Bad treatment by Air India, easy to change logo harder to change DNA
Flight to Milan canceled: "If you don't like the solution we propose you can cancel and we'll refund you (...and you stay in Australia)"
Air India
Star Alliance
SYD
India
Right now they are in Australia (and it's already October 30), to be precise I'm in Sydney As I have written in several articles and as I have recounted in several social posts. I arrived in Melbourne after two flights aboard Air India. as I have already reported on TFC's social media and as I will soon tell about on the youtube channel.
In this article:
Tomorrow, October 31, I am supposed to go home. I use the conditional because in the past few days I received the unfortunate notification that the November 1 flight from New Deli to Milan Malpensa was canceled and I was automatically rerouted to the next day's flight, i.e., November 2.
Small (sad) summary
On Saturday, October 26, I received via app notification, whatsapp message and by e-mail the news that my flight AI137 had been canceled, and shortly after automatic re-routing on the first available flight on the same route, that is, the next day with arrival exactly 24 h later.
Basically between when we land and when we leave again. there will be just under 40 hours to spend in India. Since the New Deli stopover is not exactly comparable to Singapore or Doha it is implausible that Marika and I, with Bete who is 10 years old, can camp for 2 days in louge no "human being" has thought to contact us to offer us accommodation, much less anyone has bothered to ask us if we have a Visa To enter India.
All Air India fails
About the not-so-secondary issue of the visa I have already written, but the more sympathetic things are other.
In the email I am invited to access the site to see other possible protections, obviously the link leads to nothing. I can access the reservation through my PNR, however. the site also can't move forward because it crashes on the outbound flight (which we have already completed).
Today, Oct. 29, I am able to get in touch with Air India customer service. On the Australian number. After about 20 minutes of waiting I am able to speak with an assistant. After identifying me, asking the standard questions and reconstructing my itinerary I am able to explain my need: the morning of Nov. 2, I absolutely must be in London, I have a flight from Milan to England.
The Nov. 1 flight to Milan is the only one to be canceled, all other flights to Air India's European destinations such as London, Frankfurt and Paris are regularly operating.
After waiting for another 10 minutes the AI person in charge comes back to the phone and proposes:
- Maintain the received reprotection, with 40h layover in New Deli
- Leave the next day from Melbourne so that you do not have to spend two days in the capital of India
- Cancel flight and get a refund
Of course, option 3 is almost an insult since I'm 20 hours from home, where Air India took me and where I really need to get back from. Option 1/2 does not solve my problem Main that is, arriving before the 2nd evening in Milan.
I respond to these proposals by asking to be re-routed to any of the European destinations, obviously preferring London, but accepting any alternative destination, Offering to pay for the return flight to Milan out of my own pocket..
I am again put on hold and the attendant, increasingly annoyed, reiterates to me that it is not possible to fly me to a country other than that of the original destination and Milan is the only Italian destination of the national airline that in a few days will merge with Vistara, there is also no possible protection through a Star Alliance carrier or partner.
At this point I begin to get nervous and point out that we are 3 business class passengers, that we are Gold Star Alliance, and that the inconvenience to us is no small matter, I then ask to speak to a supervisor and ZAK. He drops the line. He basically hung up on me, stuff not even in the worst call centers in Caracas.
I wait 15 minutes, Air India has my phone number and the attendant verified it in identification, maybe it just dropped the line and she will call me back.
I then begin the rigmarole again: I call back, wait, a new attendant answers, I identify myself, and like Groundhog Day we start from scratch.
I then propose to advance the departure by one day, but unfortunately there are no business class seats on today's flight (Oct. 30), the attendant is much more understanding this time, but even he tells me that he has no other possible solution and that for accommodation and visa I will have support from the staff at the airport.
Obviously this is the case in which having an insurance That covers you for unexpected expenses, extra costs, room and board is crucial, I will of course try to get everything I am entitled to also because of the protections of my Amex Platinum.
In conclusion
I am well aware that the airline is not responsible if you miss a flight that is on a separate PNR, what I do not understand, however, is how it is possible that Air India, a carrier that wants to win back millions of passengers can treat its customers this way, especially since there are so many vacant seats on alternative flights.
The rudeness of the first attendant, closing the conversation like that doesn't happen even with the worst low-cost companies, no kind of attention to the customer, no kind of empathy, How can you tell 3 passengers over 16 thousand miles away from home, "If you don't like it, we'll cancel the ticket!!!"
