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Tokyoite
October 5, 2010
Abuse and misbehavior by ground satff
I am writing about an incident which has had a serious psychological impact on me and my family. On Friday night, I went to Narita airport in Tokyo, to see off my bother-in-law and his wife who were flying from Narita airport via Dubai by the Emirates airlines. At the check-in gate, it was pointed out by the staff that the hand luggage seemed to be over-weight. For your information it was a cabin-size approved beige wheeled case. The check-in counter staff (who were apparently JAL staff, managed by Mrs...) weighted the luggage and stated that it was over the 7Kg allowed for cabin bags by EK. They asked the passenger to either pay for the extra weight of the hand luggage or make it lighter, as it would not suit the cabin in that state. They also pointed out that the luggage maybe slightly oversized. As the accompanying person and a frequent-flyer of several world-class airliners including EK, I suggested to resolve the problem by making the hand luggage o lighter by removing unnecessary items that we would send for the young couple by post later. This was agreed by the passengers, so we left the counter and opened the luggage, removed a few heavy weight fragile items, which freed up some more space allowing us to zip-up the one layer of the luggage, making it smaller, suitable as a compact and light wheeled cabin-size case.
So, we said goodbye to our guests and made sure that they could pass the security safely and reach the boarding gate safely.
We went back to the parking lot with my father (77-year old who had just came in from Dubai), my wife and another friend. After I we left the parking in car and entered Higashi-kanto expressway ramp (right at Narita terminal 2 parking exit), my wife's cell phone rang.
After a few words with the unknown caller, my wife asked me to stop the car, as apparently she was stopped by the airport staff at the boarding gate. She said that the staff had stopped her at the gate and that we had better go back to the terminal, as she was desperate and severely distressed at the boarding gate. She was disallowed to board the airplane, and the plane was scheduled to depart in a few minutes (maybe 10 minutes).
By the way, this was a really bad situation, as we had all panicked ourselves due to the phone call, and I had no way to go back to the airport to help my in-laws, who did not speak any Japanese. I asked two policemen on the highway ramp to help us go reverse, back into Narita airport, and they kindly accepted our request for help.
A few minutes later, me, my wife and another friend were back at the EK check-in counter asking what had happened. The staff tried to explain that apparently their luggage was overweight. They pointed out that they had already warned us about the luggage being heavy for the cabin, and that they stopped the passenger as we had disregarded their instruction on the "beige" wheeled case. This was not true, since as I explained, we did remove heavy items from that bag and retract the layers to adjust the size. I was really surprised at this point, and suggested that no matter how much this would cost, I would like EK to charge my credit card as much as they like, but let the passenger and the luggage pass through, as their personal items and souvenirs remaining in Japan would make further trouble for us too.
It was very unfortunate that at this time, Mr. M Y, the airport services agent of Emirates in Narita airport, showed very bad manner calling those passengers "warui okakusan" 悪ã„ãŠå®¢ã•ã‚“or "bad customer", which is considered abusive and vulgar in the Japanese culture. He also rejected to explain the reason why the passengers were treated in that way, and basically treated inappropriately in response to our question. We asked him to write down a report explaining his misbehavior and inappropriate language to be presented to Emirates authorities, but he rejected to write anything down. Our friend was able to record a part of our conversation with Mr. Y, which can be presented if necessary.
I was about to lose my temper at this point, practically crying out my utter disappointment with EK and its ground staff at Narita, for their abusive treatment and handling of the matter.
Finally, when the aircraft had departed already, the luggage in question arrived back at the counter. To everyone's surprise, this was NOT the beige case, but her cabin-size approved blue case, which had been with her during check-in at the counter and passed security and other steps with no mention, what-so-ever, from the check-in or security staff.
I did not want to argue anymore with the staff there, so I asked for their business cards and took the luggage heading home. Now, I am complaining to you with specific points and questions, and expect explanation and formal apology from your airline, and compensation for our guests whose items have remained in Japan, and had a terrible feeling all the way on-board. This event was really unexpected, and I hope that I won't regret my excitement from Emirates flying into Narita and recommending Emirates to at least 5 members of my family and friends for this summer vacation.
The points
1- We agree that the cabin-size blue case was slightly overweight, but absolutely not oversized. If Emirates was so concerned with the blue hand baggage, why there was no warning by anyone prior to boarding the aircraft? Was it not their responsibility? The hand luggage was with the passenger during the check-in and security, how do I believe that the abuse was not intentional?
2- Imagine that two passengers, choosing Emirates out of at least five other carriers on the route, are present at the gate to board the aircraft just a few minutes before scheduled departure on the beginning of a 20-hour long journey, with a hand bag a few kilograms over the allowance, because of important fragile items that they preferred not to check-in. How should a world-class air-line act at this point? As per my years of experience with several world airlines, including Emirates, this should not cause so many problems. In one case, when the hand bag was too large, it was transferred as a check-in bag and usually, the cabin crew were kind enough to accommodate the bag in the cabin. How does Emirates train its staff to deal with such situations? Was the way Emirates handled our case an appropriate reaction in its authorities’ opinion?
3- I insist that a paying customer expecting a good service and respect cannot be called a "bad customer". However, if it is your airline's policy to abuse and discriminate against some passengers and insult their accompanying people in any case, I guess you have to publicly announce the policy, especially in Japan, so that those customers for whom respectfulness is a value, would avoid using your services. I would like to believe this was not the case, and hope to hear that your airline does not approve the airport services agent’s language and behavior.
I hope to hear from you with a reasonable explanation, and resolution that can at least partly mend the psychological damage your airline has caused to me and my family, and restore your reputation as a "good airline" in my eyes. I write this to you as the first step in hope to settle the matter as soon as possible, before taking any further actions.
Emirates response:
I am sorry that your guests, were unable to take their hand baggage on board their flight EK319 from Narita to Dubai. I wish to take this opportunity to advise you of our policy on hand baggage.
Economy class passengers are allowed to carry one item of baggage into the aircraft cabin. The total dimensions of this bag must not exceed 22 x 15 x 8 inches nor weigh more than 7 kgs, and it must fit either under the passenger’s seat or in the overhead stowage lockers. Safety of passengers is of paramount importance, and oversized or overweight cabin baggage will not be allowed in the aircraft cabin and will be placed in the aircraft hold. It is potentially dangerous if an overhead locker is opened and a heavy bag falls on a passenger. Serious injury can result from such accidents. In most airports, the screening of hand baggage size and weight is conducted at check-in, then at security, and lastly upon boarding to ensure the above mandatory regulation is adhered to.
A report from our Airport Services Manager in Narita confirms that she had already checked in 29 kgs, against her free baggage allowance of 30 kgs, therefore, the staff offered her the choice of leaving the excess baggage behind or pay the applicable excess baggage fee. I am sure you can appreciate that the staff never intended to embarrass you or your guests but to strictly abide by the hand baggage policy for our passenger’s safety on board. Nevertheless, I can assure you that such behaviour and rudeness of staff members is not tolerated and that we take a serious view of such incidents. We expect our staff members to always deal with passengers in a friendly and professional manner, which you, as our customer, have every right to expect. Furthermore, Emirates does not discriminate against any race or people. We are a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic based company and this is where much of our success lies. The Airport Services Manager in Narita has been informed of this incident and will take steps with the relevant staff member to ensure that such a thing does not happen again. May I take this opportunity to assure you that Emirates is constantly working to improve and rectify these aspects of our service. The performance of staff is something we can change internally, based on such feedback. I am sorry that we did not live up to your expectations on this occasion and ask that you give us another chance to demonstrate our service commitment.
Our response:
It is to some extent relieving to hear that your company does not approve the way this case was handled and the behavior of some of the people involved. I understand the safety concerns about heavy objects
placed in the overhead compartments. Indeed, I was ready to pay for any excess or as I said in front of the check-in counter "buy a one-way ticket just for the luggage", but make sure that our guests would go home with their items accompanying them. Unfortunately, it was too late and the airplane was already on the runway. Moreover, taking into account the misbehavior of the aforesaid agent, the passenger had panicked so badly at the departure gate and therefore, I believe she was even unable to make the right choice by removing some objects from the luggage and/or pay for the applicable excess baggage fees. As I wrote previously, she seemed to be distressed while asking for help on the phone. By the way, I deeply hope that in addition to the promise of taking such incidents seriously, Emirates would prove its commitment by
delivering these items to its owner, or indirectly compensating for the delivery charges incurred there. Certainly, it's a comparatively small expectation, but would make a positive impact.
Emirates:
Once again, I am sorry to learn of your disappointment with our ground staff in Narita who did not provide any flexibility with her excess baggage.
Additionally, all feedback is investigated, responded to, with the information added to our information database, and any changes/amendments to be made to procedures are based on such feedback.
It is never our practice to make any one individual feel less important than another, or if their actions or lack of service has resulted in feeling that way, then this was not our intention. I regret that we are unable to entertain your request for delivering the excess bag, which was left behind, or compensation on this occasion. I regret our response cannot be more favourable on this occasion.
Thank you, once again for writing and for giving me this opportunity to reiterate our position.
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