Emirates
Reviews and Complaints

Dear Madam / Sir

Today I exposed racism assault from one of your staff, his name is Ahmed Hamed staff no 454805.
The staff is dealing in very rude & racism manner with me in my work place without any reason, I am bank officer in Dubai more than 11 years, and I never facing such rudeness behavior form any one in UAE.
The subject staff is non customer for my bank although he caused an insult to my nationality as he mention by letter (I am an Egyptian Animal) moreover he said some other words the Law in UAE will punishment him for it, such as our people (he means Egyptians) are dirty nationality and we are poor people also he said very bad words I cannot mention here.
The staff dealing in power of his position at the Emirates and his second nationality USA, he keeps saying I am USA Citizen and working in Emirates, he would like to say he is over the law and cannot be facing legal Liability.
As a customer to Emirates I would not be happy to use your services again if you have such Racism persons in your respectful company.

Thanks
Ahmed

Returning business class from Dubai on EK 432 seat 9E on Thurs 2nd Nov my phone slipped down, when seat was in bed position ... acting exactly as instructed I notified a steward who said they would leave the seat in that position and get engineer to retrieve my phone in transit Singapore and put me in another seat for landing. The steward notified the head steward.
Unfortunately not all stewards were obviously advised, as another steward lifted the seat up for landing and completely smashed my phone
The crew and engineers agreed this was unfortunate and not my fault. A crew member noted details in SIN and I was advised someone would contact me for compensation
I left my card with contact details
See attached photo of phone taken at Emirates SIN lounge
Can someone please contact me regarding this matter
Thank you
Doug Hammonds
+[protected]
[protected]@valleyfresh.com.au

Hiii:
I have called call center more than 1time to modify the date of my back to cairo.but I found unsupportive attitude from call center staff.as they cannot support me. Plus lack of ino plus aggressive attitude. Which lead me by the end to cancel my ticket .ana reserve the new one with fly dubai. Although all my travelling was through emirates airline. The last lady who answered me which called Aysha. Her arabic was soo bad not understood. Even her English was the same. And her tone with me was aggressive. And before her another one called : Enas. Was worse than her. And yesterday was aman . I can't remember his name . He wad not an ideal for call center advisor for emirates. He can only be as order taker at Macdonalds. Really It was the worst customer service I have ever seen in dubai. By such unprofessional way.sure ypu will lose the loyalty of your customers.

I will spread that negative feedback thorough social media.
BR
Ola.fahim
[protected]

hi my name is .( Manina Ailal ) mobile no. [protected] ) i just came yesterday Monday 16/10/2017 from Casablanca to Dubai flight no. EK 752 seat no. 20K business class . my complain about chief of air hostessess and i think her name is Naimaa, about her attitude with me cause she didn't talk in a good way with me when i ask him for any request for example she was annoyed cause my baby was crying and i ask her that i want to bring my babysitter to take him cause he was hungry to take care of him but she refused cause my babysitter booking was on economy class so she told me she can't come and take it and that made too much harm for me and my baby and in the end of the flight i ask her that i want my babysitter to help me carrying my bag and she refused also in not a professional way pls send me feed back about my complaint, thanks for your interset

I flew back to Los Angeles from Jordan to Dubai to Los Angeles, total number bags were checked in were two. I found out after arriving to LA that one of the bags isn't mine and that the agent who helped me while checking in in Jordan gave me a tracking number and name on one the bags wasn't mine, it was under another person name since she was rushing I believe she mixed up the papers. I arrived to LA and filed a claim to get my bag after they said that my bag is in Canada and they said I will be getting in within 24 hours. After couple days I receive a phone call from one of your agents saying that my bag is in CHINA! It took my bag about 6 days to arrive knowing that I had all my medications for blood pressure and other health problems inside it since I keep only small amount on me. The bag was delivered to me with broken lock which wasn't on it! so many scratches and worn out.. most toys and gifts for my kids and my family were damaged and broken, the bag was ripped from the side big time.
I will be attaching some photos for the wrong ticket was given to me, the bag, and the my flight information.
I am waiting to hear back from you on the following email
[protected]@hotmail.com

Dear Sir / Ma’am,

I, Shabbir Patel, am a platinum member (EK [protected]) of Emirates airlines and also a weekly flyer. I fly from India to Dubai on Fridays and from Dubai to India on Mondays/ Tuesdays. I have been a gold card member since the inception of gold card, and I became a Platinum member when the Platinum membership card was introduced. I am a passenger with no meal and no luggage.

I am writing this letter to inform you about the recent events that has caused me dissatisfaction and forced me to book a ticket from Jet airways.

1. I have been requesting Emirates to upgrade me to an IO member for the past 4 years, but the reply I am receiving from them is that the ones who receive an invitation are only the ones who are upgraded.

2. In my latest trip from Mumbai to Dubai on Friday, 6th October 2017 (fight no: EK 509) I was not upgraded to first class and a fellow passenger next to me was upgraded just because he had purchased a high priced ticket.

3. I was trying to book an online return ticket from Dubai to Mumbai for Tuesday, 10th October 2017, but the price I received was AED. 7, 000/- (Dirhams Seven Thousand Only). Whereas, the same ticket I got in AED. 2, 900/- (Dirhams Two Thousand Nine Hundred Only) from Jet airways, premiere class.

4. I called in Emirates call center today to report my issue and spoke to Ms. Gaba (Egyptian nationality) but I did not receive any satisfactory answer.

Even after being a platinum member and a weekly flyer, I don’t receive the privileges I deserve from the airlines, why?

I bought a return ticket on the Emirates airlines from New York to Malaysia on 12/8/2017 and return on 7/10/2017. During my stay in Malaysia, I thought about changing the booking from Malaysia to Dubai for the purpose of visiting Dubai. I went to the UAE Airlines office in Malaysia and asked them to change the date of the flight from Malaysia to Dubai from 7/10/2017 to 3/10/2017 for the purpose of visiting Dubai and told me to pay 932 MYR and before I change the reservation and pay the amount I asked the employee in the UAE airlines if the visa is required to enter the UAE with The knowledge is that I have a Sudanese passport and he told me that I do not need an entry visa unless it is I spent more than 96 hours and he told me visa on arrival in Dubai and I paid the amount and went to the airport on the day of the trip on 3/10/2017. When the procedures were completed, the worker answered the UAE airlines at Malaysia airport. I can not travel to Dubai because I do not have a visa and they told me to change the reservation. I paid 845 MYR in order to not lose the ticket, knowing that the purpose of changing the reservation from the first is to visit Dubai. Unfortunately, I did not visit Dubai.and I didn’t finished my vacation in Malaysia . The first ticket number I bought from New York
[protected].
The second when I bought in kuala lampur
[protected]. and the last when in in kuala lampur airport [protected].
Thank you
Mahmoud idris
Phone number: [protected]

Date: 10/07/2017
Dear Emirate Airlines:
My name is FATEH MURSELA I am writing this complaint in regards to a very distasteful experience I had with your airline. I booked a flight EK724 & EK231 to visit my sister in USA, Virginia. The first leg was from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Dubai on Sep 24, 2017 and the next leg from Dubai to USA on September 25, 2017. My flight from Addis Ababa to Dubai was very interesting. My arrival schedule at Final Destination was on September 25, 2017. The flight left on time from Addis Ababa and arrived at Dubai international airport on time. There was enough time for me to make the connecting flight towards USA.
When my flight arrived at Dubai airport your employees informed all transit passengers to wait at the waiting area until next connection flight. Your airport staff also promised to inform transit passengers when the check-in time approaches. As me and other passenger waited for our flight, your staff forget to remind us to check-in my next flight. I never moved from the waiting area but no body informed me the update of the connection flight time. It was clear fault of your airline. Due to lack of proper information I missed my connection flight to USA. And also Airline supposed to rebook me on the next available flight but the staff at the airport were not ready to do that.
Finlay I approached the ticket counter to discuss my options. Realizing that rebooking on another flight would cost me more money. I called my sister and purchase new round trip ticket for the next day flight (DUBAI - DULLES INTERNATIONAL- DUBAI-ADDIS ABABA. I had spent more than $640 for purchase of new ticket. I suffered at Dubai airport without proper accommodation, food and drinks. With all the delays included I finally arrived at my destination over 12 hours later than anticipated. The perishable stuff in my bags were also fully damaged. I never sleep for long hours due to this bad experience.

My entire family is loyal customers to Emirates who frequently fly on your airlines. But my last time experience was a horrific experience in my life. Currently I am consulting my lawyer to take case to the next step. I can give you the chance to solve case amicably. I would hope that you take these complaints into consideration and that you would compensate me for my added expenses and the horrific experience I suffered at the airport. I would ask that you refund my ticket costs and perishables fully damaged. The cost of my perishable stuff is about $500. I kindly also ask your airlines for reasonable compensation for the inconvenience I suffered due to lack of information by your airlines

My record locator is BYPCZW.
If you have further questions regarding this issue, please email me at: [protected]@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,
FATEH MURSELA

I was directed by Emirates Airline Lahore office to lodge complaint and send via email so i did on August 25, 2017 but till date no response has been received. Email content was as follows:

I traveled with Emirates Airline flight EK 622 on August 17, 2017 from Dubai to Lahore.

On arrival, I revived my booked luggage which was apparently zipped and locked but a large number of valuables were missing, which were taken out of my bag while the bag was in custody of the Air Line from Dubai to Lahore.

At Lahore Airport, I immediately reported the incident to the Emirates Airline Authorities and as per their advise I am putting up my claim for the stolen items.

A complete list of missing / stolen items along with the value is attached here with.

A copy of my boarding card, passport, ticket, baggage tag and copy of complaint lodged with Emirates authorities are also attached.

I do have the purchase receipts of the items except some of the gifts that I received while being abroad.

Kindly settle my claim at the earliest.

Regards
Andleeb
Secretary General, Pakistan Karate Federation
Executive member, Pakistan Olympic Association
District (3272) Chair Membership, Rotary International
Executive member, Pakistan Girl Guides Association

Kindly help in this regard.

I bought a return ticket on the Emirates airlines from New York to Malaysia on 12/8/2017 and return on 7/10/2017. During my stay in Malaysia, I thought about changing the booking from Malaysia to Dubai for the purpose of visiting Dubai. I went to the UAE Airlines office in Malaysia and asked them to change the date of the flight from Malaysia to Dubai from 7/10/2017 to 3/10/2017 for the purpose of visiting Dubai and told me to pay 932 MYR and before I change the reservation and pay the amount I asked the employee in the UAE airlines if the visa is required to enter the UAE with The knowledge is that I have a Sudanese passport and he told me that I do not need an entry visa unless it is I spent more than 96 hours and he told me visa on arrival in Dubai and I paid the amount and went to the airport on the day of the trip on 3/10/2017. When the procedures were completed, the worker answered the UAE airlines at Malaysia airport. I can not travel to Dubai because I do not have a visa and they told me to change the reservation. I paid 845 MYR in order to not lose the ticket, knowing that the purpose of changing the reservation from the first is to visit Dubai. Unfortunately, I did not visit Dubai. and I didn’t finished my vacation in Malaysia. The first ticket number I bought from New York
[protected].
The second when I bought in kuala lampur
[protected]. and the last when in in kuala lampur airport [protected].
Thank you
Mahmoud idris
Phone number: [protected]

I was on my way back from the Maldives on Friday 09 June 2017 and on the last leg of our journey (Dubai to the UK) when I used a blanket provided by Emirates. I was bitten numerous times (more than 50) from parasites on the blanket within a 15/20 minute time scale. The steward took the blanket from me and I filled in the necessary forms etc. with regards to allergies. I have put in an official complaint relating that I had to take time off work, cover myself in a parasite cream and take tablets for a whole month. Wash all my clothes, bedding, towels etc. I recieved a response a month later, but the response I recieved was inadequate stating another customer could have brought the parasites on or I could have been bitten on holiday. No one in our party was bitten apart from me and I got on that flight with no bites. I have photos to prove it. I would like compensation for my prescriptions, cleaning and time off work.

Dear sir,
I, Usman Kongadan, traveling on EK051 27 sep 17 16:30 from dubai to munich. While i open cutlery packet while serving lunch i see fork, knife, spoon are full of dirty. This is my first experience over 50 onboard travel. I call cabin crew, informed, he give another set and told me he informed his superior. I never expect from EmiratesAirline. Its very bad.
My tkt No.[protected]

To whom it may concern,

Recently my wife and I went on our honeymoon. We travelled with Emirates for the entire trip. On our flight from Bangkok to Dubai, we decided to spoil ourselves by purchasing a business class upgrade for the two of us.

My wife who had previously travelled business class has always raved about her memorable experience hence I was excited to experience it for the first time.
The trip itself was very comfortable. However my issue arises from the following:

Early on in the flight we were given menus and asked by the flight attendant what we would like for breakfast and if we would like to be woken up. We both requested that we be woken up and thereafter chose our meal preferences. To our disappointment we were not woken up until it was time to land.

When we followed up with the flight attendant about our meals, we were told that it was too late and that they were preparing for landing.
This was a huge disappointment as we expected a certain level of experience having spent the additional money in the hope of having the full business class experience.

Our flight number was Ek371 departing on the 15 September 2017.

We look forward to your feedback.

Kind Regards
Mr & Mrs Archary

Date: 24.09.2017

To
The Manager
Emirates Airlines
Airport Passenger service section
Emirates Airlines
Dubai – UAE

Subject: Complaint against Viraj Dissa Nayaka/ Airport Handling

Dear Sir

It is with deepest concerned to place a complaint on record against Viraj Dissa Nayaka- who was present at Gate B 29 on 20.09.2017.

While we have purchased few gifts from Dubai duty free and when we reached at the gate for checking, Viraj Dissa Nayaka has mis behaved and he was standing at the gate like he is police officer. His expression of words and his body language and handling us was totally unprofessional and awkward.

I have asked him several times his name and also requested him who is your top, superior next manager so that I can speak; in reply he said he is the top boss of emirates.

I am travelling with emirates from decades, and have not found any such an employee so rude with the passengers.

This all episode has happened on 20.09.2017 at Gate B 29 time around 9 PM to 9.30 PM .

I defiantly wants Viraj Dissa Nayak apology to me and my wife who was travelling that day.

Also I recommend emirates airline to take stringent action on such bad behavior employee.

Look forward to hear from you

Best regards

Ashraf Mateen
Mobile:[protected]
Email: ashraf.[protected]@hotmail.com
Ticket No: [protected] - Flight EK 524 – Booking reference: CURJE6
Date of travel: 20.09.2017-Gate B 29 -Time: 9 to 10 PM
Skywards Number: [protected] - Dubai – Hyderabad flight

I supposed to reach to Munich, Germany Airport at 1:15 pm and the rental car (Europcar) I supposed to pick up at 1:00 pm.
Because of your delay more than one hour, it cost that amount of money.
I am regular customer with my family I preciate if you can return the money back.

Regards,

Zuhair Almutawa
My reservation code SJQEXN
My Airline reservation code K7Q7DJ(EK)

I am writing to you today to outline the most horrific experience I have ever encountered in my time flying.

Firstly I purchased 4 tickets at $2, 000 that were on top of a flight I had already paid for. I did this specifically so I could connect with a 10:30am flight from Abu Dhabi to be back in Sydney by Friday morning.

Firstly the flight was delayed due to a minor mechanical failure but what followed and how the captain delt with this was beyond words and nothing more than negligence on his behalf.

He failed to let the passengers know what was happening, the aircraft power kept turning off leaving us in darkesss and without air conditioning. This in turn caused panic amongst the passengers to the point where they were trying to open the doors. At this stage the pilot was just saying sit down there is nothing wrong. The panic on the plane turned to mass hysteria where all flight attendants had to block the doors to stop passangers trying to open them. People were screaming, my children were frightened to the point where they were hyperventilating. I have never in my life experienced anything like this and cannot believe how badly the pilot delt with the situation. He then told passengers we are going and whoever wanted to disembark could do so, we then spent the next hour letting people off. This situation should never have escalated to this point and should the pilot have been in contact with passengers explaining the delays and issues with power it would not have happened.

My husband had to help by calming passengers down and Gerri g them to sit in their seats so we could leave.

This flight eventually left but then arrived way past the original arrival time causing us to miss our connecting Etihad flight out of Abu Dhabi.

We then spoke to Ginam who is apparently the manager at the transfer desk who told us he would put us on the emirates flight leaving at 10:30. We were rushed to the gate and then told they would not allow us on as we didn't pay for the ticket. The 3 staff we delt with were confused, unable to give us an answer or help us in any way. We were ferried all over the airport for about an hour with two children that had not slept in 24 hours and were beside themselves.

At this stage Ginam came back and said there's nothing he can do for us, his job is done as he got us to Dubai and that is all Emirates needed to do.

I explained to him that the only reason we purchased tickets for the flight was to catch the early flight from Abu Dhabi otherwise we would've waited for our original flight the next day and not had to spend the extra $2000

Again he said that emirates had done their job getting us to Dubai and he was doing all he could to help us which was absolutely nothing.

He then sent us to the lounge so the children could sleep and said he would work on a solution for us. We had to go and find him at 3 PM at which time we discovered he had done absolutely nothing and said that putting us in the lounge was his solution. He had not followed up customer service to try and organize a refund on a flight as he said he would too but then turned around and told us we need to do that. We then had to go and find out bags and find a transfer to Abu Dhabi. He lied to us and basically washed his hands of us

We then had to try and find our bags which should have been done for us earlier as we were told they may take hours to get our luggage back to us. We had 30 minutes to be on a coach to transfer to Abu Dhabi so yet again were forced to deal with more stress and the situation where we may miss the evening flight.
The baggage people said they could not get our bags to us and would have to leave without them. I cannot believe that they had not sorted this out for us.

I am appalled at the service we received and the experience we were put through by your company.

I am requesting compensation and that our money be returned for the flight from Beirut to Dubai due to the fact that it was emirates fault that we couldn't get our connecting flight and therefore did not need to even take that flight and spend the extra money

I also want the money back for the transfer I had to organise to get us to Abu Dhabi because we were lied to and told a transfer would be waiting for us which was never the case.

Your manager made a point clear he was willing to do nothing to help us nor would he even attempt to put us on one of your flights as we had already paid for Etihad and if we wanted a flight out of out of Dubai I would have to pay again for flight should we want to leave on emirates from Dubai

I am so furious at the experience and the way we been treated today and I will be taking this to the media and making sure they are aware of what happened on this aircraft. I also have video evidence that I will be passing on to the media on how badly this situation was handled and the drama and stress it caused the passengers.

I have never in my entire time flying had such appalling service and experiences with an airline. I can't believe how many of your staff could not provide us with any help and how we were left without a solution.

I expect a prompt response to my email and your confirmation of what compensation will be provided to us.

Regards

Ty Melhem

Flight EK 347 (15 Sep 2017),
EK 049 (16 Sep 2017) - Flight gate change announcement at Dubai airport was vague and NOT clear. Flight from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai landed at around 130pm (Dubai local time). EK 00053 was scheduled to depart from gate A 11 around 4 am. I made it gate 11 and waited there after some meal at a nearby restaurant and then sat near the gate and dozed off, occasionally waking up to check the gate opening for boarding or not. At around 3.30am I saw no one at the gate and went to the notice board and saw the gate has been changed to B28 or something. I had to take a train to reach the new gate and despite rushing / dashing to the gate it was closed and my luggage according to the ground staff was removed from the carrier.

I was asked to go to the ticket counter and reschedule the flight
It took them a good 20 minutes to out me on another flight with a penalty equivalent to RM 528 ( or USD 125 appx). While doing my ticketing the counter staff was rambling on about their shifts and work stations not bothered that i am still waiting. I told them I didn't hear the announcement and they insisted that they announced- I am sure but it was not clear as i was at the original gate and did not hear anything.

I was traveling alone and in the wee hours of morning i was admit i dozed off. But i have never missed a flight until now. I was always alert to announcement even if i am using the rest room. While waiting for the re-scheduled flight the announcement sound came on but i cannot hear what the lady was saying it was so soft. So it was not entirely my fault! the poor ground service at Dubai Airport contributed to my delay without a doubt.

Here I would want to get back my RM 528.

AB 6204 (16 Sep 2017).

When I arrived in Munich I checked with the ground staff for the gate to get on the Air Berlin flight to Berlin from Munich. I was told that I had to clear passport and immigration and proceed to Departure counter and check in at Terminal A. I already had the boarding pass and my luggage according to the ticketing was to be collected in Berlin Tegel airport.

The flight was suppose to depart from Munich at 1845hrs but was delayed and we boarded around 1920hrs.

I proceeded to the baggage collection and waited for my luggage and it never came. I was asked to go to baggage service counter. the signs at the Berlin airport was not clear and i had some challenges looking for the baggage service office.

I saw several fellow passengers there with about a dozen more from other flights. It occurred to me that lost or delayed luggage is a daily affair here. there was a long queue and only one officer at the counter. No one directed us to use the self-service kiosk (there were 7-8 of them there with two out of service). I noticed a young man helping a lady at the counter, left the queue to ask him how do I lodge lost/delayed baggage report. He taught me how to do it and after that i wasn't told of any compensation or remedy whatsoever. this is the worst violation of consumer rights!

Here I would like remedy for delayed baggage. I am attending the ISO General Assembly and an ISO Council Meeting on 18 September. I so not have my office / meeting attire and was not going to spend hundreds of Malaysian Ringgit to get one because of the inefficiency of the airlines.

Emirates should take more care in engaging with other airlines as their partners to ensure that they do not create unnecessary problems to passengers.

I chose emirates since i had not faced such problems all the times i used their services. I must admit the quality deteriorated with the rise of two other airlines in the region with better services.

I am not sure how and who gives out awards but their online reviews are not encouraging.

I am not flying emirates again after this.

Ratna Devi Nadarajan.
ratna.[protected]@gmail.com
Luggage Report Number reference EK470097; TXLAB45632

Dear complain officer

I lost my time today dealing with Randy on the phone (manchester platform) and Houceme this afternoon to try to finalize a ticket from Paris to koh samui (via dubai and bangkok (FZXGNB) together with another ticket Dxb-Kuwait (DJBHN6). Randy messed it up in the connection despite 30 minutes conversation and explanations and I cant pay and finalize my tickets. I had to call a second time the same number from Paris and this time it was Houceme who did not know his job and was unable to give me a price. I spent with him 28 minutes and I had to insist to get his supervisor who showed him how to deal with the computer.

I am sure you understand that I do not expect to deal on the phone with so unprofessional people and that I would appreciate if someone competent could call me and make me finalize this trip. Or let me take another airline. Thank you.

Dr Jihad Manai
Advisor to the emir
EK [protected]

To whom it may concern,

Allow me to make it clear from the outset that I absolutely admire and support South Africa’s strict entry rules for children in order to ensure their safety. My complaints are not with the South African government so please refrain from requesting I redirect my complaint to them.
Upon planning my families holiday travel to South Africa many months ago I was extremely thorough in my attention to ensuring I had the correct documents to allow entry and worked with the S.A. embassy to achieve this. We also spoke with the Lady in immigration control in Johannesburg when we arrived who confirmed that all of our documentation had been sufficient from the very beginning.
My complaint lies fully with the fact that Emirates are taking it upon themselves to turn away families (to avoid fines) without having supplied sufficient training for staff on the matter. The staff were simply working from information they were given and were genuinely kind and sympathetic. However the information they were supplied was dreadfully misleading and if it dawned on me to check it’s validity given it’s evident errors then surely it would have dawned on the airline. Given that entire families are consistently turned away at huge cost, trauma and disappointment you’d have thought Emirates would have done their research. It was also clear that the questions we had on the day were not put forward to the embassy correctly by the gentleman if, indeed, at all.

*1 The below has been taken directly from http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/index.php/civic-services/traveling-with-children
Travel documents needed when child is travelling with 1 parent where parents are divorced (or legally separated), with equal parental rights and responsibilities
Valid passport of travelling parent and child
Unabridged Birth Certificate (UBC)
Plus one of the following
Parental Consent Affidavit (PCA) not older than 6 months
Court order granting FULL parental responsibilities and rights to the travelling parent
Court order granted in terms of section 18(5) of the Children's Act, 2005
Letter of Special Circumstances issued by Director-General of Home Affairs in the event that a parent or parents are incapacitated or deceased and no legal guardian has been appointed as yet.
*2 This is in the further breakdown on the same site:
4. DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR TRAVEL THROUGH A PORT OF ENTRY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

4.2. Where only one parent is travelling with a child, (or children), each child has to produce:
A valid passport, an UBC or Equivalent Document for each travelling child and the Parental Consent Affidavit from the non-travelling parent whose details are recorded on the UBC or Equivalent Document.

This seemed sufficient advice but as I am very thorough I checked all sites where information could be found. In the case of our government website there was a couple of links to South African advice leaflets. Upon reading these I saw that some of the information was less helpful and seemed to further complicate the simple advice I was already following. Please see below the information form provided via a link on our UK government site. The way this form was laid out in bullet points made it look like all of the points were requirements. The poor use of grammar alarmed me to the fact this was an unreliable source for information (you’ll note how one point begins with a semi-colon which makes no sense). Given that I could no longer be sure what was considered compulsory and what was considered ‘and/or’s’ I called the African affairs office personally to make sure my travel documents were sufficient.
*3 However, our airline, Emirates, were working from this very worksheet taken from http://southafricahouseuk.com/documents/childtravel19jun2015.pdf
On check-in we were told that our Documents were not sufficient. We were told that they weren’t happy with our notary and that they believed that, of late, the only ones acceptable were those of the police or commissioner of oaths. I assured them that I had already conformed all of my paperwork with the embassy but they said that they regularly had to deal with this matter and knew what they were talking about. As a result we (a family of 6) took a very expensive trip to the police station in Crawley with all luggage in tow to get what they considered acceptable notary stamps. We had to arrange for the station to let us in before hours. When we arrived back to catch our flight a gentleman told us that we also needed a court order to give us permission to travel. He produced the leaflet (stated above in *3) and directing us to the following section
∙ Court order granting specific parental responsibilities and rights (previously called joint custody) or joint legal guardianship in respect of the minor; and
∙ PCA
I tried to explain that I had already spoken to the embassy with regards to this and tried to get him to look at the other sources of information stated in *1 and *2. He said that they deal with this situation daily but would check again. The lovely lady who had been trying to help us all day was acting as a go between and returned to say it had been confirmed and nothing could be done. We could not fly.
I broke down and spent some time trying to think how we could work this out. However, still not convinced the airline had got this right, I asked to speak to the embassy myself. I called from the desk and it was confirmed to me that I was indeed correct and that we DID NOT need an additional court order to give me partial parental rights as I am the named mother on the UBC. I then passed the call over to the man on the desk who spoke with the lady (Madeline from S.A. Immigrations affairs) and confirmed that we had sufficient documents to fly. By this point we had missed our flight. I asked for the next available flight and there were none. We were also told that, even if there were, they would not be able to give us another due to the fact we had booked through an agent. It was not, however, the agent who had denied us passage due to incorrect information.
As such we spent several hours having to work with Gatwick ticketing staff to create a journey consisting of single journeys with various airlines which saw us having to return a day later and at a different airport costing us a great deal of money. We lost approx. £3.5k on our original flights and had to pay an additional £8098.80 for new ones. An additional nights stay in the hotel, £42 on a transfer for my husband to collect the car, additional fuel etc. not to mention a great deal of trauma for myself and my family. It was awful. We will be requiring a full refund for the addional flights we had to purchase and compensation for the additional expenses.
Please respond in a timely fashion as I will be contacting the Ombudsman with this matter.

King regards,
Kelly Holloway.

This is perhaps the worst company to trust with any kind of consumer complaint or responsibility of consumer and their checked in luggage!
My new and expensive suitcase which was checked in South Africa with emirates and when i received it on landing in Mumbai, it was cut open through and through from 2 sides using a cutter or knife and belongings stollen!. I have since 2 months following up with them to replace the suitcase or compensate, 6-7 times called and discussed the case with their super useless and "mam i cant do anything but assure u someone will contact u back' answer, Twice given back the suitcase which they took for repairs and never actually repaired it (as it was not repairable). I have also mailed them with all the details, pictures etc which clearly proved the suitcase is not usable and that they should either send an same new suitcase or compensate. They just keep dodging, never replied and its been months that i keep calling their customer care without any action.
Cant believe an airline company like Emirates can be this irresponsible for our checked in luggage and dealing with their customers! Super frustrating and unethical! By the way I was a loyal and frequent customer for them for long but swear to not prefer them from now onwards. Hope everyone who travels with Emirates learn lesson from my horrible experience with them.