[canucklad]

Exact same thing happened to me AD.

I had a 2.5hr layover at IST on my original HKG – EDI booking.
To be informed later that they had rescheduled the flights and there was now a 6 hour wait at Ataturk.

As it turned out, thank god they changed it, especially with all the comments here, about how they manage incidents etc.

Comically they “Lost” their 777 at HKG. Departure should have been 23.25; we all looked out the window at a vacant gate as the bewitching hour approached. Enquiring at the desk as to why the delay, I got the bemused answer “It’s here somewhere “. Eventually it tugged up and an hour and a bit later we were on our way. Still none the wiser as to why an aircraft that had landed on time 5-6 hours earlier disappeared into the Chep Lap Kok evening.

And now for the truly bizarre arrival. After a nice enough flight we landed late and then in true CDG style taxied and taxied and taxied and taxied until we finally arrived outside their maintenance hangar, I’m sure that if there wasn’t an aircraft already parked in the hanger we probably would have ended up under cover of the roof.
From touchdown to terminal must have taken an hour! So the 6 hour layover soon evaporated into just enough time to buy some Turkish Delight !
.

[Tirana1]

I have flown TK intensively over the past 12 months, for want of any alternative on a certain route. I am now TK Elite Plus. I loathe the experience of flying TK. It is perfectly commonplace to be shouted at by TK staff at IST, or just lied to as to whether a flight is available/ seat change available etc Boarding of flights is never managed efficiently, the lounge is over crowded and extremely noisy. More seriously, over-loading of hand luggage and failure to administer safety briefings properly suggests a lax attitude to safety. The whiff of cigarette smoke from the cockpit suggests cabin crew attitudes to safety are shared by flight crew. In every interaction with me, TK have convinced me they simply do not care one jot about what the customer thinks, or very much about safety – and there has been a lot of interaction. I am well aware of the cultural issues that can be in play but the contrasting experience with Aeroflot flying to the same far flung destination suggests these can be overcome with management focus and training.

[Charles-P]

Update

It’s now been two weeks since I registered my complaint with Turkish and no meaningful response has been received from them. Emails have gone unanswered, telephone messages are not returned, my letter sent via FedEx to their HQ has been ignored. On the positive side, last week my telling of my experience persuaded a business contact to book with another airline so I have had the satisfaction of knowing I have cost them money albeit only a little.

I will update the forum if Turkish Airlines decide to ever respond.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ Charles-P – 19/05/2014 12:36 GMT

No idea where you are based but being a NW London resident, I turned up at THY’s London office to sort out the problems arising from their scheduling changes. This is found at Lyric House, 149 Hammersmith Road, London W14 OQL, weekday opening hours: 09:30-12:30 & 13:30-17:30, telephone: 084 4800 6666. It’s not that far from Hammersmith Broadway/tube.

Of course, you shouldn’t need to present yourself at all in order to get a response.

[canucklad]

Months later, flights taken and i’ve still not recieved a reply. and thats from a letter sent to the CEO.

An airline that believes its own hype. Just because your endorsed by some top notch sports stars doesn’t mean you’re the real deal.

I get the imprission they have the arrogance of a top sports star but not the ability to deliver.

Next year its going to be Qatars gain and TK’s loss

[Charles-P]

AnthonyDunn – thank you for the thought but I am rarely in London anymore.

I have emailed them, called them (twice) and written a letter. Short of sending a brass band it’s difficult to know what can be done to get their attention. If, as I suspect the quantity of complaints they are currently receiving is overwhelming the systems there I doubt I will get a response anytime soon.

What I have found most surprising is how common my experience with them seems to be, other contributors to the BT forum have listed similar problems as have clients of mine in Turkey and elsewhere.

This is clearly an airline with a major customer services issue, maybe less money spent on footballers and more spent on staff would be a start ?

[AnthonyDunn]

@ Charles-P – 19/05/2014 13:38 GMT

Indeed. I for one have never exactly been that swayed by celebrity endorsements – and least of all by footballers.

[Charles-P]

Better than footballer’s wives I suppose

I remember the proposed endorsement by Wayne Rooney’s wife of Ryanair. Seems that O’Leary came to his senses just in time for that one !

[seasonedtraveller]

I only have 1 more trip involving TK which is a multi sector trip within Turkey originating at MAN – I have decided that I will not use them again following this trip.

TK have now made a total of 4 schedule changes over the past 4 weeks, to this trip in One case suggesting I fly from IST to Antalya then turn around 8 hours later and head back to IST again instead of flying direct from Antalya to my onward destination (which is what I had booked).
I get a text telling me to call them – why the hell can’t they call me??
Dealing with them is bloody awful and an experience which I simply do not want to go through again and yet, I have to!

I’m sure the loss of my families business will mean Zero to such a large organization but, ‘its goodbye from me”

[Charles-P]

‘seasonedtraveller’ – frankly since this debacle began for me and I have begun to discuss it with others I have heard more and more stories about the appalling customer service of Turkish Airlines. Last week I was in Dubai and overheard somebody talking about how they had lost his luggage for three weeks and it was only the intervention of a friend at Istanbul airport who works for the security company there that resulted in the cases being returned to him.

As I said in my original post it is how an airline deals with a passenger when things go wrong that is judged by. I am still awaiting a reply to my complaint, my letters, phone calls and emails have all been ignored however in a month from now I will be having dinner with a journalist from a Turkish newspaper, I feel a rant coming on 🙂

[seasonedtraveller]

So, Mrs Seasoned called TK again today since I am travelling and, at our expense (calling a +90 number) spoke to a “very pleasant lady” who eventually rebooked us on the original flight sectors that had been ‘schedule changed’ twice???? Make sense of that if you can…. meanwhile, cancelled car hire just cost me €100 & cancelled hotel at Antalya airport, another €200.
Just booked a last minute hotel at IST…another €210…
Thank you TK – I am now almost €600 out of pocket because of your schedule changes.
Lesson now learned.
ST

[Charles-P]

Latest Developments

Got through to the “Customer Line” today (16 minute wait) and was told that my complaint was receiving the “highest level of attention” and I should expect a reply “immediately”. After pushing him I was told that “immediately” in reality was likely to be “about a week”. Clearly the flexible attitude to time that Turkish Airlines displays in its flight scheduling is repeated in other parts of the organisation.

In the meanwhile I have looked at alternatives to Turkish Airlines for a forthcoming trip to Ankara and have found an excellent offer from KLM in Business Class, only Euro 134 more than Turkish Airlines.

[MrMichael]

The interesting thing about this thread is the seeming inability of Turkish to sort out problems even at their home base. Another thread going at the moment is on the subject of how well airlines sort out problems. Turkish not mentioned in it!

The comments on Turkish reminds me a little of the old Air Jamaica, an airline now gone bust but certainly reading this it could be the very same. Their inability to realise that their existence is not to exist, but to serve customers and thus get revenue. Their absolute commitment to running an airline and not letting fare paying pax interfere with the running of it.

I have never flown Turkish, and going by this thread never likely to.

[TominScotland]

Charles-P – KLM looks good but, I think, involves a cross city transfer to Sabiha Gökçen Airport for the onward flight with Pegasus. I have never done that but have read horror stories about the transfer…….

[Charles-P]

LATEST DEVELOPMENT

Called again today to chase (they never call me) and was told they had spoken to the ground staff in both Belgium and Turkey and none of what I had told them was true so they regarded the matter as closed. Their tone changed somewhat when I mentioned I had been asked to document my experiences for the Hürriyet newspaper in Turkey.

Now they are thinking about it and I am promised a response “very soon”

[Author]

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