********** customer service

<p>On 3 August I boarded an Emirates flight leaving Johannesburg, heading to Hong Kong, via Dubai, for a much needed but brief vacation. Our flight took off and about halfway into our flight (about 2 or 3 hours in) the captain of our flight announced that our flight had been turned back to Johannesburg due to a problem at Dubai airport. No further announcements were made or updates provided. Some passengers who missed the 1 announcement that was made only realised that we had been turned back to Johannesburg as we were descending for landing. It was ONLY WHEN WE LANDED IN JOHANNESBURG that it was communicated that there had been a plane crash in Dubai.</p> <p> <br />On arrival back in Johannesburg we disembarked the plane and waited approximately 2 HOURS to receive our luggage from the plane. AGAIN NO ANNOUNCEMENT OR COMMUNICATION WAS MADE so we lingered around the luggage carousels while Emirates ground staff milled around until one of the passengers had the good sense to ask them "where to next?" at which point we were ushered to a bus taking us to a hotel where we would spend the night.</p> <p> <br />Bearing in mind that our hotel arrangements were in place when landed back in Johannesburg, this could have been communicated to passengers over the plane's PA system or by Emirates ground crew. ALSO AND MOST FRUSTRATING OF ALL - we were not given any update as to what would happen to our connections. It would later become clear why. We were then shuttled off to an obscure hotel with no wifi... which may seem like a first world gripe but imagine a plane full of international travellers with loved ones expecting them with no access to wifi to communicate a significant travel delay. We were shuttled back to the airport at 2am, boarding commenced at 3am and we took off again at 5 am. At no point were we given any indication of what would happen to our connections. We were IN FACT PROMISED THAT OUR CONNECTIONS WOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF BY THE TIME WE ARRIVED IN DUBAI!</p> <p> <br />When we arrived in Dubai (around 3:30pm) we were greeted with the utter chaos that was Dubai Airport.... Throngs of exhausted and massively frustrated, stranded passengers receiving ABSOLUTELY NO GUIDANCE OR COMMUNICATION from Emirates... See the pattern here?</p> <p> <br />WE THEN SPENT THE NEXT 11 HOURS IN LINE waiting to be assigned new connecting flights. I was eventually given a connecting flight to Hong Kong on 6 August (2 days later) and put on standby for a flight leaving 3am on 5 August.</p> <p> <br />An 11 HOUR wait in a line that barely moves is inexplicable in its own right but when you add to that 1. Rudeness from Emirate ground staff (I literally saw an Emirates ground staff member tell a lady who complained about having waited in line for 5 hours to wait another 5 hours with disdain) 2. All we were given were ****ins juice and water for sustenance in line 3. Not a single Emirate employee made a single announcement to make sense of the chaos nor where there any notices or communications on boards 4. Passengers on flights that arrived an hour or 2 after hours sailed through to their connecting flights as is customary because they had been issued with connecting boarding passes at their departing airports. WHY WAS THIS NOT DONE FOR US IN JOHANNESBURG? If it could not be done, WHY WERE WE NOT TOLD THIS AND PROVIDED WITH AN INDICATION THAT WE MAY BE STRANDED IN DUBAI WITH THE NEXT AVAILABLE CONNECTING FLIGHTS ONLY DAYS LATER?!?! I personally would have cancelled my Emirates flight in Johannesburg and bought a direct to Hong Kong. Instead we were couriered to Dubai like cattle, not being given the opportunity to make alternative arrangements. I am yet to receive an apology for Emirates for this. They have our email addresses. How difficult is to send a mass mailed apology? I understand that they were dealing with a crisis but it would seem that Emirates forgot that they were dealing with PEOPLE! One can only surmise that we were shuttled off to Dubai to prevent us from making alternative travel arrangements.</p> <p> <br />Fortunately I was able to make it onto the standby flight at 3am on the 5th of August and arrived in Hong Kong that afternoon only to discover that MY LUGGAGE HAD BEEN LEFT IN DUBAI! I submitted the required form with Emirate's ground handling agents, Jardine Aviation Services, and was promised that they would deliver my luggage to me the next day. I had now not seen a shower or a change of clothes since Johannesburg 36 hours ago. I then proceeded to a mall to pick a few travel essentials. The next morning and for every morning after for the rest of my vacation I spent the first few hours of each day trying to get on the line with Jardine Aviation to get an update on my luggage to no avail! No one ever answered the number provided. Eventually on Monday morning, my last day in Hong Kong, I decided to call Emirates in Dubai where I was told that my luggage HAD NEVER LEFT DUBAI! I told the Emirates agent that I would be flying back to Dubai the next day and would collect my luggage there during my lay over to Johannesburg.</p> <p> <br />I departed Hong Kong having spent a considerable sum of unbudgeted for money buying clothes for the duration of my trip. When I arrived Dubai I approached the check in counter and asked them to ensure that my luggage was loaded onto my flight back to Johannesburg. I again I was given an empty promise... And when I arrived back home in Johannesburg, a week after having departed... Surprise surprise NO LUGGAGE! More lines! More forms! More inconvenience..... AND STILL NO APOLOGY! I only received my luggage on Friday 12 August, having last seen it on 4 August!</p> <p> <br />Despite having followed all the prescribed Emirates complaints procedures on their website I've not received any apologies for the inconvenience or the treatment I received nor have I been compensated for the expense incurred purchasing travel essentials because my luggage was delayed!</p> <p> <br />I have never in my life experienced service anywhere near as atrocious as this!</p>