Extended journey

Could Gulf News please help me with a complaint against Etihad Airways? They are not cooperating with me.

On July 17, my mother travelled on Etihad Airways to Islamabad, Pakistan, from Manchester, United Kingdom, via Abu Dhabi airport. The total journey time was scheduled to be 14.5 hours long, however, due to poor scheduling and decisions by the airline, the plane landed at Islamabad a total 16 hours later than planned, which you will appreciate has a huge impact on passengers. This amount of delay is not acceptable.

The total flight time (delay plus actual journey time) was over 30 hours which, by 2014 standards, is shocking. During this delay, my mother and other passengers were made to wait and this was followed up by poor customer service and coordination by the airline.

I complained to Etihad Airways to provide a refund, as my mother was upset at the experience and also concerned about their return flight. My refund request was valid, and acceptable under Etihad’s ‘Conditions of Carriage’ which states a refund can be requested if Etihad fail to operate reasonably according to schedule - condition 10.2.1.ii.

However, Etihad Airways staff have failed to provide a single reason why they cannot refund the ticket. All they have said is, this cannot be done. And now they have now stopped replying to my requests.

Etihad Airways has an obligation to abide by their own conditions. They are not doing this and as the passenger, this is impacting my mother and family.

I gratefully request Gulf News to intervene on our behalf, having seen the newspaper help many other consumers with similar problems. I have tried since July 17, but have had no progress.

From Mr T. Hussain

UAE

 

A spokesperson from Etihad Airways responds:

Etihad Airways strives to deliver the highest standards of customer service and on this occasion we have failed to meet those standards. We have apologised to the passenger’s mother and provided the appropriate compensation.

 

Editor’s note: Mr Hussain refused to accept Etihad Airways’ final response.

 

(Process initiation: September 13. Response from organisation: September 17. Process completion: September 28.)

 

Free for life

I applied for a First Gulf Bank (FGB) credit card one year ago. At that time, they said if we made a quick cash transfer for more than Dh5,000, then our card would be ‘free for life’. I agreed and transferred Dh5,800. But after one year, they charged me Dh500 as annual fee. When I called customer care‎to raise a complaint, they replied that I should transfer quick cash of more than Dh12,000 to get the card free for life. I request Gulf News to look into this matter and help me out.

From Mr Rakesh Kallayi

Dubai

 

The management of First Gulf Bank responds:

FGB is grateful for all customer feedback to which we give careful consideration, as we strive to consistently deliver the highest standards of service. FGB has been in contact with Mr Kallayi, and the matter has been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

 

Mr Kallayi responds:

I received a call from FGB’s customer service saying that they would make my card free for life. Thank you Gulf News.

 

(Process initiation: October 6. Response from organisation: October 7. Reader confirmation: October 7.)

 

Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com.