[traveldoc1]

Turkish are great when things go according to plan, but if there’s a problem…beware! They wash their hands of the issues and are completely unhelpful. I was delayed in Delhi. TK re-routed me and “assured” me we would make the new connection – even though the new departure time suggested not. Sure enough, on arrival in Istanbul I had missed the connection, and at that point I had to have a major protest at the TK desk who dimly did not want to know. My wife also had a delay – she and the other business class passengers were put on a bus for a one hour journey to a lousy hotel where they all refused to stay, so one hour back in the bus to the airport.
All that being said, flew BKK-LHR and then GVA-KUL with them earlier this month and they were excellent.

[seasonedtraveller]

As previously stated on this topic, I have decided to stop using TK due in the main, to frankly, appalling levels of ‘customer care’.
The final straw was my recent dealings with Mr Very Angry (below)

My (family included) last flight with TK was early June & I will run through the experience which has left me in no doubt that I made the right decision. I’m sure it’s no big loss to TK.

I have zero status with TK but hold Gold with 2 Star carriers and BA Gold.

1) Booking x 4 pax confirmed – MAN to IST, IST to ANT, ANT to NEV return in Y class.
2) 4 weeks before the flight, TK anounce schedule change & I have to call them (they don’t call me) – I call them to be told we will now miss the ANT to NEV connection – A very angry man actually shouts at me when I ask him what TK propose to do about the missed connection – “We don’t offer hotel, we don’t offer food, you can have refund” – I tell him a refund is useless and to please tell me what TK ARE going to do as opposed to what they WONT do. Conversation results in angry man yelling “you want me to change ticket or not?” at some point in the conversation he actually tells me “I don’t care what happens, it’s not my problem” (you couldn’t make this up…)
3) 2 weeks later – Having now paid for a hotel and car rental in ANT another txt from TK – schedule change – call us….
4) much less angry person at TK this time however their suggestion that we fly from IST to ANT, stay in ANT for 6-7 hours then fly back to the 2nd airport in Istanbul, Sabiah Gocken, wait 3 hours and finally to NEV is frankly ludicrous. I ask for alternatives and am told to call back next day because the office is closing!
5) Finally we arrive at a solution which requires an overnight stay in Istanbul at my expense (nothing whatsoever offered from TK).
6)Boarding at MAN was like a rugby scrum, priority boarding announcement was made but completely ignored by passengers and staff. The outbound from MAN is extremely cramped & as we couldn’t check in online – we are given seats well away from each other. Half way up the aircraft, they ran out of meat dishes, only pasta was available – take it or leave it – no apology offered.

7) Arriving at IST the next day, my wife is not allowed in the domestic lounge despite my Star Gold….. I did not bother to argue with the rude lounge dragons & left.

8) On the return from NEV to IST, we had checked in online & were in possesion of 4 mobile boarding passes – Row 8, all seated together with 1 across the aisle.
Arrive at airport to find complete bedlam, pushing, shoving, queue jumping & no one from TK taking control.No business or ‘Star’ check in available, no bag drop available.

9) I am handed 4 new boarding cards – guess what, 3 different rows, all at the back, not seated together – when I query this and show her the mobile boarding passes I simply get the classic shrug of the shoulders and she moves on to the next person… when I push her for an answer, she decides she can no longer speak English so I surprise her, and ask her again but this time, in Turkish – she simply ignores me 😉

10) Connecting at IST to MAN, the so called fast track moves slower than regular, no one is managing the situation, the people in front & behind my family have short connections are getting very angry and it’s really not a nice atmosphere.
Finally from behing me, the shouting raises someone in authority who guides us, without a word spoken, to another part of the airport, completely unsigned, and we are through security within minutes and directly into the lounge – very strange.

The flight back to MAN was uneventful even though people talked continously throughout the safety demonstration and the cabin crew did nothing. People jumped out of their seats as the aircraft taxied to the gate – again, nothing was said….

I noted an article from the CEO in the latest TK magazine saying something along the lines of “our staff make a real difference, we/they go beyond the call of duty to look after our customers for 100% satisfaction”

Sir, I have a simple message for you – “Think again”

[Charles-P]

LATEST DEVELOPMENT

Out of the blue email that makes no reference to any of the previous emails, phone calls or letters. This states that Turkish Airlines is “devastated” to learn of my unhappiness and that its is “working towards providing our esteemed passengers a superior level of service” ! They are it seems looking forward to an “additional opportunity to prove you, that Turkish Airlines is a reliable Airline to its customers’ satisfaction.” This will be difficult as I will not be using them again.

I called them (premium rate Turkish phone line, no other numbers available) and after the usual long wait got through to today’s moron.

After repeated and prolonged BS the answer is clear, yes we got it wrong but we are certainly not going to admit it in writing, if you sue us it will have to be done in Turkey and good luck with that !

From my side the interview with the Turkish newspaper was completed but I’m not sure it will ever be printed (seems the government doesn’t like criticism of Turkish Airlines) and I have today instructed my solicitor in Geneva to get the ball rolling for a claim in Turkey against the CEO personally. I don’t expect to win but I do expect to get his attention.

[WillieWelsh]

Just had an excellent experience of TK flying EDI-IST-ECN and return. One of the bags didn’t make the 55 minute transfer at IST on the way out but it was delivered to our villa four hours later with massive apologies and two bottles of wine! That’s service.

[Charles-P]

SETTLEMENT OFFERED

As promised I can now update the community here with the latest in my saga of complaint with Turkish Airlines, I have just received a call from my lawyer in Turkey who tells me they are offering a settlement. Refund of ticket, one business class return to Istanbul from Brussels and points to my Star Alliance account but no admittance of error or any confirmation that what I stated happened was true.

I am deciding what to do as the alternative is a full court case in Istanbul that will take time and further investment in legal fees.

[MrMichael]

Charles, I think if I were you I might accept. I know you are angry and have every right to be. However, is more stress on a case in a Turkish court really worth it. The girl was ok in the end thank god, so maybe take the offer, give the free tickets to your greatest enemy & close the case.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ Charles-P – 07/10/2014 13:19 GMT

Out of curiosity, is it only to you that TK are making this offer or have they extended it to all those similarly misled (okay, lied to) and inconvenienced? If not the latter, why not suggest it to them (TK) as an alternative to your pursuing the case through the courts? That way, you will have achieved both an actual and a distinctly moral victory.

[Charles-P]

‘AnthonyDunn’ – what an excellent idea, I had not considered that. Thank you.

I am in touch with two of the other passengers who were on the same flight, I will call them and see how far their claims have progressed. I am more than happy to give up the offer of their free ticket as I never intend to use them again.

[Chardie]

I see cash strapped TK are sponsoring by beloved Chelsea to the tune of 18 Million GBP a season. Well TK wont be getting my business until they sort out their customer service.

http://www.footyheadlines.com/2014/09/chelsea-to-sign-turkish-airlines-kit.html

[AnthonyDunn]

@ Chardie – 08/10/2014 10:25 GMT

It was the sight of Aeroflot sponsorship of United that has finally killed a relationship with Old Trafford that almost dates as far back as the Munich tragedy. As if the Glazer’s forcibly purchasing my shares wasn’t bad enough….

[Chardie]

@ AnthonyDunn – 08/10/2014 10:30 GMT

Edited my post to reflect I meant TK will not be getting my business.

Come on you blues!

[ConstantFlyer]

Have travelled extensively on TK in the last couple of years due to work in the Caucasus, North Africa and Central Asia. Connections have generally worked well. IST is not the best transit airport, but it is not the worst either. I speak a bit of Turkish, which has helped smooth potential difficulties. I had to grit my teeth when flying on them during the sponsorship of Man Utd; but if they are now sponsoring Chelsea, I’m outta there. Do airlines not realise the danger of sports sponsorship?: Putting more people off the business than you attract!

[TheCount]

TK cant cope with anything going wrong, true. But they are the best way to reach non-hub airports in Africa. As a place to connect, IST is worse than Amsterdam or Zurich but much better than ADD or NBO. Plus it has a giant lounge that personally I enjoy. I dont even mind long haul biz class on a 737 900. I can barely understand flight attendants’ English and question their ability to evacuate a plane full of non-Turks but the food is okay. What concerns me more are claims on the internet of poor flight crew skills, sometimes non-existent command of English and frequent incidents.

[Anonymous]

[business traveller]

9th January 2015
Flight from Oman to Dublin, via Istanbul for myself, my wife, twins Harry and Louisa (aged 12) daughter Zoe, (aged 11) and daughter iseult (aged 6)

First leg from Oman to Istanbul scheduled to leave at 0250hrs — delayed, left 4 ½ hours late
arrived in Istanbul after 1200hrs

Arrived Istanbul Ataturk airport
The airline say the flight landed at 1207hrs but we didn't leave aircraft until approx 1230hrs Flight very full and we had seats at back. last people off plane

We went straight to the gate for our connecting flight as quickly as we could.

Long delays in security

Got to gate but it was closed.

Went to transfer desk, with 5 other people that had missed the flight.

They said they wouldn’t transfer our tickets because we had over an hour from landing time to catch the connection flight time which left at at 1315. We had therefore no tickets for onward travel.

They claim our flight landed at 1207hrs (but it was later and certainly we couldn't get off the plane until about 1225hrs)

We told staff on the flight and in the security queue we had an imminent connection flight but were told they couldn't get us to front of queues

The Turkish Airlines transfer desk said we were not eligible for onward flight and they wouldn't put us on a connection. They said we should go to the ticket office in the departures hall and buy 6 new tickets or possibly pay a penalty fee.

To get from the arrivals hall to the Turkish Airlines booking office in the departures hall meant going out through the passport barriers which involved a one off fee of $25 for a visa to enter Turkey.

After this long journey, our phones batteries were dead and there was no wifi available. We couldn't contact anyone to dispute this ticket cancelation and no Turkish Airlines management were available. Turkish Airlines Staff we encountered were without exception rude and most barely spoke English.

Abandoned by Turkish Airlines , we were now stuck in Aturturk Aiport. We didn't have much money on us, and were unsure
a). how much we would need to get new flights to Ireland for 6 people
and
b). How much money we had in our accounts that we could actually put on the table.

My wife Fiona, was given all our passports, tickets, and money and having bought a visa, went through passport control alone. She found the Turkish Airlines ticket office and had a long protracted and very unhelpful and unsympathetic time there but was told we would need approx euros 800 for the penalty fee to get new tickets to get the family home.

We couldn’t pay for this there and then, but Fiona managed to buy one ticket for €160 for a 1315hrs flight the following day. With this ticket, she could at least reenter the airport and be reunited with the rest of us.
She was told that the remainder of the 800 euros had to be paid by 10pm that night or the costs would rise to euros 3200.

Without buying this one ticket she would have been unable to rejoin us in the transit area and we would have been abandoned with no tickets, no passports and no means of contact with the outside world.

Fiona was away for nearly five hours before she managed to get back in to join us. In that time the 5 of us were unsure whether we would ever see her, our passports or dear old Ireland ever again. Personally, this was one of the most frightening experience I have ever had. The children were very shaky and it was an anxious time for us all.

While Fiona was trying to get tickets, i was trying in vain to get advice, help or acknowledgement from anyone on our side of the passport control. Unfortunately, neither the airport police, the laughably named Turkish Airlines Care Desk, nor the airport management itself were interested, able to help, in the least sympathetic or even remotely polite. I asked the police to contact our embassies but they said only if we were arrested, so i actually considered getting arrested. But Ive seen Midnight Express.

We used some money to buy a phone card and called my parents for assistance. We were given my fathers credit card number and Fiona returned to the Ticket office at about 9-30pm but was told by a deeply unpleasant Turkish Airlines member that she couldn't use a card to buy the ticket if both the card holders and the card were not there in person.

She returned and i then bought new tickets for the remainder of the family online for a flight out on the 0730hrs flight to Dublin on the first available flight with 5 spaces on Sunday morning. This set me back another 4150 Turkish Lira (I am waiting for an exact figure but approx euros 1700)

The six of us had a very expensive stay in the airport, where all food was at a premium price, there was nowhere to recharge mobile phones and the cost of calls from public phone boxes was very expensive. Hotel accommodation in the airport was outrageously expensive and costed on an hourly basis. We didn't have enough cash / money after buying the tickets to get visas to leave the airport so the four children and us were stuck in the airport for two nights. Separated from our luggage, the six of us spent over euros 350 on toiletries, food, water, phone calls and internet usage.

There were no beds or shower facilities, the toilets were disgusting and memories of the film The Terminal, where Tom Hanks is stuck in an airport terminal for a year, kept emerging.

The hours dragged on.

Fiona caught her flight the next day (10 January 2015) and after 43 hours in the airport the rest of us flew out to Dublin at 0730hrs on the 11th). Our flights were uneventful.

Our luggage arrived OK and at Dublin airport we met up. Fiona had overnighted near the airport and met us at about 1100 on Sunday morning .

Turkish Airlines should be penalised for allowing this to happen and we should not be out of pocket for this. We made every effort to reach the connection flight but could not have made it under those circumstances.

There were also knock on costs of retaining farm help and house minding for the extra 2 days we were delayed.

Review courtesy of Seatplans.com. Original review by user 187411 can be found here

[Author]

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