Etihad airways - my biggest mistake
 

Hello, I am a frequent flyer and I have had the worst service experience with Etihad.
I was denied boarding Etihad flight as my passport was under my maiden name and ticket (and green card, drivers license, marriage certificate all other documents that I showed them but still..) under married name. So I purchased a new ticket from Etihad at Chicago airport under my single name on full fare. Older ticket has still not been refunded.
Now that I have changed my passport to reflect my married name, I need to change my ticket to also show that so I can use the return leg of this flight. My old passport has also been voided since I have been issued a new passport. The Etihad customer service says I can't travel now because the *Policy* does not allow name change under ANY circumstances. I have the copies of both passports, both tickets but still no luck in convincing them..talked to their supervisor who mentioned she can't touch the computer systems and she can't even escalate my request to someone ...I am amazed by how script based they are...there is no element to understand customer problem even at the supervisor level.
Also they said that the existing ticket is non-refundable.

My whole trip is ruined worrying and following up with Etihad on my return. This is my last time flying Etihad but for this time...what should I do???

Why in the world would you have changed your name in your passport when your trip was not completed? Especially knowing from experience that if the ticket doesn't match the passport, you can't travel? This is a Wow moment.

I know, but I had to because the immigration at Pakistan airport wouldn't let me board if my green card that has my married name doesn't match the passport name :(
Unfortunately, they have a *policy* too that requires the name on green card to be exactly same to the passport name.
Thx for the reply though :)

Dear Wakmak,

I have replied to your DM regarding your circumstance.

Your prompt response would be appreicated in order to assist you as quickly as possible.

Kind Regards

Cazzi B

ok..............

If Cazzi solves this problem, that is impressive proactive customer service please post the outcome.

Dear wakmak,

Please could you respond to the DM's I am sending you. I have contacted the concerned departments, however without the information I requested, I may not be able to help you further.

Your help is appreciated.

Kind Regards

Cazzi

Sorry about my late response, and thanks Cazzi for following up. Yes, the issues was resolved over the weekend. Etihad demonstrated exceptional service and consideration. Not only I got the ticket reissued they also followed up today to make sure I was all set - not what you expect from airlines:)
The only advice I have is to better train the front line customer service team - they seem to be totally talking the script. But once you get past them to for example guest relations ppl etc, they actually go out of their way to understand your problem and help you. Advice for passengers: don't take NO as an answer from customer service (even their supervisors/managers) and have them escalate your issue to someone who has the authority and willingness to help you

All in all, I am pretty happy and will fly and recommend Etihad:)

Impressive. Agree that it would help if things got sorted first time, but plaudits to Cazzi for monitoring this site and taking proactive measures to resolve the problem. That says a lot for Etihad, and many other airlines could learn from this.

Hi Cazzi
I have a complaint - my family were told they could not board on because there were 5 seats left on the plane. We had booked and paid for 8 seats. My family are in pakistand and do not have a ticket to get back. I have tried calling you contact centres and I am promised a call back and no one calls me back. I was promised a call back from Ejaz today and he was going to get me to speak to a duty manager. I have had no call. I spoke to Ateeba and she lied she was a supervisor. I am totall upset by this and would like you to contact me urgently.

Thank you

Dear Atikah,

Thank you for your post.

I have sent you a DM, If you could reply to me, I shall pass your complaint to our Guest Affairs Team for investigation.

Kind Regards

Something good to say
 

I have been taking long haul flights for more than forty years. Recently I travelled on Etihad from Bangkok to Dublin and can easily say that it was the most comfortable and pleasant flight I've had.

One smallish fly in the ointment was my effort to change the date of my return flight. I rang their Call Centre - this was in July. It wasn't easy dealing with them and I had to ring them a few times. My third attempt produced a helpful lady.

Later I discovered that my changed flight date hadn't been recorded. This got rectified reasonably easily.

I would love to continue having the pleasant inflight Etihad experience. May I suggest that you monitor these calls more thoroughly.

A situation but i have a travel agent lastminute.com not even replying to my query
 

Hey,

I have the same situation but lastminute.com are giving me a dreadful time by not even talking to me! Putting me on hold till close -giving me lies by saying they will call you back but later they don't and then coming up with other excuses even though i've been past their security questions to authorise for a chat???...Etihad your travel agent that sells you tickets have very poor customer services.......

Here is my situation:
My dad has bought me a surprise birthday gift but unfortunately due to his old age and complete computer literate skills he has entered his name on the ticket. The people in ethiad have asked me that i need to get in contact with the travel agent which i understand but I have tried asking my travel agent but they are transferring me to department to departments not even giving me a solution to help me go on holiday....What can be done now-i have a wasted £500 ticket with the lost of trust of the call center in lastminute.com.....

Etihad Complaint
 

I have a complaint to make for Etihad too. It's the first time I've flown with this airline (Nov 2013), typically opting for Emirates.
While the flight itself was fine, the service I received on board was frankly absurd.
A young man who's name badge I couldn't read exactly but believe it may have been Anvar was operating the area of the plane on which I was seated and of the four visits with meals/drinks etc he made to each passenger he managed to miss me three times!
I was sat on the isle, fortunate to have a spare seat in the middle next to me and he gave me my meal fine. But then when the tea/coffee came around he missed me. Served the people in-front, to the side and behind me. When I raised this with him he acted annoyed as he'd already passed my row so to come backwards was a huge issue, he suggested he thought I was 'asleep'. That was ridiculous retort. I was clearly not asleep.
Despite me raising this he continued to miss me a further two times, leaving trash with me and irritating me on a long-haul flight (Sydney - Manchester) for which I have paid a lot of money.

I'm sure he was just busy but missing a paying customer three times is shocking service, not least of which with his response to me bringing it up the first time.

Very disappointed with Etihad. Time to return to Emirates I feel.