[SwissExPat]

I have had the dreaded task of calling Iberia and am really struggling.

They changed the time of one of my flights next week and therefore a connection cannot be made in time.

The sent me an email informing me of this and under the “Manage My Booking” section of the website, I could either change to other flights OR obtain a full refund. However, the “obtain a refund” was not accompanied by a button to click, but an instruction to Call the central reservaton line on +35 3 818 46 2000

This I have attempted 5-6 times already and after the recorded message asking you for “what you want to do” using a voice recognition software, the person asks if I want to have a “text message sent to me so so i can make my booking”, the line goes dead.

I am actually now thinking that I may actually have to go to the airport to visit the Iberia ticket desk to get to speak to anyone.

I also contacted Iberia via Facebook social media and actually got a response from someone via Messenger. The asked for my booking number etc which looked positive. I provide this and explaind my situation (i.e wanting to cancel the ticket follwing thie flight change). I then received the following…

“””. We are truly sorry to inform you that from the social network side we do not deal with cancellations directy. We only offer information. The call centre might be experiecing a high volume of calls. Please, note that they are opened 24 Hours a day Monday to Sunday. In addtion, we forward you the link with the reservations telephone numbers in other countries . Please, select the country that you are in adn you will find your local reservations team. https://www.iberia.com/us/contact/. Thank you. Kind regards…..””””

I also tried the number in my local country but it had the same recorded message (as per the Spanish number).

Anyone any idea.. My first flight on the itinerary is due this coming Saturday.

1 user thanked author for this post.

sparkyflier

[ViajeroUK]

One thing about the number listed, +35 is not the country code for Spain, it is +34. There is an Iberia Plus number listed on their website as +34 91 523 6570. You probably already know that Iberia are not known for their customer services.

1 user thanked author for this post.

sparkyflier

[Globe_trotter]

I’m based in Madrid and fly with Iberia relatively frequently; I’ve found trying to contact their “customer service” number in Spain at weekends virtually impossible but less of a hassle during the week. The last time I flew with Iberia Express (which is managed as a separate operation) I did actually have to go to Madrid airport since the problem needed resolving on a Sunday and their “customer service” number was permanently busy with callers not allowed to wait.

As ViajeroUK has noted, the number you quote with a +353 country code is that for Iberia’s Ireland office and the website doesn’t show an option for resolving problems at an airport (unlike for Madrid where you can go to Terminal 4) so I would either keep trying by ‘phone during the week or, if convenient, go to the airport during a time when when Iberia is checking in a flight so that at least you’ll know there will be someone to talk to.

[SwissExPat]

Thanks for the feedback.

I eventually tried the USA number (when it was 1000Hrs in Europe…. so early in the USA day). I managed to speak to an agent after getting through the voice recognition software (after 2-3 attempts.. If I clearly said “New Booking” rather than “New Reservation” or “Reservation Change”…. I got through to an Agent).

What followed was the most bizarre conversation I have ever had with an Airline.

Iberia changed my inbound to Madrid flight by 5 minutes (yes…five). This change prompted their system to alert me that my connection time in Madrid was now insufficient to make my connection. Hence, they were inviting me to

A] select different flights [and there was an online mechanism to do this where I could search for flights on the same or other days. This system was actually quite efficient] or

B] Opt for a full refund of the booking [but this option did not come with an easy button to click…. I had to call the reservation number].

After looking at the flight options under A, I decided that the waits and arrival times etc did not suit so I would look for the refund.
I gave the Agent my booking reference and explained what I wanted. He said that due to there only being a 5 minute change that I was not entitled to a refund. The line then went dead.

My second attempt got through to another agent (after the voice recognition fiasco) and they said exactly the same. I said that on my manage my booking screen, their system was offering me 2 options and I was opting for the second one. He said he would need to log in to my booking (assume this was using the web system like I did) to see if he could see what I was saying was real.

5 to 10 minutes later he was back and asked if I really did not want the later flight departing 4 hours later. I said option B would be what I wanted. He then gave me a reference number and said the fare would be refunded within 10 days.

It is hard to see anyone actually making this up.

[miningguy]

I went through this misery almost exactly a year ago when flying in J from LHR to Santo Domingo. It was a trip of cancelled flights and lost bags. I would be more then happy to select new/replacement flights online but this seems impossible – the queue times for customer service are just ridiculous (compared to all my recent experiences with KLM’s Gold Line which is fantastic).

3 users thanked author for this post.

sparkyflier, Jacob, Tom Otley

[sparkyflier]

SwissExPat I entirely empathize with you. I have been through a similar experience with Iberia last September. I am sorry to hear this and it seems IB simply does not want to learn or improve.

I was on a not that complicated itinerary on short haul flights, but there was an error in the booking which I wanted to query/get corrected. It was simply impossible to speak with someone, with either the call being dropped or the truly useless voice activation system telling me to go to the website.

I tried dozens of times and it took hours. In the end I went to Barcelona airport super early (missing an hour of being in that great city) to find out they had no sales/ticket desk there any more. The check-in woman was able to give me some peace of mind but not total.

The whole experience was very stressful and took much time.

Interesting that miningguy took IB J to Santo Domingo. I was thinking of going to there/and or San Juan in the coming months, but thanks to my experience with IB as a Oneworld Emerald and in Business, I simply do not have ANY confidence or trust IB to not make the trip very stressful and indeed accountable for any service they proport to offer.

They have put me off them and I would not choose them for long haul and although on LHR routes they offer nice A330/350 on some flights, I have booked BA operated flights on a future booking as I simply do not want to need IB customer service or their website.

On a slightly separate note, while their inflight food is pretty good IMO, their crew is a very mixed bag and on my last flight in Business, the crew were it seemed adamant that that cabin that day was going to be an utterly joyless experience for all.

Any business that makes it difficult to contact them and has no intention of being accountable in my opinion should never be trusted and indeed are not worthy of custom.

Interesting to hear from miningguy about KL’s customer service. It seems that should I go to Santo Domingo AF/KL would be my preferred option.

I do however worry that BA are “leaning from” Iberia with them being more difficult to reach these days..

[CathayLoyalist2]

All to sadly familiar. Over an 18 month period flying ALC to SIN via MAD and HKG , return, IB managed to lose my bag on 4 out of 5 occasions on the last sector MAD-ALC. I know this becuase on each occasion CX tracked the bag from SIN to HKG and then on to MAD. Useless customer service and forget talking to anyone. As far as IB is concerned they appear to regard customers as irrelevant. By contrast Air Nostrum, a sister IB company, were excellent.

[Author]

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