My Bad Experience with an Airline Brand

You don't even have to be on board an airline to have a bad experience ...

Last Saturday I had to purchase a ticket for my brother to London, and I was very lazy, being in bed and not wanting to get up. Anyways, I reached for my netbook and went on the internet to book and pay through my online banking. I was lying down there on my bed feeling very cool with myself, having found a way not having to drive all the way to the airline office. I booked the ticket and paid for it. (By the way, it was an Emirates ticket.)

This was my first direct interaction with services of the brand Emirates, with obviously very high expectations from this very premium brand. At this moment those expectations were still being met. I paid for the ticket and got my receipt sent to my mail box. However, there was no e-ticket sent. 1 day went by, 2 days, 3 days, still no e-ticket. Only for me to receive an email from the airline that my booking had been cancelled... For God's sake, my account had been charged 4 days ago and someone is telling me that my booking has been cancelled?! That was only the beginning of my frustration.

I call the airline, but no one picks up. I go to the bank and they call the airline, but no one picks up. I go to the Emirates office at the airport and no one can help. They say I have to go to the their head office in Victoria Island. For those of you who have no clue where that is... just imagine at least 1 hour in traffic and probably another 2 hours when returning.

Now I am back to where this all started. This was the reason I wanted to avoid going to the Island and pay for the ticket online but now it turns out that I end up having to do that anyway.

I make my way to the Island yesterday and the security guy at the Emirates office passes me on to this guy who offers to assist me with my problem. I am standing there waiting, the guy takes my payment receipt and says "I will be with you in a short while". 30 minutes later he returns to say "They are working on it". I say thank you ...

Now it's 1 hour 30 mins and I am still waiting for these guys to just print a ticket I have already paid for. Then I am there for 2 hours and I am getting calls, I have to attend to pressing issues at the office. This guy seems to have forgotten me. I am angry and no one there will even look at me. The security guy say to me that they can't give this guy a call because they don't have his desk phone number (this is an office, for God's sake - how much flimsier can an excuse be?) i ask them to go in to remind this guy that I am still here, but they say no they can't go in. (Who has the responsibility of attending to people at the counter when those who are stationed there don't even know their jobs?). Now I am completely over the edge, angry, furious, just name it...

Then to my greatest surprise a young lady walks in with her kids and she has the same challenge as I do ... paid for a ticket online which was never delivered.

I mean, why do you have to start an online service when you know you are not ready to provide the services excellently and professionally? It's completely rude to your customers. Lots of brands destroy their perception in the minds of their customers and prospective customers by simply rendering some shitty services

Well, the long and short of this story is that after almost 2hr 30mins a lady asks me in to attend to me, and you know what?! The ticket had been printed for over 2hrs and that guy just forgot about me outside and made me wait for nothing!

I know some of these brands are built on very strong propositions to their customers/ consumers, but then it's especially important that when people interact with your brand the kind of experience they get from the people they talk to and the ambiance of your office leave a lasting impression that will continue to help reinforce that proposition. But in this situation that wasn't the case and i am sure that there are thousands of consumers out there that suffer similar experiences from brands they interact with.

Finally, the key question: Are brands aware of this? Or there are just not able to properly implement internal branding exercises that will ensure a structured way of dealing with customer issues. Well, if you read this and you have had a bad experience from any brand, please share...