Treating Customers Fairly!
In the motor trade, or at least here at Luscombe’s, we really do take ‘treating customers fairly’ very seriously – however, a recent experience I have had with a major airline certainly wasn’t fair.
Here is what happened - I booked flights to and from Milan, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to go with a friend by road, and fly back. When others in the group checked in at Manchester Airport for the outward flight, they informed the airline of the situation and checked this would be OK – Response was: “No Problem, it’s your seat!” But, when we returned to the airport in Italy to check in, to my horror, as I didn’t fly out, the airline had assumed I wouldn’t be coming back and had sold my ticket! They then demanded double the price of my return ticket for me to take the last seat on the plane to come back!!!
Now, we all know these things can happen, so, as instructed to by staff at Milan Airport I phoned the airline, without success, so sent an email to the airline to complain. It is now three days since I sent that email and I am still waiting for a proper response – all I have had is the standard reply advising that they were receiving too many calls to deal with it on the phone!
This is a major airline, not an Irish low-cost airline! After I had paid for my seat and my wife checked at the airport that they would hold it, they sold my seat and then proceeded to charge me double on top to get home!! How can that be “treating customers fairly”? It is simple profiteering - they had all our details as the ticket had been originally booked online. Surely they could have contacted me via email or phone to ask if I was using the return portion of the ticket before re-selling my seat – No! Did they just assume (wrongly) and take the profit? - Yes!
The motor trade might get a bad press and airlines might get frustrated customers due to delays, but this is just wrong – plain and simple! I wonder how long I will have to battle with them to obtain a refund, or will they continue to treat me “unfairly”??
“Fairness is not an attitude. It’s a professional skill that must be developed and exercised.” Brit Hume
Treating Customers Fairly!
In the motor trade, or at least here at Luscombe’s, we really do take ‘treating customers fairly’ very seriously – howeve
r, a recent experience I have had with a major airline certainly wasn’t fair.
Here is what happened - I booked flights to and from Milan, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to go with a friend by road, and fly back. When others in the group checked in at Manchester Airport for the outward flight, they informed the airline of the situation and checked this would be OK – Response was: “No Problem, it’s your seat!” But, when we returned to the airport in Italy to check in, to my horror, as I didn’t fly out, the airline had assumed I wouldn’t be coming back and had sold my ticket! They then demanded double the price of my return ticket for me to take the last seat on the plane to come back!!!
Now, we all know these things can happen, so, as instructed to by staff at Milan Airport I phoned the airline, without success, so sent an email to the airline to complain. It is now three days since I sent that email and I am still waiting for a proper response – all I have had is the standard reply advising that they were receiving too many calls to deal with it on the phone!
This is a major airline, not an Irish low-cost airline! After I had paid for my seat and my wife checked at the airport that they would hold it, they sold my seat and then proceeded to charge me double on top to get home!! How can that be “treating customers fairly”? It is simple profiteering - they had all our details as the ticket had been originally booked online. Surely they could have contacted me via email or phone to ask if I was using the return portion of the ticket before re-selling my seat – No! Did they just assume (wrongly) and take the profit? - Yes!
The motor trade might get a bad press and airlines might get frustrated customers due to delays, but this is just wrong – plain and simple! I wonder how long I will have to battle with them to obtain a refund, or will they continue to treat me “unfairly”??
“Fairness is not an attitude. It’s a professional skill that must be developed and exercised.” Brit Hume
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