[Resolved]  Jet Airways — Check in problems and misbehavior of Jet staff

Address:

Delhi

Dear Jet Airways Team,

I am writing to you in the capacity of a Jet Airways customer who has been treated by your staff in the most unprofessional and rude manner. I am aware in my professional experience as a Corporate Communications lead of an esteemed organization, that a majority of such customer plight emails are ignored and junked. I still feel compelled by my experience to report this incident ahead of any action that my husband and I would take against Jet.

My husband and I have been flying with Jet and other airlines for many years now and it was shocking for us to experience what we did from an esteemed airline such as yours.

My husband and I had got our Ladakh trip booked with Jet Airways a month ago from 10th to 15th of June. I must admit, it was a relief to be booked on Jet - by no stretch of my imagination, I had expected it to be a nightmare. The flight on 10th June was due to depart at 5am (Flight number 9W 1607) from the T3 terminal in Delhi. Both o[censored]s reported at the terminal at 4.07am and were in the Jet check in queue immediately. For the next 4-5 mins we waited for our turn to the counter – we had 3 passengers ahead o[censored]s until we reached the counter. When we got to the counter, the executive looked for an appropriate seating for us. The regular drill happened and he told us that we could get 2 aisle seats to which I requested for 2 seats together. I don’t know what transpired next but he made a phone call concluding it to inform us that the check in for the flight was closed. At this point in time, the time was 4.17am – I am able to share exact timings with you since that exactly was the bone of contention here.

Being shocked at what the executive said, I asked him to let me speak to the supervisor. I ran to the last counter to then speak to her (lady named Anu Kiran). The supervisor told us that the check in to the said flight was closed 2 mins back and she could do nothing to help us. I showed her my watch and the time (4.16am) to which she said she couldn’t do anything about it. The executive sitting right next to her told me that she had walked across all counters 5 mins back and called for a final check in before closure – now going by the sequence of events and the time, it was impossible for us to have not been around when she called, we had 3 passengers in the queue ahead o[censored]s!! I explained to the Supervisor and told her I could prove the same since I had had a brief exchange with another passenger a while back. Since nothing was being heard till now, I went to the extent of requesting profusely (almost begging) to consider our situation and atleast try once to accommodate us. 2 mins after all didn’t seen all that long to be able to at the least consider such a request. However, all I heard in response to my pleas were a “No” repeatedly with no trace of concern or sympathy.

Infact we were then informed by the aforementioned Supervisor to either run and get ourselves booked right away on the next flight at 5.40am OR they would not accommodate us on that one as well. With the fear of being stranded, we ran to the ticketing counter to only be faced by an extremely lazy, disinterested and rude executive. For the next 5-10mins we struggled to understand and hear the executive on what our options were (there were none!) other than just buying a full fare ticket. It was unbelievable at that early hour in the morning how we were treated by the airline staff of Jet. Considering my next 5 days were blocked and paid for in Ladakh, my options were only limited to buying the full fare seats on the next flight immediately. We had exactly 2-3 mins to think and consider this decision – we had been told by your staff that we would be missing this flight as well unless we bought the ticket RIGHT AWAY. At this point in time, the airport clock showed a time of around 4.30am.

One would think once a decision like this is taken, the trauma would end but barely in this case. The next 10mins for us were spent running from the ticketing counter to the check in counter to be able to get our names in the next flight or else we would miss that one as well. The zero coordination between the two counters, absolute rude and indifferent behaviour of the executives only made it worse. Finally managing everything somehow, I asked your executive at the check in counter how I could report the incident and share my feedback on the experience – the response was clear “Go to the consumer court!”. That was the end of it.

We left Delhi feeling extremely upset on not only the financial damage but also the horrible experience early in the morning at the hands of a so called esteemed airline such as Jet.

In our personal and professional experience till date, through our wide travels, we have never ever had such an experience – not even with a low cost airline! In such a consumer driven environment today, I am amazed how companies could even consider taking us for granted. I don’t know whether it is the over confidence or arrogance but causing such trauma and pain to your clients is not acceptable. I assure you that this has caused irreparable damage to your reputation amongst a group of influential and respected group of individuals.

As my next steps on this, I intend to take action through the media and the consumer court. It was my duty to inform Jet and its management on our experience and intended further action.

Regards
Geetanjali
Ph: [protected]