Goretex, I understand what you're saying..certainly you'd think from EK's attitude in these cases that they couldn't care less if we got return business. However, any good businessman will tell you it costs (I think the figure is) seven times more to entice a new customer, than it does to retain an existing customer.
EK spends a fortune on marketing..without a doubt it has a very effective sponsorship and marketing program. So why the hell do they waste so much of that money when at the operational end we turn the customer away?
You'd have to wonder if it wouldn't be better to spend a bit less on self-promotion, and a bit more on training and retention of good staff. Then the word gets out that you have a good product anyway, and you retain that existing customer base, as well as gain new customers from feedback.
I had dinner by the canal in Venice a few months back. Lovely location, but shocking service, and awful, ridiculously expensive food. The restaurant owner probably didn't care less...I was a tourist, I wouldn't be back anyway, and the next night another sucker would sit in the same seat, thinking "oh, this is a lovely location..." Sound familiar?