| Complaint filed by | |
| Complaint filed on | July 26th, 2023 |
| Complaint filed against | Turkish Airlines Representative- Alfiya Khan |
- Text of Complaint by Soham Katewale
There was small damage to my suitcase after a Turkish Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Mumbai with a layover in Istanbul. However when we landed in Mumbai, there were quite a few people who had missing luggage, therefore I knew that my slightly damaged suitcase will not take priority. There was only 1 representative of Turkish Airlines present at first, and 2 more joined later. I waited for 2 hrs for the representatives to finish dealing with the lost luggage cases. After the 2hrs I approached the representatives to deal with my suitcase. According to 2/3 the damage was not enough to be dealt with at the airport, but there was some damage and so I can lodge an online complaint with Turkish Airlines. After which the 2 representatives left leaving only 1 – Alfiya Khan. She was adamant that my suitcase was not damaged and there was no reason for me to be there. I also informed her that the colleagues told me to report it online. She decided to help but still kept insisting every few minutes that she did not think my suitcase was damaged. She asked me what I need help with if I think my suitcase was damaged, what do I expect her to be able to do. I said I simply need help lodging the online complaint. She kept answering my questions with disdain and annoyance, and never answered it properly. The first converstation went like this.
Me: How do I lodge the online complaint?
Alfiya: Online obviously
Me: Ok, can you please tell me where I can find it online
Alfiya: Turkish Airlines Website (walks away)
I eventually found the complaint form online. I managed to fill 90% of the form by myself but required help for 2 things. The first one was the departure and arrival airports. Since I started in Amsterdam, transferred in Istanbul, and arrived in Mumbai, I was not sure what I should consider as my departure airport. My journey departure was Amsterdam, but I arrived at Mumbai from Istanbul. After asking her this she sarcastically said “You are standing in Mumbai, toh arrival airport will be Mumbai nah”. I then reiterated my question after which she said Amsterdam.
The most inappropriate interaction was regarding the ticket number. The form required a 13 digit ticket number. I asked her where I could find the ticket number and she replied “On the ticket”, I then showed her my boarding pass and asked where it was written. Without even glancing at the boarding pass she confidently said “Sir, it wont be on the boarding pass it will be on the ticket information given to you by the travel agent when you booked the ticket”. I kept telling her that I booked the ticket directly through Turkish Airlines and not through a third party agency, yet she kept insisting on it. I showed her all the email, all communications I received from Turkish Airlines. For each piece of communication I showed her, she said “No sir I told you it will not be here, it will be on the ticket information given to you’. I spent half an hour searching through emails, turkish airlines app, and the turkish airlines website. After 45 minutes, I went to her one final time and told her that I have checked everything and no way is there a 13 digit number present. Then she told me that she can check for it in the database. I went to her 6 times, and spent 45 minutes hunting through emails when it wouldve taken her 2 minutes. She asked for my boarding pass so she could search up my information. She read up the number, and I submitted the form. For the last 45min the only thing she was adamant about was that the ticket number was not present on the boarding pass. The number she read out was written on the boarding pass, in bold. I told her that and she replied that I was wrong and the number on the boarding pass is wrong. I read out the number to her, and showed her that the computer has the exact same number.
I understand that dealing with countless passengers with lost luggage can be frustrating, but after waiting patiently for 2hrs and asking 3 simply questions, I was met with annoyance and ignorance on her part. Not only did she keep insisting my suitcase was damaged, she was incredibly annoyed at me, she kept answering my questions with disdain and annoyance. Her expressions were nothing short of saying “Just go away”. Her insistence on her being absolutely correct about information (when she was wrong), her lack of acknowledgement of my problems, and her overall treatment was absolutely horrible. There was literally no on else that needed help, I was the only one. Her making me spend 45mins looking through emails almost made me miss my domestic flight, when all she had to do was take 2mins to search it up. I was not planning on lodging a complaint even after all this, but I still wanted her name. When I asked for her name she replied “Why do you need it, what use do you have for it?!”. I simply said asked why it matters to her, and she gave me her name and walked away.
During no point in the interaction was I treated like an adult, at no point was I offered proper and adequate help, at no point was her response or attitude towards me anything but annoyed. All questions were answered with sarcasm, annoyance, and 0 information.
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