My complaint:
I had a series of very disheartening experiences with Etihad Airways hence I am writing this email to file a complaint and seek compensation for all the losses that I have incurred. This is with regards to my flight: EY 1360 AUH to COCHIN scheduled at 14:20 on the 19th of May, 2023 from Terminal 1 under PNR: QFWXIE
Firstly, when I reached my bus pickup location at Etihad Bus Pickup, as per the booking (EY 5415) and the instructions of the live chat agent on Etihad’s website, I was told that the bus pickup location was changed and there was no way that I could get to the new location before the bus leaves. This change in location was not communicated to me and alternate transportation from Dubai to Abu Dhabi was not provided.
Hence, I had to bear the road taxi fare for approximately 150 km which cost me 200 AED.
My next ordeal started at Abu Dhabi airport where both the Etihad and Air Arabia ticketing staff kept denying my booking, and were directing me to each others counter. I even spoke to the Air Arabia duty manager who informed me that they cannot accept a code share ticket and this was issued for Etihad airways and informed me to take it up with the Etihad counter, but the Etihad ticket staff was not aware of this rule and kept re-directing me back to the Air Arabia counter. After 3 hours of running back and forth between both counters and talking to various staff members from the Etihad boarding counter, ticketing counter, Air Arabia boarding counter, the supervisor and the duty manager, the counters were closed and I was asked to return home. Etihad even denied the existence of my flight despite my friend showing him the availability of the same flight on the official website. What behavior is this if you do not even know the existence of your own flights!
At this point, not only have I lost my time and energy but also ended up spending another 300 AED going back to Dubai from Abu Dhabi.
This level of mismanagement, lack of communication and utter failure to do what was appropriate was extremely appalling to me. In this event, I was not the one who committed the error, it was the airlines and hence it is your legal duty to rectify the error and provide an alternative solution. Instead both parties simply kept denying me my right to travel and kept passing the buck.
Your insistence to stick to rules but not assist me when I had a paid ticket purchased from your website has genuinely cost me so much. It was an extremely stressful, frustrating and disappointing experience and I’ve never before dealt with a situation, where in such a case where I was the innocent party, the airline did not assist me in any which way they could. It if FULLY the responsibility of the airline in this case to accommodate and compensate me as per airline and legal guidelines.
I would like Etihad airways (and Air Arabia, whomever is responsible) to take appropriate measures to resolve this issue and compensate me for the emotional and financial damages I suffered due to your utter lack of internal communications, mismanagement and website error. I am requesting a FULL refund for my missed bus fare and my air ticket of 914.90 AED / 20,638 INR. Additional compensation for my incurred losses would be much appreciated.
I sincerely hope you will empathize with my situation, and compensate me accordingly.
Thanks and regards
Suggested solution:
Requesting for financial compensation as a loss of 919.90 AED was faced. Additional reimbursements or compensations will be appreciated for the emotional damage faced.
