not going to go away.
Namaste.
Jay Cross
jaycross@internettime.com
1. 510.528.3105
P.S.
There is a record of these events, and similar complaints from others, on the web at http://internettime.com/2007/04/23/an-email-of-complaint-sent-to-air-india/
My mom si flying back from AHmedabad to Newark via Paris and Bombay, she received a call from Air INdia that the flight from Bombay is delayed by approximately 10 hours, but when she reached Bombay, the flight was delayed by an additional 3 hours. She was supposed to land in Newark at 4 or 5 Pm on 10/21/2007, but she will hopefully land at 1:40 AM on 10/22/2007. When I called their 1-800-223-7776 number, they said that she may be compensated by Air India. I don’t believe a word they say from all these emails that I have read on this web site. They do not even have an email address of where we can send complaints. They should be out of business, NEVER fly AIR INDIA. In the last four times, onlyh once I had an OK experience, I don’t know why we take this abuse by Air INdia. We Indians have a great tolerance for torture.
This email just arrived from Air India:
AI/CHI/10/2006/27
October 22, 2007
Dear Mr. Cross,
Please refer to your e-mail dated Oct 20, ’07.
We do acknowledge that you have been in correspondence with our Headquarter in Mumbai, and with our office in Chicago since July ’07.
You will also recall that Archana of our office has periodically updated you with the status of the matter. Your last email dated Aug. 29 ’07 was in fact, in response to a message which she had left in your voice mail.
The undersigned was out of station for four weeks and hence this delayed response.
As has been explained by Archana, the sector fare of USD 840.93 which had been paid by you for travel or AA 177 of 21 April ’07 from JFK to San Francisco was a special economy class fare, which entitled you to an upgrade when traveling on AA.
Regrettably on your arrival into JFK on 21st April ‘ 07, since you misconnected the AA flight, and were rebooked on DL, the latter accepted you for travel in economy class as per the fare basis which was indicated on your ticket and which was reflected in the Flight Interruption Manifest (FIM) issued in your favor by our JFK office.
Our Accounts Headquarters have also confirmed that M/S Delta Airlines has billed us for USD 840.93, and this interline billing has been settled as per normal procedures.
As can be seen from the above, Air-India does not presently hold any excess fare.
However, as your misconnection was caused by late delivery of your baggage at JFK, and to retain your goodwill, we are forwarding our check no. 018190 dated 22 Oct ‘ 07 for USD 606.93 representing the difference between the sector fare indicated on your ticket and the economy class advance purchase fare which was then applicable.
Kindly let us have your postal address to which our check may be sent.
We sincerely regret the long time this case has taken in its resolution and trust that you will give us another opportunity to welcome you on board again.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. S. M. Mundul
Manger Midwest
Six months ago I requested a refund from Air India because they stuck me with a coach seat on Delta on a flight for which I had purchased a first class ticket. Today they offered to settle for $606, and I’m going to take the money.
If you’ve read this thread, you would note that “The undersigned was out of station for four weeks and hence this delayed response” does not explain why this letter came seven weeks later and only after I got in touch with AirIndia once again.
My last “update” from Archana was that the matter was being referred to the Manager Midwest; this was after I refused to accept a “gift” of $121.
The comments to my post show Air India’s negligent customer service.
The email address that the letter came from is
Case closed.
FROM
Dr.Naveen Kumar Sarakanti
email-drnaveenkumars@yahoo.com
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Dear sir/madam
i have a confirmed ticket from EWR,Newark to MUM, Mumbai for the flight AI 144 on 09-07-07.I was supposed to attend an important meeting in India on the 11th of July 2007.i was denied boarding due to overbooking of tickets and was removed to holiday inn hotel to wait for a day. The hotel room that was provided by the air lines is not impressive. I was told on the 9th of July 2007 that i would be provided business class ticket for flight on the following day, which was not done, when i was boarded on 10th of July. Air India personnel in Newark airport issued me a letter to mail it to the air India office in Newark for compensation. Here I am enclosing scanned copies of the letter, ticket and my passport. I also want to bring to your notice that the safety of the main baggage was not ensured and few my valuable things were stolen from main baggage. Hoping you would oblige and kindly do the needful
Yours truly,
DR.NAVEEN KUMAR SARAKANTI
enclosed documents
1. Ticket
2. Passport copy
3. Letter given by air India personnel at the airport
Ah !! Air India! What can I say! NOTHING GOOD THOUGH.
DO NOT TRAVEL AIR INDIA EVEN IF THEY HAPPEN TO BE THE ONLY AIRLINE AVAILABLE.
AIR INDIA SHOULD BE PRIVATIZED. THE EMPLOYEES BEHAVE LIKE THEY OWN THE DAMN AIRLINE.
THEY NEED TO LEARN TO SERVE THE CUSTOMER AND UNDERSTAND THAT “CUSTOMERS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT”.
THEY SHOULD NOT BE IN BUSINESS..I AM NOT SURE WHY PEOPLE ARE STILL FLYING AI.
WHEN I WAS A STUDENT I TRAVELLED TO MADRAS FROM THE USA BY AI..NOTHING BUT A HEADACHE..
I TRAVELLED WITH MY CAUCASIAN BRIDE..THEY TREATED US LIKE DIRT..THEY ACTUALLY YELLED AT ME WHEN I WAS MAKING A REQUEST.
I HAVE VOWED NEVER AGAIN TO TRAVEL BY AI..AIR FRANCE, LUFTHANSA, MALAYSIAN AND SINGAPORE AIRLINES ARE GOOD.
I HAVE HEARD GOOD THINGS ABOUT JET AIRWAYS BUT HAVE NOT HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO FLY WITH THEM…
NEVER FLY AIR INDIA..IF ALL OF TAKE A STAND THEY WILL CRUMBLE.
I’d like to share my experience with Air India, the worst travel experience ever. This is one of many letters I have sent to Air India, though I never seem to here anything back and I don’t know what recourse options I have, since Air India is not a US-Based Company
October 4, 2007
Dear Air India Board of Directors:
I am writing in regards to my experience with Air India and staff on September 24, 2007 at both the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and at the Air India Paris Corporate Office in Paris, France. During the course of September 24, 2007, I experienced frustration, disappointment, anxiety, discrimination and prejudice, and emotional and physical pain and suffering, all as a result of my experience with Air India.
I booked my Air India ticket on August 23, 2007, before leaving for Europe for work and vacation. I specified my physical address in Tours, France for ticket delivery, though these paper tickets were never delivered as specified, though I received a confirmation email from Air India indicating my order and delivery address had been successfully recorded.
I cannot express my frustration and anger today waking up at three in the morning, driving four hours to the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, only to find out I could not board my flight with Air India nor could Air India produce my Air India tickets for boarding, thus I was denied boarding on a time-sensitive flight to Delhi, India. The Air India representative in the airport embarrassed me and was extremely rude and degrading in front of other staff and customers, as she explained to me that it was my fault that I was going to miss my flight and just because I was an American that I wasn’t entitled to just get on a plane and fly whenever I wanted. In addition, the Air India representative assumed I did not understand or speak French, and then she continued to speak in French to the other airline employee’s in front of me, speaking in French as to evade my knowledge. The most offensive comment I overheard her state in French was, “This American is as dumb as Bush. Maybe he should have thought to bring his ticket to the airport for boarding. This isn’t our problem, don’t worry about it”, she said to a few members of the Air India and Air France congregated nearby. There was laughter that followed among the employees around her and then she walked away without directing me on how to rectify the situation at hand.
Another close by Air India representative directed me to the other end of the airport to speak with the Air India customer service office, which I found out did not exist, but only after several hours of walking back and forth between airport terminals. I was finally told that I needed to travel one-hour by train to the Air India Corporate Office in Paris, at my own round-trip expense of 16.40 Euros. This was extremely stressful and inconvenient, both physically and mentally,
Upon arrival at the Air India Paris Office I was told that there was an error with Air India not sending my paper tickets to my specified address, “a glitch in the system.” I was offered no apology or further explanation. After waiting in a chair for about one-hour, the Air India Paris staff told me it was time for their lunch break and asked me to visit again in the afternoon, at that point they may be able to assist me further. At this point, my shoulder and back were sore from carrying around my baggage all day, so I politely asked if I could leave my luggage in their office until after their lunch break. I was told that I and my luggage posed a security risk and that I needed to leave the building until after the lunch hour break. I was sent into Paris, a city that I was completely unfamiliar with, for over an hour. I spent the majority of this time sitting on the steps of the Air India Office, experiencing a partial emotional breakdown, caused by the humiliation, and physical and emotional stress of the preceding events.
Following the lunch break, I waited for approximately another hour and then was handed a ticket for the next day with no further explanation or apology. I asked where I was supposed to stay for the night and my question was brushed aside, though I was eventually told they may be able to set-up a hotel for me, but I would have to pay for it. After another hour, Guy Attia came out from his office and asked if I would be willing to pay 100 Euros for a hotel he could set-up. At this point, I was completely stressed, humiliated and experiencing emotional trauma, so I agreed, barely able to hold back my tears and continued frustration. After one of the office ladies realized he was trying to pass the buck and pull a fast one on me, this administrative worker went into his office and loudly challenged him for a few minutes, creating an uncomfortable silence among the other guests and coworkers.
After some additional times, Mr. Attia reappeared and sheepishly said something to the effect of “It seems this might not have been entirely your fault, so we are going to make an exception and pay for your hotel, though we are not going to pay for your food, that’s your problem.” Elated at the slightest hint of real customer service, as opposed to a day full of discrimination, harassment, and emotional pain and suffering caused by the Air India staff, I asked, “How will I get to the hotel?” Mr. Attia replied, “That’s at your expense, take the subway or catch a bus”, before walking back to his office without further discussion or comments.
After several more hours of subway connections and settling into my hotel, I contacted my corporate lawyer in the United States of America and explained the situation. He suggested I ask Air India to reimburse all of the expenses as a result of my missed flight: telephone & email expenses to rearrange plans in India, non-refundable hotel reservations in Delhi, India for that night, food expenses for Paris that day, transportation expenses from the airport to the Air India office in downtown Paris.
After a couple weeks, I received a message from Guy Attia’s Administrative Assistant stating Air India would fulfill my reimbursement requests, except for a few of the items. I was told to supply documents and receipts for the above expenses, which I did via PDF. E-mail attachments of actual scanned receipts and credit card statements. After an additional weeks time, I received an email back from Guy Attia’s Administrative Assistant stating that these documents could not be used and that I needed to mail in these documents due to “Air India rules and regulations.”
Due to the further emotional stress and pain and suffering caused by Air India, I decided I needed to leave India earlier then my return ticket, to distress and relax, which I notified Guy Attia and his administrative assistant of. I received an email reply that they would be more than happy to assist me and that all I needed to do was visit the Air India office at the International Airport to pick up my new ticket and pay an additional 100 Euro change fee.
Upon arrival at the Delhi International Airport, I found myself in an all too familiar situation, once again directed to the downtown office of Air India in a city that I had never visited. After spending 40 Euro round-trip from the Delhi Airport to the Delhi Air India City Office with a taxi driver that refused to provide a receipt, I find myself with additional expenses and stress caused by Air India. It is extremely safe to say this will be my last Air India flight ever and that I will do everything in my power to discourage friends, family, and co-workers to purchase airline tickets with Air India; unless you, the Air India Board of Directors make an extraordinary effort to amend this situation immediately.
In addition, after returning to the United States of America, my lawyer and I plan on researching all legal and formal options to recover monies my expenses caused by Air India, along with monetary damages for emotional and physical pain and suffering, along with compensation for the harassment and prejudice that was applied toward me at Charles De Gaulle Airport by Air India Staff. I have been able to procure a witness in line behind me, who can verify my above assertions of discrimination and harassment at the airport, so rest assured these are not idle promises.
If Air India makes extraordinary efforts to resolve this situation on their own accord, I may consider settling this matter informally.
I anticipate your response, though if past trends of your organization are indicative of future responses, I am not expecting any sort of accountability from Air India. It is my goal to make this the most financially and reputation damaging customer service blunder Air India has ever made…if this situation is not resolved immediately.
Most Sincerely,
Matthew C. McKinney
I was getting nowhere with Air India until I emailed them, writing,
“Unless I hear from you by close of business Monday October 22, I will send you this letter by certified mail to establish legal notice that you have been informed. I am angry that Air India representatives have lied to me. This incident is not going to go away.”
Maybe someone should send this thread to a travel reporter at Travel & Leisure or some other magazine.
jay
I had the same problem with air india. They lost my baggage when I was coming from Dhaka to London. I had many expensive clothings and stuffs in my laptop which I kept in my bag, as I didnt want to take any hand luggage ; if only i knew this was going to happen. this is the first time its happened to me. I applied for a compensation demanding 800 pounds. I provided them with the reciepts of my laptop and everything. Today, they tell me that they will send me 146.60 pounds. I was furious. I am surely not going to let this matter slip. I called the help desk again, and they said that after I recieve the cheque, send it back saying it isnt enough. I am a student, and all this is a lot of hassle for me. I am not travelling with Air India again !!!
my parents left from newark to Ahmedabad and i found out flight was delayed and online i checked the status for the flight and it was sawing calcelled, i tried to Air india customer service to make sure all line saws busy and no one is answering this is the most rediculous and frustrating situation i am experiencing and we all should do something to teach some kind of lesson to these bastards
To,
Air-India Dubai,
12th December 2007.
Several inconveniences’ faced aboard Flight AI 716 from Dubai to Mumbai On 9th Dec 2007
I’d like to bring to your notice the several issues faced during the aforesaid flight.
Myself Alefia PremNawaz holding passport number F9995894 had made a confirmed reservation to fly to Mumbai from Dubai in the Air-India flight AI 716 on the 9th of December 2007.
Honestly there is a long list of grieviences that i would to enlighten you in details , but i’m going to cut to the chase and enlist them in simple point format.
1)Anticipating a comfortable and quick journey to Mumbai i decided to utilise the early check-in facilty and reported to the airport at 8.30 am to check in my baggage. There too i was made to wait for almost an hour, citing the reason for delay ” that the flight has not opened as yet.” Then my mobile number was noted after i completed my baggage check-in.
2) As per the airline rules i arrived at the airport 2 hours before commencing my journey i.e i arrived at 3.00pm for the 5.00 pm AI716 flight. On arrival, to my astonishment,i discovered that the flight which was initially supposed to fly directly to mumbai was now going to stop over at New Delhi, the reason for which was not disclosed.On asking the manager on duty i was told ” Mam you can do whatever you want but now there is nothing we can do.”
3)Helpless with a four year old in tow i proceeded to the mentioned Gate and waited to board the flight. The Flight which was supposed to take-off at 5.00pm apparently arrived in Dubai at 5.00 pm and we(the passengers) were led on to board the flight at 6.30 pm.
4) The flight which arrived late, boarded the passengers later, were made to wait for an additional hour in the stagnant plane.
5)No authorised personnel found it important to inform us the reason for delay.
6)When finally the flight blacked out and being saturated with the discomforts, i asked the flight attendant to enlighten us with atleast some kind of information as to what was going on , an air-hostess very rudely approached me saying ” MAM BE QUIET AND SIT DOWN OR ELSE I SHALL HAVE TO OFF-LOAD YOU.”
7)Then after take-off we were informed that there shall be a one hour stopover in New Delhi, which was in reality extended upto two hours.
8)I’d like to also mention that inspite of taking my mobile number during my early check-in, i was one of the many passengers who was not informed by any means regarding the newly added stop over in New Delhi.
You can check my records, but i have usually flown to Mumbai using other renowned airlines and have never faced such kind of trauma and ill-treatment. First of all it is highly irresponsible to not inform the passengers the details about their flight journey inspite of having planned it a day in advance.My aim is to save any other passenger from having to face such an unpleasant journey full of misery and truma while flying in future especially when they are accompanied by very young children.
Unbelieveable disrespect and misbehaviour faced on this Air India flight 716 on 9th Dec 2007 is not only worth mentioning to family and friends but to the entire world by whichever means whatsoever.
I shall be awaiting acknowledgement from your end regarding this matter as soon as possible mentioning your course of action for the same.
I maybe the only passenger to address this issue however if you may require a second or third to my opinion i shall arrange for the same.Your help will be appreciated.
The extreme ill-treatment, high discomfort and overall abyssmal services encountered on Air India flight 716 from Dubai to Mumbai on 9th dec 2007 shall never be forgotten.
Yours Faithfully,
Alefia Premnawaz.
Contact details : 9869922221, alefiaprem@gmail.com
This is a crap official airline - suitable only for those who want to carry large luggage at cheap price.If you are interested in a better Indian carrier try Jet Airways - a privately owned Indian airlines - they dont delay and have professional staff.
Air India Air hostesses are like teachers minding a classroom and expect them to ask you to take food items directly from the storage.
Most TV Screens on the aircraft will not work.
I booked 2 Economy class tickets to Mumbai from Dubai on 17th Dec 2007 in Air India 716 departure timing being 5PM. my wife was pregnant. We reached the airport counter well in advance and I could see a huge queue in the counter even though there was 5 counters. Before the flying date I have reserved the seating through AI web site.
1.On reaching my turn I came to know that my seat
booking was invalid as they have changed the aircraft.
2.Secondly I was surpised to get the seating for me and
my wife which was in the aisle side front.
3.My wife being pregnant, we did not get any priority to
get in to the air carft in the boarding counter.
4.As we got in to the air craft, It was a real difficult
situation that it was very narrow and small seats which
myself and my wife faced very difficuly as we felt we
are tortured since it was difficult for her to sit with
bigbelly.
5.The flight supposed to take off at 5 pm took off at
7pm finally.
6.On board no body served initially water or juices. I
went personelly to the Air hostess and asked for water
and she was asking me i need a glass of water or a
bottle, Isaid i need a bottle.
7.I requested to provide dinner as my wife feeling
hungry since they did not come to serve on time, not to
say the quality of food being 3rd class.
8.Finally on reaching Mumbai at 11PM IST, the flight
was moving to one parking bay was said to move to
another bay which we took almost 1 hour to come out
from the flight.
9.Now i have decided that in my life if need to fly will
never or avoid using AI.
My flight from Mumbai to London was delayed by 48 hours. I was travelling back to London with my wife, two children and one infant baby (5 passengers in total).
In the course of time, there was minimal support and communication from the Air India personnel and that too was for the delay announcements. This was multiplied by the fact that there is no Air India counter in the waiting lounge, which happens to be beyond the security clearance from where the passengers are not allowed to return. At the end of the day one, after multiple assurances, we were told of the flight as a result of which, we had checked in the luggage and immigration was done. But at the very last moment we were told about the cancellation and immigration had to be undone.
In the course of time, no infant baby food was provided and we had to rely on the irregular supply of the milk till the middle of the flight. In the hotel, we were asked to pay for the milk. At the same time there was no baby changing facility available at the waiting lounge area.
My younger daughter (2.5 years) at that time was suffering from aggravated mouth ulcers but there was no liquids/drinks made available for her. We had to buy the bottled water and juice drinks on our own.
I’m pursuing this matter with them in accordance with article 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of EC261/2004 of European Parliament as the flight was eventually cancelled. Also, under the Article 19 of Montreal Convention for the losses incurred due to the delay.
People may find this article useful:
http://www.addleshawgoddard.com/view.asp?content_id=2320&parent_id=2317
I had success finally! I sent an eight page letter to Visa credit card company and they sided with me…a full refund on the ticket price! Hurray. Give it a try…
Missing Bag
I flew from Chicago to kochi-COK via Mumbai on Dec 25 2007. Air India flight was delayed more than 8 hours and we landed at Mumbai air port.
I lost one of my bags. AI person told me to file a complaint; I filed a complaint. After 3 weeks of search AI still can not find the bag. I checked at Chicago air port, the bag was loaded into the air craft on Dec 25, also verified the AI warehouse in Chicago. It looks the bag was lost between ORD and BOM.
There were 10 passengers like me who lost their bag. I feel sorry for a girl who lost both of her bags and she came India for 10 days vacation. Another girl she collected damaged bags, the bags were broken, most of the items were missing.
I understand there is a possibility in mishandling the bags, AI does not use scanning technology to identify the bags even though they are pasting bar codes in the bags.
Is there any justification that AI can loose passenger bags on a daily basis?
If a passenger attempts to make a complaint, why AI employees give hard time to the passengers; AI baggage person never give any update on missing bags status?
This is complain regarding the irresponsible and inappropriate service provided by air India.
Due to which I was stressed and felt harassed. And because of which I am about to file a case against air India.
My name is mohit rajan jaiswal.
My flight schedule was suppose to be
Del/kuala Lumpur /Melbourne
# Thursday = 31st Jan - departure time = 0030 flight no = AI 432 economy Delhi to Kuala Lumpur
# Thursday = 31st Jan - departure time = 0955 flight no = AI 6129 Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne
But every thing was not like as scheduled. I called air India on the night of departure from Delhi and i was informed that the flight is delayed by 20 min, on reaching air port I came to know it is at 1:50AM. Later at the time of boarding announcement was made that” that boarding is from gate no 11″ all the ticket holders were waiting for air India staff to come on the gate and start the boarding process. But till 2:00AM not even a single person of air India staff arrived on the gate no 11, and announcement was made continuously made that air India flight is about to leave so all the ticket holders were getting impatient. We all requested security person to let us go in and board the plane , but they didn’t responded in appropriate manner they all were blaming other staff. We all had a conversation with a senior security person even though nothing happened on the contrary they were threatening us for throwing us behind the bars. i told them to arrange something as I was about to miss my connecting flight to Melbourne from Kuala Lumpur. Later some senior person from airport started boarding for us, but still there was no sign on air India staff.
My seat no was 14 C and flight no on my boarding pass is AI432.
On reaching Kuala Lumpur I came to know that i have missed my connecting flight and air India staff
Kept me on stand by and I was told that my flight is at 09:35PM 31st Jan.
And was provided with hotel accommodation till 7:00 pm, one of the air India representative escorted me to the hotel and provided me with meal voucher. Later at 8:00PM I came to know that there is no seat on that flight. After this I was asked to wait till 9:35AM of 1st Jan that is after 12 hrs and was not provided with any accommodation. I tried my level best to contact air India but they all were of no use and I was forced to stay on port as I was not even allowed by immigration to leave the airport. i asked the staff on information desk to contact air India staff regarding this or provide me contact number of air India.
they raised there hands in case of contacting air India from there side but provided me the numbers and I tried to make contact with air India through those numbers ,but they all were not responding.
In morning I found an air India representative and had chat with him.
he started blaming the people on the Kuala Lumpur air port about the last night. and in unethical manner told me that hotel staff was suppose to contact him (there was no sign of apology) at 9:10AM of 1st Jan I got a ticket confirmed for the flight no
MH129 where boarding time was 9:25AM
And so I was not even able to have breakfast.
I requested air India representative to get my luggage on the flight and he confirmed me that he has done so.
Later on reaching to Melbourne I came to know that my luggage has not reached yet and still i am still waiting from last 24 hrs for my luggage to come and now this is heights of irresponsibility.
Now at last after getting sick of all these i am sending this mail and is claiming compensation for all this inconvenience caused by air India.
And if I don’t get any response from your side then will take legal action against this and will lodge case against air India.
At last I am again claiming for compensation of my suffering and losses.
Reply soon
Hi,
Has’nt anyone ever tried to lodge a complaint with “International Consumer Rights Protection Council (ICRPC)”
This site should help you all - “http://www.icrpc.org/icrpc.org.products.htm”
Thanks,
Vishnu V
The Manager air india. Dear sir, i travelled from soudi to bombay,bombay to cochin in air india dated 31.12.2007 flight no was.AI-690. SEAT NO.24B, BOARDING NO.124. When i arrived in kochi.my laggage was not there. i was coming back after Hajj.travell date 31.12.2007. sir please help me to get my laggage soon.THANK YOU SIR. AND GIVE AN INFORMATION SOON. MY PASSPORT NO.E3253571.
I booked for three seats with Air India to go to Mumbai India and come back. While the Flight going to India, Like always ( this has happened to me the second time, the first time being last year) one of my bag got lost. I had to go back after 2 days to the airport to get it back. This was nothing compared to the ordeal I was about to go through. i had originally booked my and my families tickets to come back to the US on the 8th Feb. Due to some business reasons I had to change it to the 24th Feb 2008. I went to the airport in India to visit the Air India office and get this changed. after taking a solid hour the folks claimed to have gotten me all set. I got an e-ticket from Air india for my travel. My route was Mumbai - NY(JFK) - LAX. with the NY - LAX leg being operated by American airlines.
Come 24th, we boarded the plane and arrived in JFK as planned. This was a 16 hr non stop flight and quite exhausting. After going through the Immigration and customs we went on to check our luggage in. This went quite smooth and we arrived at the American airlines terminal. On arriving at the desk to take our boarding cards, I was told that there was some problem in the reservation, and the AA personnel could see my reservation but could not get into the ticket to print the boarding card. This was not the case for my wife and kid and their boarding card was printed fine. After the AA person trying a couple of different ways, tried to call the Air india office in Mumbai. Eventually when she went through, the person on the other end was able to see the reservation too and they went on trouble shooting this for an hour. eventually I got to talk to the air India person in Mumbai and what he told me was unbelievable. He told me that there was nothing he could do and asked me to wait till the evening to talk to the Air India person in New York would arrive and ‘probably’ this person would help me out.
I was amazed at the ease in which this was told to me. As there was nothing anyone could do at this time, I had to go back to the Air India gate with my hand luggage and wait at their counter for someone from air india to arrive. I was Hungry, Tired and confused by this ordeal. The AA representative was nice enough to write down the problem my reservation had on the back of my e-ticket. Here is what she wrote :
TKT 0984100084535. When checking in, Error Message is “No VCR Found ISSUE TKT OR COLLECT TKT & USE TKT EDIT”
WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCESS TKT, MESSAGE IS ” SYSTEM UNABLE TO PROCESS” Called MUMBAI office, per mumbai office PAX are to be confirmed and ticketed on AA 21 @ 7 PM. PAX should be compensated ie. Meal voucher, Day hotel, ETAL JFK - AA - ATO. Spoke to Farshad in Mumbai.
Although a lot of this did not make sence to me, I was to use this to explain the Air india person in JFK to get me home.
after waiting for 5 + hrs after my flight arrived at JFK, I could finally talk to someone with Air India about this. I was approached by a rather rude person, who challenged my issue and tried to muscle me into believing that this had nothing to do with Air India and that it was a AA problem. On my being pursuant and showing what was written by the AA representative. i was asked to talk to another person. after explaining the whole ordeal, to this new person. She started on the same lines - this is not an air india issue, its AA who has the problem. On insisting that she talk to a AA person to find out what was going on, she finally obliged ( probably feeling pity at the state of me, my wife and my 4 yr old). after talking to someone in AA, she still maintained that it was not Air india but AA who was at fault.
after a lot of persuasion, she finally gave me some kind of a manual over ride ticket - ( a paper authorizing me to get a ticket to be issued ) which on taking to AA was able to fetch me the ever so elusive boarding card. This was by far the worst experience I have had with Air India and am planning to take legal action so that this does not happen to any other passengers.
I am so upset to read these comments from unhappy clients. My daughter and I are booked on an AI flight to Paris next week and I can not even contact AI for a PNR #. in order to choose a seat. I have explained that I have physical needs but noone has contacted me to help. I am afraid Air India is not the airline I will use fior my future travels.
I have just travelled to and from Ahmedabad via Air India, but never again with Air India. I have never experienced such poor service on international flight. The food was diabolical and even worse was the service provided by the crew. I don’t know where Air India finds staff like this. None of the staff were of Indian origin. They all lacked a sence of pride for working and serving Indian people. We were served only 1 meal during the whole 9+ hour flight. The snacks were provided but rubish was not collected. The drinks were only provided once during the flight, not only that, we were refused a bottle of water when asked.
The aircraft was very old and tatty. The pilot gave no information as to how long, how high, how fast, or the route on which we were traveling.
I have been trying for hours to get a reply from the London office so that I can choose my seat. They only allow you to choose your seat coming from India so what are London passengers to do?
AIR INDIA Date: January 26, 2008
CANADA
Re: COMPLAINT – Flight AI 188 Dec 24/2007
Dear Sir/Madam,
My travel agent booked my trip to India for the first time, through Air India. I was supposed to fly out from Toronto on December 23/2007 at 23:30 on flight AI 188. This then got changed to December 24/2007 at 09:15. When I arrived at the Airport in Toronto, this flight had been changed to around 11:00. Then this flight got changed to around 12:30. Please note that from all the departure flights showing on the display at the airport, flight AI 188 was the only one that was delayed. We kept hearing an announcement that “We will start boarding as soon as the crew arrives” I was totally shocked that the crew was not there yet when the flight was supposed to leave at 09:15.
Anyway, the Air India employee behind the counter at the checking-in, refused to give me my boarding passes for the flight from Amritsar to Delhi and from Delhi to Mumbai. She insisted that I was supposed to get the boarding pass in Amritsar. When I was flying back from Mumbai to Toronto on Jan 13/08, I was given all 3 boarding passes at Mumbai Airport.
When I got to Amritsar, the staff sent me from one person to another several times and no one seem to know what was going on. Then I was told that there were no flights to Delhi and the only choice I had was go by bus to Delhi. There were another 11 people besides me in this same situation. The bus trip took roughly 8-10 hours. Just to let you know, clearly and precisely, this was the main source of pain and suffering that I had to bear.
At the Delhi airport, again no one seem to know what was going on and we (the group of 12) were sent from one terminal to another and then back before we finally got on a flight to Mumbai. The whole group of 12 who went through this suffering, exchanged, e-mail addresses, phone #’s and addresses in order to pursue this matter as a group if necessary.
I am attaching a copy of my ticket which clearly indicates that I paid for travel by AIR from Toronto to Mumbai and no part of this trip was supposed to be by ROAD.
I am requesting a reply from Air India regarding a compensation for the “Pain and Suffering” I was put through, within 14 days or before February 15/2008. If I do not get a response within that period, I will definitely go forward with filing a civil lawsuit against Air India.
The following is the reply I got and it sucks.
YYZ/COMPL/AI/MAR/08/273 WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Dear Mr Kanani,
This has reference to our earlier mail of Feb29, 2008 on above subject. At the outset we sincerely regret any inconvenience you may have suffered due to the rescheduling of your flight AI188/24Dec, 2007 from Toronto to Delhi. We regret the delay in responding to you as we have experienced backlogs due to a high volume of correspondence.
We like all airlines endeavour to ensure schedules are maintained but sometimes due to reasons beyond our control flights can get delayed and/or rescheduled. On most occasions it is due to technical reasons and/or bad weather. In both these cases passenger safety is of utmost priority and due care is taken for the safety of the aircraft and its crew. When such technical difficulties arise, it is not always possible to predict the extent of the delay.
You will appreciate that in an industry such as ours there may be occasions when flights could be delayed, rescheduled or withdrawn and these are unavoidable. In this connection, we would like to invite your kind attention to Clause 9 of the Conditions of Contract,an excerpt of which is printed on the inside of the ticket jacket which states as follows:
“Carrier undertakes to use its best effort to carry the passenger and baggage within reasonable dispatch. Times shown in timetables or elsewhere are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract. Carrier may without notice substitute alternate carriers or aircraft and may alter or omit stopping places shown on the ticket, in case of necessity. Schedules are subject to change without notice. Carrier assumes no responsibility for making connections.”
Our investigations reveal that :
1) At Toronto, you will appreciate that as part of our constant efforts to enhance customer satisfaction, in cases of delays, rescheduling or cancellation, all passengers are contacted and provided with the most up to date information. Our records indicate that our office had contacted your travel agent and had informed them of the rescheduling of the flight, before the commencement of your journey.Due to bad weather (fog) during the winter season in India, specially poor visibility over Amritsar and Delhi airports, all Canada/India/Canada flights were rescheduled for the whole period of December,07 and January,08 so as to arrive/depart Amritsar in the afternoon time when there is no problem of poor visibility (fog).
2) On Dec24,07, AI188 departed Toronto at 12:20p.m. instead of 09:15a.m. due to operational reasons. All passengers were offered breakfast vouchers at Toronto airport.
3) At Amritsar, AI188/Dec24,07 had arrived late in the afternoon of Dec25,07,when there was no Air India or any other Airline connection available from Amritsar The first available connection to Delhi was IC882 on Dec26,07. All 30 passengers with onward connections were offered hotel accommodation at Amritsar and connection to Delhi on IC882/Dec26,07 (next day). Only 13 passengers refused to go to hotel and wished to go by surface transport to Delhi airport while others opted to go to the hotel offered by Air India. A bus was arranged from the authorized transporter M/S Nishat and Malwa Bus service with a capacity of 35 to 40 seats to transport them to Delhi.
You will kindly agree with us that there is no VOLVO bus service at Amritsar. The degree of temperature, condition of bumpy roads and the time taken by the bus are beyond human control. Kindly note that during winter season specially during the period of fog, all local drivers are instructed to be more careful while driving on roads specially at night to avoid accidents. The poor visibility and the adverse road condition had forced the driver to drive cautiously and this might have caused additional delay in reaching Delhi.
4) At Delhi airport, when you had contacted the airport personnel, your onward flight to Mumbai was arranged.
In this regard we regret that we are unable to accept liability for compensation,refund, damages, inconvenience, stress, or consequential losses, arising from this delayed flight but, would be pleased to confirm the same to your travel insurance company, if desired by you.
We trust this clarifies Air-India’s standing on the matter and we trust that you will view your past experience in isolation.
Lastly, we would like to thank you for your patronage to choosing Air India and we look forward to welcoming you on board Air India again in the near future.
Sincerely,
Kumar K. Saha
Airport Manager
Toronto
:May 7, 2008
Refund of Air ticket Cost
Ticket No. 0987192081895-896 Arakkal/Antony Air India Flight 144 Newark (EWR)
to Bombay dated April 8, 2008.
0987192081897-898 Arakkal/Bridget
In the worst case, I want to sue Air India and the Travel Agent. If there are many other travelers like me, I want to file a class action law suite. I bought two tickets on April 1, 2008 from
World Travel Agency 1-800-343-0038
Travel Agent Hormal Patel
1-800-343-0038 Ext 132 Hormal Patel.
On April 2, 2008 due to a medical emergency, I told the travel agency to cancel the tickets and refund the money. The travel agent wanted the medical certificate. I faxed the medical certificate. He informed me that he submitted the medical certificate to Air India and Air India would refund the full cost of the tickets due to the medical emergency. I called Air India office at New York. They told me that there would be a cancellation fee of $200 per ticket. They will waive the cancellation fee for medical reasons. On April 16, 2008, I talked to Mr. Sanjay Gupta of Air India. He told me that he did not receive the medical certificate from the travel agent. He made a conference call to Mr. Hormal Patel, the travel agent of World Wide Travel Agency. The travel agent did not submit the medical certificate to Air India. On April 29, 2008 Ms. Usha Chand of World Wide Travel send me an e-mail stating that Mr. Sanjay Gupta told her that he would not refund the cost of the ticket.
I made many calls to Mr. Sanjay Gupta of Air India. His voice mailbox was full. I cannot reach him.
The travel agent promised to refund money. He blamed Air India for the delay. Air India informed me that the travel agent had not sent the refund request. Travel agent promised that he would refund the money. However, he has not refunded the money.
Purchased the ticket on April 1, 2008. ( Proof E ticket dated April 1, 2008.) Cancelled the tickets on April 2, 2008. Travel agent wanted the medical certificate. On April 3, 2008, Dr. Wesley D. Thompson gave me the medical certificate. I faxed the medical certificate to the travel agent on April 3, 2008.
On April 4, 2008, the travel agent acknowledged the receipt of my fax dated April 3, 2008. I am quoting from the e-mail Refund of $ 2773.96 charged to my account by world Wide Travel, “Based on the fax they waive the above fees.”
I want to know is there any written policy related to the refund of the Air ticket. Is there any way I can collect the cost of the ticket with out a lawsuit.
Antony L Arakkal
RR3 Box 611E
Fairfield, Illinois 62837
Info@arakkalinc.com
618-847-5217
618-847-4403
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