I’ve been having ongoing issues with Etihad from the beginning of the month regarding a flight compensation claim. My attempts to contact Etihad customer services have been largely ignored and it has proven that customer service means nothing to Etihad.
On the 8th of January our flight was delayed from Ho Chi Minh City to Abu Dhabi. This caused us to miss our Abu Dhabi to Johannesburg flight and this caused us to miss our Johannesburg to Durban flight which was booked through another airline. Upon landing in Abu Dhabi we approached the travel desk where the agent at the transfer desk distinctly told us that she cannot book us a connecting flight from Johannesburg to Durban on her system as it’s not an Ethiad flight, but it’s not a problem because you can book a new flight and claim for this flight via
feedback@etihad.ae. To this day I haven’t received a response from them.
After a massive struggle we managed to get a response via Etihad’s social media division. The claims division stated that, because we didn’t book our Johannesburg – Durban ticket through them we can’t be compensated. I find it ludicrous that we’re informed of this “new rule” once we were told otherwise and given the go ahead to rebook the flight. Furthermore, we booked our JHB – Durban flight through SAA, which is an Etihad partner, so I don’t see what the problem is.
Secondly, we had a horrible experience of having to spend 29 hours in the airport with nothing but glorified sleep pods to rest in due to the airport hotel being renovated. Friends of ours flew via Emirates, experienced an 8 hour delay and were instantly given day visas and put up in a hotel outside the airport. We had a 29 hour delay and were told we would have to pay an exorbitant amount for a day visa that would take a minimum of 8 hours to be processed. This was clearly a lie and proves once again that customer service means nothing to Etihad.
To add even more insult to injury, Etihad offered us a pittance of a 10000 miles compensation. Other airlines offer free flights and cash reimbursements for issues that are far less inconvenient than what we experienced. I’m absolutely disgusted. RQID:417296