Air India,
Last month I purchased a Business Class ticket from Oakland to London with return to San Francisco. The cost was $4339.50. Copies of receipts and boarding pass stubs are attached.
The flight to London was fine, but when my plane arrived in New York from London, my baggage did not arrive on the carousel for more than an hour. Air India’s corresponding flight desk refused to take it because my flight back to San Francisco was leaving in twenty minutes. I was instructed to go to the Air India arrivals counter. The clerk there said I would be re-routed to San Francisco on Delta. She filled out a form and instructed me to take it to the Delta terminal.
“Is this business class?” I asked. No, this was coach. She looked at my ticket for a long time and then consulted someone behind the counter. Five minutes later she began looking for instructions on what to do. Nearly an hour had passed. I said I feared missing the Delta flight, the last from JFK to SFO that evening. She had me take my suitcase back to the corresponding flight desk which she had telephoned to expect me. When I returned to the arrivals counter, she handed me the form, stapled to my ticket, said Delta would exchange it for a new ticket, and that I had better hurry to catch the flight. Was this First Class? Yes, she assured me.
I ran to the Delta terminal. They said the Air India paperwork was for a seat in coach. I explained the situation. I had receipts to prove what I’d paid for. Should I run back to Air India? No time for that. I would have to fly coach.
I took my coach ticket to the gate and once again explained the situation. The manifest was closed out. No way they could change things. I should be sure to write Air India for reimbursement.
The Delta flight was delayed several times and we boarded an hour late. Then we sat on the ground half an hour while Air Traffic Control rerouted our flight around a storm. They added 400 miles to our itinerary. In the six hours it took to get to San Francisco, I was fed two “snacks.” A snack is a small bag of something formed out of corn. Having missed my dinner flight, I was starving. I arrived in San Francisco after midnight but didn’t get out of the airport until 1:30 am because my suitcase was back at JFK.
Because your agent at JFK screwed up the paperwork and most likely lied to me as well, I did not receive the service I paid for. I demand an appropriate refund from Air India.
I am posting a copy of this letter on my blog at http://internettime.com. I will post your response there.
jay
Jay Cross
jaycross.com
Internet Time Group
Berkeley, California
1.510.528.3105
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The following is the reply I got and it sucks.
YYZ/COMPL/AI/MAR/08/273 WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Dear Mr Kanani,
This has reference to our earlier mail of Feb29, 2008 on above subject. At the outset we sincerely regret any inconvenience you may have suffered due to the rescheduling of your flight AI188/24Dec, 2007 from Toronto to Delhi. We regret the delay in responding to you as we have experienced backlogs due to a high volume of correspondence.
We like all airlines endeavour to ensure schedules are maintained but sometimes due to reasons beyond our control flights can get delayed and/or rescheduled. On most occasions it is due to technical reasons and/or bad weather. In both these cases passenger safety is of utmost priority and due care is taken for the safety of the aircraft and its crew. When such technical difficulties arise, it is not always possible to predict the extent of the delay.
You will appreciate that in an industry such as ours there may be occasions when flights could be delayed, rescheduled or withdrawn and these are unavoidable. In this connection, we would like to invite your kind attention to Clause 9 of the Conditions of Contract,an excerpt of which is printed on the inside of the ticket jacket which states as follows:
“Carrier undertakes to use its best effort to carry the passenger and baggage within reasonable dispatch. Times shown in timetables or elsewhere are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract. Carrier may without notice substitute alternate carriers or aircraft and may alter or omit stopping places shown on the ticket, in case of necessity. Schedules are subject to change without notice. Carrier assumes no responsibility for making connections.”
Our investigations reveal that :
1) At Toronto, you will appreciate that as part of our constant efforts to enhance customer satisfaction, in cases of delays, rescheduling or cancellation, all passengers are contacted and provided with the most up to date information. Our records indicate that our office had contacted your travel agent and had informed them of the rescheduling of the flight, before the commencement of your journey.Due to bad weather (fog) during the winter season in India, specially poor visibility over Amritsar and Delhi airports, all Canada/India/Canada flights were rescheduled for the whole period of December,07 and January,08 so as to arrive/depart Amritsar in the afternoon time when there is no problem of poor visibility (fog).
2) On Dec24,07, AI188 departed Toronto at 12:20p.m. instead of 09:15a.m. due to operational reasons. All passengers were offered breakfast vouchers at Toronto airport.
3) At Amritsar, AI188/Dec24,07 had arrived late in the afternoon of Dec25,07,when there was no Air India or any other Airline connection available from Amritsar The first available connection to Delhi was IC882 on Dec26,07. All 30 passengers with onward connections were offered hotel accommodation at Amritsar and connection to Delhi on IC882/Dec26,07 (next day). Only 13 passengers refused to go to hotel and wished to go by surface transport to Delhi airport while others opted to go to the hotel offered by Air India. A bus was arranged from the authorized transporter M/S Nishat and Malwa Bus service with a capacity of 35 to 40 seats to transport them to Delhi.
You will kindly agree with us that there is no VOLVO bus service at Amritsar. The degree of temperature, condition of bumpy roads and the time taken by the bus are beyond human control. Kindly note that during winter season specially during the period of fog, all local drivers are instructed to be more careful while driving on roads specially at night to avoid accidents. The poor visibility and the adverse road condition had forced the driver to drive cautiously and this might have caused additional delay in reaching Delhi.
4) At Delhi airport, when you had contacted the airport personnel, your onward flight to Mumbai was arranged.
In this regard we regret that we are unable to accept liability for compensation,refund, damages, inconvenience, stress, or consequential losses, arising from this delayed flight but, would be pleased to confirm the same to your travel insurance company, if desired by you.
We trust this clarifies Air-India’s standing on the matter and we trust that you will view your past experience in isolation.
Lastly, we would like to thank you for your patronage to choosing Air India and we look forward to welcoming you on board Air India again in the near future.
Sincerely,
Kumar K. Saha
Airport Manager
Toronto
:May 7, 2008
Refund of Air ticket Cost
Ticket No. 0987192081895-896 Arakkal/Antony Air India Flight 144 Newark (EWR)
to Bombay dated April 8, 2008.
0987192081897-898 Arakkal/Bridget
In the worst case, I want to sue Air India and the Travel Agent. If there are many other travelers like me, I want to file a class action law suite. I bought two tickets on April 1, 2008 from
World Travel Agency 1-800-343-0038
Travel Agent Hormal Patel
1-800-343-0038 Ext 132 Hormal Patel.
On April 2, 2008 due to a medical emergency, I told the travel agency to cancel the tickets and refund the money. The travel agent wanted the medical certificate. I faxed the medical certificate. He informed me that he submitted the medical certificate to Air India and Air India would refund the full cost of the tickets due to the medical emergency. I called Air India office at New York. They told me that there would be a cancellation fee of $200 per ticket. They will waive the cancellation fee for medical reasons. On April 16, 2008, I talked to Mr. Sanjay Gupta of Air India. He told me that he did not receive the medical certificate from the travel agent. He made a conference call to Mr. Hormal Patel, the travel agent of World Wide Travel Agency. The travel agent did not submit the medical certificate to Air India. On April 29, 2008 Ms. Usha Chand of World Wide Travel send me an e-mail stating that Mr. Sanjay Gupta told her that he would not refund the cost of the ticket.
I made many calls to Mr. Sanjay Gupta of Air India. His voice mailbox was full. I cannot reach him.
The travel agent promised to refund money. He blamed Air India for the delay. Air India informed me that the travel agent had not sent the refund request. Travel agent promised that he would refund the money. However, he has not refunded the money.
Purchased the ticket on April 1, 2008. ( Proof E ticket dated April 1, 2008.) Cancelled the tickets on April 2, 2008. Travel agent wanted the medical certificate. On April 3, 2008, Dr. Wesley D. Thompson gave me the medical certificate. I faxed the medical certificate to the travel agent on April 3, 2008.
On April 4, 2008, the travel agent acknowledged the receipt of my fax dated April 3, 2008. I am quoting from the e-mail Refund of $ 2773.96 charged to my account by world Wide Travel, “Based on the fax they waive the above fees.”
I want to know is there any written policy related to the refund of the Air ticket. Is there any way I can collect the cost of the ticket with out a lawsuit.
Antony L Arakkal
RR3 Box 611E
Fairfield, Illinois 62837
Info@arakkalinc.com
618-847-5217
618-847-4403
I recently flew from Cochin to Newark. As soon as I checked in, I was told that flight from Cochin to Mumbai is late and I am going to miss my connection from Mumbai and Cochin. And I will have to wait 24 hours.
This happened to my wife who flew a month later. I found that this happened to a lot of passengers. This happens pretty much every day! Air India doesnt care about passengers who are connecting at Mumbai.
I complained at the following website http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm
This US Department of trnsportation web site.
I could not find any complaints against Air India in this website, while I could see complaints against all other major airlines!.. May be we are not complainig at the right place.
There should be a compaign by the affected people against this Air line with these authorities especially US authorities since US Dept of Transportation is a lot stricter agency. Higher the number of complaints, the better
Thanks
Why would you ever fly Air India? If you had just consulted an Indian friend or accomplice, they would have guided you in the right direction i.e. not flying with Air India. I am of Indian origin but that doesn’t make me loyal to a retard organisation which has amassed losses and is only surviving on Indian Tax-payers’ money. In a capitalist economy, the way an organisation learns their lessons is if they lose money – so don’t fly Air India and they might learn a lesson. I personally don’t think so, knowing the inept Govt. officials who are running it and have a comfortable n secure govt. job, regardless of their performance. But hey still for your own sake, do not fly Air India.
My partner was refused boarding on Air India flight 111 from Heathrow to JFK despite having a confirmed reservation because…..
(Drum Roll)
His fully valid British Passport showed he was born in New York and this was considered a security risk.
I’m wondering whether this might constitute a recist act on their behalf.
After reading stuff on this thread I’m very pessimistic at getting the ticket money back. I can say that his seat was empty on the flight out, but on the way back, the seat showing on my reservation was filled by another passenger. So not only had they refused a passenger on extremely flimsy grounds, but they seem also to have resold his “paid for” seat.
I will not be travelling with Air India again – I’ll be persuing my ticket money refund, and I’ll be shouting out about Air India’s racist policies wherever I can.
Deb Connolly
Indian Airlines Cargo SIN No: 058-6405-3485
Air India(Indian Airlines) has broken my new 42 Inches LCD
Hi
I am Nirmal Agnihotri.I have recently shifted my base from Singapore to India Due to my new assignment in Dubai and hence i had a need to transfer all my personnel luggage to my home town that is Lucknow.I booked the Cargo and paid a huge amount to the Cargo Service Provider in Singapore(Superior Cargo).
The Consignment I had booked consisted of two of my huge luggage and one LCD of 42 Inches. The Cargo Service provider (Superior Cargo near Mustafa) had booked my cargo through the INDIAN AIRLINES(AIR INDIA).
I paid the custom that was even a heavy duty and lots of painful process and middleman asking for money just thinking that an expat earns all his day in day out to pay them who are sitting back home guarding the gate just to beg for instead of getting paid by the government. They have not inspected the goods properly and they were more inclined to squeeze my pocket for all the money I had.
As my Father was sick finally I decided to give all whatever they have asked for just to get rid of the delay I was not even given the 25K relaxation which is mentioned at the custom site.
When I reached home and opened my LCD I was surprise to find that it was broken and beyond repairing. The damage was done by the renowned INDIAN AIRLINES(AIR INDIA).So I went to the Cargo Manager for air India in Lucknow (Devender).
The Government office was usual nobody had reached the office accept one clearing boy and it was 11 A.M.After 3 hours of waiting I met him but I was not welcomed and they were thinking that they cant process the claim because i have cleared my goods which were not yet cleared and when i insisted they informed me that the Cargo was poorly packed.I did not have time to fight with them they I informed that one day after I had a flight to dubai and I wont be able to come he told me no sir we can only talk on Monday when Airport manager will be in office.When I asked where is he gone today he told me he did not know it.People are not even at their desk even on working days and working hours.
I paid a huge amount for that and i was surprised that how Indian airlines handles the fragile item they have literally smashed my LCD which is beyond repair now.
By looking at the LCD it can be easily identified that it was poorly managed even after charging a huge amount of money specially to handle the fragile item.
The most important part is that the they were not even willing to take the responsibility or even show their empathy.
Now Presently i am in Dubai and in My hometown no one is there to manage the situation because my father is old and he just got discharged from hospital.
I dont want to trouble him because I myself have seen how welcoming and how attentive is Indian Airlines staff for customers for the service they have rendered. Its more of a Government organization where the employee thinks that nothing can be done to them and they have all the rights (right & wrong both)
I have paid the handling and delivery charges to Indian airlines and customs. All in all i lost around 2 lakh Indian Rupees for the negligence and poorly managed cargo service by Indian Airlines.
Even in the rule on the backside of the clearance form for cargo it has been mentioned as rule number 12 that the damage which is reported within 14 days of the cargo clearance will be processed by the airlines as claim. As per that rule I have submitted the application but nothing has happened to it and now I can’t follow it from Dubai now.
I was helpless so I decided to put this it in an online forum. Please take this as a testimony for Indian Airlines (Air India) to what I have felt and experienced .
I can’t mention my experience in hard words. I have all the documents and relevant people’s name if required as verification to what I have wrote here.
Also it doesn’t matter with whom you book your cargo from please make sure that you happen to check the cargo before getting out of the custom. According to their rule Number 12 they have to entertain the claim within 14 days of the clearance but in my case they even ignored that.
Please take a note that if you happen to book your cargo through Indian Airlines you are surely going to experience this or some of it I can promise with my and my friends experience.They are the most lousy, careless and irresponsible service providers for your valuable goods even the people they employ are all almost illiterate and ill mannered.
My experience is burdened with almost 2 and half lakh Rupees Loss I think nothing can better explain this.
This was my moral responsibility to share my experience to save some one’s loss before that has occurred.
If you need more details please free to email me.
I am leaving it to you.You help me you help yourself.
With regret and sorrow
Thanks
Nirmal
Airline from Hell! No customer service at all! No replies to fax, calls and emails… I was on their flagship flight AI101 from New Delhi to New York. My Baggage was left behind. when called their customer service, the rep said 20% of bags are left behind to make weight on flight even! what????!!! That is 1 in 5 bags! I was advised that the suitcase will be on the next flight to NY and will have it delivered by fedex. That did not happen.. took them 4 days to deliver it. When delivered, items were stolen and suitcase damaged. When I called to address these issues, there was no answer. Absolutely no one to talk to or take a complaint to investigate. There is no answer… and does not appear that they ever will answer.. what is the procedure to file a law suit… there can be a class action law suit against this company. If there is one, please post the details here. There was a report on ABC(NY) regarding this on Air India flights.
I booked 4 tickets long time back to get the confirm ticket to my sector
singapore-New Delhi- Bangalore-Mumbai
My travel agent called me yesterday and says my flight
New Delhi – Bangalore is cancelled
Singapore _New Delhi also going to cancel
I am based in Australia.
Can any one give me the email contacts Please.
Thank you, Marian
I understand that at least under canadian law, we as consumers have some sort of protection from airline screwups. I would suggest any canadians call 1 800 O canada and find out your consumer protection laws in regards to airlines before you travel as I am just about to do. I purchased AI tickets because I really didn’t have a choice as there are only 2 airlines that fly from toronto to amritsar, india. Good luck and may god be with us all
Canadians… here is the gov complaints dept that will look after you. 1 888 222 2592
http://www.cta-otc.gc.ca/cta-otc2000/menu_e.
You must file a complaint with the carrier and give them 30 days to respond. Then you can ask the gov. to step in and they will get your issue resolved in 120 days or less.
http://www.cta-otc.gc.ca/cta-otc2000/menu_e.html
I’ve just recently ran into issues with Air India. I made my ticket open several days before my flight but they have no record of it in their system. However, after calling the call center in Mumbai they had record of it there but not in their Delhi office, the office in which I needed to pay a rebooking charge. Therefore, according to delhi I have to pay a ‘no show’ fee and was charged an additional 200 USD to my ticket fees as well as another 150 to re-book the American Airlines ticket which was not put open like requested. In total I’m at 500 USD extra for this ticket. I have tried to negotiate over the phone with them extensively but to no avail. In total I’ve probably wasted over 24hrs on the phone with them trying to resolve the issue as I’m a student with a low income at the moment. Furthermore, my travel agent called up the call center in Mumbai and call center said that there would be no fee as the ticket was made open. I have visited the Delhi office countless times and they refuse to connect their records to those of their call center. Additionally, I should have been back in the US by now for both job interviews/applications as well as for the election. If fact air india screwed me out of my right to vote. Needless to say I want legal action against Air India. Has anyone tried to take them to court in the US?
I flew Air India E-ticket no 0987201977-553(Ashwani K Gupta) and 0987201977-554(Eva Gupta) on October 18th (DET-JFK(Northwest Airlines) and JFK-DEL(AirIndia)). We faced a lot of trouble at the Detroit airport where the Northwest airlines agent informed us that we could not board the DET-JFK flight since air india had not released the coupons to them. After long discussion with air india supervisor Mr. Vimlesh Kumar over the phone, I was told that since the Air India office in New Delhi was closed the situation could not be resolved except if I purchase new tickets for the DET-JFK segement, and the fare of this will be refunded to us. We proceded to do the same and upon arrival at JFK submitted out reciepts for the new tickets purchased. The supervisor at JFK informed us that the refund will be processed in 4-5 business days. Now 4 weeks later, I have still not recieved the refund. I have contacted theAir IndiaNew York office via email, fax and phone with no response. I think i have no option but to file a lawsuit
I too had a terrible experience with Air India! I’ve never had an airline cancel my flight so close to my departure date into Kolkata/Calcutta … and because of what Air India did, I missed my trip & am out the $3,000 I paid for a tour in eastern India. I’ve never had this kind of bad experience with an airline before ~ stay away from Air India. They are incompetent.
Horrible airlines !! My father and inlaws were supposed to leave by AI 126 on Nov 30. After boarding the plane, they were notified that the plane has technical issues and cannot leave.They were taken to a hotel and told that they will leave in 12 hours. We had no clue about all this since their site is never updated. The customer service agents have absolutely no information and the only reason we learnt about this was becoz my dad was able to call us using another passenger’s cell phone.
We somehow managed to figure out which Holiday Inn they had been transported to and called them. The hotel staff have not been able to locate them and they said Air India usually screws up the last names or passenger information and so they dont have anyone listed with my father’s or in laws last name.
There is absolutely no communication whatsoever.
Is there a place where I can lodge a complaint within the US? We need to lodge sufficient complaints with the US aviation authorities or someone so that they do not allow AI to fly to US. This airline is worthless !!
anoop.mahajan@gmail.com
The Chief Reservation Manager,
Air India
39 C R Avenue, Kolkata
Dear Sir,
Sub: Two Fraudulent Transactions with Air India using my Credit Card Account
This is to bring to your notice that 28th Nov 2008, on my ABN AMRO Credit Card No 5425 0513 0601 4589 two fraudulent transactions took place at Noida near Delhi and both the on purchasing of Indian Airlines tickets. I have enquired with ABN AMRO Bank as well for those two fraudulent transactions which we billed in my Dec 08 Statement of Account.
I am awe struck to find my card has been duly billed for the two fraudulent transactions for Rs. 20,600 and Rs. 10,300.
I am very anxious to know who and how someone could use my card. It is clear case of fraud.
I am requesting you to kindly furnish the details of the tickets. I have already approached to the Hare Street Police Station Kolkata for nabbing the culprits.
Please furnish me with the details of the transactions for onward correspondence with the bank.
Hope you will kindly comply with my request and oblige.
Thanks and Regards,
Asok Sanyal
Standard Chartered Bank (erstwhile American Express Bank)
21, Old Court House Street,
Kolkata
Ph: 033-22223064
Below is a letter detailing my experience with “Scare” India. This airline is not only the WORST airline in terms of scheduled departures and arrivals but it happens to have one of the most INCOMPETENT, retarded on-board flight attendants I have ever come across in all my years of travels. Common sense is simply not part of their equation. Makes you wonder if the people on top at Air India have any brains at all. I am originally from Delhi myself and frankly I am ashamed that this airline attaches the word “INDIA” to their name. It gives all of us a BAD reputation. Anyways….here’s my story to add to the rest….
=========
Dear Sir or Madam:
It’s been about 7 to 10 years since I have flown on board Air India. I gave up on Air India
after continuous delays and issues getting to and from India. I recently flew to and from India
again and wanted to let you know about my experience on board Air India.
First to get you the details of the flight I was on.
Flight No: 101
From Delhi to JFK (New York)
Time of departure from India: 12:30 AM January 1st, 2009
My name: Mathew George
I was traveling with my wife and a 16 month old baby. We had requested a basinet seat
to accomodate the baby but instead got an exit row seat which I was told later should not have
been assigned for people traveling with babies. Anyways, we sat in the assigned seats except
for landing and take off as per the economy class flight attendant’s request. We happened to be
next to the bathroom and so there was a lot of traffic and the baby kept waking up very
irritated and crying. It was uncomfortable for us and for other passengers.
I happened to notice during the flight that there was a lady that went into business
class and remained there. So, I walked over into business class to see if there were any
available seats that I can use for a short time till the baby was fast asleep. I was just about
to sit down when the steward in business class (Mr. K Sarbajana) advised me that I had to return
to the seats that I was assigned in economy class. He also advised the same to the other lady
that had somehow managed to sit in business class for atleast a hour and a half. At the time, I
thought nothing of it. I assumed he was simply doing his job in telling me and her to return to
our seats. I complied and went back right away.
Ten minutes later I noticed that the same steward who had told me to leave the business
class seating came out and invited the other lady back from economy into business class. I
waited half hour to see if she would return and she didn’t. I walked back into business class
and noticed that she was comfortably sleeping in business class. I walked over to Mr. Sarbajana
and asked why there was preferential treatment for some economy passengers and not others. Mr.
Sarbajana became very defensive and spoke very rudely and told me that he didn’t have to answer
me. When I asked him to explain, he brought his supervisor (Mr. A.G Suralkar) to speak to me.
Mr. Suralkar told me that the passenger that had been moved from economy to business class was a
non-fare paying customer and was apparently related to an employee. He told me that a non-fare
paying customer has special benefits apparently and the captain (Captain Amol) had ok’ed this
move. But he could not or rather would not do the same for me and my wife.
I simply cannot understand how a NON-paying customer somehow has more rights and better
seats than a customer that is paying to get on-board Air India. It simply doesn’t sound fair.
I was compliant with Mr. Sarbajana’s request to leave business class area because I felt he was
simply enforcing Air India rules and policies but I frankly CANNOT understand how he can apply
the rules for some passengers and not for others. He told me that it’s the “SYSTEM” and Air
India was at fault apparently in allowing preferential treatment and the captain had been
somehow involved in approving this move. Frankly, the captain never came out and I never spoke
to him so I really don’t know if he was involved in any way. What I do know, however, is that
Mr. Sarbajana pretended to force me and the lady out of business class and then invited her back
in within 10 minues after I had left.
In order to write this complaint, I asked Mr. Saralkar and Sarbajana for their
identification cards so I can note it down. Mr. Saralkar was forthcoming and showed me the ID
right away. Mr. Sarbajana (I hope that is his real name) was again very defensive and very
aggressively said that he would not show his ID and that I was being indecent in asking him for
his ID. I’m not sure if he was lying about his name and therefore did not want to show his ID.
In either case, this situation doesn’t look very well for Air India. It appears that the rules
and policies of Air India are not very sensible and don’t make sense for all passengers.
The airline should either have rules that apply to everyone or have rules that are flexible for
everyone. There is a fundamental sense of fairness that I felt was missing in this situation.
I hope and pray that someone in Air India looks into this matter and sends me a note explaining
what if any disciplinary action was taken against Mr. Saralkar and Sarbajana. I would also like
to know why the rules were flexible for that customer who was allowed into business class
without paying for a business class ticket. Finally, why did Mr. Sarbajana have such a
difficult time showing his ID. Are Air India flight attendants not honest with the passengers?
Are they hiding anything that would cause them to be secretive about their identification?
A quick response to this complaint would assure me that atleast someone at Air India is atleast
bothering to check into this matter. After 7 years of not flying on Air India, I’m sorry to
report that the experience that I had in Air India was not a very good one. The business class
cabin crew was unprofessional and rude. They should not be attending to customers if they are
not up to the task. I will decide on any future flights with Air India based on the response I
get for this letter. I hope Air India carefully looks into this matter. It’s situations like
this that give Air India a bad reputation. It may be time to clear up rules and policies and
put flight attendants on board who are more professional than Mr. Sarbajana.
A response indicating the resolution to the above would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Mathew George
PLEASE DON”T FLY AIR INDIA EVEN IF IT IS THE CHEAPEST!!! IT ONLY ENCOURAGES THEIR BAD SERVICE AND BEHAVIOUR.
It has the worst customer service.
The worst delays.
The worst food.
Retarded management.
OLD AIRCRAFTS
SHADY Security if at all present.
SPEND THE EXTRA 100 bucks to get on another airline. TRUST ME AND EVERYONE ELSE ON THIS WEBSITE. You will be glad you chose another airline.
Hirji Shiyani is talking absolute lies and his comments are a little racist:
“None of the staff were of Indian origin”.
Is that the reason you had bad service?
I personally think this person should get a reality check.
i’ve just begun my process of complaining about and trying to seek a refund after my first and LAST flight on Air India. Wow, i read the reviews prior to purchasing the ticket but i had no idea what a shit show this supposed ‘business’ is. NEVER AGAIN, do not fly this airline, pay the 100/200$ premium and fly ANYONE else. they are terrible and i sincerely hope they will not be around for much longer. TERRIBLE.
Greetings,
I would like to explain the travel details on the below reservation made. Also attached is the extra costs due to what we believe is a glitch in AIR INDIA’s internal processes.
We were travelling for family wedding ceremony losing a valuable day for preparation, and not only adding to further spending, was a very unpleasant and strenuous experience for both Manjeera and Sandeep.
July 16th at around 11:00pm PST:
We have called the AIR INDIA toll free number to reconfirm the ticket, and this was reconfirmed without any problems including the travel from SEA to ORD (United Airways)
July 17th @ 6:30am PST:
Reached the airport with husband (Sandeep Yenireddy – Whose e-ticket receipt attached to the e-mail). Sandeep had no problems checking in from SEA to ORD and through to DELHI.
But when we tried to check Manjeera in, UNITED could not find the ticket in their systems, and while UNITED representatives tried calling the AIR INDIA service division to release the ticket view, the AIR INDIA administration had mentioned “They can see the reservation” but were did not understand how to release the ticket view to UNITED. The AIR INDIA representatives in CHICAGO said that we had to wait until the AIR INDIA – SFO Office opened up to see if they could be able to help.
While we were going through this, I involved Nikki (Mercury Travel – 2GJA/ANB), and were trying to contact AIR INDIA, but had to wait until teh SFO office opened up at 9:30am PST
July 17th @ 9:45am PST:
We all knew that there was no other possible way for us to make the connecting flight (AI126) in Chicago (ORD). While we were stressed about reaching HYD on time, we had to hear another DISAPPOINTING statement from ZAREEN ( Associate at AIR INDIA – SFO office), as she mentioned that we would not only have to figure out and pay our way to Chicago ORD airport, BUT ALSO HAVE TO PAY ADDITIONAL CHARGES TO CHANGE THE TRAVEL ON AIR INDIA (UPGRADE ISSUES) is the ridiculous reasoning by AIR INDIA staff.
THE PROBLEM WAS CAUSED BY AIR INDIA’S INEFFICIENCY, AND NOT DUE TO CUSTOMER’S MISTAKE. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED BY AIR INDIA IMMEDIATELY WITH OUTMOST CARE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE!
July 17th from 10:00am – 4:00pm PST (SEA Airport still)
We were waiting in SEA airport for re-ticketing (while Nikki had spent her valuable time trying to fix the issue), after finally having to spend $327.00 (NOT JUST FOR MANJEERA’S TICKET BUT ALSO SANDEEP’S because I did not leave my wife stranded AT SEATTLE airport, and Sandeep did not leave for CHICAGO. – ANOTHER STATEMENT MADE BY THE AIR INDIA REPRESENTATIVE)
We just did not spend $327.00 for the re-issuing of tickets, we spent on purchasing MANJEERA’s UNITED ticket AGAIN by paying $184.60 at the SEATTLE airport.
We still really want to know what happend to Manjeera’s UNITED ticket from SEA to ORD?????
July 17th @ 4:30pm PST
We are finally on our way to Chicago-ORD, on a stand by flight. We got to Chicago late at 9:30pm or so after being denied accommodation for the night, we had to figure our own stay at COMFORT INN (expense indicated below). We stayed the night in Chicago to travel on AI126 (same flight) on July 18th instead of originally July 17th.
Some of the other key points to NOTE:
- Very visible from the experience and write-up above that AIR INDIA support has not helped a bit, and are not willing to DO anything to make the travel comfortable.
- When we reached Delhi, we had a layover (due to re-ticketing) of 9 hrs to catch a IA flight at 7:00am on July 20th to HYD from Delhi, instead of original travel to HYD on the same AI126 flight all the way to HYD.
- VERY RARELY THAT WE APPRECIATE THE INDIAN EMPLOYEE SERVICE, AND WE RESPECT THE AIR INDIA’S OFFICIALS IN NEW DELHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FOR THE SERVICE AND THE PROFESSIONALISM. I do not remember the names of the gentlemen, but they were our HEROES of the trip. They made it happen by putting us on the same AI126 flight that same night to HYD after listening to our travel experience. They sensed the need and urgency more than any other AIR INDIA service center world wide.
We are now hoping to recover what we spent in excess (not having found anything wrong in what we did). We will also pursue further legal action and escalate the issue as deemed necessary.
WE WISH THAT YOU ATLEAST NOW UNDERSTAND THE SERVICE OFFERED BY AIR INDIA AT A GENERIC LEVEL. Please do not hesitate to contact myself, Nikki (Mercury travels), Zareen included for further clarifications and evidence.
i travelled through your airline on 10 of feb from new delhi to london heathrow. my ticket num is 0982400702746 i booked my ticket from delhi safdarjung office .. my ticket has been booked by MR RAJESH some how by mistake the transaction is made by my two debit card but MR RAJESH VOID ONE TRANSACTION . but still my money has been deducted from both of my account and i didnt get my money back …. TAKE NECCESARY ACTION ABOUT THIS.. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
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