[theganesh]

Hello folks,

I am a physician, who used Etihad for a return journey from Bangalore to Cleveland.

When booking, I looked at the website, and it gave its various fares and types. The class I booked, Economy Flexible said clearly "No change fee" and "No cancellation fee". That was probably the sole reason why I booked a relatively less known flight. (As a frequent flyer between US and India, I have mostly used Lufthansa, British Airways and even Air India).

I came to the US, and after a while, realized the miles were not credited. When I called, they did the needful and I was happy. I even recommended Etihad to a lot of my family members and friends who had to go to India for Christmas.

But then It all started!!

I wanted to postpone my return journey and called Etihad. The guys at the customer care (somewhere in India) were absolutely under-trained and did a horrible job.

A shocker when I wanted to change my return journey on a flexible ticket

They said my ticket had a Rs.2095/- charge for changing and then fee for the "price difference" which was coming to about Rs23,000/- !!
When I told them about the Economy Flexible fare type, and quoted their website as reference, she said she was totally unaware. Later, she told me that "the things in the website keep changing" and "the information in the website might not always be right". She said I was supposed to have got a mail with the 'Fare Rules' for my ticket, which I had never got. When I told I never got one and asked for a copy of the fare rules, I got a reply from the first person saying I will receive one, but when I didn't, the second person (next day) said they cannot send one!!

Gobbling up cash while refunding a ticket
When I wanted to cancel my return journey (I am disgusted to travel with a dishonest and rude airline), they said there is a cancellation fee of around Rs2095. When I asked how much I will be getting back, they said they can't say the exact number. She said it might be around half the price of the ticket (return ticket was Rs.45,000 and thus, half of it, around 22.5 thousands). Then when I insisted for the right estimate of what i will be receiving, she said it will be around Rs9,000!!! How on earth is that half of my ticket?


The most irritating thing however is the fact that none of the customer care representatives were even a little courteous! In fact, they were talking with a tone that showed irritation just to start a conversation, like they were doing a favor by talking to me! They were absolutely not trained as to how to talk to a fellow human being! They said things that totally contradicted what the website said, and also what the other representative said. They were lazy just to ask another representative about the things they did not know, did not give a straight answer to any questions, did not even let me finish my sentences!
This is what made me decide for sure not to use this airline ever in the future and tell my friends and family not to make the mistake of choosing this airline. The disrespect shown by these people was something that made this whole experience disgusting.

I will post again about what will happen. The reason I posted it here was that I want other people to be cautious and not believe anything on the website. I am pretty sure that any complaints to etihad will probably fall on deaf ears. i don't know if the 'Etihad representative' on this site is going to reply on time. I am just making sure that atleast the people will be cautious and not use this airline.

Relief/ Compensation Expected

1.Change my ticket dates as I require for free of charge, as initially advertised.
2. Provide exactly half of my ticket money without cancellation fee etc., as advertised initially
3.Apology from the call center staff who were extremely impolite.

Just in case if it helps, my Booking reference is 2YXUU3

[jimworcs]

We have had positive experiences on this site with a rep from Etihad helping passengers who have experienced such problems. However, if you can capture the website page, showing the terms of "Economy Flexible" and you can show that you purchased the ticket through their website, I think you would be able take Etihad to small claims court and prevail. If they did not honour the terms you agreed to, they were in breach of contract. All airlines rely on Terms and Conditions all the time to justify their actions, you are free to do the same!

[theganesh]

Thank you JIMWORCS..

I just saved the sheet while buying the ticket which said compare fare types. Luckily, I found it on my computer.



(if you do not see the image, please right click and open in a new window)

I did not get any other mail from them regarding "fare rules". I am sure Etihad will come up with some explanation for this. Like, the customer care rep said- "it is only for reference, and it is not true all the time". My point is, how can you put in such a neat format, the fare types, and then, when it is mentioned in your ticket that your fare type is Economy flexible, how can it have different rules. Is that not cheating?

Here is the copy of my ticket



(if you do not see the image, please right click and open in a new window)

[jimworcs]

I feel absolutely sure that a small claims court would uphold this. You are fully entitled to rely on the information provided to you. If The airline place accessible format information before you, they cannot rely on hidden terms to deny you unless they have directed you to them. You will win. I hope you will pursue this.

[theganesh]

I surely will pursue this. How do I go about filing this in small claims court?
Can you please give me any details or references?

Thank you very much jimworcs. You guys are doing a great job!

[jimworcs]

In Cleveland, you can file without an attorney in Cleveland Municipal Court. Here is a link where you can get advice..

http://clevelandmunicipalcourt.org/how-do-i-

If you click down, there is a section on filing a small claims court claim...

[aldrint22]

I also had a bad experience and was not allowed to board. the customer care advised me to make ticket open and was making me force travel. And when i enquired about refund they will deduct 30% of the long haul fare which was a huge 1800 dollars. It was a double whammy

[Etihad Representative]

Dear aldrint22

We would like to hear more about this and apologise for any inconvenience caused. Kindly send this feedback to ********************** and our team will look into this for you. Please also include your booking reference and ticket number to help and we will get back to you as soon as possible *GW