[Anonymous]

[UAEtraveller]

I recently purchased a ticket on the abrupt advice of the ticketing officer in Cairo airport, for a friend who was ex-emirates staff. She was on a subload ticket, and as we couldn’t get on the day before (even though there were seats available, they only wanted revenue tickets), he told us that we should buy a full fare so she was guaranteed to get on. Before I handed over my credit card, I asked that if she was able to use her SRC ticket, would I get a refund. He clearly stated that I would, but only at Dubai airport as he did not have the facilities there to refund. Little did I know that he hadn’t even bothered to check the load, because as soon as we arrived at the check in counter, the staff there told her they could check her on straight away with no problem. I then mentioned that his colleague had insisted I buy a full price ticket and if he knew how I could refund it. I was again given the answer that it would be no problem to receive an immediate refund once I get to Dubai airport.

As you could imagine, I was thoroughly upset when I got to Dubai and was told that I could only receive a refund in Cairo, and that I should go back there. After explaining that I am not from there, and have no intention of returning, the lady told me I had to go to the Dnata building on Sheikh Zayed Rd.

The following day, I arrived at the Dnata building, to be again told, that no, they couldn’t do a refund there either, I had to go to Cairo. Explaining my situation, they said that they had to email Cairo, ask for permission to refund the ticket, and also send an email to their customer affairs to investigate the refund.

After being lied to in Cairo airport, and still in complete limbo to where my refund situation is, I am receiving an email every other day with someone from the Head Office in Dubai that is giving no solution or apology to the way I have been treated and sent around to different offices with no success.

I do not see the issue of refunding a ticket, that was forcefully suggested by an extremely rude member of staff, with the promise of an easy refund by more than 3 different employees.

As an Emirati woman, this is my national airline and I am so appalled at the way i have been treated. I am reluctant to fly Emirates again for the way I was treated in Cairo and at Dubai Airport by Emirates staff.

It has been 3 weeks, and I am still waiting.

[JohnT123]

Hi UAETraveller,

I have also flown to Cairo for a short holiday with Emirates. The staff in Cairo airport, especially a particular male staff that was behind the desk in the ticketing office, was extremely rude and unfriendly. I can sympathize with you, and also felt like I didn’t want to fly with Emirates again after that encounter.

From your story, I can see Emirates at fault, as I have also been lied to and turned down by their staff, before they bothered finding out details or facts of my situation. However, it is not often that they acknowledge their errors. It seems from an Emirates ground staff point of view “The customer is always wrong”

[been_around_the_world]

let me get this straight…… your complaining because your friend had to buy a full face ticket?????? i mean come on, join the rest of the world, your friend is “ex ek staff” and should be happy that their “src” (service related concession, which is a free ticket, you only have to pay taxes) is still valid even after resigning. i understand you are not happy about the fact you were lied to but at the end of the day, your friend was not accepted because of a cargo embargo the day before obviously, not because the staff didn’t feel like it I’m sure, and could have checked the loads themselves by calling reservations which is what any other ex staff would do. emirates is also not the national airline for the uae i think you will find etihad is……… sorry if this post sounds rude but its complaints like this that will ruin staff travel for the rest of the world!

[SamClose]

First of all, if Emirates isn’t a UAE airline (the NATION of the UAE), then which nation are they a carrier for?? Secondly, it’s obvious that you are an Emirates employee, and are so quick to judgement and defense on their behalf, that you have simply missed the point of UAETravllers story. I believe she is upset because she didn’t need to use the full fare ticket, not that she had to pay it. Read above for clarification.

Also, the other point of her post is that she has been lied to regarding refund. That is also the subject header. Regarding cargo embargo – if they are accepting revenue tickets, then why can’t they also accept these src tickets? It’s the same amount of weight, just a different ticket?

I take it that you have also not been to Cairo terminal. I can understand the frustration from this airport, but I assume you are cabin crew and have never actually been through this airport. You seem to just be worried about your staff concessions than anything else, but I really don’t think complaining about receiving a refund from a ticket that a refund was promised, is going to “ruin staff travel for the rest of the world”. That’s a little dramatic and on the micro-scale of things.

Emirates makes millions of dollars a year, seeing that their staff don’t lie full paying revenue ticket holders could keep that profit stable. Also, acknowledging when your companies staff has made an error is an invaluable lesson to every company, regardless of trade.

[capetonianm]

Emirates are very good at service in the air, very good at taking your money, but their ticket office and ground handling is nothing short of a disgrace. This is one of a number of reasons I will not fly with them again, even if they offer a convenient routing.

If you purchased a oneway ticket it is almost certainly an unrestricted fare type and fully refundable. The refund can be processed anywhere in accordance with standard airline ticket procedures, and to tell you that you have to go back to CAI is absurd.

However, if the coupon was drawn, or if in E-ticket terms, the coupon status was changed from ‘O’, this being the only status that allows a refund, to anything else such as A,C,F, or L, then it may be more difficult to obtain a refund. You may wish to find out what the coupon status is and you will then be on firmer ground. If it has been changed from ‘O’ and your friend did not fly on the ticket, then you need to find out why.

[GarethForster1]

I must say I have always found Emirates an exceptional airline both in the air and on the ground. A year ago my Father took ill, the day before we were due to fly. Myself and the rest of the family left for the airport and did not have a chance to cancel dads ticket until we got to Dubai. We then went on line to cancel even after the first sector should have been flown. Within a few days the refund appeared in our bank account minus the £100 admin fee, which is fair enough. No questions asked, not referred to our insurance company, just the usual exceptional customer service from Emirates. We do however always book on line at emirates.com. I think this is a much easier way and i guess it would be more complicated to obtain a refund if you book through ticket offices or third party travel agents

[SimonS1]

Sam Close – re Emirates ownership, the structure of the UAE is that the airline is owned by Govt of Dubai as opposed to the federal govt. I certaintly wouldn’t describe Emirates as THE national airline of UAE as there are others like Etihad and even RAK Airways who are equally ‘national’.

Presumably the reason they did not accept the SRC ticket is they had fare paying cargo they could take, however for a full fare ticket they could have left cargo behind and still generated some revenue.

I do think it’s a bit underhand of Emirates to say they can’t do the refund in Dubai, but then again all airlines pull these stunts (someone was saying the other day that BA offices outside your home country will refuse to assist you). Either way a letter to the Tuesday consumer column in the Gulf News usually gets a result in such circumstances.

I have flown around 15 times with Emirates this year and not had an issue, equally I tend to buy non refundable tickets so haven’t been in this position.

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