[Pat]

Jean-Cyril Spinetta
Air France (Ste)
45 Rue de Paris
93290 Tremblay En France

AIR FRANCE
Service client
TSA 60001
60035 BEAUVAIS CEDEX

Fréquence Plus Air France
235 KING STREET EAST
KITCHENER ON
N2G 4N5
CANADA


To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to inform you of my outrage as a result of my recent experience with Air France:

We arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport at 10:00 AM on Saturday March 19, 2005, for our direct flight to Boston, scheduled to leave at 1:15 PM (AF 332). Upon reaching the front of what we thought was our check in line, your ticket agent informed us that she could only register our baggage, and that we would have to take our bags with us to another counter at the end of the terminal, because our flight had been overbooked. When we reached that counter we asked one of your employees about the 1:15 PM flight for Boston. She responded, “ Boston! I doubt that you’ll leave today, that’s the line.” (“We are having some problems, but we are trying to accommodate everyone,” would have been much nicer, and much less alarming). We were in line next to overbooked passengers to New York and Chicago, approximately 120 passengers in total. Noone from your airline took the time to explain anything, or tell anyone what was happening. We didn’t know if there were seats available on the 1:15 flight or even the next flight, departing about 4:00 PM. There were rumors in the crowd, which served to heighten the tension, but no official word from your employees.

I spotted someone from Air France walking around talking on two phones at the same time. He looked like a supervisor (Jean-Philippe Cabanes, Duty Station Manager) We were there so long we gave him a nickname, “Mr. Big Shot.” He looked official, but apparently didn’t deem the passengers important enough to address us directly, so I approached him, and asked him what was happening and if he knew if we were going to get seats on the 1:15PM flight. His response was that there were a few seats available but they would be given to the passengers that had paid the most money for their ticket, and that he had no other information to give us, we simply had to wait! I had bought my four tickets on November 18th, 2004 and I had committed to Air France 4 months ago. Here I was being told that someone that bought tickets at the last minute would be given priority over me. That certainly didn’t seem fair! A gentleman standing next to me (mind you, we had been standing in one spot for 2 ½ hours at this point) told us that he had paid quite a bit of money for his flight, his business had paid for his ticket, and if this were true, he would probably be on the 1:15 flight. Sure enough, he was one the very few people called for the AF 332 flight. (A female employee called a few people for the Boston, New York and Chicago flights. Her voice was very soft, and difficult to hear.)

We stood in the same place from 10:30 AM until 3:30 PM. We were told not to leave in case we got called for the next flight. No one offered us anything to drink, to eat, a seat, or even a bit of information. We were treated like a herd of animals. Around 3:00 PM I asked one of your staff members if he had any further information (Jean-Philippe Cabanes kept running away from anyone with a question, so I chose someone else who looked official). Instead of apologizing, he rudely told me that we didn’t understand, and they were still trying to get organized and told me that I should just wait because it takes time to get organized. I had been at the airport since 10:00 AM and he had the audacity to tell me that organizing takes time, after I’d been waiting for 5 hours, and rudely at that. I was stunned. I almost felt as if he were implying that it was partially my fault that too many of us had booked our flight with Air France. At 3:30 PM we were given our boarding pass for the 4:00PM flight. After standing in one spot for 5 ½ hours, we were told that we would need to hurry because we didn’t want to miss our flight.

During this one of a kind experience at Charles De Gaulle airport, no one apologized, no one treated us like customers (at least the way I understand the meaning of the word customer), no one offered us any information, we had to find someone to ask and still we got no real answer. We were made to feel as if it was our error for booking with Air France, no one offered us anything to drink, to eat, a place to sit and rest, or even a chance to go to the restroom for the 5 hours. We were told to stand in “the line”. It felt implied that if you did leave for a moment, you might miss your chance to be on the next flight.

I am appalled that a company could treat customers this way. This is completely unacceptable to me. Your staff at CDG airport is rude, untrained for customer service, useless, and patronizing to their customers.

If by chance one day you decide to change your company’s mission, please feel free to give me a call.

Note: Why send this letter to the Olympic Committee? My voice alone, or this letter, I dare say won’t do much; you’ve proven that at the airport. You even proved that 120 people overbooked at the airport didn’t matter to you. So if there is a glimmer of hope for something to be done, who better than the Olympic Committee to help. After painting them this picture perfect view of Paris during their recent visit, I’m sure they would want to know how France’s number one airline treats their passengers.

It is important that I point out 2 of you employees, one in Boston, and one in Montreal, that exercised great customer service. I feel that they should be recognized for this. They are: Joe in your Montreal office (I do not have his last name, but he told me that he is the only Joe there) 800-237-2747 and Brendy Gonzales, Customer Service Supervisor at Logan Airport, Boston. These two employees should be rewarded for their patience, assistance and diligence.

Name removed

C: Jean-Cyril Spinetta Chairman and Chief Executive, Air France
Pierre-Henri Gourgeon
Nawal El-Moutawakel Olympic Committee
Els Van Breda Vriesman Olympic Committe
Paul HENDERSON Olympic Committee
Patrick JARVIS Olympic Committee
Mustapha LARFAOUI Olympic Committee
José Luis MARCO Olympic Committee
Ser Miang NG Olympic Committee
Sam RAMSAMY Olympic Committee
Simon BALDERSTONE Olympic Committee
Philippe BOVY Olympic Committee
Bob Elphinston Olympic Committee
Bertrand Delanoë
Jean-François Lamour
Jean Philippe Cabanes
Brendy Gonzales

France was the favorite for the 2012 Olympics. They lost to England a few weeks after I sent my letter. I know I had nothing to do with it, but...
My mission: Fighting for good customer service.