Emirates Airlines Customer Service is a Joke

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  • Mitch288
    Participant

    I am surprised that Emirates Airlines is rated so highly.
    I am guessing these awards are paid for.
    How can you be rated so highly when there is no customer service line?
    I have submitted two complaints regarding the level of service in Business class from Houston to Bahrain, through Dubai.
    One complaint was because I received no service (none at all) on the flight from Dubai to Bahrain until I asked for some 30 min before landing. The service from Houston to Dubai was also mediocre at best.
    The second complaint was that my flights back from Bahrain were changed by the airlines and getting them corrected was a complete nightmare.
    I submitted the complaints by email and online a month ago. I have yet to receive a response other than an email with case number saying the matter is being investigated. I tried to follow up on what the latest status is and I can’t get a hold of anyone. There is no number for customer affairs. You can only write to them by email. And no one responds to the email. The comical part is that the email says to refer to my case number in future communications but there is no one to communicate with. This has been the worst business class experience I have ever had.
    I would think a minimum requirement for a “5 star airlines” would be having a customer service department that is readily available.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    For those who are willing to overlook the immorality and hypocrisy of the way the Emirate and its airline is run, it’s a superficially good airline and offers ‘cheap’ fares because it has the capacity and power to undercut others.
    It is when things go wrong that the reality becomes apparent.


    AJDC
    Participant

    Yes, the ratings are paid for and yes there is no consistency of service.
    I recently flew EK from NYC to New Zealand in business and back. Only the Dubai to NYC leg was any good.
    Their prices might be competitive in coach, but I find they are just the same as any other airline for premium cabins.
    Sorry to hear that there is no response from them.


    Flightlevel
    Participant

    I think there was a response -legally, because an item mentioned from a news report in the US was cleared from there within 24 hours and BT wisely cleared the report here too?
    Understandable if an airline doesn’t respect its critics and is not from a democracy.
    Doesn’t improve an airline’s reputation and believe BA has stopped distibuting the Daily Mail for similar reasons?


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    I use Emirates from MXP to JFK as I don’t like the US airlines, it’s very convenient for me as they send a car to collect me for each leg and they are half the price of LX/LH without the bother of having to change plane in ZRH or FRA.

    However, no way is their first class as polished as Swiss or Lufthansa. No car or escort to the plane and no lounge at JFK as they refurbish the current one. Not even able to use another lounge unless I pay. I just get a $40 voucher which doesn’t buy much at JFK!


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    [quote quote=853609]I just get a $40 voucher which doesn’t buy much at JFK![/quote]

    Just to correct the above, I got a $55 voucher and my colleague in Business a $40 voucher. A small starter, a burger each, 2 glasses of wine and a bottle of water came to $125 and that was before the tip. Pretty cheapskatish of EK but then as I said, I paid a third of what I would have had to pay Swiss.


    Cleancabinair
    Participant

    Sadly Emirates Management seem to care less about their customers than the crews who I find on the whole to be quite good. However as soon as something goes wrong their customer complaint process is hopeless ! Even as a premium member of Skywards for nearly 16 years I found that getting responses from customer service similar to extracting blood from a stone! Customer representatives are not provided with the discretion to respond to complaints or even acknowledge them and have to be referred upwards to a management member who then ignore the issue as they will be held accountable to their superiors! Each and every Emirates staff member is scrutiny. As most are expatriate staff in their Middle Eastern operations, and therefore are dispensable by the airline! Thus nobody will ‘stir the pot’!


    JPNU
    Participant

    I just want to echo what Cleancabinair has already said. That is spot on and describes my experience exactly.That style of management is typical of the the region.


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=855684]I just want to echo what Cleancabinair has already said. That is spot on and describes my experience exactly.That style of management is typical of the the region.[/quote]

    True.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    I’m not doubting anyone’s experiences here, but I had cause to call Emirates 3 times in the last two weeks. On each occasion I received fast, efficient help which resolved my problems. One concerned a car which did not arrive in NY. Within 15 minutes they had arranged another car for me, but said I’d have to pay and they would reimburse me. Halfway to JFK the driver took a call and told me the matter is settled and Emirates will pay him directly. I was impressed by that.

    Maybe I was lucky I don’t know, I do know however they handled things far better than Swiss did for my son who had a 7 hour wait at Zurich due to a cancelled flight, were very unhelpful, and all they offered him was a CHF 6.50 drink and sandwich!

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