| Address: Mumbai City, Maharashtra, 411014 |
My recent experiences while flying Jet Airways have prompted me to write this feedback on this neutral website, as I am aware of the high importance and seriousness Jet attaches to passenger feedback, having seen the indifference first-hand on the past occasions. The trigger for my taking pains to draft this long note is the treatment I was meted out at the check in counter at Pune airport while flying to Mumbai (Seat 23 C) on 3-Oct-16.
I was flying Jet Airways, for the umpteenth time as my JP account[protected] Platinum) will testify, with a stroller and a laptop bag like I have been doing ever since I can remember. When I walked to the counter and asked for 4 cabin bag tags as I was flying 2 sectors back to back (PNQ-BOM and BOM-BDQ), a male staff handed it over to me. Just as I was walking away, a female staff (I forgot her name, but not her downright impudent nature) called out to me from behind to tell me I cannot carry 2 hand bags as per the new rules effective 1-Oct-16. I was flummoxed and tried reasoning with her that I am a JP Platinum member, have flown her esteemed airline several times at a high travel frequency and no intimation has been received by me about this so-called change of rule. But she remained adamant and rudely asked me to compress my laptop bag into the stroller failing which, I will be asked to pay Rs. 900 per kg extra, while also arguing that I would have received the intimation by email, thereby insinuating that I was lying. At this time, another lady named Shalini (thankfully, I remember her name) joined the conversation when I asked for a manager whom I could talk to. Despite my requests to be let off on this occasion, at least in view my JP tier and the relationship of several years with Jet, and an assurance that if a new rule has indeed come into effect, I will comply in future, both the impudent ladies insisted that I have to convert my 2 bags into 1.
Finally, exasperated, I went over to the side to try and do what was demanded, when Shalini and a luggage boy (who incidentally was more courteous and decent than Jet's executive staff members) came over and told me it is ok and that I can carry on without any modification of my luggage. Shocked again by this new twist in the tale, I asked Shalini what this drama was all about, to which she had no answer except that it is ok and that I can carry on. I quietly resolved that I can't let this go and hence, this post. I was taken aback at the time of boarding to see so many passengers travelling with 2 bags identical to me. When I posed a question to the boarding gate staff, he said he wasn't aware of any such 'new restriction', that I shouldn't have faced what I did and that he will have to check the facts. Like the airline he works for, I am sure check indeed he will!
I have no qualms in admitting that this coupled with some of my other recent experiences listed below have led me to truly regret my association with this airline. I am convinced that their stated 'customer first' policy is nothing more than a vacuous branding line. I realize I have wasted time patronizing this airline over the last several years, voting for them in the Freddy Awards year after year, feeling proud as an Indian of my association with this Indian brand. I regret now if I had been a patron of any another airline all these years, the treatment I would have received would certainly not have been worse than this. Almost as if on cue, within a few days of my having attained the Platinum tier, Jet majorly revised the privileges making this tier anything but elite (ordinary at best). Jet's feedback process is nothing but a charade with no sincerity or focus on customer satisfaction. When I see all this in conjunction with the standards of service offered by an airline like Indigo, whom I had the chance to fly recently, it is not hard to understand why they have left Jet Airways far behind in the Indian aviation market. People representing a service brand are its most important face and strength, being responsible for its image. Things weren't so bad in the past, but of late, Jet have become complacent in this regard, hiring mediocre talent across the service spectrum, making decay inevitable.
Jet Airways customer support has been notified about the posted complaint.
Oct 04, 2016
Updated by Sun Sang PS: Two of my other nasty experiences that have stayed fresh in my mind
1) An insulting, arrogant and rude call centre executive about whom I had lodged a complaint and got an email from Jet defending his action
2) The hellish experience I had at the hands of the staff of Jet's partner airline Etihad in Abu Dhabi airport while flying to Munich (baggage handling, flight connection, airport support infrastructure - my complaint was sent to Jet, Etihad and the DGCA)