[icaru]

On April 16, 2013 we flew from Malaga, Spain to Istanbul, Turkey with a 3-hour stopover in Paris, CDG airport. We disembarked in Terminal 2F where we sat down just in front of the transit lounge. We were traveling with 2 small dogs in cabin. I took the dogs outside the terminal to do their business but when I tried to return inside Terminal 2F to where my husband was waiting for me, the passport control said my boarding pass was for a different terminal and they would not allow me back in.

I had no working mobile phone with me to contact my husband to tell him I could not return there. I had only my passport, boarding pass and 2 dogs on leashes. I went to the Customer Care center in the Terminal where our flight to Istanbul would board. I was there 1 hour prior to the flight departure.

No AF employee at the Customer Service center. Finally I found an AF technician who called someone to come to help me. No one came. 30 minutes before flight departure 2 women arrived to start the boarding. I explained the problem and asked them to call over to the transit area to tell my husband to come. They refused.

10 minutes before boarding 2 more AF employees arrived and were just chatting with each other. I again explained the problem and told them exactly where my husband was sitting, still waiting for me and by now very alarmed. They needed to make only 1 phone call to ask the AF employee standing 3 meters in front of him to tell him to come to the boarding gate. They refused to make this call.

Our flight left and I remained alone with my dogs and the two women who had refused to help. Finally one of them decided this was serious and she made the call that I had asked for 50 minutes earlier. My husband was alerted and came immediately.

However, the flight had left and AF said we must both pay a penalty and buy new tickets. Total: 900 euros. This could have been avoided with 1 simple phone call, or one person who would escort me back to where my husband was.

Good-bye Air france, we will never fly with you again.

[mars6423]

why didnt your husband go to the flight/boarding area when it came close to boarding time? does he need to be told what to do? if so he should grow up

[lostinlondon]

You had problems finding an AF employee at CDG?????

[icaru]

My husband is 72, quite grown up. We agreed to meet where I left him. He was afraid if he left from that spot I would come, not find him and be alarmed. Moreover, he was sitting with 2 backpacks weighing 22 kilos and 2 empty dog cases. Not so easy for an elderly man to carry around the airport looking for an employee to help.

He did twice go to the only AF employee standing in front of him. She was checking passports and boarding passes as people entered the transit area. She told him she could not help him, that he had to go to the Customer Service area. He did go once with all the hand baggage but no one was there. So he went back, sat down again and continued waiting for me.

Yes, both of us had a big problem to find any AF employee, worse, to find one willing to help. It only took 1 phone call to resolve the problem.

[icaru]

And finally ...

He could not go through passport control into transit carrying the amount of hand baggage he had. They would not have allowed this. It required special permission to do it.

[jimworcs]

This is very bad customer service from AF. I am sure loads of people on here will argue that the fault was with the passenger for leaving the terminal, but if the dogs needed to relieve themselves, you would expect this. I wouldn't have much hope of getting a refund, but AF behaved very badly in this instance.

[jmgconnor]

Air France employees must be required to be rude, insolent, and uncaring. My daughter and friends were treated with such disrespect by an Air France ticket agent today that she broke down in tears. I am going to encourage everyone I know to never fly Air France again.