[zante05]

The below complaint was sent to Emirates but as to be expected it fell on deaf ears. All because the itinerary agent forgot to click a button and turn itinerary back on.

Dear Emirates, I purchased a ticket via a 3rd vendor party (Cheapoair) for my nephew, Anastasios Giakoumelos. When the ticket was purchased we put in error his last name as his middle name so the ticket read Anastasios Giakoumelos Giakoumelos. We called Cheapoair to inquire about if we will have a problem since it is an international flight and they referred me to Emirates. We called Emirates and inquired about it and we were assured that the check in window will place a stamp on our ticket showing the correct name so it will not be an issue with TSA (security). When we got to the airport, the check in crew were unable to find the itinerary. They told me to call Emirates to find out what is going on. Emirates told us that we performed a name change and the booking was canceled and referred us to cheapoair. After spending 2 hours and 15 minutes on the phone going back and forth with emirates booking and cheapoair they all confirmed that since the flight is over booked we had to book a next day flight or the day after. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I traveled from long island NY which is 60 miles away, paid for tolls, parking and gas of about 120 US dollars and because an agent of Emirates never turned the itinerary back on we had to be bumped off the flight? The check in crew confirmed that it is exactly what happened, it is Emirates fault not turning the itinerary back on, the agent we spoke with Emirates left the booking as an open name change and we got bumped off the flight? Cheapoair was helpful to offer alternatives but we had a connecting flight from Greece that we had to deal with and a 17 year old boy travelling alone that I was not willing to have him stop somewhere in Europe/Asia and get a connecting flight to get to Greece. The final outcome since there were so many unknowns, if he might leave the next day, how many connecting flights, what will be the price difference of the new ticket, the tolls, gas and parking that I had to pay again to bring him back to Newark airport so he can get a direct flight with Emirates, it was too much. I asked the supervisor to be upgraded to business class for free since there were 2 seats left and explained the situation to her that Emirates agent made the mistake but fell on deaf ears. She wanted us to pay $600 to upgrade to business class and she said it was a "good deal". I paid the $600 but felt really awful and taken advantage of. Terrible customer service from Emirates, I will not recommend your company to anyone and definitely not fly ever again with this company. If you want to make amends, refund the $600 that I had to pay for the upgrade, IT WAS YOUR AGENT'S MISTAKE!