My Name is :Ayalur Subramanian Annapoorni
My passport number: H8671791
My ticket number: Document 098 -9770058785


My return flight from Austin-New York on 12th December 2010

My original Itinerary:

1) Austin to New York by AA684 on 12th December 2010 at 9.40am______ reaching New York at 14.30______
2) New York JFK to Mumbai by AI-140 on the 12th of December 2010 at 21:30 reaching Mumbai at _22.15_____

Unfortunately my return journey turned out to be a nightmare.

To make things simpler, let me use a numbered format to describe the sequence of events.

1) The day before my travel, we called Air India to reconfirm my flight. We were told that my flight was rescheduled and it was now at 16:00 hours instead of the original 21:30 hours. No one had emailed me or texted me to inform me of the change. I panicked because this would only give me an hour and a half at New York JFK to change over. We asked the agent if they could reschedule us on an earlier flight but he said an hour and a half was OK according to Air India’s policy. We were very skeptical about that, but your customer care (CC) personnel assured that it would be enough.
2) The next day, on 12th December, as planned I reported at Austin Bergstorm Airport at 7 am, on 12th. As American airlines would land at JFK at 14.35 hours the agent refused to let me take the flight to JFK since they said the baggage would not make it to the next flight. According to their policy they needed at least 1 and a half hours between the connecting flights. The American Agent called Air India to see if they could resolve the problem and to our surprise, the Air India agent said their policy was a minimum of 2 hours!! This meant that the information they gave me over the phone the previous day was completely inaccurate. Also, the agent said they could do nothing about my situation.
3) I begged and pleaded with both agents over the phone and I reiterated to Air India that their original flight was 21:30 and they had combined two flights (JFK to Delhi and JFK to Mumbai) to change the flight time to 16:00 hours (this was the time the JFK to Delhi flight was supposed to depart). I was not responsible for missing my flight if the event occurred due to their schedule change.
4) American Airlines told me they would take me to New York but they could not accept my luggage. My daughter and son-in-law were traveling to India by American Airlines that same day. My daughter asked American Airlines if they could take my baggage with them. American accepted this but said we would have to pay an extra 100 US Dollars (50 dollars per bag). Left with no other choice, we made the payment and the baggage traveled with my daughter on her flight to India via London.
5) When we entered the terminal after security, we found out that the American Airlines flight to New York was delayed due to bad weather. I immediately contacted Air India about the situation. They again washed their hands off the affair. Remember that all this was occurring due to their schedule change. If my flight from New York were at 21:30 as scheduled before, I could have easily made it.
6) When I reached New York airport, I ran to the Air India counter at my terminal. I was astonished to see the counters vacant. Not a single person from Air India was around. I phoned the AI customer service toll free number. I was asked to go to The American Airline agent and was asked to talk to the AI customer care executive, from there. So again I ran to the terminal number 8.The agent directly talked to AI and your CC service executive told they could not do anything. I was requesting them to put me in any other flight. They asked me to meet the duty manager there. Again I went to terminal 4, but in vain. No one was there either. When I enquired with airport authorities, they said only three hours prior to the flight, anybody would appear.
7) I had no choice but to wait at the airport from 17:30 hours on the 12th of January to 16:00 hours on the 13th of January. Air India did not even bother to offer me any food or accommodation. Since I am a pure vegetarian, I could not eat anything at the airport. I do not understand American Accent well so I could not ask for descriptions of what was in each food item. All I had for the next 24 hours was a cup of coffee. At around 10 AM on the 13th, after more than 15 hours of waiting at the airport, I almost fainted of hunger and fatigue. I am 55 years old. I had spondylitis and mild arthritis too. Because of my mental and physical trauma my problems were aggravated. On the 13th at 11.30 AM or so AI agents came and opened the counters. I stood in the queue And got my tickets reserved, on AI -140, on 13th and reached Mumbai on 14th at 22:00 hours.
My Grievances:
1. AI should have informed me earlier, so that I could have cancelled my tickets on American Airlines (Austin to New York) and taken some other flight according to my departure time from JFK or other airport
2. AI should have considered what its passengers would go through before rescheduling a flight to depart 5 hours before its original scheduled time!
3. I anticipated the problem and asked your agents repeatedly if 1 and a half hour was enough time for transit at JFK airport. They said it was. And this turned out to be false even going by your own policy which is 2 hours.
4. I had to shell out 100 US dollars so my luggage could reach India, all because of your rescheduling.
5. AI should have had the minimum courtesy to take care of me for 20 hours; they should have provided me a hotel accommodation, so that I could have been safe. Or put me in a different flight so that I could have reached India at the earliest and joined my husband who is 65 years old and sick and alone.

I request Air India to attend to my appeal and compensate me for all the trouble and inconvenience caused and the money (100 US Dollars) we paid extra for the baggage At Bergstorm American airline counter.

I am a frequent traveler with Air India, as i go every year, and at first I found no problem. My most recent trip, though, was with Continental Air Lines and this experience proved to me that Air India lacks quality. The bathrooms were not neat and orderly and after I complained, nothing was done about it. Also the service and air hostesses were very impolite and their nonchalance made it openly known that they did not care about your problems. The cleanliness of the aircraft was terrible. The seats had stains and the pillows seemed deflated. The food was not appetizing at all. Everything looked thrown into a dish and covered with foil. In conclusion, I would not recommend Air India as a fine flight experience.

I traveled on Air India (flight 101) on December 30, 2010 from Mumbai to New Delhi and then New Delhi to Chicago (flight 127 on same day. My luggage did not make it on flight (AI 127) and is still missing.

I filed a report at Chicago airport on the same day of my arrival and was told that I would have my bags delivered to my residence on January 1, 2011.

As of now, I have not received my bags and even after repeated calls to 773-686-1435 (only voice-mail available) and emails, there has been NO RESPONSE from Air India.

Thank you.

Quaid

*** First Letter ***
Re: Letter of complaint Ref: 33342

E-ticket : 098-1631962073


My name is Steve Victor, I recently visited Delhi with your airline, Air India. Due to issues with my luggage I was unable to complete my visit and was left extremely disappointed. I purchased me ticket from Southall travel on the 29th September’10.


Below is a summary of the below standard service I was afforded by you:


8th Decemeber’2010


Checking in for flight AI 116 Lon Heathrow to Delhi International @ 13.30


The beginning of my trip was excellent; I was able to extend my flight back departing flight from Delhi to London at no extra cost from the 18th to the 21st.


During the flight I was given a seat with no headphones, when requesting the headphones three times, I gave up. The staff onboard the plane were unpleasant, unhelpful and showed a direct lack of enthusiasm. I travel a lot domestically with Easy Jet, Ryanair and internationally with Thomas Cook and Virgin Atlantic. In comparison with those airlines I would say Air India are nowhere near that standard. The above, airlines believe in customer service and deliver it with extreme competency. In addition to having no headphones, the TV Screen in front of me was also faulty, I requested that your staff look into this and they said it was a technical fault and that it will resolve itself, this did not happen. All the passengers around me had working monitors, I do not understand why you don’t ensure every monitor would work (on board entertainment working).


Once the flight landed, I made my way to the immigration section. Once getting to the front of my queue I was rudely asked to complete a section of a form that was required to be submitted. I agree this my fault, but the reason I am bringing this to your attention, as Air India cabin staff prepared us for the immigration with the form but with no pens. I was fortunate to have someone next to me with a pen, but was rushed due to the flight about to land. I’d like to add Delhi international security staff are the most ignorant, uncooperative and obnoxious people I have ever come across. After the immigration fiasco, I made my way to the baggage retrieval section and waited patiently for over 1hr for my baggage until there was only me standing. I eventually asked the airport worker if the remaining baggage was the last, he stated ‘yes’. I then made my way to the lost baggage enquiry section were I was greeted with several half asleep staff who would not take ownership of my enquiry. I put my foot down and got everyone’s attention in the room. A gentleman in the room then passed me a form to complete, when requesting to use his pen he halted and reluctantly allowed me to use it. Once I completed the form, it was received with a lack of urgency towards it. I decided to have another look at the baggage section and was informed only one baggage was unclaimed this bag looked similar to mine, a ‘Dunlop’ suitcase same dark blue / black colour and D motif on the front. I requested the baggage handler to bring this baggage to the loss enquiry area and then requested the half asleep gentlemen to scan the baggage tag to bring up the customer details and contact them. However, there was no contact number and only a home address. I asked for this to this detail to be inputted into my report and was told that this would be completed, I was then given several contact numbers (even a mobile number! This was their insurance) that I could contact them up for an update. I asked what initial compensation would be granted, but they said it would go through the claims process within a 20days time period,


What is Air India policy? Is it not that emergency fund will be made available to buy essentials? If so why aren’t the current staff aware of this policy? This again leaves me thinking lack of customer service?? I find this utterly ludicrous


After leaving the airport


For the first 3 days I was vividly contacting the numbers provided but to no avail. I decided to that to go to the Airport, to speak to someone from Air India. I was told by the security staff that I was not allowed into the building as I had only flown into the country 2 and 3 days ago and would need permission to come into the Airport. The helpdesk team then sent me to Air India Departures Domestic and International enquiry counter who both were unable to assist. I was then sent back and forth, but not given any positive information. I eventually tracked down the security office and was given a form to complete but would need to speak to Air India to grant me authorization. I was told that I would be required to go to T2 (terminal 2) Air India office, once making my way there I was told that the office moved over to T3 (terminal 3) by one of the other offices open. After 6hr wasted I decided that I had no more patience left and the only option was to book a return flight to the UK.


Final Day on the 13th December


Having booked my flight my return flight via the help of the British embassy who contacted Air India City Booking direct for me to get my fight changed to 14th which is 7 days earlier than intended due to the circumstances at the start of my journey my BAGGAGE being lost.


Once the booking of my return flight was complete, I decided to come to the airport 6hrs before my flight was to depart to ensure that I made a last ditch effort to chase up my lost baggage, the Air India counter clerk and team leader were extremely helpful. It was agreed that a counter clerk would escort me to arrivals section to enquire about my baggage. After a number of delays i.e. permission approvals, authorization etc I made my way to arrival baggage lose area, I then asked for answers


· What the latest was with my bag?

I was told that nothing was showing on the system, indicating that it had not been found.


· Why the contact numbers given had no response?

The gent was not able to answer


· What is the latest with bag that was similar to mine?

The gentleman was unaware of this, and stated this was not on my report.


· Has the passenger contacted? What is the id of the bag? Is it still there?

The ID of the baggage was unable to be located due the gentleman not having access to the back office system.


This confirms the genuine lack of interest shown by your staff during arrival flight!! I requested a contact name and number for the team that would be able to access the back office system. (please see below)


Ms S Gulia

Mgr Baggsvcs

Air india T2

2560

Contact 25603148


In addition, I requested that gentleman to request that this team contact me within 48hrs.


I decided that as I knew what the bag had looked like, I searched throughout the lost baggage and found the unclaimed suitcase (which was on the same flight as mine, as well as being alike) however the label was not on it or any label for that matter? The staff on my arrival flight had taken it off to find out who the owner was but did not replace it after use?? This kind of behavior sums up Air India complacent and inept. I requested that a label be put on the baggage to say it might be in connection to mine.


Now my answers are simple


1. What is the compensation package? For my baggage? My time, inconvenience, financial costs incurred?


2. What will be happening with the baggage that was unclaimed? Have you got a record of it? Is there an address for the passenger if so what are your next steps in contacting them? Could you find when there return flight to the UK? Could you contact the migration team at the airport to find out if passenger passed their contact number to them.


I can promise you I will not let this matter rest, as I want actions and answers.


Do not waste my time any further.


Compensation Claim Package


I am looking at an overall compensation package of over £4000


I am due to fly to Delhi for my best friends wedding in February and request that you upgrade his parties’ seat to first class. I am still deciding whether to travel with Air India as I would like to travel with my friends, however, this seems unlikely and I just couldn’t not deal with a repeat of this incident


The purpose of my trip was not only visiting the country as a tourist but to organize parts of the wedding i.e. the clothes / wedding suits. I had over £4000 pounds worth of clothes, cloth for the suit ‘finest Italian wool’ which took me 2 weeks to order from Italy. In addition all the measurements for the wedding suits. Moreover, I have now had to rely on my friend to organize this which impacts; cost, time and stress.

*** Second Letter ***

Air India,


RE: Letter of complaint and lost baggage enquiry - Ref: Delhi 333


After countless of calls and emails to your baggage and complaints department, I have still not been contacted. Over two weeks since my initial email and contact to the baggage department where I was told I would be sent a response within minutes of sending my letter of complaint.

This morning I had a call from my friend in India that my baggage has been found in Ahmedabad after he had been given a call from Air India.

I have a few questions that need addressing


· How did the baggage find its way there?


· If for example the baggage was mistakenly by another passenger (whose baggage case was similar and plus it was the only baggage that wasn’t claimed and was travailing to Ahmedabad) why was I informed by the Air India staff at the lost baggage area, they would

A) They would contact the passenger

B) Contact the Ahmedabad airport

C) Call me within 2days with an update.


· Air India staff who contacted my friend advising him that they were not allowed to contact the UK, when he asked for them to call me personally. In addition, informed that they would not be able to post the suitcase to me directly as they were still having baggage issues and that I should pick it up from Heathrow.


· Why has no one since the day the baggage was lost contacted me?

Air India has your company got policies or do you make your own ones that suit your needs. I don’t expect an reply but I will continue to bombard you with emails for an response.

I am expecting a full reimbursement off my

o flight tickets ( Approx £550)

o the cost of clothes brought in emergency due to the loss (Approx £250)

o Travel cost; two and from the airport in India and the UK ( Approx £100)

o Phone bill cost; Contacting Air India ( Approx £50)

o Time of work; for picking up my baggage ( Approx £200)

o Parking costs ( Approx £20)

Approx Total: £1200, this is depending on whether my baggage is one piece or not.

Orbitz put me on a flight that had Air India Flight 101 (Bombay to Delhi) connecting to American 293 (Delhi to Chicago). The Air India part has been such an experience that I will never never again advise anyone to take another Air India flight.

Before departing from USA, I had called both Air India and American and confirmed that I was allowed to checking 2 pieces of luggage since I had an AA ticket and am an AA platinum member. Both had said that since I am international passenger, international flight rules will apply even though AI flight segment was local.

At the checkin counter, the person insisted that I am a domestic customer and so I had to pay for the 2nd piece. It took 1 hour before they could verify by looking into Internet (and my showing it to them on my iPhone) that AA rules will allow me 2 pieces. They then refused to check in the bags directly to my final US destination and it was booked only up to Delhi where I was supposed to pick up on arrival and check it again with AA.

The flight was delayed and so the 2 hour connection time became only 1.25 hours connection time. Then I waited at the luggage belt and the luggage didn't arrive for 20 minutes. AI help desk refused to help me because I should have booked connection with more time. It was my fault.

I asked for help from AA baggage office, they advised me to run to the checkin counter since the AA flight was going to close. So I ran and ran at every step of check in including security and gate and was barely able to make the flight. Upon arrival in my final destination (Saint Louis), I filed a missing baggage report with AA. They are still trying to find the baggage.

All my attempts to call Air India have failed. Their customer support web page provides form which was returned as bounced email back to me saying that bagsvcs_bom AT airindia.com does not exist.

I called their US reservation number, they said, they cannot help but they provided me two help numbers in India 25652050 and 23296621. Both numbers were found non existent.

I have given up on getting any help from Air India. I will keep calling AA until they find it. At least they are answering all my phone calls and trying to help.