Ethiopian Air- Disgusting Service and Lying to Passengers

On Sunday the 15th of April 2018, at OR Tambo, Johannesburg, South Africa, my Brother and his wife and 4 little Children under the age of 8 were denied Check-In, after they waited in the Check-In Que for over 2 Hours. The Airline manager, Mr. Minale closed the Check In Counters, as they were the last passengers in the que. My Brother forgot his passport in the car, he only realised this when they reached the front of the que to check in. They went through all of their baggage, prams, kids baggage etc. in front of the Check in Counter, whilst other passengers were being checked in. This is not a case of arriving late, they were there the whole time. i went to the car to look for the passport, and when i arrived back, at the check in counter at around 07:26 (Check-In Closes 1 hour prior to departure, departure was at 08:20), 6 minutes over the time, they were left there stranded. Minale said he would come back and assist them, but he went off to close the flight and only arrived back at 09:03. When we asked him why he did not come back (we even sent one of the baggage assistants from Ethiopian Air to look for him), he simply rep**** that he had to close the boarding gates - completely ignoring the fact that there was a family waiting to check in. I called the Ethiopian Air call center to see what else could be done and to tell them that Minale "Ran Away", they gave me Minale's Cell Number, which he does not answer, they even contacted him, or so they claim. This was all around 07:26. After Minale returned, he said that the flight would need to be re-booked, and that it would be moved to the following day. We decided to go home and return after 13:00. i called the Ethiopian Air Call Center 6 times between 07:00 and 09:30 and i was assured that this problem would be taken care of and that the family would not be charged any penalties or any fees for a re-booking of the flight. At 15:22, i received an Email from Ethiopian Air (Addis Ababa) with a new booking date for the flight, the following day, Monday the 16th of April 2018. I then called the Ethiopian Air Call Center at 20:00 to confirm that the email that was sent to me, was in fact true and correct and that there would be no charge. The Young lady who answered the call told me that the booking was moved, free of charge, that there would be no Penalty fees or any charges and this was because of the Inconvenience caused to the family. The Following morning, Monday Morning, the 16th of April 2018, we arrived at the airport 2 and a half hours before departure, waking up the little children at 03:30. When by Brother and his family arrived at the Check in Counter, they once again, were denied access to Check in, this time the Manager at the Check In was Mr. Abel, the area manager for Johannesburg, and he refused to allow them to check in, even though the re-booking was done via Ethiopian Air in Addis Ababa, and they were assured no charges. He insisted that they pay the penalty fees. So they paid. This is a flight to Tel-Aviv Israel, and it stops off in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. When they arrived in Ethiopia, they were not allowed to board the connecting flight to Tel-Aviv, the reason for this is that South Africa Check-In forgot to update them that they had paid (by force) the penalty fees. After holding the family back for an excruciating 30 minutes, they finally allowed them to board. Remember, this is a family with 4 little children, under the age of 8, awake from 03:30. When they finally arrived in Israel, they were told that their Baggage, all of their Baggage, except for the Pram's / Stroller's were "Lost" - Everything, "Lost" The Pram's / Stroller's were broken to Pieces.

I have asked Ethiopian Air for the call records (as all their calls are recorded) - no answer. i want them to refund my brother for the Penalty fees that they promised me there would not be, yet, Mr. Abel insisted that they pay. i want Ethiopian Air to find the luggage and personally deliver it to my Brother's house - and if this is too much for them to do, then at least find the baggage and let him know when they have it, ALL OF IT! Lastly, i want Ethiopian Air to pay for 2 NEW Pram's / Stroller's as they Broke the previous ones to bits.

This is Disgusting service from Ethiopian Air.

I and many of my colleagues, fly with Ethiopian Air, but if this is the way that they treat their Passengers, ESPECIALLY a family with 4 Little children all below the age of 8.

Any Chance someone from Ethiopian Air can get back to me?