Thai Airways sues over passenger’s flight diversion criticism

[Bday Prang]

7 hours ago, Nordic summer said:

It was very disrespectful of this passenger to publicly voice his opinion, given that he/she/they most certainly don't have a clue as to what it takes to plan and execute such a flight in a responsible manner.

Myself having had the privilege of being a passenger of Thai Airlines, is left with a bad taste in my mouth just reading about it

 

Some(westerners) will say the airline displays an"fragile ego" by instigating this lawsuit, but please take a moment to compare the service and attention that you receive while traveling with Thai Airlines to ANY European company.

 

They work very hard to provide a pleasant experience for their passengers and I am sure they are very proud of their prowess, so it should come as no surprise that this company got upset about this passenger's outburst.

So was it you who criticised them.   And is this  anilingual  post your way of trying to apologise ?

[proton]

8 hours ago, bbko said:

So you won't book with them cause they are taking legal action and then talk about fragile egos? Oh the irony 😆

 

No, stopped using them in 2007 due to their appalling customer service, if you could call it that. 

[riclag]

Commercial Aviation  companies here

have to send their delegates to the USA or another western country to learn the art of appeasement , me thinks.

Discounts on future flights is a great deterrent for customer satisfaction 

imop

[Bday Prang]

All that b/s about "protecting their employees" somebody in their PR department needs to be sacked, and a few others will be laid off when demand for their flights  diminishes as a reaction to this

[Valdorf]

I'm totally with Thai Airways on this topic. It's got nothing to do with what a lot mention here "Thai Ego". It can be related to Ego only if the passenger would comment for example on dirty toilets on the aircraft. In that case having dirty toilets and suing the passenger would be an absolutely wrong thing to do. This is just an example and i'm NOT saying that there are dirty toilets anywhere.

It have been studied and proven (just search on the web) that our brain remembers negative responses much better then positive... If Thai Airways would go into explaining why they diverted the flight, this would never make it to the headlines and the person responsible for the original  post would not probably even read the reply and people who did see that post would only remember negative connotation in which Thai Airways was mentioned. Now that person got slapped back with a lawsuit. This news made it to the headlines and people who saw this (of course not all but at least some people ) including the original poster will actually THINK AND CHECK before letting their rage out into the www.

I wish I could behave the same way Thai did sometimes as it would seriously reduce the amount of idiots in my proximity. The problem is that it costs money and I don't consider cases happening in my life worthy of spending 25k (this is what my lawyer said he would charge me) just to file a defamation lawsuit.

[steven100]

7 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

All that b/s about "protecting their employees" somebody in their PR department needs to be sacked, and a few others will be laid off when demand for their flights  diminishes as a reaction to this

 

as I said before .... the sooner they cut it up and dismantle it the better.

 

they couldn't run an honest chook raffle   !

 

 

[cardinalblue]

The Thai culture avoids accountability...It is not an issue of whether right or wrong, but the culture doesn't like the idea that any customer can issue an opinion. It is only an opinion (doesn't mean fact) and any customer has the right to an opinion. The fall back position here is we will sue you for criticism and damaging our reputation. Prove to me it damaged your reputation...I would counter sue

 

It is a cultural thing as a way to protect itself from encouraging constructive criticism. It doesn't matter whether justified or not. It is a freedom of speech issue...Does Thailand encourage or restrict freedom  of speech by its actions? 

 

 

[CANSIAM]

1 hour ago, Cereal said:

I was a flight attendant with Air Canada for 10 years and did some flying as well. You are correct from your perspective about landing in fog. But, your perspective is looking out your window down at the ground. The pilots' perspective is looking straight ahead thus they are seeing the fog completely different than you are. It is much thicker  looking straight ahead. There's also the legal limits of flight set by the proper government authorities that dictate how far you can see which then dictates whether landing or taking off is possible or not. 

 

Having said this, I agree that Thais are way too sensitive to criticism. Which is to say they can't handle it at all. Also, Thai Airways sucks!

I would say Air Canada can work a little more on their people ( customer ) skills as well.............

[Ajarnbrian]

8 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

diverted flight happened to me once on the way to a border run to laos. sure, there was some fog but not enough in my opinion to divert the flight. i have been on flights in canada where there was snow falling, and the winds made visibility a bit challenging to land. the pilots nailed it. me thinks thai pilots are pussies and thai airways? pretty spineless if you ask me. for the last 3 years, in canada, airways are being put through the ringer for everything from flight delays to lost luggage.

 

thais are such dangerous frickin' babies when it comes to criticism. say something they dont like and get first class ticket to the courts

Unless you are a pilot or air traffic controller with a full understanding of the conditions, you are not in a position to say.

[Brickleberry]

31 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

 

The diversion occurred on 28th Jan... not 1st Feb (as per your weather data above).

 

 

And this is why its not worth big businesses getting into petty online disputes with disgruntled customers, usually because of all the inaccuracy, misunderstandings, false information etc...  

 

Its just not worth getting dragged down to that level...   

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I checked the 28th of Jan too, and I couldn't see anything adverse, but I am not an expert. Other planes landed, but again, I'm not an expert.

 

I dare say the passenger is not an expert either, so coming down on him/her with a lawsuit just seems to be completely irresponsible. People are entitled to their opinions, and if all other planes had been diverted, the airline might have a valid point. But as there seems to be some ambiguity because other planes landed, it doesn't seem completely unreasonable for a passenger to complain. An explanation from the airline might have gone down much better.

[Pouatchee]

49 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Ignorance of the regulations does not provide a valid argument. 

 

There are various category landings and limits vary according the Aircraft and Airport. 

 

 

So.. where are these pilots worldwide that land in blizzard conditions ? (no visibility ?)

 

 

we gonna go at it again richard? read my posts i am sure youll find it somewhere. it will be fun discussing things again with you. i missed you so much

[Irrumator]

9 hours ago, bbko said:

A airline company taking legal action over a customer complaint? Wow, I would like to see the wording of the critique, but...

 

Criticism is the correct noun to use, not 'critique' which has a very specific meaning.  Try a dictionary.
Better still, here is the correct meaning, for your edification and education.
The verb is 'to criticise'.  

[Pouatchee]

8 minutes ago, Ajarnbrian said:

Unless you are a pilot or air traffic controller with a full understanding of the conditions, you are not in a position to say.

 

unless you are a real ajarn you are not in a position to say i am wrong. ajarn???????? 

[Celsius]

22 minutes ago, Valdorf said:

I'm totally with Thai Airways on this topic. It's got nothing to do with what a lot mention here "Thai Ego". It can be related to Ego only if the passenger would comment for example on dirty toilets on the aircraft. In that case having dirty toilets and suing the passenger would be an absolutely wrong thing to do. This is just an example and i'm NOT saying that there are dirty toilets anywhere.

It have been studied and proven (just search on the web) that our brain remembers negative responses much better then positive... If Thai Airways would go into explaining why they diverted the flight, this would never make it to the headlines and the person responsible for the original  post would not probably even read the reply and people who did see that post would only remember negative connotation in which Thai Airways was mentioned. Now that person got slapped back with a lawsuit. This news made it to the headlines and people who saw this (of course not all but at least some people ) including the original poster will actually THINK AND CHECK before letting their rage out into the www.

I wish I could behave the same way Thai did sometimes as it would seriously reduce the amount of idiots in my proximity. The problem is that it costs money and I don't consider cases happening in my life worthy of spending 25k (this is what my lawyer said he would charge me) just to file a defamation lawsuit.

 

Yea....no.

 

Big company suing customers is just wrong. The right thing to do would have been to rent a page in bangkok post and explain the situation.

 

Our brain records mostly negative responses? Guess what? The lawsuit will also be negatively recorded.

 

Hariously embarassing analysis.

[Almer]

8 hours ago, sirineou said:

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

If the had not diverted , there would had been complains why they did not. 

If they were following standard procedure, then  the passenger’s post was defamation that could damage the airlines reputation and result in loss of revenue. 

The airline was right to take legal action, if I was the CEO I would have done the same, and I suspect that if this was your company you would have done the same also. 

 

 

No, i would have given an explanation of why it happened and used the PR dept to make good from bad, if i was CEO i would dampen it down not put more wood on.

[ThailandGuy]

I believe that although Thai Airways has every right to do so, it is never a wise step to take and seek publicity about passengers that post incorrect negative reviews. It will always backfire.

[Purdey]

How to destroy the reputation of a company.

1. Sue your customers if they get upset.

2. Don't reply to customers to explain the reason for a change to the paid service. A lawyer does that best. 

3. When the customer retracts the criticism after receiving an explanation sue anyway because nothing teaches good manners better than a court where all future customers can see how vindictive you are. 

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

You mean like it has on this forum?  Where I already see 10x as many negative remarks about the airline and its performance than the guy's now deleted critique for which he's getting sued. And it seems, they're just getting started.

 

Multiply that by hundreds of other travel forums and the self inflicted damage to the brand will be huge.

 

My last flight from Melbourne to Bangkok was with Thai Airways, mainly because I had had enough of Jetstar, for a variety of reasons.

It was quite a pleasant experience, if they can stay competitive on pricing I'll be a repeat customer.

 

[jesimps]

Because the defamation laws in this country are so stringent, people and companies sue at the drop of a hat. The reason being that even if true, the complaint defames the company's name and therefore the complainant is in the wrong. We've seen it in people being sued for putting adverse comments on Trip Adviser etc.

[Toby1947]

Suing a passenger pathetic, but I suppose they need to make some money some how. Because their operation is loosing money hand over fist. 

[captpkapoor]

My, oh my! So dangerous to write a bad review about a hotel or airline here. End up getting sued! Remember some hotel suing a guest after he left a bad review on Trip Advisor. Better to just keep your mouth shut. 

[Bangkok Barry]

 

I haven't seen it written anywhere, nor have I had the time to read all the comments on this, but did any other airline feel a need to divert to Sydney? Or was it only the THAI pilot who felt that it was too dangerous to land in Melbourne?

And this - I imagine that every single airline in the world suffers criticism but they don't then sue the complainant.

I can't see any way that taking legal action enhances the airline's reputation, but that's the way with any Thai-owned business, isn't it. If you complain in public then prepare to be sued.

 

[jinners]

9 hours ago, steven100 said:

So the offending passenger previously withdrew the message and comments on social media and apologized.

Now the Thai's want to sue the offender for posting the criticism.

 

hmm.....    so removing / deleting the comments was not good enough for the Thai's. 

 

 

Not good enough for the UK either. People have had their finances ruined from similar incidents where they have all but surrendered their first born and the case has still gone ahead with ruinous effects

[Bangkok Barry]

34 minutes ago, cardinalblue said:

The Thai culture avoids accountability...It is not an issue of whether right or wrong, but the culture doesn't like the idea that any customer can issue an opinion. It is only an opinion (doesn't mean fact) and any customer has the right to an opinion. The fall back position here is we will sue you for criticism and damaging our reputation. Prove to me it damaged your reputation...I would counter sue

 

It is a cultural thing as a way to protect itself from encouraging constructive criticism. It doesn't matter whether justified or not. It is a freedom of speech issue...Does Thailand encourage or restrict freedom  of speech by its actions? 

 

 

 

Exactly so. In Thai culture you do not criticise anyone. You just shut up and shut up and shut up until the pressure of frustration is too much and many explode in anger at the slightest thing that is the final straw.

 

We had discussion groups when I was at school and we'd even visit other schools to debate. We listened to and accepted alternative views if they made sense. We learned things. In Thailand, if such a thing even exists which I doubt. you'd probably have people producing a gun or knife if they disagreed with you. Different culture.

[steven100]

7 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Exactly so. In Thai culture you do not criticise anyone. You just shut up and shut up and shut up until the pressure of frustration is too much and many explode in anger at the slightest thing that is the final straw.

 

We had discussion groups when I was at school and we'd even visit other schools to debate. We listened to and accepted alternative views if they made sense. We learned things. In Thailand, if such a thing even exists which I doubt. you'd probably have people producing a gun or knife if they disagreed with you. Different culture.

 

This is correct .....  they don't complain or criticize anyone .... so how the h_ll can anything improve ... there is no accountability or lack of .....  so how can the quality and standard be address / fixed if no one is to blame and no one wants to complain .....    and this is the reason why things never improve. 

 

 

[sirineou]

24 minutes ago, Almer said:

No, i would have given an explanation of why it happened and used the PR dept to make good from bad, if i was CEO i would dampen it down not put more wood on.

IMO this is good publicity for Thai air,

They put a press release out. How many people do you see would see it?

and this is not directed entirely at that one person. it is shot across the bow to all the Thai airline Haters.

He or she is made an example of,

 

[Almer]

2 minutes ago, sirineou said:

IMO this is good publicity for Thai air,

They put a press release out. How many people do you see would see it?

and this is not directed entirely at that one person. it is shot across the bow to all the Thai airline Haters.

He or she is made an example of,

 

So after a less than perfect flight a criticism finds you in bother with Thai, maybe better to book another carrier is how some would see it if you cant give your opinion on there short comings.

[findlay13]

9 hours ago, Nordic summer said:

It was very disrespectful of this passenger to publicly voice his opinion, given that he/she/they most certainly don't have a clue as to what it takes to plan and execute such a flight in a responsible manner.

Myself having had the privilege of being a passenger of Thai Airlines, is left with a bad taste in my mouth just reading about it

 

Some(westerners) will say the airline displays an"fragile ego" by instigating this lawsuit, but please take a moment to compare the service and attention that you receive while traveling with Thai Airlines to ANY European company.

 

They work very hard to provide a pleasant experience for their passengers and I am sure they are very proud of their prowess, so it should come as no surprise that this company got upset about this passenger's outburst.

Are you looking for brownie points?

[findlay13]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

 

as I said before .... the sooner they cut it up and dismantle it the better.

 

they couldn't run an honest chook raffle   !

 

 

I used Thai exclusively for about 15 years.They lost me when they "restructured" ,😉[they didn't go bankrupt.] but they kept $A2,400 of mine for 3 plus yrs. Sacked all the Brisbane crew and office staff that I knew and liked and STILL aren't flying to Brisbane .Fly  Thai Airlines If you want folks .UP 2 U.

[SmartyMarty]

Third world thinking. Once news of the lawsuit reaches international media, Thailand‘s reputation again takes a hit.