Qatar Airways - Quite Awful more like
I'm writing this from the airport - I should have been on a flight 2 hours ago but I'm now waiting for the next one to the UK so I'll use this additional time to vent my spleen about Qatar Airways atrocious policies and customer service.
I booked a return flight to the UK a couple of months ago, on a UK credit card. Nothing too unusual about that I hear you say. Well I just so happened to lose my wallet (with all credit cards, driving license, etc.) last time I was in the UK. There were no issues with leaving the UK without it - I mean, why would there be?
So I try to check in this morning, but the checkin staff say they need my credit card. I say I've lost it. They say they need the number. I say I've lost it. People lose cards. That's why they're made of cheap plastic - because they're replaceable. Nowhere anywhere else in the world with any other airline have I run into this problem. I talk to the supervisor, she gruffly says there's nothing she can do. I talk to the sales counter - they say they need the number, or I can buy a new ticket.
No here's the rub. I'm heading back to the UK to get married. One of the last things I did was send as much money as possible back to the UK because we've got caterers, bands, and bar bills to pay. Anyway - why should I need to buy a new ticket? I've already bought one. They have the receipt. I have the receipt. The system says it's paid for. My identity is confirmed by my passport. I just do not understand why they need the original credit card as well? Seriously, what moron at Qatar Airways thought this one up?
They say maybe they can make an exception if I'm a privilege card member - and I am - but only if I've got silver or gold status. FFS! I'm heading to the UK to get married! I need to be on a flight today! You can make an exception for other people, but not for me?! Qatar Airways has a sh%tload to learn about customer service. I've only been out here a few months and was planning on always travelling to the UK with them - but never again! I'll bet you BA wouldn't dream up this Kafkaesque nightmare.
So I speak to my bank in the UK, and after explaining to them the absurd situation I find out my old credit card number, which I duly present to the sales desk. 'No, no' they say - 'we need the actual card'. Ok, you can imagine I'm pretty annoyed by this time but try to keep it together - after all they're the ones standing in the way of my ticket home. I ask how I'm supposed to present them with a lost credit card, when it's been lost. The very definition of lost means - gone, vanished, disappeared, unobtainable! I don't have it.
More phone calls. Nothing they can do. 'It's not me sir, it's the airline policy'. I get buffeted between the sales team and the checkin desks. No can do. You'd have thought I was asking to fly for free! Or without a passport! Absolutely madness. I can't even phone a friend up and get them to pay - because they need a physical card presented at checkin!
Finally I do some sums and figure out that I have just enough on my debit card and cash to pay for a new ticket. I'm told I can get a refund on the previous one. Minus the no-show fee of course. I am just about to fly into a rage at this point, but what can I do? I need to get home. If I had more money on me, or any other cards (they're waiting for me back in England) I would have told them to get f*&*ed and bought a ticket with BA. So I wring out my pockets and scrape together enough to cover the cost. Not a small sum might I add. Arguing about the refund will have to wait for another day.
Although, in order to get the refund of course I need a letter from my bank, saying they cancelled my card, containing the card number and details about the Qatar Airways transaction in order to prove it wasn't fradulent. I'm sure my bank will laugh me out onto the street with that one. But at least I know you can reason with a UK company.
And so, the saga finally ended and they gratiously allowed me to get on a new flight. 5 star service? Only if those 5 stars stand for amateurish, unprofessional, dismal, bureacratic and total sh*t.
:)
While possibly a giant leap for a non-capitalist, the staffs ability to solve problems is directly related to their work experience, education, training, thus their salary, thus the experience one enjoys at Qatar airways is directly related to cost of ticket prices.
The cost of labor is a major cost for qatar airways, as they employ in the tens of thousands of staff. Ultimately to be competitive, they need to decide the how to manage their labor. Obviously if they doubled the wages they could hire more experienced people and ultimately trust and expect said employees with more advanced problems and allow for more interpretation of the rules.
That would obviously cost more money, and the better experience would be passed on to you the consumer. When you look at the entire picture, website, ticket buying, ground staff, cabin staff, safe arrival to destination, there are places where QA Management makes decisions that effect cost and ultimately ticket prices.
I contend, the point is relevant. :)
I dare say to prove this point, this problem would very likely have been solved in the other terminal, but you get what you pay for.
:)
:)
Jonjavajones,
That explains (a bit) it ;)
Sure it’s funny, especially when you tell your story, out of Qatar.
Here in Qatar, people would just assume that you missed something really big ;)
Be careful with the expiry date of your multi-exit permit. They won’t let you out even if it was expired the previous day!
It won’t be funnier next time ;)
the future. Honestly...who the hell does that? When your ID matches the name on the ticket?? Complete load of crap.
They have a helluva lot to learn about customer service. Make a BIG stink about it back in the UK, write to travel mags (Conde Nast), your local paper...altho customer satisfaction means nothing to them, bad publicity does seem to motivate them into action. I wish you luck!
"Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise."
-- Maya Angelou
May I correct you, you said: "...in fact entirely alien to most of the western world"
and I would add
"...who have never been issued with a work permit in the state of Qatar!"
Sorry man, but your story doesn't make too much sense to me. Maybe I am missing some details!
You are telling me that your employer, supposedly approved your holidays, either bought you the ticket or gave green light for you to buy it, let you go on leave, without issuing you an exit permit?
What kind of employer are you working for, may I ask and you no need to reply!
Not to mention that you were living here and never ever heard of the thing called exit permit which annoys 100% of the expats here?
I booked and paid for ticket for my daughter to visit this morning, QA gave me a seperate sheet of paper, filled out with the details of teh credit card, my details etc and duly stamped as a receipt to send to my daughter, which negates the need for her to have my credit card!
Actually we were talking about ground staff's ability to solve exceptional problems, not about cabin crew's service or cabin comfort and tickets' prices :)
As for the exit permit, anyone working in Qatar knows that you can't exit the country without one (it’s not a letter from the employer, it’s actually processed on line and it shows in the immigration’s computers with no need for a print out).
The only reasons one will be stopped from leaving the country, is if the exit permit was not processed or it has expired.
Nice one about the exit permit..lol
Lucky for mussywill she did not need one of those?..:)
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HE WHO DARES WINS
UkEngQatar -Woo Woo! you too
I have to defend Qatar airways.
Obviously the case of the credit card is unacceptable, and i am sure someone is going to get a big unhappy face over it, if you report it, but I have flown with them about 20 times.
1/2 Cattle Class / 1/2 Business and once First. The business was always wonderful, and the price was OK. Cattle class is always inexpensive, (1000$ direct to osaka, when all other carriers are about 4000$) and i have had a few flight attendants that (like this one particular Korean ****H) who offered abysmal, stuck-up, holier than thou service, the like i have only seen before by American gaydude cabin staff,
BUT my economy experience has been overall on par or better with the best economy flights from the rest of the world, And Qatar is my favorite business carrier to fly so far, The price is pretty darn good.
jonjavajones,
oh for that one my friend, there is no escape!
To me, you can sum up Qatar Airways' respect for customers when you listen to the helpless and hapless Filipinas trying to do the public addresses in the departure concourse.
Most companies would hire an English speaker for such a role, or better yet someone bilingual - English and Arabic.
Qatar Airways instead hires Filipinas who you would struggle to understand when they try to page Westerners (paging Mr Smeeeeth, Mr Smeeeeeeth, yourrrr flight is now ready for boarrrrrdinggggg = Mr Smith...).
I'm often reduced to a giggling fit listening to them stumble over common Qatari surnames, like Muraikhi or Kaabi or Mohannadi.
It's not their fault they can't pronounce these names - they are from Manila, not Mekkah. They are doing their best, but still struggling.
But honestly, why would Qatar Airways hire people so utterly unfit for the job?
Because they are cheap, not because they are suitable.
And it's the same for all their other front line service staff. Most of them seem to be idiots from cultures that don't possess even basic customer service skills, or the ability to think laterally to solve problems.
Perhaps they aren't really idiots, but they are forced to behave that way by company regulations.
But in any case, the service is so often so terrible that it reeks of contempt for your customer, and that's what really shits me.
Hey Jonjavajones Happy Canada Day..matey
On On..:)
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HE WHO DARES WINS
UKEng,
You were educated in that way, that is why some positions in some companies still prefer people with that type of cultural and education background!
Assertiveness is not taught in eastern education systems and not a common feature in eastern cultures!
It's a reality in Qatar; customer focus training won’t be enough to solve the problem!
The root problem is at the very top. They would have to treat it from the CEO and then all the way down the hierarchy!
Wow, That sucks. Glad you got home.
Lusitano, I had about dozen argument with my Boss over the last couple of years in my Job, and some of then have been very heated discussions, when I did not agree with his suggestions. Afterwards we did sit down and discussed our differences and life goes on. Now he respects my decision more than in the beginning when I used to just take his suggestions submissively.
Guess I have no fear of making my opinions known even to my superiors, thats the way I have worked our the years, to stand up for the right thing irrespect of whom you are confronting.
Anyway getting back to the QA staff, I think they really need to send them of customer focuss training.
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HE WHO DARES WINS
UKEng,
LOL... the other day I said that and all of the sudden I had a few citizens from India looking at me with an awkward face. I had to explain what I meant, just like you did here.
The reality is a fact, and it’s well known that nationals behave with national traits. Their culture and education, conditions and limits them to behave in a certain submissive way. Clearly there are differences between western cultures & educations and eastern cultures & educations, regardless the race or ethnic background of the individual.
In the west we are educated to challenge even our superiors, to ask questions, to always try to find better solutions to the existent ones and develop a problem solving ability out of the box. In the east, it’s a different reality.
This is just a simple explanation, but there are many cultural studies by several published authors, that have reached these conclusions.
Qatar is an interesting cultural behavior study case!
Lusitano, I think you hit the nail on the head. Could have not agreed more to what you have said, definately the culture of being submissive is too much in Qatar, no one dares to challenge their superior "Mudeer"..
Like they say "too many cheifs not enough Indians" but here there are too many Indians disguised as cheifs? (Indians here are not Indians from the sub-continent, so don't jump to the conclusion, the term Indians here is being referred to as submissive staff, who can be from any asian country).
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HE WHO DARES WINS
UkEngQatar,
The reasons for such inability are:
- Cultural - most of the concerned come from national cultures that teach them to be total submissive to hierarchy and they are afraid to challenge their superiors or systems. Assertiveness and Empowerment are totally absent.
- Mismanagement of QA - the corporate culture does not allow feedback from bottom up. A fear culture is installed and employees are afraid of bring up problems to the attention of their management. The management of their operation systems are clearly not up to date. They don't benchmark their services against other airlines that provided genuine 5 star services to all passengers.
- Qatar's reality- "who cares" approach - nobody really cares about anything. All people want from Qatar is to get their salaries and leave back to their homes as soon as it’s viable to them. The Locals are not enough and are also not motivated to genuinely pursue excellence! The wealth of this country is not a direct result of good work or good service, it pours out of the surface of their territory on a daily basis, regardless how good and how bad things are in reality.
The need to impress and to show off is also cultural but it’s a huge farce as it’s applied selectively. It does fool many at least fro the first time, but the 5 star mask does fall easily and too often!
Lusitano.. I have had my share of run downs with this unprofessional and anti customer service QA check in staff at Doha Airport. They just don't have skills to deal with passengers. In my Opinion it because that most of the Passengers into and out of the Airport are probably Labour class who really don't argue..
I remember last year when we were travelling I had made an online booking with all the family of four sitting together, when I got to Airport they were trying to issue us seats in different places, to which I said no. just because their stupid online system allows the joinin passengers more right of choosing seats as they start their journey before the Doha passengers travelling to London. After almost an hours wait they finally did allow us to sit together but that was after I had to speak to God knows how many supervisors.
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HE WHO DARES WINS
UkEngQatar,
Most of us have noticed that!
Its not the rule that is being discussed here, is the total inability to solve the exceptions!
Not everywhere, the credit card is asked, including Qatar Airways in Heathrow!!!!
Let’s face it, the ground staff at Doha International airport do not have the personal and professional traits to deal with exceptions. Being castrated by the strictness of the airline does not help either!
All they will do is to repeat the rule and if you try to discuss a solution they will ask you to write a report to QA.
They are almost like programmed robots:
10 IF Problem, then repeat rule
20 ELSE, GO TO 30
30 IF not accepted, then suggest customer to write a report.
this summarizes the ability for problem solving of QA ground staff at Doha International Airport. Not always being the case of the QA ground staff at other international airports.
baldrick2dogs,
It already happened to me.
They will ask for the credit card right at gate!
Have nice trip to Sri Lanka Balders...
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HE WHO DARES WINS
Paying By Credit Card
If you are purchasing your ticket with a credit card on www.qatarairways.com, the credit card owner needs to be part of the traveling party. Credit card details are held in a secured environment and transferred through an internationally accepted system. We accept three major credits cards: Visa, Master, and Diners Club.
The credit card used for payment needs to be presented at time of check-in. Qatar Airways reserves the right to deny boarding or collect a guarantee payment (in cash or from another credit card) if the card originally used for the purchase cannot be presented by the cardholder at check-in or when collecting the tickets.
I think it is very clear, All Airlines do this, I had similar issues with Ryanair and was deneid boading and had to purchase a new Ticket.
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HE WHO DARES WINS
Interesting update on this situation:
Previous tickets I bought online were unable to do complete online check in as the card had to be presented, meaning you had to go to the desk for your boarding pass.
Last night I went to online check in for a ticket bought online using my credit card. I was able to print my boarding pass and went to the bag drop and I'm currently sat in the lounge without showing my credit card once!!!!
Methinks either something is amiss, or they VERY recently changed their system.
Mussywill,
First of all congrats for your wedding and glad that you made it safe and on time back home!
I totally understand the feeling; it is always an incredible relief and joy every time the plane takes off from Doha!
What you said summarizes the reasons why Qatar Airways are unable to provide answers to the majority of the problems they encounter at the airport:
"You guys should get out of Doha and see how the rest of the world operates. It may come as a revelation.
...
And the big issue is that there was no one at the airport able to overrule this policy. And all the QA staff were unable or unwilling to find someone who could."
The culture (total,blind and fearful submission to hierarchy) of the majority of the airline's ground staff, the strict policies, the lack of staff assertive and with authority to take decisions on the spot, the lack of vision and lack of benchmarking with the competitors and the usual chaos at Doha Airport, are the ingredients for such pathetic and substandard service Qatar Airways offers on the ground at the Doha International Airport!
dont fly QA .. always have some form of bullshit they throw at u ... take Emirates .. so much better from ground to air ... airport and aircraft and all that.. none of this QA shit ..
Yes, absolutely right, fubar. I also had my BA Visa compromised and was issued another with a different number. The nice BA ladies in New York just smiled and said "no problem" when I explained the discrepancy. Actually, the ONLY time I've ever been questioned was when I was traveling on a one-way ticket.
Mandi
lookin' out to brighten up your future? choose EMIRATES, your number one solution...!
What crap, QA.
Normal, well run airlines only require the credit card to be presented if the name on the card DOESN'T matcht the name on the ticket.
Good to know the idiocy is alive and well at QA.
Had my personal credit card compromised so had to use husband's...he had to accompany me TO the ticket counter with his credit card in hand so I could check in!! AND I AM a gold member!!!
I've never had that with BA...they don't require that you have the same credit card with you when you check in...
Mussywill...we DO get out of Qatar enough, but we also have BEEN here long enough to realize that there's not much you can do when no one is willing or able to think outside the box. Its the glitches that make life interesting...somewhere down the road you will laugh at this...but probably not for a very LONG time...
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the main difference between a dog and man.
-Mark Twain-
thanks for all your support - the important thing is that I'm home now. Thank god.
To the posters who say this is there policy and just deal with it - well yes, I did see the message saying you need to present your credit card at check in but at no point before arriving at the airport did I think that Qatar Airways would be completely unable to deal with a situation where a customer lost the card they used.
You guys should get out of Doha and see how the rest of the world operates. It may come as a revelation.
It doesn't prevent any kind of fraud. What probably happened is that someone bought tickets with a stolen card (but the thief would have it in his possession so could check in!) and suddenly QA had to do something about fraud. They don't understand about business so just came up with this rule, which will only affect genuine customers, but at least they can say to senior management that they're doing something about fraud!
And the big issue is that there was no one at the airport able to overule this policy. And all the QA staff were unable or unwilling to find someone who could.
A credit card is not a form of ID - someone needs to tell these guys that. That's what a passport is for!
Sorry to hear about all your trouble. Kudos for staying cool. I wouldn't have been able to. Just one question. Which kind of fraud is this lame rule actually supposed to prevent? I don't get it. Can someone explain that to me?
Cheers...
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough...
I fly alot with QA and put up with all this because once you are in the air, things are great. But have anything out of the ordinary occur and you are in trouble.
I agree with the previous poster that no one at the airport can likewise solve your problem since they are not authorized to make decisions that are against "policy".
I have had my credit card checked for every flight that I have taken on QA when I fly from Doha...but never at any other airport. And I have never been asked for a credit card by any other airline anywhere else in the world.
This is simple a QA "mind fart" that we all have to work around. An easy way to avoid this issue is to get your tickets from a travel agent but that costs you about 50QR.
I lost my paper tickets to QA last year and when I appeared to have them replaced, they told me that I had to have a letter from the police saying that they were lost or stolen. (like the principal author here, I was in the computer) Since I lost them on an island in Indonesia that had no police, I put my head to the problem, went to the lounge and got a wrinkle piece of paper and scribbled out a note saying that it had been investigated and signed it with an imaginary Indonesian sounding name and returned to the ticket counter. I had no further problems.
Loose your mind and find your heart.
if they inform you before, it's all about how they deal with a problem as a '5 star airline'. In todays world there is no excuse for keeping somebody waiting and expecting the CUSTOMER to book another flight just because their system has nothing in place to deal with this sort of event.
He has said in the post how he went to great lenghs to prove the card was his.
They are crap.
Oh by the way to the racist above who said; blame it on the brits and caucasians who heads (VPs) most of the department in QA.
These peopple follow the moronic rules of the owners.
Also, the ground staff ( who are not white or caucasian)are incapable of thinking out of the box.
Yes, there has to be rules but anywhere else they would have got round it.
_________________________________________________
Man makes plans...............God smiles ;-)
at check-in but then when I get to the airport nobody EVER asks for it.
Big Bummer.
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
With all these self proclaimed 5 star rating, one would wonder why these kind of half star services existed. I have travelled QA many times and, yes, they insist on presentation of credit card upon check in, in which I obediently oblight with. Other airlines did not request such thing.
I agree with 'stealth.' Better deal with it in the UK. The people you spoke to in Doha are hopeless. All you have to present is your passport. What have they got to do with 'another' physical proof of payment when you're booking is in the computer system anyway?
Every single airline I have flown has this policy regarding credit card ticket booking. I have never been asked to present a credit card, but hey, I'm fully aware that I may be asked to, so I carry the particular card when I travel.
Quit complaining and next time read the requirements on your e-ticket. They're in bold or normal print, not even fine print.
You should have checked with the airline regarding you lost credit card before traveling.
You can't teach experience...
Qatar airways is utter garbage. 5-star airline my ass.
I refuse to fly with them anymore. They are crap.
_________________________________________________
Man makes plans...............God smiles ;-)
beaurocratic bull$hit
It's my understanding that the credit card used to purchase the ticket is required by ALL airlines if the ticket is purchased on-line. That's why we pay by cash if we book a ticket for a third party. But the annoying thing is that this rule is selectively enforced and once the question is raised, the employees at QR are unable/unwilling to exercise any judgment. Sorry for your troubles and congrats on both your marriage and your cool behavior.
Mandi
yes, it is one of stupid policies of QA! if you booked your ticket on-line you should have seen it written there in bold letters if im not mistaken. No matter how stupid it is, patronizing their service means you agree w/ the terms & conditions. Maybe if you had affidavit of lost or something frm your bank before you check-in it could have saved you all this trouble. On QA side, yes they should have someone there to make an exception in cases like yours...but i think they dont.
[img_assist|nid=21401|title=Adjust, Adopt & Overcome|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=180|height=135]
Thank God, I don't have a credit card!
It happened to me too.
In the UK, they will allow you to board the flight, in Doha, they go by the book (can't think out of the box).
In a similar situation as yours, I had no choice but to buy a new ticket at the airport and then later on, when I presented the missing credit card, they reimbursed it to me.
Still the mystery remains why in the UK and Qatar the procedure changes even if it’s the same airline!
This is their rule.. Clearly written..
Last time I bought the ticket for the wife using my card and left the card with her when I came back early, so that she could show it at the counter.. Its supposed to stop fraud and protect the individual.
Having said that, this case is unusual and since he had the passport with the correct name etc... A senior person should have been able to make an exception..
My Italian friend who lived in Qatar bought a ticket for his son, online and forwarded it to him. His son wasn't allowed to board the plane because he didn't have the actual card with him. He explained that the ticket was sent to him by his father and it still didn't work with them.
I personally don't think its necessary to present the card, UNLESS they really suspect something. But aside that, when I want to buy a ticket for my friend who is visiting me, do I send them my credit card by courier to assure their arrival :) ???
Lame ..
printed my boarding passes at home.
They also wanted to see the credit card with which I bought the ticket online when I wanted to check in my luggage at the fast bag drop counters.
However an interesting thing would be to know, if you only have carry-on luggage, would they still want to see your credit card when they scan your boarding pass at the gate to your flight...
If not, that would have been an option in your case. Just don't know what you would have done with your checked luggage, though.
The future is made of the same stuff as the present - Simone Weil.
Sorry to hear about your ordeal - I've never known them to check how a ticket has been paid for! You simply give your ticket and your passport, and that's it!! My friends flew back to UK recently as well, on Emirates though via Dubai, and they had no issue of having to show the credit card they bought their tickets with ... That's insane, I'm sure it's last thing you need when you're flying back to get married! I don't know what I'd do.
I don't recall ever having to show my credit card for a flight checkin.... even when I've bought tickets either directly from the travel agent or online.
May be there have been changes recenty as to they want to verify if the person flying is the same person who swiped the card...dosen't make any sense to me i dont think they should bother as long as it has been paid.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
Oh wow. that sucks. i'm sorry to hear that. you're probably still at the airport. i feel like passing by and buying you a coffee to cheer you up.
I think it is to do with this top-down micromanagement where the staff don't have the autonomy to look after unusual scenarios as they arise because the 'management' control every little procedure. Very sadly they leave it that there is no option but to scream and shout and, frankly, be rude.
Making exceptions for silver and gold privilege club - well, that's QA through and through - but not sorting out an actual problem. Like you say, can't reason with them.
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"let's slip out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini" Mae West
write a direct compaint to the CEO including the names of the staff that dealt with you. File a suit in UK since you have bought tkt from there.
If you still have time then take a written statement from Qatar Airways for the reason of you not being allowed into the flight...
The 'usual' policy is that if you've used your own credit card, i.e. your name on it ofc, then presenting the damn card is not required.
A suspicious situation would be when someone else has booked the ticket for you. In such a case they usually ask you for the card number or sometimes insist the card holder must be present with you.
For a refund they probably are always extra cautious esp. in your case where they would probably have to give you cash as the original card is not available. If the original were present, they'd just swipe the card and put the money back to it. Well this is usually how it used to be when I used to fly from the USA to Doha.
AFAIK Emirates also doesn't require presenting the card used for booking at the time of check-in.
Seriously, what moron at Qatar Airways thought this one up?
blame it on the brits and caucasians who heads (VPs) most of the department in QA