Need to make a formal complaint about Qatar Airways as I paid for a service that I didn't get.

Need to make a formal complaint about Qatar Airways as I paid for a service that I didn't get. Does anyone know how to go about it?

ME carriers are notorious for having terrible dispute resolution practices. You can try submitting a complaint through their website but you are unlikely to get more than a 'sorry you were disappointed' boilerplate response.

Thank you for your response, but surely they do come under an Advocate or Ombudsman services... Where can I leave reviews?? so I can rate them.. sorry just doesnt cut it if you know what I mean... 

I use Emirates and Etihad, generally I find things very good with them, but if things go wrong, it's difficult raising that when your back on home soil through a website. Could the situation have been escalated to someone in authority en route. That's what I do. May I ask what did you not get?

OK where do I start.... Myself, my two daughters and my daughter’s boyfriend travelled with Qatar Airlines for the first time on the 16/12/2015 from Sydney to Greece to attend my only sisters funeral that passed away suddenly from cardiac arrest. Qatar had so many delays that I missed my connecting flight from Doha to Greece. To my horror the next available flight was 5 hours later. Now the staff at Doha were very rude and abrupt and only when I made this an issue the Manager in charge showed some compassion, but still there was no way out of Doha, we all had to wait 5 hours for the next flight.

The issue that I have is - before we boarded  the flight to Doha I had asked the airline staff if I was going to make my connecting flight and the answer was yes. Qatar staff told us that they will make time on air and that they haven’t been advised on any missed connecting flights.  The outcome though was,  instead of us being in Greece to attend my only sisters viewing and comfort my niece seeing her mother’s body we were left waiting at Doha airport.

Now on the 5/1/2016 we left Greece to come back to Sydney with Qatar Airways. We get to Doha at 5:30am and our connecting flight to Singapore was 9:25am. That flight was also delayed because of technical problems and the next available flight was in 8 hours. Now my family & I again were left at the airport & we were the last passengers to get our flights to Sydney organized. What we were told they will put us on a flight to Singapore and then they will give us a number and we will have to find our way home... How is that for service???  All other passengers were taken to hotels to rest and eat by 10:30am and we were got our flights organized at 12:40pm. No point for us to go to the hotel as we will have to be picked up around 3pm, so we stayed at the airport and we were taken to a restaurant at 1pm and at 2:30pm they came to take us to the lounge.

I paid for all of our tickets $10,121.12. I paid for a service that we never received. I have requested from the airline a full refund and their response was “ they will give us USD150/- Electronic Miscellaneous Document each. This would be non-refundable, non-transferable and would need to be issued within 3 months. Once issued, it is valid for one year and can be used for various Qatar Airways services such as ticketing, holidays, Qmiles and excess baggage payment, excluding purchase of duty free items. The EMD voucher cannot currently be used for payments of online purchases”.

This is not acceptable service of an Airline and surely the delays can’t happen to the same person within 2-3 weeks. This is unacceptable!!!

Delays happen all the time. If you missed the funeral because of a 5 hour delay, then there was absolutely no margin for error. Was there no quicker way to get there? If not, since she was your sister, I would have expected whoever organised to give you enough time to make it.

I can't see you getting a refund in this instant. Delays are a part of air travel and always need to be taken into account when travelling for something important.

thank you for your reply

OK, your problems of continual delays were very frustrating, especially with such an important reason for being at your destination.Qatar in Melbourne has a number 1300 340 600, try that number. I can't help but think they will say delays were beyond their control and that you should have left yourself more time to spare. Good Luck.

Thank you so much. I will contact that number. Much appreciated!!!

Not just ME carriers - QF seem to be great at doing this recently!

Thank you

I dont want to sound rude but your "contract" with the airline was to get you from A to B. Thats what they have done, so unless they offer you a small credit for compassion there is nothing they will do as they have completed that "arranged contract"

Qatar Terms and Conditions

ARTICLE 10  -  SCHEDULES, CANCELLATION OF FLIGHTS

1.         Schedules

1.1       We undertake to use our best efforts to carry you and your Baggage with reasonable dispatch and to adhere to published schedules in effect on the date of travel, but no particular time is fixed for the commencement or completion of carriage, and times shown in timetables or elsewhere are approximate and not guaranteed, and do not form part of the Conditions of Contract. Schedules are subject to change without notice, and we assume no liability for making connections.

1.2       We may without notice, substitute alternative carriers, or aircraft.

2.         Cancellation, Changes of Schedule etc.

2.1       If we cancel or delay a flight, are unable to provide previously confirmed space, fail to stop at a Passenger stopover or destination point, or cause you to miss a connecting flight on which you hold a reservation, we shall either:

(i)         Carry you on another of our scheduled Passenger services on which space is available; or

(ii)        Re-route you to the destination indicated on the Ticket or applicable portion thereof by our own scheduled services or the scheduled services of another carrier, or by means of surface transportation. If the sum of the fare, excess Baggage charge and any applicable service charge for the revised routing is higher than the refund value of the Ticket or applicable portion thereof, we will not require additional fare or charges from you and will refund the difference if the fare and charge for the revised routing are lower; or

(iii)       Make a refund in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 and shall be under no further liability to you.

2.2       Upon the occurrence of any of the events set out in Article 10.2.1 except as otherwise provided by the applicable Convention, the options outlined in Article 10.2.1(i) through 10.2.1(iii) are the sole and exclusive remedies available to you and we shall have no further liability to you.

I do agree somewhat with SOUTHLAND that QR has, effectively' honoured their contract to get you from A to C, via B. However, I also believe that - as reported - this represents an extremely poor performance, under the circumstances.

Depending on the timing of arrival into DOH on the outbound service and the availability of OTHER carriers from DOH-ATH, it may well be that QR has failed Section 2 / 2.1 / 2.1 (ii) of their own regulations.

"2.         Cancellation, Changes of Schedule etc.

2.1       If we cancel or delay a flight, are unable to provide previously confirmed space, fail to stop at a Passenger stopover or destination point, or cause you to miss a connecting flight on which you hold a reservation, we shall either:

(i)         Carry you on another of our scheduled Passenger services on which space is available; or

(ii)        Re-route you to the destination indicated on the Ticket or applicable portion thereof by our own scheduled services or the scheduled services of another carrier, or by means of surface transportation. If the sum of the fare, excess Baggage charge and any applicable service charge for the revised routing is higher than the refund value of the Ticket or applicable portion thereof, we will not require additional fare or charges from you and will refund the difference if the fare and charge for the revised routing are lower; or ..

Question is, did QR offer an alternative (faster) option on another carrier?

And to wit, to have the (return sector) experience that is described only compounds the issue.

Let's face it - this was a COMPASSIONATE issue and not just some aggrieved, delayed passenger. Normal business etiquette would surely demand some consideration of the passenger(s) situation and some recognance of the reason for travel. It is not unreasonable IMO for ATHANASIA to be somewhat perturbed by a perceived lack of service or empathy.

I would suggest getting in touch with QR's Australian management to discuss a measured resolution to the issue. Given the new services being launched in Australia, I would suspect that QR would be aware that controversial publicity could be somewhat negative to their marketing efforts. Failing that, copying in A. Al Akhbar - CEO with written correspondence might also carry some weight.

If none of this works, then - of course - there is always the option of 'social media' if you are ignored ie: Facebook and Twitter pages ~ and also the numerous global airline / aviation chat sites that are available.

Noted. Thank you!!

Ok thanks