[capetonianm]

Describing Vueling as ‘mediocre’ is an insult to the concept of mediocrity. Iberia are only fractionally less appalling.

I did say don’t get me started!

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DerekVH

[CathayLoyalist2]

In the 3 years I have been flying with Iberia all the above posts are sadly true. It is a damming indictment of any CEO, in this case Walsh and the Iberia CEO, that sits back and counts the cash with little regard for customers. You will find in Spain that many boards of companies like Iberia, Iberdrola (Electricity) and the like are stuffed with old hands and it´s like musical chairs, they move from one trough (boardroom) to another. I will add that my trips on Air Nostrum have been good, clean aircraft , helpful cabin crew etc.

[anyonebutba]

[quote quote=709472]Before the flight is scheduled to depart – if issued on IB ticket stock then it is the responsibility of Iberia to sort the schedule change – and either offer a full refund or suitable alternative flights – even if this means a connection in Madrid. So to bass buck to VY in this case is not acceptable. If issued on VY ticket number then responsibility of VY to sort a new alternative flight – or offer a full refund.[/quote]

Incorrect, having worked at the ticket counter for many years at 3 major airports…the operating carriers rules apply, not the codeshare/ticketing carrier, whilst the ticket should be reissued on 075 stock (IB) if the flt was optg by VY then theyre rules apply in regards to rebooking, so Simon got it spot on, im surprised as travel agent you wouldnt know this tim?

[capetonianm]

I have worked both in the retail travel agency and airline ticket counters. The rules regarding reissuing and rebooking are unclear, inconsistent, poorly understood even by airline staff, and there are variations between what a travel agent can do and what an airline ticket counter can do. A lot of the latter is determined by one-off agreements between the carriers concerned, as in the old days when tickets had to be ‘endorsed’ to another carrier.

I think you’re a bit harsh on Tim!

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cwoodward, MartynSinclair

[SimonS1]

So on the one hand ticketing can be complex when things go wrong, especially when code shares are involved.

On the other hand front line jobs have been dumbed down and you have cheap staff that are poorly trained and see this as a temporary role while finding something better.

Not a great combination.

[capetonianm]

On the other hand front line jobs have been dumbed down and you have cheap staff that are poorly trained

That’s exactly correct, Simon, and is primarily the reason I got out of the industry and took early retirement, as a large part of my job consisted of sorting out the errors that these poorly trained trained ‘cheap’ staff had made, and at one time facing the pax who had been inconvenienced.

The front end systems that these kids were given to use were so dumbed down to be ‘intuitive and foolproof’ that they involved a zero level of knowledge and understanding of airline procedures, codes and so on. They were developed by youngsters fresh out of college who knew all about computer coding and programming but less than sod all about the airline industry.

What was frustrating to older and more experienced people such as myself is that the ‘old’ way of doing things, making direct entries using codes onto a plain screen, was removed in some cases, and in others the trainers had specific instructions only to train using the ‘graphic/intuitive’ modes. The results were often shocking and can be imagined, unfortunately many people have suffered as a result.

Sadly, it meant that a profession I once enjoyed working in became about as interesting as selling stamps at a post office counter and people such as myself are replaced with youngsters who have zero problem solving skills for when ‘computer says no’, even when the computer (interface) is wrong. We were robbed of the tools and authority to override in such situations, and this precisely why customers often get such appalling service.

As someone wiser than I once said : “If you think training is expensive, try the cost of not training.”

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Jacob

[Author]

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