[GeorgeWeirs]

I have always been dealt with most politely and thoughtfully by the Eithiad personnell in the UAE and Thailand but it seems they may well be as frustrated as me in trying to come to terms with a website booking system that has an inbuilt error!
My story is not unique - so I have been told by an employee of Eithiad. There must be others like me who find it very worrying and stressful to be in limbo having paid for a ticket on the Eithiad website but after two days still having no receipt for the money or an electronic ticket as booked.
Fortunately for me I had a bank that detected a possible fraud and stopped the second payment for a second flight.
I will start at the beginning;.
First I booked a ticket from Bangkok to Heathrow on the Eithiad website. The website through up an error message - 'timed out' 'rebook'. With a inward groan, this is what I did.
This second time the bank refused payment.
I now made an international telephone call to my bank in England who checked and double checked and declared that the first payment demanded by the Eithiad website had been paid and gave me a reference number (Santander Bank ref no 929570).
Thirdly I then made an international call to Eithiad in UAE. They told me that they had two bookings in my name, neither paid for and that I should check with my bank to determine whether payment had been made.
Forthly I rang my bank in England to double check and they confirmed the transfer.
Five and Six, I made two other telephone calls to UAE without success. I measure as getting the ticket I had paid for from the airline!
Eventually I gave them all my bank details and they said they would investigate the matter and let me know in six hours time - that was yesterday.
When the six hours past they told me they still had not received my money and to wait 24 hours to determine what they would do.
Today, I received a telephone call from Eithiad in UAE. They said they would refund my money that I have paid but that it would take at least four or five working days to transfer the money back.
The helpful lady, working within her remit, said she would try and get me the ticket I had paid for because if I have to wait five days for the ticket there is no time to buy a new ticket to fly on the date booked and certainly no time to sort out my visa when I do not know when I can travel.
My complaint is rather a question.
If I can get confirmation that Eithiad has received my money in full from the Santander Bank as an individual citizen - Why cannot Eithiad make a similar enquiry and confirm they do indeed have my money. I perceive that Company Customer Service is about going the extra mile - putting the customer first and reacting to correct mistakes immediately when it is patently obvious that their web site is in error.
It is a little worrying to hear from Eithiad that I am not the only one with this problem - I would appreciate a word with the IT Manager and to determine when or if they are going to resolve this on-going issue
Thank you
George Richardson