Businesstraveller
1st Jul 2014, 09:51
I'm wondering if others have had below par experiences at the hands of the Lufthansa Service Centre at Frankfurt Airport?
I had a connecting flight (all Lufthansa) there on Monday, for which the arrival/departure gap was 55 minutes. The inbound flight was on time, however:
1. the buses took 15 minutes to get to the aircraft; and
2. Frankfurt makes you go through security again, which wasted another 10 minutes - even when using the 'First & Business' queue.
After this lot I missed the connection, despite running all the way. So I went to one of the Lufthansa Service Centres in Terminal A to get transferred to the next connecting flight. It took the lady at the desk several phone calls, a few consultations with colleagues and 20 minutes before she would accept that I had done all I could to make the connection and that it was the unavoidable delays on the ground that created the problem. Initially she was evidently contemplating charging me for a new connecting flight.
That was my first gripe. The second was that when I enquired if I would get a meal voucher as I was now delayed by 2.5hrs, she replied that the flight was on time, so I wasn't entitled to anything! When I pointed out that it was Lufthansa's appointed ground handling agents who caused the delay and as such it was Lufthansa's responsibility (I assume) she then consulted colleagues again and made a further phone call. After this she (clearly) begrudgingly gave me a voucher.
We parted amicably and I was polite throughout, but I was fuming with the attitude of the lady at the desk, which was clearly based on the premise that I was the guilty party and that I was entitled to nothing.
I'd be curious to know if others have had a 'budget airline' customer service experience from a (supposedly) 'world class airline'? If so, have you received an apology/gesture of goodwill upon raising this with the airline?
I had a connecting flight (all Lufthansa) there on Monday, for which the arrival/departure gap was 55 minutes. The inbound flight was on time, however:
1. the buses took 15 minutes to get to the aircraft; and
2. Frankfurt makes you go through security again, which wasted another 10 minutes - even when using the 'First & Business' queue.
After this lot I missed the connection, despite running all the way. So I went to one of the Lufthansa Service Centres in Terminal A to get transferred to the next connecting flight. It took the lady at the desk several phone calls, a few consultations with colleagues and 20 minutes before she would accept that I had done all I could to make the connection and that it was the unavoidable delays on the ground that created the problem. Initially she was evidently contemplating charging me for a new connecting flight.
That was my first gripe. The second was that when I enquired if I would get a meal voucher as I was now delayed by 2.5hrs, she replied that the flight was on time, so I wasn't entitled to anything! When I pointed out that it was Lufthansa's appointed ground handling agents who caused the delay and as such it was Lufthansa's responsibility (I assume) she then consulted colleagues again and made a further phone call. After this she (clearly) begrudgingly gave me a voucher.
We parted amicably and I was polite throughout, but I was fuming with the attitude of the lady at the desk, which was clearly based on the premise that I was the guilty party and that I was entitled to nothing.
I'd be curious to know if others have had a 'budget airline' customer service experience from a (supposedly) 'world class airline'? If so, have you received an apology/gesture of goodwill upon raising this with the airline?