Eva Air No Show

[oxo1947]

EVA Air Flight CKV88S 9.30 pm

London HR- Thailand BKK 9 June. Return trip

Whilst I understand that Planes do sometimes get canceled I was however surprised to find, upon arriving at Heathrow Airport, that no representative from EVA Air was available for the canceled flight. Not only that but no contact emergency number for EVA Air was (or is) available –outside of hours 9-5 for these situations at London airport either. Not only do the authorities at Heathrow have no after hours contact phone number for EVA Air, but when directed to the American Airlines desk that look after the EVA Air flights West bound –they also don't have an afterhours Emergency number.

They (American Air) were polite and efficient, & they assured me that if a flight had been canceled, there would certainly be a representative on hand so I could take a seat and they would find that representative to advise me. They came back some 40 minutes later to confirm that indeed everyone had gone home. I had the options of booking into a London Hotel—an area that I really don't know so well or taking a Thai air flight that was leaving around that time. I took that, when it arrived in BKK 12 hours later I phone EVA Air who said that an e-mail had been sent out 3 days before and they would get back to me….. The mail—I found latter-- had indeed been sent out, but I was in an area that made it hard for me to access an internet, and they do have a phone number for me. EVA Air Travel didn't get back to me, then or after subsequent calls, the person responsible was always it seems—not available at that time. – also the travel agent that I purchased the ticket had a message from them that they would look into it in about a month or so.

The agent said the flight was canceled because no one wanted to come to BKK---well I did & you did sell me a ticket too actually.

I took this to be the Usual way Thai businesses solve their problems, so I detailed everything –and even suggested that as I make the flight every year they can just roll the return over to my next flight, and then sent the letter registered to the head office Taiwan--- 3 weeks ago, I not only did not get any response, I didn't even get a confirmation that I had sent a letter.

I had enjoyed flying EVA Air--- liked the idea of their Elite class, now it looks like I have to wage a battle with them just to get back what I am indeed entitled to.

http://www.claimsfin...ts-1002976.aspx

I didn't book into a luxury hotel, claim meals or half the other stuff that this consumer link tells me I am entitled to do.

[endure]

"I took this to be the Usual way Thai businesses solve their problems, so I detailed everything –and even suggested that as I make the flight every year they can just roll the return over to my next flight, and then sent the letter registered to the head office Taiwan--- 3 weeks ago, I not only did not get any response, I didn't even get a confirmation that I had sent a letter."

EVA isn't Thai it's Taiwanese

[Amerifarang]

EVA is good airline and I've always enjoyed traveling with them. Unfortunately once they sell you a ticket they forget about you,they have no clue about after the sale service. This is just not a Taiwanese trait, I found this to be true with Thai businesses also."take the money with no thought of cultivating a customer for repeat business" Is it education or just a national character flaw?

[Pib]

I've flown EVA Air many times between Thailand and Hawaii...never had a problem...they had the best prices and best departure and arrival times in my particular case. EVA Air is a Taiwanese Company, not a Thai Company.

[Pib]

EVA is good airline and I've always enjoyed traveling with them. Unfortunately once they sell you a ticket they forget about you,they have no clue about after the sale service. This is just not a Taiwanese trait, I found this to be true with Thai businesses also."take the money with no thought of cultivating a customer for repeat business" Is it education or just a national character flaw?

Well, you gave them the money; why should they give it back!

[Rinrada]

Even dodgy little outfits like above realise that they are bound by EU law and will have to eventually pay up ....

Might seem loss of face but when it comes to money....St*** them.....

They make enough profit and it aint one way and any form of bad publicity they dont like.....just send them your bank account number and maybe suggest a small claims Court proposal......and request an apology.....with lots of groveling from them....

Good Luck...

Flight delays and the Law

EU Regulation 261/2004 establishes rules on flight compensation, in the case that you were denied boarding, suffered cancellation or long delays. The Regulation entitles delayed passengers, within the EU, to certain customer care requirements such as refreshments or hotel accommodation if those passengers are delayed up to four hours.

If you have been delayed for five hours or more, you are legally entitled to either a full refund of your plane ticket, re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity or at your own convenience.

This choice is yours and yours alone, not the airline's.

Should you be delayed and then denied boarding against your will, you should be awarded immediate flight compensation from the airline.

This is the Mini....plus out of pocket expenses....

The Regulation establishes a minimum flight compensation rate of:

EUR 250 for flights of 1500 kilometres or less (About £220).

EUR 400 for all flights within the EU of more than 1500 km and for all other flights between 1500 - 3500 kilometres (About £350).

EUR 600 for all other flights ( About £530).

[roamer]

You won't get far having a go at EVA on this forum as they seem to have some die hard support here. "I've never had a problem..." seems to be the main byline, conveniently ignoring the fact that things do go wrong as with all airlines, difference being that EVA just ignore complaints Truth of the matter is they have awful customer service when things go wrong. I wrote this on another thread some time ago;

"Customer service ? Let's put it this way after they totally ignored all requests to compensate a former business colleague after pulling and dropping her laptop from an overhead compartment she took them to the county court. They ignored the summons. They ignored the judgement. They found it a little more difficult to ignore the court bailiffs that went round and threatened to seize office equipment if they didn't pay. The ironic thing here is that she is a manager for a freight company that flew literally tons of freight on EVA from Taiwan, or rather did fly tons freight on EVA."

If previous events are anything to go by you will indeed have an uphill battle to get a response from them. Good luck.

[rocketmanbkk]

EVA is good airline and I've always enjoyed traveling with them. Unfortunately once they sell you a ticket they forget about you,they have no clue about after the sale service. This is just not a Taiwanese trait, I found this to be true with Thai businesses also."take the money with no thought of cultivating a customer for repeat business" Is it education or just a national character flaw?

I always fly EVA from LHR - BKK an dthey are the best.

I had an issue of which I pasted here last year about a change of date. After many emails from me and from EVA in London it was accepted that they made a mistake. They offered my a great deal to be taken this year and were excellent in their communication.

They do have staff at LHR until 2300hrs each night ( iknow this because my wifes friend works for EVA and wear the green uniform). I know she is always there. If they cancelled a flight without giving you info it is not right BUT I would say that it is the travellers responsibility to make sure that the flight is not delayed/cancelled etc. before setting off to the airport and assuming shouldn't happen. The flight would not have been cancelled a few hours before it was due to depart but this would have been a decision made in plenty of time should the aforementioned checking of the scgedule had happened.

I think a leson learned. Don't assume and check prior to departing for the airport.

EVA are in my opinion excellent.

GO EVA!

[rocketmanbkk]

You won't get far having a go at EVA on this forum as they seem to have some die hard support here. "I've never had a problem..." seems to be the main byline, conveniently ignoring the fact that things do go wrong as with all airlines, difference being that EVA just ignore complaints Truth of the matter is they have awful customer service when things go wrong. I wrote this on another thread some time ago;

"Customer service ? Let's put it this way after they totally ignored all requests to compensate a former business colleague after pulling and dropping her laptop from an overhead compartment she took them to the county court. They ignored the summons. They ignored the judgement. They found it a little more difficult to ignore the court bailiffs that went round and threatened to seize office equipment if they didn't pay. The ironic thing here is that she is a manager for a freight company that flew literally tons of freight on EVA from Taiwan, or rather did fly tons freight on EVA."

If previous events are anything to go by you will indeed have an uphill battle to get a response from them. Good luck.

If yo cantact EVA at London, you can find their number on the website. Ask to speak to Ms Patel. She is excellent and will deal with this matter. Give her a deadline of when you want to hear back from her and state to her that if no reply or solution has been rectified then you will take this matter to the small claims court. On my issue, she always responded to my emails an dwas polite and professional. I can't say anything bad about the customer service out of the London office.

I am a die hard fan of EVA!

[geriatrickid]

I am a supporter of EVA Air. That being said, the airline does screw up and needs to be prodded. I had an issue of an online travel agency screwing around with my ticket and EVA didn't fulfill it's legal obligations. The agency located in NYC, but using voip in India for service had sold a business class ticket that was actually premium deluxe. When I discovered the error, both the ticket agency and EVA pointed fingers at each other. Long story short I ended up getting a refund but still was hit with about the costs of FX, long distance etc. (As an aside, it wasn't Expedia or Orbitz or any of the subs like Cheaptickets, or hotwire, but it was a cheapo organization.) EVA had a legal obligation to rectify the situation since the ticket had been issued and confirmed by EVA. It was useless, but the local office manager in NYC did try to help, and the only reason I didn't cut my gold card up and mail it to the president of the company with a note telling him to stick it up his arse, was because of the manager. I suppose if I had dragged out the matter and filed a small claims law suit, I might have won. However, EVA was in Taipei, and the incident was in New York, and I was 1/2 a world away. The point being that EVA as a company has no sense of customer service or of consumer protection laws.

Document your case, do your registered letters, send the official complaint to the UK office with a copy to Taipei and then file your complaint with the local regulatory body. You might also have to be prepared to pursue this in small claims court. if someone says, hey, why didn't you check with the airline before departing as it says on the ticket, stick to your position that you were not in a position to do so. EVA did fulfill its obligation to send an advisory email. Unfortunately, the onus was on you to make sure the flight was still operating. This will come down to EVA doing the right thing, which they will do eventually, and you will receive a refund or credit in accordance with the terms of carriage. However, you will have to be tenacious.

And why am I supporter of EVA? Because the other airlines that service the routes I fly are significantly worse. Where EVA's customer service is irritating, service at many of the EU and North American carriers is hostile. Where EVA's food is unpalatable, its western competitors offer inedible crud. Lower cost alternatives are available, but China Airlines has a habit of unpleasant incidents, whereas EVA has a spotless safety record. Ideally I would love to go back to flying on SQ or CX, but the fares and schedule are not encouraging.

[jfchandler]

I'm a fan of EVA's also... because... in dozens of flights with them over the past decade between Thailand and the U.S.A, I've never had a late flight, never had a missed flight, never had a canceled flight, and...never had any problems with my reservations made direct thru their web site.

So, I have absolutely no experience in how they deal with problems... because, they've never given me any.

I'll note, the OP here did indicate that EVA had emailed him three days before the flight informing him of the cancellation, but that he hadn't checked his email. And he pointed out that they had his phone but didn't call.

There have been a couple of times when I was on the waiting list for a potential upgrade to Elite class, or there were some issues about that. And every time, the staff here at the EVA office in BKK were quite efficient and prompt in their return calls to me as a frequent flier of theirs.

I've never flown them to/from UK...so can't speak to that.

On my most recent trip to the U.S. I wanted to take EVA but couldn't fine any June fare with them for anything below $1,200 U.S. I ended up flying on China Eastern to L.A. for about $950, and it was a perfectly fine pair of one-stop flights....except...

Shanghai PuDong Airport is a pretty lousy place for a layover compared to Taipei, with the passenger amenities being pretty sparse. And China immigration there makes Thailand and Suvarnabhumi seem pleasant, speedy and efficient by comparison.

[thrilled]

I believe most of the airlines are thinking once they get your money,whatever happens forget about it.It's getting worse and worse.

[roamer]

EVA is good airline and I've always enjoyed traveling with them. Unfortunately once they sell you a ticket they forget about you,they have no clue about after the sale service. This is just not a Taiwanese trait, I found this to be true with Thai businesses also."take the money with no thought of cultivating a customer for repeat business" Is it education or just a national character flaw?

I always fly EVA from LHR - BKK an dthey are the best.

I had an issue of which I pasted here last year about a change of date. After many emails from me and from EVA in London it was accepted that they made a mistake. They offered my a great deal to be taken this year and were excellent in their communication.

They do have staff at LHR until 2300hrs each night ( iknow this because my wifes friend works for EVA and wear the green uniform). I know she is always there. If they cancelled a flight without giving you info it is not right BUT I would say that it is the travellers responsibility to make sure that the flight is not delayed/cancelled etc. before setting off to the airport and assuming shouldn't happen. The flight would not have been cancelled a few hours before it was due to depart but this would have been a decision made in plenty of time should the aforementioned checking of the scgedule had happened.

I think a leson learned. Don't assume and check prior to departing for the airport.

EVA are in my opinion excellent.

GO EVA!

None so blind as those that will not see. If an airline cancels a flight then not to have anyone on the desk at departure time is simply sticking a finger up at the passengers. But as you say EVA are excellent. We obviously have a different definition of excellence. I'll stick with mine.

Might I also say that I can understand why anyone flying LAX-BKK for example would fly EVA and even be a fan. I've flown that route and know how dire some of the carriers on that route are...and costly to boot. My argument has been, always will be, that if you don't mind a stopover on the LHR-BKK route there are many choices that are simply better on almost every quantifiable factor for the same cost or cheaper.

Edited July 11, 2010 by roamer

[theoldgit]

Playing devils advocate here, correct me if I'm wrong but the in circumstances such as your regulations allow you to be re-routed, stay in a hotel or get a refund, the choice is yours.

You were offerred and accepted an alternative flight with Thai, though I presume this would have been in economy rather than elite, so you got to your destination on a direct flight. OK you had to jump through hoops to get your flight and with Eva seemingly abandoning you, it must have been very frustrating, but you did get to Bangkok.

I find it suprising that Eva only sent you an email and didn't bother to call you on the number they had, did many more passengers turn up for this flight?

[oxo1947]

Hi endure & Pib……EVA is indeed a Taiwan airline—however it is a Thai owned and run company in Thailand that you deal with here.

G.S.I Commercial. This is relation only to the booking and movement of passengers from Thailand. I don't think they have anything to do with the aircraft. This is the face of EVA for Thai Passengers, & this until I hit the Blogs to-day was the company that -(it seemed to me ) were ignoring me.

12 hours after I placed my letter on Udon map/ Thai Visa / Teak Door etc ….7 other sites, I heard direct from G.S.I & from EVA London. That they are reviewing this and will contact me, and an apology for the staff not being there.

egg12345..I am not trying to tip a bucket on EVA Air I have flown with them on and off for over 8 years, I can't think that I have had any bad service in that time---& would have probably written a letter much the same as yours…but then ….I never had a cancelation before, this time. When you say they are the best, is that speaking from having a cancelled flight and them taking care of you….. or just always managing to sit on your seat when you on board.?

Your statement that they have staff there until 2300hrs every night, is completely wrong—they only have staff there on the days that they have a flight, I have already received the apology for that, to-day. That is why they use American Air.

But thank you for the London contact –egg12345 I will try to use it.

Hi theoldgit…no that is incorrect, and not stated…I wasn't offered and excepted Thai airlines –Because there was not an EVA representative to offer me , or the other people there anything. Thai airlines had a flight leaving about the same time—near empty—84 passengers on the whole plane, I made the decision to take it and pay for it.

Look, once again---I have flown EVA Air for more than 8 years, both to Thailand /Oz Thailand UK, so I also must have been happy with them.

And I think that if it's a commercial decision to cancel a flight----then that's understandable & as long as the passengers are properly catered for there is no real cause for compliant—I have been upset at what appeared to be a blank wall every time I phoned. G.S.I or wrote to EVA.

If/when this is resolved I will reported as such.

Edited July 12, 2010 by oxo1947

[theoldgit]

Hi theoldgit…no that is incorrect, and not stated…I wasn't offered and excepted Thai airlines –Because there was not an EVA representative to offer me , or the other people there anything. Thai airlines had a flight leaving about the same time—near empty—84 passengers on the whole plane, I made the decision to take it and pay for it.

Indeed you didn't say that, I just assumed that AA had endorsed your ticket for Thai.

Sorry about that, good luck.

[rocketmanbkk]

Hi endure & Pib……EVA is indeed a Taiwan airline—however it is a Thai owned and run company in Thailand that you deal with here.

G.S.I Commercial. This is relation only to the booking and movement of passengers from Thailand. I don't think they have anything to do with the aircraft. This is the face of EVA for Thai Passengers, & this until I hit the Blogs to-day was the company that -(it seemed to me ) were ignoring me.

12 hours after I placed my letter on Udon map/ Thai Visa / Teak Door etc ….7 other sites, I heard direct from G.S.I & from EVA London. That they are reviewing this and will contact me, and an apology for the staff not being there.

egg12345..I am not trying to tip a bucket on EVA Air I have flown with them on and off for over 8 years, I can't think that I have had any bad service in that time---& would have probably written a letter much the same as yours…but then ….I never had a cancelation before, this time. When you say they are the best, is that speaking from having a cancelled flight and them taking care of you….. or just always managing to sit on your seat when you on board.?

Your statement that they have staff there until 2300hrs every night, is completely wrong—they only have staff there on the days that they have a flight, I have already received the apology for that, to-day. That is why they use American Air.

But thank you for the London contact –egg12345 I will try to use it.

Hi theoldgit…no that is incorrect, and not stated…I wasn't offered and excepted Thai airlines –Because there was not an EVA representative to offer me , or the other people there anything. Thai airlines had a flight leaving about the same time—near empty—84 passengers on the whole plane, I made the decision to take it and pay for it.

Look, once again---I have flown EVA Air for more than 8 years, both to Thailand /Oz Thailand UK, so I also must have been happy with them.

And I think that if it's a commercial decision to cancel a flight----then that's understandable & as long as the passengers are properly catered for there is no real cause for compliant—I have been upset at what appeared to be a blank wall every time I phoned. G.S.I or wrote to EVA.

If/when this is resolved I will reported as such.

Hi OXO

EVA fly from LHR 7 days a week. They now have a Monday service which started this year.

My experience is due to always being taken care of on flights, only once delayed out fo LHR in more than 25 flights taken fromLHR and being dealt with for my situation in a thoroughly decent way. Emails were exchanged from both parties and I always received a reply to my concerens that my request was not being dealt with. EVA accepted that they had made a mistake with my terms and conditions and made me a very good offer for their mistake. I received phone calls from their London office and as I say the servcie I received cannot be faulted.

I cannot say anything bad about them. I understand that they deal with thousands of passengers and of course someone, somewhere will experience something diffrent to me.

i am due to fly again next week on 22nd July to BKK and I hope their service is still as I remember.

Good luck with your claim. Please PM me with any difficulties and if you want I can assist you. I am not exactly sure what you are after or what EVA have offered but I have a very good contact with EVA in London and if the flight was cancelled out of LHR then I can assist you I am sure. You will need to let me know the exact details and if you want I will iaise. Before anyone comments - I AM NOT LOOKING FOR ANYTHING FOR ASSISTING ANOTHER!!!

Kind regards

[oxo1947]

HI egg12345

Thank you for your offer of assistance—and the spirit it is offered in—that’s very kind of you.

No there has not been any offer from Eva or their Agents as of yet, the first & only written (e-mail) response came after my mail went onto the internet---- Of course I expect them to go and check the detail’s again.

“Emails were exchanged from both parties and I always received a reply to my concerns”egg12345

That is an interesting comment egg12345, because that has been the most frustrating part of this saga, I cannot find any e-mail address to contact, other than placing it in the comment box on their Webb site. I have their Thailand agents e-mail address, but as I sated, I don’t think they are doing EVA any favors from their attitude that I have seen.

I accessed all their offices worldwide & the only one that has posted an e-mail address was Zurich—this is possibly the same with all Airlines—they do show fax numbers.

I will send you a copy of the registered letter that I sent on to Taiwan egg12345, and keep you up to date before you leave. Once again thank you for you’re offer…… I am hopping I will not need it.

Good luck on your trip—..I , as I stated had been happy with EVA I practically like the “Elite Class” idea that they have---as financially business class is usually a step too far for me.

[leemo]

EVA is good airline and I've always enjoyed traveling with them. Unfortunately once they sell you a ticket they forget about you,they have no clue about after the sale service. This is just not a Taiwanese trait, I found this to be true with Thai businesses also."take the money with no thought of cultivating a customer for repeat business" Is it education or just a national character flaw?

From my experience and naturally with exceptions, the Thai (and other SEAsia) mentality is that once they have your money their obligation is fulfilled as long as they can muddle along. In other words, a large part of their effort is devoted to attracting you, and less to pleasing you. What they tend not to figure is that that's precisely when their business model kicks in to determine whether they'll ever see any more of your money. As a parallel, during my monger days this explained why so many ladies have the attitude that their 'work' is complete once they've been barfined, when in fact that's when it begins. Sure, it could be my attraction to the wrong women, just as it could be my choice in trading with the wrong businesses.

Somebody once explained it to me this way, in reference to Thai-managed hotels, restaurants and bars: It evens out in the end because deep down they would like to keep you, but if that puts a strain on them they'll be happy to get what they can today and won't care if you never come back...so you go somewhere else, just like others from somewhere else are pissed off and coming to them.

I suppose there's a twisted logic in there, somewhere.

[BalthazarBeefheart]

My flight BKK-LHR was also cancelled at the end of May and EVA called my travel agent to inform him.

It was annoying 'cos I had to re-arrange connections from LHR.

I was told at the airport by the supervisor called over by the check-in staff that it was cancelled 'cos of lack of customers and there would be a lot more cancellations.

I therefore kept a check on the eva website to see my return flight was not cancelled. i am pretty certain there were two flights cancelled in the week I returned at the end of June.

It would appear they have a policy to cancel flights when load factors are below a certain level.

I have flown QF/TG and BA previously and have found the cabin service on EVA to be much better.

The service was fine on the outbound flight.

However, sitting near the galley on my return to BKK I couldn't help but notice that whilst the premium cabins got a continuous supply of water and juices it was almost non-existent in economy.

[jfchandler]

Something may be going on with EVA, and I say that as a longtime customer of theirs...

Lately, in pricing their tickets, I haven't been able to find any trip between L.A. and BKK for less than about $1300 including all taxes...

That's going thru their own web site and Hot Fares section. In the past, they always would have some much better pricing, even if it was only for certain travel periods...

Now, when I search Hot Fares with them, nothing even comes up between LAX and BKK or even BKK and anyplace in the U.S.

And considering the state of Thailand during the past six months, it's hard to imagine their flights between BKK and LA are so crowded that they don't have any seats to sell.

[daveh]

Something may be going on with EVA, and I say that as a longtime customer of theirs...

Lately, in pricing their tickets, I haven't been able to find any trip between L.A. and BKK for less than about $1300 including all taxes...

That's going thru their own web site and Hot Fares section. In the past, they always would have some much better pricing, even if it was only for certain travel periods...

Now, when I search Hot Fares with them, nothing even comes up between LAX and BKK or even BKK and anyplace in the U.S.

And considering the state of Thailand during the past six months, it's hard to imagine their flights between BKK and LA are so crowded that they don't have any seats to sell.

I've noticed the same thing. I think they may have decided that Thailand is a high risk destination and they want to extract as much money as possible to pay for the various losses due to protests.

Dave.

[oxo1947]

As Promised the result

I would like to think this result would have been the same--if I had not contacted AUC (the consumers Ass for UK air travelers) or wrote letters on 9 blogs both here and in the UK--and sent the registered letter to the president of EVA Air.

I do think they are well let down by the attitude of the Thai company that takes care of there interest in Thailand .

But I will fly with them again---and for my part of the blame I will always phone to confirm the day before even though there Webb site says this isn't necessary.

The Internal review was in relation to no staff being present when the flight was canceled.

Dear Mr. XXXX,

(Your reference number is XXXXX) First of all, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your loyal patronage during past years and sorry for delay responding. We would like to extend our sincerest apology for the uncomfortable experience that you faced regarding to the problem at Heathrow airport. For this incident, we have internal reviewed and requested the relevant department for immediate improvement. However, to express our sincerely apologize of the inconveniences that you experienced, we will proceed the refund amount THB 26,630 for unused portion(LON-BKK) under ticket number XXXXX as goodwill. Therefore,please kindly provide us a copy of your bank book account in Thailand and a copy of your passport in order that our accountant would be able to process the refund. You may send the supporting documents by attachment or by fax at+66 (XXXXX, attention to 'commercial department'.

With great hope, this arrangement would meet with the most of your satisfaction. Once again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused and thank you for understanding. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely, EVA Airways Corporation (Bangkok Office)