| Address: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad |
To
Authorities
Indigo Airlines
I would like to bring to your attention, the following incident that took place on Sunday[protected], at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
1. I am a New Zealand Citizen but am a person of Indian origin. I visited Hyderabad, India – staying approximately 4 weeks there. My return flight with Qatar Airways was booked on 22.1.2023 which was co-shared by Indigo from Hyderabad to Doha.
2. My flight number is 6E168, with booking ref: 6RSZP3 and E-TKT: [protected] Boarded at Gate 24B, Zone 2, Seat 13D.
3. I was at the check-in counter with my baggage @1430 hrs for departure timed @1705hrs.
4. When I went to the counter to check in my baggage (one suitcase and one carton box), the first passenger service assistant proceeded to weigh my luggage. I was told that it was 2kg overweight. It was suggested to me that I should remove the excess 2kg from the suitcase and move it to my cabin bag. At the same time, the assistant told me that my cabin bag did not meet their requirements and said, “We cannot allow you to take this bag onto the aircraft as this is not a cabin bag.”
5. I was shocked and informed the passenger service assistant that I had arrived with the same bag, with the same airline, and was departing with the same bag.
6. Without addressing what I had informed him, he responded roughly by asking me to “move aside and sort out [my] bag.”
7. Once again, I informed him that my family had left the airport and asked for a suggestion of where I could find another bag that met their requirements.
8. To this, he rudely responded, “I don’t know, it’s not my problem. We can’t let you go, ” and once again instructed me to move aside.
9. With shock and helplessness, I requested the assistant for a solution, but he gestures with his hand for me to move aside.
10. With no assistance being given to me, I had to move a considerable distance away from the counter to access the phone, to call my family who had already left the airport premises, requesting them to bring another cabin bag that fits the requirement.
11. During this time, a considerable amount of time was lost as I waited for my family who had already traveled halfway home. However, they were able to bring another bag, and I was able to reshuffle my luggage into the new cabin bag which fit the requirements.
12. I went back to the counter @1615 hrs for my flight @ 1705 hrs.
13. Seeing me walking to the counter, a second passenger assistant began to yell at me saying to hurry up and that I was coming late. To this, I responded, “I don’t whether you saw me, but I was here earlier.”
14. At the checkout desk, I encountered a third passenger assistant, who was not aware of the prior situation that I had at the desk. He once again began processing my luggage. While doing so, he did not put a ‘fragile sticker’ on one of the check-in pieces. This time, he told me that I had excess luggage in my cabin bag.
15. I explained the prior situation, and also stated that I was willing to pay for the excess weight in my cabin bag.
16. As I was talking to the third passenger assistant, two further passenger assistants intervened, one of them asserted that I can't come at 4:00 pm to check in and pay for excess baggage and insisted that I empty the entire contents of the cabin bag at the counter to weigh the empty bag.
17. I partially acquiesced and emptied as much of the contents as I could and refused to empty the remaining contents that were in my bag, as they were personal articles of clothing (my undergarments), and because there were only male staff present at the counter. Instead, the same assistant stepped into my personal space, murmuring something under his breath, while agitatedly insisting that I empty the entire contents of the bag.
18. I felt very embarrassed, harassed, and demeaned in front of staff and other passengers at the counter. Furthermore, I felt that it was inappropriate and unnecessary as I had already emptied the excess weight.
19. The stress caused me to break down, yet I still refused to empty the remaining contents. I commented that my treatment was very “inhuman”.
20. To this, the assistant responded, “Do you want me to show you what inhuman look like? I want you to stay here, empty the rest of the contents, and then go.” I once again refused and walked to the security check.
21. I refused, packed my belongings, and passed through to the security check with the help of a porter.
22. At the gate, a sixth passenger assistant stopped me, and asked me, “Who let you in? this is not a cabin bag.” I responded, “They allowed me at the check-in desk.”
24. Instead of letting go, he insisted that I wait. By this time, I was traumatized by another passenger assistant telling me that the new bag I had was not a cabin bag. I waited, but eventually inquired, “What [is] going on? Are you letting me board the plane or not?”
25. Finally, the same assistant allowed me to board the plane.
26. However, upon reaching my destination, the piece, which was not labeled ‘fragile’, did not arrive with me.
The overall experience with your staff was appalling and traumatic. Passengers pay premium amounts for travel services, which include customer service. Additionally, when I offered for services to mitigate the problem, I was refused and I engaged a third-party service to deal with the issue. Please take this as my formal complaint to you. I urge you to take the necessary and appropriate actions to deal with this incident, so this does not happen to anyone else moving forward. I will also be seeking legal advice on this matter, but look forward to hearing what you have to say about this.
IndiGo customer support has been notified about the posted complaint.
Thank you for writing in. Please know that we are sharing this with our concerned team to look into this.
Also, we sincerely request you to reach out to us with PNR details via Twitter/Facebook DM with the earphones description so we can check and assist you in the best possible way.
Regards
Team IndiGo