Air India Sucks

[TotallyOz]

There is no way on earth that anyone on the face of earth should book a flight with Air India. They are the worst airline I have ever been on and without a doubt the least professional I have eve had.

First off, getting the airplane ticket was a pain in the butt as I tried to book at Air India's website. I was denied with a good credit card and told that I was trying to use it in Thailand and I am from America so it was fraud. I called them and explained that I was in Thailand and going to India. I was then told that they don't accept credit cards on the phone. I asked how can I pay for my ticket, her response was, go back to America and try or you can send us a copy of the front and back of your credit card and your ID to our support email and we will try to run the card for you in the next 7-10 business days. I was shocked as I have never heard such BS from an airline.

I ended up going to the Air India office in Bangkok to purchase the ticket and they were very helpful and helped me to get everything arranged. They said I got 40k free luggage and would be charged 59 baht for each kilo after.

I booked Business Class. I got to the airport in Bangkok and was told my luggage was 30k overweight and I had to pay a fee. I was then told the fee was near 500 baht per kilo. That is NOT what I was told at the Air India office but I had no choice. I said that was no problem. I went to the counter to pay and gave them the same Credit Card I used for the ticket and was told, "sorry, we don't accept credit cards. We only take cash." Are you kidding me? Cash only for extra baggage fees and on top of that the fee was 15,000 bath. It was almost the cost of my trip. I asked to speak to the manager and was told that he didn't want to come out to speak to me that he took cash only. I had the ladies call him again and he got on the phone with me and asked why I wanted to speak to him and I told him the problem with the cash only. I said I did not have cash and needed to use a credit card. He said, "cannot." He said, "you can cancel your flight but we can't refund you the flight as you have already checked in. So, I wasn't allowed to get a refund on a refundable ticket as I checked in and I wasn't allowed to pay cash for extra weight for baggage. Again, I was shocked.

I fly a lot of miles per year and I fly only in business class. I have never once had any issue like this. I have never once been treated so unfairly. As I didn't have the cash on me in Thai Baht, I did have some Brazilian Reals with me. I went over to the exchange. "No, sorry Mister. No take Brazil." After 3 places, no one would exchange.

I told the ladies at Air India the issue they said said, "Oh, sorry Mister. Nothing we can do."

It took a few minutes but then I got the money and paid for the extra fee. I asked to actually see the manager for Air India and was told no. I asked for his name. I was told they can't give that out. I asked them if they knew the manager's name and they said yes. I asked if they could write it down for me. They said no. I then asked to see him in person and they called again. I told I needed to speak to him in person regarding this and he said there was nothing he could do and a waste of time to talk to him. He almost hung up on me but I told him I would not board the plane until I spoke to him.

After a few minutes he came out. He was very nice but he said he didn't understand the problem as no one has ever asked to pay for excess fees with a credit card before. He said he had no idea why anyone would even need this service. I told him that I didn't have the cash for this today while traveling as cash is valuable. (When traveling and I always like to have at least 1k USD for emergency as you never know when you hit a snag like last year in India when the customs officer tried to extort 2,000 USD from me for a computer) He said he didn't care the reason that as cash was what they accepted. I asked why that is not stated on their website or in other areas and he said that was not his job. We argued for a bit. I asked for his business card and he reluctantly gave it to me. He asked why I wanted it and I told him that I needed it to complain to the airline. He is a true horrendous service agent. It took me nearly an hour to get him to see me and while I did make my flight I was not a happy and content business traveler.

When I got to the plane, I spoke to two other business class travelers and was told they have done this before and tried to use a credit card and was old they cannot and they too asked to speak to the manager. So, the manager flat out lied. I was NOT the first person to ever ask to pay for luggage with a credit card. He simply flat out lied. He told a lie to try to save face but it was so absurd when I heard it I knew it had to be a lie. And, upon talking to other passengers, they said it was a lie. In other words, the manager was dishonest.

Apparently Air India does not cater to business travelers. They want the low budget flyers. Their Business Class seats were not comfortable and not the lay flat seats I was told. Their in flight movies had no movies or anything for anyone to watch of any consequence. The food was decent but the same as served in economy on most major airlines.

At the airport I had to pick up my bags and take them back to another area. But, no one knew where. 10 airport employees and 10 answers. It was insane. Not one person knew what the hell they were doing.

Then, I get to the place to drop the bags and the lady there tells me I need to go upstairs to check in again. I do. They have both male and female lines. I got in the male and the guys were assholes. They were rude and unprofessional and snappy. They were just dicks. Plain and simple.

Then, after I finished that, which took 20 min as they didn't know what a Kindle was or why I needed an electrical cord for my computer, iPad, iPhone, etc. I finished.

I went to the Air India lounge only to find there was no Internet. Again, the people who make the rules in India are complete and utter morons with zero customer service ability. If I didn't need to spend a month with my programmers, I would have found a way to exit the country and say fuck you to India. Pure and simple! (Yes, I know unfair but a hard day for me)

Air India Lounge in Delhi is the most horrific and ridiculous lounge I have ever seen. It is a business lounge that does NOT offer WiFi. They don't have their own wifi and they depend on the free airport Internet which does not work. In other words, you get a few chairs that are private and some drinks. But, nothing else. The staff is incompetent. There is NO Business lounge on earth that does not offer Internet to those in it. If no Internet, it is useless.

Thus, my journey begins.

[Guest EXPAT]

I could have warned you about Air India. We learned the hard way as you did and have never flown them again. We even complained to their corporate group through government officials since we have a huge manufacturing plant there and they didn't really care. I agree with your assessment that they really don't want business travelers, they really want low end travelers which they have a lot of. I told their CEO that they are missing a huge opportunity and he had no idea what I was talking about. Their perspective is really limited to the low end consumer that's for sure.

[lookin]

Perhaps next time you could take the train.

[RA1]

When Freddie Laker opened the Atlantic to low fares, IATA allowed any member carriers to offer the standby one way fares for a whole year before they allowed Laker to offer them. The companies that accepted were TWA, PAA, BA, Air India and one more that does not come to me at the moment. I wanted to try them all as I was doing a lot of one way travel in those days. But when Air India lost a 747 fairly soon after departing Heathrow mysteriously, I decided I would forego them. I don't think they ever came to a conclusion about this crash even though they suspected terrorism.

Even though I have had excellent passenger service on foreign carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Swiss Air and others, I still prefer to ride on US carriers. I know their "national attitude and background" and their training. Sometimes their seats may suck and sometimes their passenger service may suck but they are us and we are them.

Best regards,

RA1

[wayout]

Never flew Air India and internally always used Kingfisher Airlines, per the strong suggestion of our local people at the time. My recollection was a decent airline with acceptable customer service. Beer wasn't half bad either. Not sure what international routes they flew but we always took Continental (at that time) from NY to Dehli then switched over to Kingfisher.

[MsGuy]

A not atypical review on Skytrax:

"My wife and kids traveled from London to Mumbai on AI130. After Landing in Mumbai, my wife told me was that it was the worst journey ever. The TV wasn't working, lights were not working, call button was not working and air hostesses were rude."

So you have no one to blame but yourself, Oz.

Personally, when an airline can't get all the small things I have some interface with right, I start fretting about the big stuff I can't see, the stuff that keeps the damn thing in the air.

[Lucky]

"But when Air India lost a 747 fairly soon after departing Heathrow mysteriously, I decided I would forego them"

Best regards,

RA1

HOW DOES ONE LEAVE HEATHROW MYSTERIOUSLY, ESPECIALLY IF ONE IS A BIG PLANE?

[Lucky]

Next time fly Air Pakistan!

[Guest Hoover42]

This is the kind of post that convinces me that my decision to never go to India was wise.

[AdamSmith]

Their Wikipedia article details multiple cluster-fucks: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India

[RA1]

"But when Air India lost a 747 fairly soon after departing Heathrow mysteriously, I decided I would forego them"

Best regards,

RA1

HOW DOES ONE LEAVE HEATHROW MYSTERIOUSLY, ESPECIALLY IF ONE IS A BIG PLANE?

All aircraft that leave Heathrow are mysterious, especially those that might weigh in excess of 900,000 pounds.

Best regards,

RA1

[Lucky]

We have among us a poster who spent considerable time in India. Maybe he will chime in and tell us his experience. Personally, I have never had the desire to go there.

But let's not forget what an adventurous traveler Totally Oz is. He will make the most of the situation, and he will use the experience so as not to make the same mistake twice. As far as I know, he plans to spend five weeks there, a place with no McDonalds! He will have to bathe in the dirty Ganges River. Oh well, it might beat getting sick in Cambodia. I just hope that he doesn't like beef.

Jesting aside, I can't wait for the stories of his adventures to continue. Perhaps the worst has already happened and only good things wait for the rest of his visit. I hope so!

[MsGuy]

Perhaps the worst has already happened.

I notice that Oz "liked" your post, Lucky so apparently the worst has not happened. lol

Hmmm... or perhaps TY is faking messages from "TotallyOz" to buy time while he frantically scrambles to avoid a HooBoy style meltdown triggered by Oz's more consevative heirs.

(Cousin Robert demonstrating correct technique for a mud pit belly flop, 2011 Oz Family Reunion.)

[TotallyOz]

MsGuy, I would be pissed at your statement above had I not actually done a belly flop in mud MANY times before. I am fucking amazing at it!

Growing up in the South, I had to find ways to entertain myself that didn't involve frog gigging or tipping the cows. Mus Flops were much more fun.

[AdamSmith]

Cow tipping! Don't go giving away all our little regional secrets, now.

...Does the guy doing the belly flop look like somebody's Daddy?

[TotallyOz]

AdamSmith, on 29 Oct 2013 - 6:43 PM, said:

...Does the guy doing the belly flop look like somebody's Daddy?

Whose your Daddy Adam Smith?

My favorite past time was riding my motorcycle in the cotton fields as a kid. My first motorcycle came when I was in First Grade and I LOVED riding day and night.

I also grew up riding horses and love that time as well. But, riding through a cotton field while the crop dusters were spraying their pesticides and trying to outrun them was a great deal of fun.

[TampaYankee]

Oz,

Why didn't you take the hint from the ticket purchase fiasco to book another airline? The handwriting was on the wall.

[AdamSmith]

Of course, could have been even worse...

Avios mix-up sees woman fly to Grenada, not Granada

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-24705723

[Guest CharliePS]

It's been a long time, but we used to fly Air India from New York or London to Mumbai, because we had a friend in London who had worked for them and knew how to get bargain tickets for us in business class. Everything you have said about service sounds familiar to me, especially the part about no one knowing how to do anything or what is going on. However, Air India was considered classy compared to Indian Airlines, the internal carrier in those days. I remember one flight when all the luggage was laid out on the tarmac and we had to identify ours before we could load the plane, then they took off leaving all the luggage still on the ground. The flights were always late, and once when we were headed from Varanasi to Khajuraho, we overflew it and landed in Agra instead, with no announcement until we were on the ground; then the pilot came on to explain that because we were late, the lights had been turned off at Khajuraho airport so we couldn't land there. Once we landed at Mumbai on Air India, but weren't told that our continuing flight on Indian Airlines left from a different airport, and no one seemed to be able to tell us how to get there--we ended up walking there carrying our bags along the highway.

However, my partner told me that our Air India/Indian Airlines experiences were wonderful compared to his on IranAir in the 1970s.

[RA1]

Whose your Daddy Adam Smith?

My favorite past time was riding my motorcycle in the cotton fields as a kid. My first motorcycle came when I was in First Grade and I LOVED riding day and night.

I also grew up riding horses and love that time as well. But, riding through a cotton field while the crop dusters were spraying their pesticides and trying to outrun them was a great deal of fun.

You might have been able to outrun a crop duster because they get a nose bleed if they are over 50 feet and going faster than 60 MPH. I suppose it would depend upon how firm the surface of the cotton field. However, what you did not outrun was the pesticide. I always considered the two most dangerous things about being a crop duster to be the chemicals sprayed and the concentration required for long hours of dodging wires, trees and other low lying objects. I have seen all too many duster pilots with "glassy eyes" at 8 AM after only 2+ hours of flying. No doubt it was a combination of the concentration and the beer the night before.

Now I am not suggesting that you have long lasting and lingering effects from inhaling pesticides. However, if you suddenly start twitching while standing in line to board an aircraft, that might be the reason.

Best regards,

RA1

[JKane]

I'd be very hesitant to fly a 3rd world/developing country's airline anyway, but I wonder two things about the experience...

On the luggage, more expensive than quoted and cash only? Any reason to believe it wasn't just going in the employees pockets as soon as you left? Was there a receipt?

My business dealings with Indian companies had me thinking there was something culturally fucked up. Not some small, understandable little thing like the Japanese aversion to saying no; instead an inherent unprofessional nature where they would promise anything to get the work (unabashed YES men), even when they hadn't the slightest idea what they were promising, then outright lie and make up reasons when they couldn't meet those promises, then just start ignoring you when you pushed the issues further.

Your experience makes me think that maybe our experiences aren't unique and this is why some businesses seem to be running away?

[AdamSmith]

My business dealings with Indian companies had me thinking there was something culturally fucked up. Not some small, understandable little thing like the Japanese aversion to saying no; instead an inherent unprofessional nature where they would promise anything to get the work (unabashed YES men), even when they hadn't the slightest idea what they were promising, then outright lie and make up reasons when they couldn't meet those promises, then just start ignoring you when you pushed the issues further.

Same experience here. Some time ago I was with a company that published technology buyers' guides. We sold direct in North America, and struck a deal with Elsevier to distribute our books outside North America. We got a couple of direct inquiries from would-be buyers in India, and forwarded them to Elsevier for fulfillment.

Well, the very sensible Dutch guy who was our account manager told us that on no account would he send our books into India. He told us it was just not worth his trouble trying to manage his Indian sub-distributors, who were local independent businesses, when it involved low-volume high-priced B2B books like ours. They -- not end-user customers, but his own sub-distributors -- would take one set, photocopy them, then pirate them shamelessly, he said.

As a native of the country that invented copper wire ("two Dutchmen fighting over a penny" ), his judgment in this we readily demurred to.

[lookin]

I'm thinking JKane may be pretty close to the mark. How much of that cash surcharge actually found its way back to the Air India corporate offices is a question for the ages. Next time, OZ, you might want to discreetly inquire as to whether a bit of baksheesh could help to smooth things over.

Add to that the nearly infinite reservoir of resignation that most Indians have when being treated poorly by their countrymen in positions of authority, and it's surprising you haven't run into this elsewhere in your travels. I'm pretty sure that most Indian functionaries are required to take a course in How To Make Your Customer Miserable, with a mandatory do-over until they are able to cause the visible gnashing of teeth.

I remember many years ago standing in what seemed to be an unending line at the Post Office to get a mailing label for a Christmas package for my parents, filling it out and affixing it, and then standing in an even longer line to actually get postage and mail the package. When I finally got to the last window, the clerk informed me that there was a mistake in the address label. I had entered 'Mr. and Mrs.' in the Name field, and it clearly was intended for only a single name. I explained that my parents had been married for many years and actually lived together, side by side, in the house whose address he would find in the following two lines. My argument carried no weight as the Name field was for one name, not two names, and the package could not possibly be sent as addressed. I would have to stand in line for another label and then again for postage. I don't think he was prepared for how quickly I drew a line through 'Mr. and' and shoved it back at him with only the 'Mrs.' visible. "Well, alright", he muttered, "but it is highly irregular."

I hesitated to weigh in on this thread, as my experience with Air India was nearly a half century ago, and it was exemplary. However, it was the first time the Peace Corps had used Air India to transport volunteers and they were on their best behavior. Air India, that is, not the volunteers. Early on, the flight attendants decided that the way to the hearts of a hundred young men was to keep the alcohol flowing and that's what they did for the next twenty-odd hours. Somewhere over Shannon the liquor bottles got away from them, as did any semblance of passenger decorum, and it was a weary group of flight staff that finally touched down in Delhi.

It occurred to me, in reading OZ's tale of abuse that maybe some of the folks that bedeviled him had parents or grandparents staffing our flight, and perhaps they were still carrying a grudge.

[RA1]

I guess we all have variable experiences from time to time even with the same subject matter. I remember the first time I flew through Asia. I had been told/warned that many would have their hands out. However, I went from Brunei to Kuala Lumpur to Calcutta to Ahmadabad to Karachi to Bahrain to Luxor without anyone doing anything unusual until Luxor. There my flight plan could not be found until I suggested to the official that perhaps he had some use for my change from buying fuel. Every time I bought fuel I changed USD to the local currency and always had a little left over. In this case it was 7 Egyptian Pounds which as I recall was about 4 USD then. Suddenly my flight plan materialized. No trouble before or after and that was not much trouble. On the average, considering I flew 72 hours with 14 stops, I had virtually no problems with itchy palms.

I conclude that mainly one's expectations and reasonableness in handling problems as they arise can go a long way towards making for a happy trip (if not happy ending).

I once had a KY state trooper take money from me after steadfastly refusing it numerous times. He and his cohorts had helped me a lot over one night and the next morning. He finally took $20 when I said, I know you cannot accept payment for your service but I want the first round tonight to be on me. This was 30+ years ago when $20 was still $20.

Best regards,

RA1

[TotallyOz]

Since getting to India, I did speak with the manager of the hotel and about 20 others and all said the exact same thing about Air India. They all said it sucked and that the company does not care. They also said to realize that their customer service reps get paid a few hundred per month and it is a time job and they too do not care as they go in for money only. Also, each person I have spoken to said the cash thing is often a problem as many Indian companies can't get CC and the percentages are high and they don't like using cc.

I did get a receipt from Air India and I have sent a message to them but no response. And, I don't expect anything to be done. Most likely I'll just book Thai Air on my return and cancel my last 2 legs on Air India.