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Zohreh of Rockville, MD October 24, 2006
I was traveling from Washington, DC with a stopover in Paris; when we landed, I forgot my small bag with 800 in cash, which was hidden in the space between the window and my seat; when I returned, less than 30 minutes later, with an AF agent, the cleaning crew had not yet come around, only the blankets had been removed, which makes me think that the flight attendants are the ones who pocketed the money.
While I understand that I bear some responsibility here, the fact that this theft took place on the plane, with strong chance that it was AF's staff (travelers are just busy getting their stuff and getting out of the plane as fast as they can), means that AF is liable for it. I filed a police report and then sent a detailed letter with proof of having withdrawn the money a couple of days before, etc.. I got a curt reply and a very rude person in customer service who refused to let me speak to the person who had written the letter, nor to a supervisor or anyone else. Basically, this Daniel only answers the phone and responds rudely to anyone without helping at all. Needeless to say, I will never again fly Air France. J of Cape Town, OTHER April 14, 2006
I find it fascinating that Air France does not have a "customer services, opinions, or complaints" section on their website. But I have come across this site and decided to try some self "therapy" by posting my complaint in cyberspace, with the faint hope of getting some response from Air France ... My wife and I have just returned from France. We travelled to on AF 0995 to Charles de Gaul and were supposed to connect with AF 7700 to Nice, but were forced to transfer to Orly and then connect to Nice (a 6 hr add on to our already long flight). Our return flights were AF 7715 Nice to CDG and AF 0992 CDG to JHB. Here's the story of our journey.
We've been married for 18 years and have never left our children alone at home. Looking forward to our "honeymoon" and French experience we boarded Air France 0995 in JHB. From the start the reception was cold and even hostile, seats were extremely cramped (even less space than the internal BA flight from CT), and the food horrific! On arrival at CDG, the experience worsened ... after standing in a queue for more than an hour, we were duly informed that all connecting flights from CDG to Nice were full and that we had to find our way to Orly.
On arrival at Orly we once again experienced the "AF welcome"! To be expected, we arrived at Nice to be informed that our baggage have been delayed, and our "torture" continued with the interrogation by the baggage "(in)(con)sultant". Our stay in France was fantastic and we put our bad experiences with AF behind us. I can truly say that France, especially Provance and the VAR is an experience not to be missed. 12 days of bliss passed way too fast and it was time to return home on AF.
Being an optimist, I hoped for a better treatment by AF. This hope was dashed on book-in at Nice airport. We were overweight by 20kg (French food and wine is truly superb) and had to pay 30 Euro per kg. By the way the weight limit is exactly 20 kg per person (no leeway), and not 23kg's (BA, SAA, and other reputable airlines). The baggage allowance for business class is 30 kg's and I enquired about upgrading the 2 of us ... the price quoted for the upgrade ... R29880-00 per person! Remember this is one way to JHB PER PERSON!!! In addition we were told to book our bags all the way to Cape Town, and had to pay an additional 80 euro for the excess baggage for this leg on BA.
Anyway, we found our way to CDG from Nice, booked onto AF 0992 to JHB .... on a flight with more than 50 seats EMPTY. I understand the penalty for excess baggage, but take offence to being "ripped" for 680 Euros on an empty flight!!! On arrival at JHB we were told to collect our baggage ... the "promised book in to CT ... NOT TRUE!!! We paid the 80 euros .... FOR NOTHING!!!!! What a pleasure Booking into BA from JHB to CT. By the way ... no charge for the excess baggage! I wonder if BA will ever receive the 80 euro from AF?
Only one problem ...BA mislaid our baggage, and we were re-united with our prized and now very expensive pates and wine 2 days later. Be warned ... do not travel AF, and if you do, prepare yourself for a long and tiring trip, with no one to complain to!!! I'm not sure if I feel any better by having written and posted this note in cyberspace ... perhaps I need to try alternative therapy and open my bottle of Chablis now. By the way, should any AF employee ever read this, I'll be more than willing to recount our story with some added free advice to improve "service".
Sharon of Copthorne, FL April 6, 2006
On Friday 24th March I received a phone call from my father who was in South Africa on holiday, to my shock he advised me that his only sister had suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away. I immediately phoned Dial A Flight and booked a ticket with Air France for that evening Friday 24th on AF2271 Departing Monday 4th April AF997. My oldest brother had to also fly out however due to work was only able to book his flight out On Monday 27th March on AF2271 Departing Monday 4th April AF995.
Due to reasons unknown to us his connecting flight from France to Johannesburg was cancelled and he was told he would fly on a later flight that night, as the evening grew hiewas then advised that he would be taken to a hotel and only be on a flight the next day. When he tried to get help and explain he had a funeral to attend his was told that he wasn’t the only passenger and just sit down and be quiet.
As a result of this my brother missed the funeral and was shown no compassion by your staff. Later that week when we were checking our return details we realised we had booked different flights which were within 1 hour of each other! So we phoned Air France in Santon to try change our flight in order to travel together. I first spoke to a young woman called Sinita who was extremely rude to me and said, No I won't change your ticket as it's nonchangeable yet in the small print of my ticket it states that for a fee my ticket is changeable.
My brother tried to explain the situation and asked if she could try to help us due to our situation and maybe have a bit of companion… Sinita asked my brother who had died. When he said my Aunt, she replied it’s only your Aunt who’s dead not your mother. He asked to speak to a manager but she refused telling him he could only speak to her and that she would not let him, he put the phone down. I called back and again this same women was rude and unreasonable, she told me that she would not let my brother speak to a manager and she would let me either. I asked her why and she replied with “Because I don’t want to”.
Fair enough if this is the way your agents deal with clients on the phone I can see in the future your company will fail.
Tico of Berlin, OTHER March 24, 2006
Two incidents: In the first, my child's baby carriage arrived two weeks late to our travel destination. It was destroyed. We took pictures and submitted a request for funds to buy a new one. They refused as we had not gotten an estimate from a repairman for the cost to fix it. We don't know any baby carriage repairmen where we vacation. The carriage was so broken we immediately trashed it because it was unusable.
Despite three letters and numerous phone calls, no progress was made. Next, my baggage was missing on arrival again!. After filling out all the necessary paperwork, I realized I would be late for my appointment. The service rep assured me that Air France would cover the cost of a taxi. I submitted the paperwork appropriately, but have been denied. I have sent three letters now. What is most infuriating is they never explain why they refuse my request. Their baggage services seem a criminal enterprise.
The baby carriage was worth about 200. The taxi was 23 euros. The first incident hampered my holidays tremendously. The letters and phone calls have taken hours of my personal time. Harold M. Reed, M.d. of Bay Harbor Islands, FL March 20, 2006
My baggage was delayed for a good 2 1/2 days. Went from Miami to Belgrade, Serbia for a medical meeting with no clothes, no underwear, no toiletries. The Airline doesn't have their act together. Trying to get compensation is very difficult. All replies are delayed for weeks, and they will not let you talk directly with any correspondent.
Finally they determined that my troubles were worth only 70, what I laid out to get by for 2 1/2 days. I think a lot differently and am considering litigation. If you accept their check, you waive rights to litigation. It's lying in my desk drawer. Lubi of Sacramento, CA January 13, 2006
On May 23, 2005 my husband and I were scheduled to fly on Air France. The flight was delayed for several hours. We continuously asked for some type of compensation. We wanted to be re-routed anything to help smooth out our honeymoon plans. We were not given ANY compensation, not even drink coupons.
We ended up having to pay for a hotel stay in Rome because our plans were to arrive in Rome then take a train to Florence where we had a hotel reserved (and paid). The flight delay ended up costing us a hotel stay in Rome and a loss of the preplanned stay in Florence. Clemens of Miltenberg, OTHER December 1, 2005
If you like to be treated like dirt, fly AirFrance. If you want to get wrong information about your flight, fly AirFrance. If you want to miss your flight because they let you wait in line for five hours in CDG, fly AirFrance. If you then want to stay in a 3rd class hotel without a breakfast, fly AirFrance.
If it's ok when your luggage is 2-5 days late, fly AirFrance. If you think that safety is guaranteed when a passenger is left ALONE with a SHOTGUN and about 100 rounds of amunition in CDG baggage-handling area, fly AirFrance. This is the experienve of one flight from BCN to MIA via CDG.
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