How To Complain To Thai Airways?

[KunMatt]

I cannot find any information on their website or even by Googling, I'd like an email address to write a complaint to them.

Has anybody done this before?

Are they sympathetic to any complaints or am I likely to get fobbed off by a jobsworth quoting me their company policy over and over?

Any success stories would be nice because I'm left feeling like crap after a bad 24 hours and spending more cash than I needed to.

[KunMatt]

I should add, that I want to complain to their UK division.

[thaiphoon]

Have a look here

[Nignoy]

Best of luck mate!!I have been try ing for weeks , both in thailand and here in Australia, with no luck, even been to their offices,no one at thai airways are in the least bit interested, so dont waste your time

[oldgeezer]

The two times I was forced to interact with Thai, I was treated like something stuck to the bottom of their shoe. I will never give them the opportunity again.

[petercr]

I have had exactly the same experience, Thai Airways have no effective customer service. Previously I would use Thai Airways for all my travel, seat pitch and in flight service were good. The old aircraft and lack of seatback screen never bothered me.

BUT

As a frequent flyer, I have never received a card or statement. I often found that earned miles were not credited. Complaints and claims for lost miles were ignored both in UK and Thailand. They have no customer service

[scorecard]

I have had exactly the same experience, Thai Airways have no effective customer service. Previously I would use Thai Airways for all my travel, seat pitch and in flight service were good. The old aircraft and lack of seatback screen never bothered me.

BUT

As a frequent flyer, I have never received a card or statement. I often found that earned miles were not credited. Complaints and claims for lost miles were ignored both in UK and Thailand. They have no customer service

1. If you're lucky enough to get an e.mail reply from ROP (Royal Orchid Plus - frequent flye program) then sometimes best to ask the question again, perhaps in a different way, because first answer may not be correct.

I asked "How many people can I get free tickets for on one flight?". Answer "no limit by numbers of people, but limit would be by usage of all the current memberpoints."

Second answer was - "There is a limit of 4 people for free award tickets on one flight".

I wrote again, quoting both answers, and asked for a clarification. Still waiting, even afetr several follow up e.mails asking for a reply.

Good luck.

2. About 5 years ago I asked the purser for a Bangkok telephone number for complaints. Answer "We don't have a complaints department, It's not needed because most of our cabin crew have a masters degree".

Good luck.

[jimmym40]

It does absolutely NO GOOD to complain. There is nobody to complain to. The best you get is a reply from "customer relations". I've had several complaints, and true, all they do is quote airline policy. I've asked repeatedly for an email address to a highly level, and no response. Then I asked for them to "forward" my complaint to a higher level, no reply or feedback.

I could never understand whey their prices have to be so high. Considering their lower costs of operations than lets say, US and UK airlines, their prices should be comparable to China, EVA or Korean.

[Camelot]

Someone has to pay for the overstaffing...

Complaints to THAI are normally handled by the Public Relations Dept. Target the VP in charge. Registered letter, not email. It must look official.

[geriatrickid]

I'm joining the Conga line of frustrated clients. There is absolutely no customer care program. Chalk it up to the lack of accountability that starts at the top. Customer service is what sets TG apart from MH, CX and SQ. (And yet, TG's ticket prices are either the same or more expensive than those airlines. Go figger.)

[neverdie]

I made contact with thai about a problem I was having with my frequent flyers account about a year ago and I am still waiting for them to fix the problem. I am sure they will be happy to enter your complaint into the same SYSTEM that my problem is being resolved in .

[harrry]

Easiest way is with money....get a ticket with another airline.

[thai3]

Easiest way is with money....get a ticket with another airline.

Too true. When I came out here on a single ticket they emailed me two weeks before the flight and told me I could not enter Thailand with my visa on a one way ticket. I frantically tried to call the London office dozens of times with never a reply, emailed them many with no reply. In the end I had to travel the long way to London to ask at TG office-who could not tell me if the email was right or wrong. They had to phone the Airport to ask the staff there who said no problem!! When I asked the office staff why nobody answered the phones and why no reply to emails and why I had been given the wrong information she just said because of new visa rules a lot of staff at TG did not know what the situation was. That was the last time I ever fly with TG and never will again, total disgrace.

[KunMatt]

Well the replies here have not been very encouraging about me getting a satisfactory result about my complaint. I wrote a letter and sent it to customer service department for forwarding onto their "Complaints department" (if they have one) and I will update here what result I get, if any.

It's totally my own foolish trusting nature that I assumed by using a 5 star rated airline I could expect the same level of customer satisfaction. I've flown TA before and they were excellent but this is the first time I have had to organise and pay for my own tickets, and so far it's been terrible.

I'd happily accept credit vouchers for future flights if that's the least they were prepared to offer but it sounds like I might not even get an answer.

[getithere328]

The words " cat in hel_l's chance" spring to mind.

I have flown with Thai a few times and now see them as a last resort due to poor service, old planes etc. Complaining seems to fall on deaf ears.

Vote with your feet and fly with another company.

[KunMatt]

The words " cat in hel_l's chance" spring to mind.

I have flown with Thai a few times and now see them as a last resort due to poor service, old planes etc. Complaining seems to fall on deaf ears.

Vote with your feet and fly with another company.

So it looks like not one person has ever had any joy complaining to Thai Air. Unbelievable that such a reputable company can have such a lousy resolution department. Seeing as I'm a young guy with a lifetime of flying to Asia ahead of me they would be stupid to lose me as a customer so early on, but that's what will happen if I'm left with this bad experience.

Someone has got to come forward with a positive story about their aftercare....

[SebD]

The only effective complaint is to vote with your feet.

I'll never fly Thai Airways again, if a choice exists.

I don't ask for much, but they didn't even get close to that.

Travelled UK to Bangkok and back and it was everything an airline shouldn't be as regards customer care, passenger facilities and service.

Can't even be bothered to complain because I feel sure all my observations will simply be deposited in the bin.

[sonderup]

Hi

Let me very be frank with you. It's takes it time to get your complaint through the right channels, but show patience.

He is what I did. First I wrote a normal complain to the Bangkok and Stockholm office (the ticket was brought there). When that didn't helped, I complain directly to the headoffice. Many mails (more than 20) and all with negative feedbacks and answers. Then I complained directly to the CEO office. Then things start to progress, but at the same time I complained to CEO office, I also complained to Star Alliance HQ. They answered within a few hours, telling me that all member airlines have to follow certain rules in order to be a part of the network. In my case a canceled route flight was more than enough reason to pay compensation. Especially because TG claimed that they have notified all passengers 1 week before. Funny though that I confirmed my seat 72 hours before the flight by phone and by email to there office in Stockholm. They got all my numbers as ROP member with gold card status and they have never ever before got any problems getting in contact with me. Three email addresses and four phonenumbers - the selection are huge, so I have been speaking or notified by mail many times before in the past. And I wasn't the only passenger they had to turn down on that flight. I counted more than 30 persons + they had to say comeback tomorrow - maybe there will be a plane there, but check-in staff were not even sure. Some phone calls solved the problem. My plane was 16+ planned delay, only thing was they forget to tell most of there customers on that plane it was a pre scheduled delay because of rotating aircrafts.

Here are there correct addresses to a complain to TG/Star Alliance and I also added emails addresses. I include that name that took care of my complain a few years ago with a positive outcome. Maybe this employee isn't there anymore, but it's better than nothing. Don't forget to tell them, that you also have complained to Star Alliance HQ. Be sure to include there case handling number, that makes TG extra worried.

Star Alliance - email Star Alliance complain office

And this was part of there reply "As you may know, the Star Alliance network is a partnership of airlines that acts as a co-operation platform. While several operational matters are handled under harmonized policies some issues are by necessity left to the airlines. However, the Star Alliance carriers do have harmonized policies for irregular operations handling. "

TG Thai Airways HQ

Management of Thai Airways Int. PLC

89 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road

TH-10900 Din Daeng

Bangkok

Thailand

Contact person in charge on my case was Plearnpun Sirihongse, Division Manager, Customer Relations Service Department.

And here is what I gained from TG after 2 months of complaining : "Our Management is also truly sorry to hear this unpleasant experience and

asked us to reply on their behalf. Fortunately, as a gesture of goodwill, they agreed to arrange the offer in the amount of THBXXX.XXX.- , which is equivalent to the ticket fare plus tax for the sector Bangkok-XXX-Bangkok, in the form of Multiple Purpose Document (MPD), as a full and final settlement. The MPD is valid for one year after the date of issue, for further transportation on THAI, and which can be used at 'THAI town office' for purchasing tickets at any type of fare or for paying an upgrade surcharge or excess baggage charge at airport ticket office on your next trip. We would appreciate if you please sign the Liability Claim

Discharge Form (LCD), which will be sent to your mailing address."

Email addresses for this department are : TG division manager, Customer Relation Dept HQ

Please note that if the plane lands or takes off from any EU country they have to follow certain rules, but very often they are counting on you to give up before handing out claims.

[KunMatt]

Hi

Let me very be frank with you. It's takes it time to get your complaint through the right channels, but show patience.

Thanks very much for the input, but to be honest there is no way I am going to go through all of this for my case!!

I'm only out of pocket by GBP150 because I had to pay to change a flight time from morning to night on the same day because I had a timeout issue with their online booking site that reset the time to the morning flight. I called minutes after I had clicked confirmed to rectify the mistake but the ticket change fee is GBP75 PER TICKET (even though both tickets were under one booking), and I think it is appauling I was made to pay for something that was just a mistake and not a real change of date.

I've wrote them a letter appealing to their good nature, if nothing comes of it I will send them another telling them they have lost me as a potential lifelong regular flyer to Asia and then to hel_l with them, I will give them all the bad press I can for the rest of my life!! lol

[gorshar]

As others, nobody will listen. Just use another airline and be done with them.

[jimmym40]

As sonderup pointed out, "they" want you to give up.

I would recommend all complanaits pursue to the highest level until a satisfactory response is given.

We all know it is the Thai way, "they wear you down until the point you do give up". This is the Thai way in general in dealings with any business complaint.

I've had several complaints to Thai airways in the past 10 years, some responses were acceptable, and some I "just gave up".

I like flying Thai, but have put off flying with them lately because of their high fares.

[yabaaaa]

I should add, that I want to complain to their UK division.

Best way is to find the nearest wall and bang your head up it!! Ive tried complaining with Emirates about a crap business class flight, got nowhere, they found nothing wrong at all.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Hi

Let me very be frank with you. It's takes it time to get your complaint through the right channels, but show patience.

Thanks very much for the input, but to be honest there is no way I am going to go through all of this for my case!!

I'm only out of pocket by GBP150 because I had to pay to change a flight time from morning to night on the same day because I had a timeout issue with their online booking site that reset the time to the morning flight. I called minutes after I had clicked confirmed to rectify the mistake but the ticket change fee is GBP75 PER TICKET (even though both tickets were under one booking), and I think it is appauling I was made to pay for something that was just a mistake and not a real change of date.

I've wrote them a letter appealing to their good nature, if nothing comes of it I will send them another telling them they have lost me as a potential lifelong regular flyer to Asia and then to hel_l with them, I will give them all the bad press I can for the rest of my life!! lol

As you said " I had a timeout issue...." They will miss you.

[martin81]

A few years ago I sent a complaint to TG in DK because all TG flights out of Cambodia had been cancelled because of riots and I had to buy a ticket on Bangkok Air to get out for 100$.

When I got home I phoned the local TG office in DK first and complained. They told me to send them a letter with complaint and ticket receipt.

I did that and got a check with the 100 $ in my mail within a week. So sometimes complains to TG do pay.

The ticket was an almosty free ROP ticket bought with points.

Edited November 16, 2009 by martin81

[sleepyjohn]

I landed here 6 years ago but severe agoraphobia panic attacks started and I was unable to use the return half of my ticket within the allocated year.

I got a hospital letter.

Not only would Thai Airways, who I'd flown with every year, not allow me to put back the date by which I would have to travel......let alone saying "travel with us when you are able"......they refused and were thus able to sell my seat after having sold it to me, thereby profiting by my misfortune.

Well done Thai Airways.

Edited November 24, 2009 by sleepyjohn

[SNGLIFE]

My wife and I had a HORRIBLE experience on a (now defunct) BKK >> JFK flight!!!

My wife politely suggested that they got our special meals wrong. A simple matter to just take the wrong meals and bring back the correct meals or a decent substitute. But NO, she had the nerve to "talk down" to my wife in the Bangkok (wannabe hi-so) vs Isaan manner. She did not realize I could understand everything being said and jumped into the conversation in defense of my wife. Now it's a real scene and the stewardess just walks off in a huff. So, I ask the next stewardess to fetch the supervisor because I wanted someone of authority to know how poorly that person behaved. Guess who turned out to be the supervisor?!? Yup! The "stewardess" who created the whole problem. I was livid and gave her a much needed lecture about customer service and the fact that her behavior was reprehensible and a poor example for her subordinates. I let her have it with both barrels blazing in English AND in Thai. Obviously surprised, she slithered off to have a cry and talk with the Captain, I suppose, and came back apologizing to us literally on both knees. I was incensed and even that was not going to make up for the embarrassment and humiliation she rained down on my wife - who was so upset that she could not eat a thing for the duration of the flight.

My wife cold dialed and wrote letters to every address she could find. Someone "higher up" finally contacted her after 2 weeks. They listened and said "sorry". That's it.

That made me even angrier at them because it is an organizational problem. Sure they can smile and be polite (unless they think they can get away with not being polite to people from Isaan), but they have ABSOLUTELY NO CONCEPT of customer service. Customer service is measured by how situations are handled when things go wrong. Not just when things go right.

Needless to say that I at least found some satisfaction knowing that perhaps that woman got the boot when the BKK <<->> JFK route was canceled.

It was a mistake for me to have given into my wife and stray from China Airlines. She agrees. China Airlines: my absolute FAVORITE way to travel to/from Thailand.

Cheers!