[andymur]

· I booked a ticket for myself to travel from Seattle to Chennai on Dec 7, 2012. The e-ticket number was 176-2148635135, and reference number was LNIEZW
· I also booked two tickets for my wife and infant daughter. My wife was pregnant, and she wanted to leave earlier for India, but wasn’t sure if she could travel alone. Hence, we booked two tickets:
o The first one was to travel from Seattle to Chennai on Nov 24, 2012. The e-ticket numbers were 176-2148635126 and 176-2148635127 respectively, and the booking reference number was CRANUJ
o The second one was to travel from Seattle to Chennai on Dec 7, 2012 (accompanying me). The e-ticket numbers were 176-2149515561 and 176-2149515562 respectively, and the booking reference number was FNSAKB
o For all three trips, the return date was Jan 11, 2013 for us to all return together on the same flight.
o Again, this was because she was (and is pregnant) and she wasn’t sure if she could travel alone with an infant on Nov 24, and so we also booked another one accompanying me on Dec 7.
· On Nov 20, 2012, we called and requested the Nov 24 tickets (CRANUJ) to be canceled. The agent on the phone confirmed that the tickets were canceled. She also confirmed that we had requested bassinet seats for the Dec 7 journey (FNSAKB). She however, failed to inform me that I need to go to the Emirates website to request a refund of the ticket amount.
· I kept checking my card statement, and didn’t see the refund for over a week, which is when I called Emirates again on/around Nov 27. At this point of time, another agent informed me about requesting refund thru the website. I asked her to guide me, and she guided me to the location on their website (under Help Center-Ask Us-Cancellations-Refunds). Over there, she asked me to fill out the form and request the refund. This is where the problem arose. I had the correct booking reference number (CRANUJ), but the agent had quoted the wrong e-ticket number to me. Instead of quoting 176-2148635126 and 176-2148635127, she quoted 176-2149515561 and 176-2149515562, which were for the Dec 7 journey!!
· No one realized this and I clicked Submit. I also received a mail confirmation that listed the reference number CRANUJ along with the wrong e-ticket numbers.
· The shocking thing is that their system (or agents who process the refund request) did not even question this inconsistency! They didn’t seem to realize that
a) The booking reference CRANUJ and the e-ticket numbers 176-2149515561 and 176-2149515562 did NOT match
b) That CRANUJ was in canceled status, but the 176-2149515561 and 176-2149515562 tickets were not canceled and were still active, so it wouldn’t make sense to request a refund
c) They did NOT see the travel date listed as Nov 24, 2012 and instead went ahead and canceled the Dec 7, 2012 ticket
d) They also did NOT read the note I had added to the request, where I explained that I had already canceled CRANUJ, and was now requesting a refund
· As a result of this error and their failing to validate anything and instead blindly canceling a valid and active ticket, we were not able to travel on Dec 7, 2012
· The first time I realized this was an issue was on the day of travel, when i tried to check in and it wouldn’t allow my wife & infant to do so. When I called Emirates, they said my wife’s ticket was canceled.
· This was a huge shock to me and especially to my pregnant wife. We were stunned. The agent said we had requested the cancelation and I did not understand what she was talking about. Only after a lengthy back and forth, did I realize this was the issue.
· I told the agent everything I’ve recounted so far and she was sympathetic but said she couldn’t help. She asked us to request the agents at the ticket counter at the airport to accommodate my wife.
· So we went to the airport in the afternoon, as planned. At first, the agents there were very rude to us. They said they cannot issue a boarding pass, as the ticket was canceled by us and it was our fault. They kept saying this repeatedly even when I explained the issue to them. Finally, they agreed to add my wife to the waitlist.
· So, we checked in our baggage, and proceeded to the gate. After everyone had boarded, the agent said there were no seats available for us. I noticed many people waiting to give up their tickets, and asked her if they are willing to give it up, why couldn’t my wife travel on that.
· Again the agent said she cannot allow this, as it was not Emirates fault that the ticket was canceled. I believe they need to compensate the folks giving up tickets and she said Emirates will not be willing to do that as it was not Emirates’ fault.
· This was unbelievably poor and inconsiderate service! Here we were, with a pregnant wife and a baby, requiring to travel urgently to India, and she was refusing to allow my wife to board because she did not want Emirates to pay for the passenger giving up a ticket!!
· So, we had to return back to the main terminal and I spent several hours trying to find another flight. Thankfully, we were able to get a ticket on Lufthansa for the next day. The tickets cost us about $2670 each (and $262 for the child).
I am very upset with how Emirates has handled the issue. I am genuinely shocked and disgusted at their incredibly selfish and thoughtless behavior. Here they are touting Customer Service as their highest company value, and then I see how the agents on the phone and ground behave towards us. I even suspect a racial component here. Most of the agents I spoke to were condescending to me and I strongly feel this is because I am a South Asian, as opposed to a Caucasian or Arab national. I could see how they were behaving with these other nationals who were also at the check-in counter.
To summarize the issues:
· The Emirates website is poorly designed. At the least, when I requesting the refund, it could show me a “verification screen”, where it could list the dates of the travel. That alone could have prevented all the subsequent issues.
· There was an inconsistency between reference number CRANUJ and the e-ticket numbers, but their agents blindly canceled the ticket without checking with me.
· CRANUJ was already canceled, but the e-ticket numbers (which mapped to FNSAKB) were still active and not canceled. Despite this, they canceled the wrong tickets
· They did NOT see the travel date listed as Nov 24, 2012 on the request and instead went ahead and canceled the Dec 7, 2012 ticket
· They did not even bother to read my notes in the request, where I had explained that I had canceled CRANUJ and was requesting a refund
· The agent at the airport was so rude and condescending to me. She said it was my fault, and implied that I must have been a really stupid guy to have done this.
· Despite people willing to give up their seat, she refused to put my wife on board and forced us to return
She for some reason marked me as a No-show even though I technically gave up my ticket, I received zero compensation from her, and her marking me as No-show was just adding salt to the injury. I had to again fight with their agents to receive the full refund back.