My complaint:
Amsterdam, 26 September 2012
L.S.,
After arriving on time at T4-Barajas Airport on 23 September 2012, the notice-boards referred to the check-in desks 840-859 for flight IB2612 to Amsterdam. When my wife and I reported to that line for check-in, we were asked by the Iberia ground stewardess to where we were flying. After replying “Amsterdam”, she then directed us to the adjacent row of check-in desks. There we asked another Iberia employee that was standing there, if we were in the correct line – she litteraly answered that “she wouldn’t know” and sent us to the automatic check-in machines across the check-in desks. The machines had trouble scanning our passports and recommended to approach an Iberia employee for help. So we did and she then referred us back to check-in desks 840-859 where the line had grown longer than when we came in. Until now these referrals took almost 25 minutes!
Anxious we would not be on time if we had to wait in this long line, we went to the Iberia information-desk which was across the check-in desks 840-859. There were only 3 people standing in line and still we had to wait more than 10 minutes. After a brief explanation of what happened and that were anxious we would miss the flight, the Iberia employee just pointed to the long line and just stated we had to go over there to check-in. We tried to point out that by now and with this many people in line, we probably would miss the flight and if they could help to catch our plane. Again the Iberia employee just pointed to line across and said we had to go there and called the next in line. Ironically the text behind the employee stated “we are here to help”. I’ll refrain from making further comments about that…
We had no choice but to go to the back of the line and wait for our turn. There we waited approx. 50(!) minutes before it was our turn. While waiting in this LONG line, only 5 out of 8 check-in desks were open and during this time one closed leaving only 4 out of 8 open to check-in all these people in line waiting.
When we finally handed over our documents to be checked in, your Iberia employee simply stated “we were late and because of that we missed the plane”. I assure you that I had difficulty not to explode with fury. After counting to 10, we calmly explained what happend and aksed her to get us on that plane, or get someone who could. She only replied she could try to book us on the next flight, but that looked fully booked. In order to not loose my cool, I asked for the supervisor and hoped the supervisor would be more customer-friendly.
When the supervisor arrived, we explained the situation and what had happend – for the 3rd(!) time – and she admitted that it was not our fault we missed this flight. She offered to to book us on the next flight. Whithout any options we had to agree. When we checked in our suitcase I made the remark that, after all that has happened, it would be courteous of Iberia not to charge us for checking in our suitcase. At this moment another Iberia ground stewardess was waiting to take over the check-in desk. The supervisor told her colleague in Spanish to finish the check-in with us, because she couldn’t hold her anger in much longer (WHAT???) and walked away.
Very much to our surprise we also had to pay THE DOUBLE AMOUNT of money to check -in our suitcase (in Amsterdam it was € 15,- at the check-in desk, now € 30,-)! Again, without any options, we had to agree.
This whole time NONE of the Iberia personnel offered their apologies, nor did any of them bothered to take a look at the tickets, boarding time and/or take-off time of the airplane and NONE of them offered any help or took any effort to get us on the planned flight. Instead they kept us running around the Iberia desks and kept us waiting in line. It was a display of blatant disregeard of respect and customer care and negligant of Iberia to fail to assist where needed. The next flight was not until 7(!) hours later and Iberia left us roaming the airport without food or a drink. Even a cup of coffee was too much of an investment for Iberia.
We hold Iberia liable for all damages, material and immaterial, resulted from missing our flight. Furthermore we demand a public apology for the work-ethics displayed by Iberia personnel and the disregard of respect towards the customer and fawlty service.
Disappointed,
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Hun respons:
Dear ***********:
I am writing in relation to flight IB 2612 of 23, september 2012 and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for contacting us.
I have found that you had not obtained your boarding card when the flight closed. Please remember you must check in at least 45 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights (except on the shuttle service and European flights). For intercontinental flights, the minimum check-in time is 60 minutes. In any event, every time you travel, we recommend you to ask where you buy your ticket or with the operating carrier company so that you are able to arrive in good time, sometimes airports can be very busy. In our case, you can get this information and the boarding card for most of our destinations from our website, Iberia.com.
With regard to compensation, I should inform you that this is only established when boarding is denied due to overbooking, which is not your case. To be eligible, it is essential for the passenger to have a confirmed booking and to have checked in before the flight closes.
Thank you again for contacting us. Your assistance allows us to improve our service. We hope we continue to enjoy your trust.
Sincerely,
Nicole Mariscal
Gerente Atención al Cliente
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WAT??????
Desired solution:
Vergoeding kosten gemaakt op de airport, vergoeding vliegtickets, vergoeding verlengde oppas, vergoeding telefoonkosten, openbare verontschuldigingen, vergoeding overige kosten en gederfde inkomsten voortvloeiende hieruit.
