No connecting flight
I needed to be in Kerala, India, for a land-related transaction and everything was arranged for July 3, 2009. Being the holiday season, tickets were not easily available. In spite of high costs, I booked a business class ticket on Gulf Air on the route Dubai–Bahrain–Kochi — departure on July 2 and return on July 4. This schedule would give me enough time to reach Kochi and take the two-hour drive to my destination.
My mistake was to expect good and timely service from Gulf Air. The flight from Dubai scheduled at 6.50pm took off after 7.30pm. I informed the cabin crew I had a connecting flight from Bahrain at 8pm. The crew assured me that since I had a boarding pass for the connecting flight, the connection would wait for all passengers.
We landed at Bahrain at 7.50pm and 28 passengers from my flight rushed to get to the connecting flight to Kochi. We were asked to go to a counter and after some processing, we were handed back boarding passes for the next day’s flight! When I insisted that I needed to go the same day, I was met with stony silence and a shoulder shrug. I was then told to go to the Gulf Air office, but there they were just allocating hotel rooms. On inquiring why the flight didn’t wait for the passengers, nobody had a response — total neglect of customer service.
Incidentally, there was a flight to Thiruvananthapuram scheduled to leave at the same time and they delayed it to accommodate passengers on our flight. I requested the Gulf Air staff to accommodate me on that flight. They initially said it wasn’t possible, but then told me to go to the gate and try my luck. I rushed to the gate — fortunately there was one business class seat available. This resulted in me having to take a 7.5 hour drive from Thiruvananthapuram to get to my destination.
This entire incident is unacceptable and I ask Gulf Air to compensate me for the pain caused and money spent due to their mishandling of flights.
From Mr Manmohan Vellody
Dubai
Mr Karan Srinivasan, content manager, corporate communications department, Gulf Air, responds:
We would like to clarify as follows. Very occasionally, like all airlines, few of our flights are delayed due to reasons beyond our control such as airport clearance, technical clearance and loading/unloading services. The flight GF567 from Dubai was delayed for 55 minutes due to the late arrival of the incoming aircraft from Bahrain, which was caused by the late loading of cargo and difficulty to offload cargo on arrival in Dubai.
In such cases, Gulf Air always takes care of its customers as per policy that includes providing alternate means of transport on the next available flight and accommodation where necessary. In Mr Vellody’s case, since he insisted that he had to travel on the same day due to his personal reasons, our staff had arranged to accommodate him on a flight that was going to Thiruvananthapuram, which is the nearest airport to his scheduled destination Kochi, as requested by Mr Vellody.
While it is unfortunate that Mr Vellody missed the connecting flight, you will appreciate Gulf Air staff had made every effort and made alternate arrangements as per the wish of the passenger. Rest assured, Gulf Air considers its customers of paramount importance and strives to provide the best service possible to them.
Bank charges
I have two accounts with National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) — one is saving and the other is current. My saving account is linked to an investment organisation and the salary transferring account. So, there were no maintenance charges and a minimum balance was not required. I have to pay a maintenance fee and maintain a minimum balance for the other current account. On September 9, 2009 I deposited Dh1,800 to my saving account. Next day, I was surprised as there were deductions as maintenance fee and minimum balance charges — total deduction of Dh180. I asked NBAD call centre and they suggested I visit the bank’s branch. I went to the bank, but did not get a positive response. I decided to close my accounts with NBAD. I want to ask why there are so many charges if a person has two accounts with NBAD. Also, why are account holders not informed in advance?
From Mr M. A. Mannan
Abu Dhabi
The management of NBAD responds:
With reference to the complaint received from Mr Mannan, kindly note that the charges claimed are account service charges.
The bank has the right to avail any charges on the account without informing the customer — as mentioned in clause number six of the terms and conditions forms signed by the complainant. Yet, NBAD had informed its customers of the new charges via a flyer insertion with the account statement, the NBAD website and tariff boards displaying new charges in all NBAD branches. Hope the above clarifies the customer’s queries. Additionally, we encourage readers to e-mail any feedback or complaint against NBAD to facetoface@nbad.ae and our customer care unit will address their issues.
Editor’s note: If you have any similar consumer service complaints, let us know at readers@gulfnews.com
