Etihad And Abu Dhabi Airport Unknown Charges

[Steveyf]

Hello all,

i would like to share a recent experience i had with Etihad,

now i will start of with saying that Etihad has always been my first choice flight, there flight times always suit me and they are usually the cheapest route for me (apart from this trip)

anyway flight went all fine i had a 13 hour layover in abu dhabi on my return trip so i ventured out, enjoyed the scenerey grabbed some food then went to a hotel for a shower and sleep, that sleep word being the expensive part

woke up 5am and the flight left at 2am, yes i know my own fault and what a bit of a dick i felt but no use crying over spilt milk.

got to the Airport explained the situation they did try but because of the cheap fair route the ticket was classed as no show and unable to swap incase of another noshow even though i was now at the airport, shit happens take it on the chin.

so a new ticket was around £566 (£10 cheaper than my original flight was from MAN-BKK return) fine, paid on my card new ticket issued and now on my way home, now this is where it all went a bit wrong.

upon checking my bank balances a few days later i noticed that i was now overdrown, <deleted> i said and i had a look at the transactions, and now this is the confusing part,

i have 3 transaction for Etihad Air (as listed on my statement)

one transaction for the agreed air fair of £566

another transaction for £32 which i assumed was my duty free

a third transaction of £492 - - - i have no idea where the hell this has come from, and i cant even say it was a double charge because the price is not the same

now the funny thing is i have just checked my other bank balance and i have another transaction from ABU Dhabi on the same day for £20 even though i did not use that card on that day, the only time i used that card was on the 21st february when i flew out with Etihad and picked up a carton of smokes.

Needless to say i have contacted the banks had the funds restored on the large transaction pending investigation, cards cancelled, if i had used the cards i would of had the reciept from the till, i only have the duty free and flight ticket reciept.

maybe i was just unlucky or maybe its a common occurence, i still enjoy etihad flights and have just been upgraded to their gold membership but lesson learned, cash is king and cash it will be from now on.

similar experiences ?

[smokie36]

I hope you post the outcome of your dealings over this.

Unexpected charges of this amount I would be very unhappy with. At least your bank has shown some common sense.

[Steveyf]

update

i have had a full refund of the double charge, and its been hassle free and quite efficent compared to the horror stories i have read about Etihad's Customer service but truthfully i really have nothing bad to say about the way it has been handled, maybe it was my calm approach to the situation instead of being aggressive and demanding, maybe because i also had my bank chasing for the evidence. maybe im a frequent flyer, who knows, but i had the same customer services agent who responded to my e-mails and who seemed to be doing all the chasing between me and finance to sort out the matter and that is probably why i would still chose Etihad over most other airlines out their

ok if everything was handled correctley to begin with this would of never happened but shit tends to go both ways and i could argue if i had never slept in i would never of had this problem,

so lessons learned,

set an appropriate alarm clock

keep every reciept from beginning to end

the bank is your first point of call should their be a discrepancy

also both transactions £492 and £32 were refunded i am still awaiting the e-mail to confirm this and for any reasons why it happened in the first place however i have just recieved the funds so assume that an appropriate e-mail is on route in the next few days,

steve

[yermanee]

Steveyf thanks for sharing, and kuddos to Etihad.

Yermanee