KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

COMPLAIN & COMMENTS

Due to the restrictions imposed by the Rwandan authorities on entering the country, we requested the change of the airport of embarkation and return from Kigali to Dar es Salaam, with the payment of the price differences.

Neither online nor by telephone, directly with the KLM agency, this change could not be made, although when I requested a new ticket on the route Dar es Salaam - Bucharest there were places available.

In these conditions, I requested the cancellation of the ticket, which was for April 22, 2022, and the return of the money.

In the KLM mischief, they announced to me on 21.04.2022 that they were returning only 97.47 euros out of the 1102 euros paid for a ticket that could not be changed due to the theft committed by this company.

The theft is proven, because the return message of only 97 euros could have come 2 days earlier so that I could still use the ticket to take him to Bucharest. But KLM thieves know that now you have to do covid boarding tests that require at least 24 hours.

This is the second time that KLM steals my money. It happened to me that a voucher of 1000 euros secured me a ticket of 650 euros, in the middle of the pandemic.

23.03.2022

29.03.2022

21.04.2022

Dear Mr. STEFANESCU FLORIAN,

We would like to inform you that we will transfer the refundable amount to your account for the tickets mentioned below:

Ticket/PNR No Refundable Amount Administration Fee * Refund Reason Calculation Remarks

[protected] 97.47 0 Refund according to ticket conditions

* The Administration fee amount also includes the cancellation penalty fee if applicable.

Total refundable amount: EUR 97.47

Yours sincerely,

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Please do not reply to this automatically generated e-mail.

If you have any questions, remarks or complaints, please contact us via KLM.com.

I SHALL MAKE PUBLIC THE BEHAVIOR OF THIS COMPANY WHO WANTS TO BE CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE ONE.

My flight from Leeds Bradford airport UK on Thursday 7/4/22 was cancelled, subsequently I missed my connecting flight to Dubai resulting in arriving at my final destination over 24 hours late.

The communication during the whole process was appalling. Conflicting information was given and it was handled very badly and unprofessionally.

I never received a call to tell me when my new flight would be - I had to fly to Amsterdam without a boarding card and nobody to ask / nobody who knew what I should do. It was a wholly stressful experience that I never wish to repeat.

I arrived a day late to my work in Dubai as a result, tired and very stressed.

Hello,

My name is Maria Solveiga Toffolo and I am flying today with KLM to Stavanger, stopping in Amsterdam from London Heathrow. A few days ago I had booked a check-in baggage online and used partially a voucher and card payment (have a email proof below showing my purchase). Today I arrived at the check in counter and the first man I spoke to said it had not registered on the system and I had to pay extra for it - whole amount for “late baggage check-in” although I had proof of purchase for it.

The man in front of me told me he could not do anything and that I had to pay in a rude tone telling “I don’t have time for this I have asked twice and you have to”. So I suggested to ask another staff member next to him. He said no! So I insisted and perched to the counter next to us and asked someone else. The first man screamed to take off my luggage and said “bye!” in a condescending manner. I felt really disrespected as a customer and have never felt like that with staff from KLM.

So I moved my things and went to the counter next to me and the man turned to the first man and asked his name (keep in mind they work together at KLM London Heathrow). He refused to give his colleague his name three times. The second man agreed he was rude with me and I believe he wanted to know his name in order to report it to his manager.

The second man said the same thing but in a calm manner so I just decided to proceed to pay even though I know I had a luggage reserved already. I try two cards - neither of them work on the system so I am left with nothing. The error says that the “card is not recognised on the system”. At this point, I have no other physical card left and I may miss my flight. The second man suggests I take out cash and ask someone in the line to pay for my luggage! And I refund them with cash.

In the end, the man in the queue I ask is kind enough to do this for me but it was so humiliating having to beg someone to pay for something I had already paid! I have never seen such bad customer service in my time travelling and I would like to proceed with a complaint and refund request for what I have paid.

I’m particular my complaint goes towards the first staff member I spoke to - I believe his name Cleave/Cliff or something that may sound the same as another lady had shouted his name out loud. He seemed to be to be quite young (maybe 25-30 years of age) and had teeth braces and a darker skin town - possible South American.

I would like to just say that I would have not made this complaint if it wasn’t so disrespectful. I would not go out of my way to complain about a minor inconvenience, so I would like to reiterate the awful customer support and service from this particular staff member at KLM Heathrow!

In addition, I do not believe I will be able to claim a refund. I would like to know if I could escalate this further but I am not sure if the statement I have given is detailed enough to find who this man is!

Please find attached documentation regarding this complaint that clearly shows my payment of luggage days prior to my flight and check-in.

Thank you,

Maria Solveiga Toffolo

Hi

My name is Bhavna Gounder, I am travelling on the 15th April from Jhb to Amsterdam on KL052.

My daughter is has a life threatening nut allergy. We carry emergency medication with us.

I usually advise airlines in advance so they can plan. They usually advise that they wont serve nuts or that they will make an announcement.

I have never heard, there is nothing we can do.

Even though I understand we fly at our own risk, the lack of care is astounding.

My name is Jonathan Yach

E: [protected]@gmail.com

Mobile: +[protected]

KLM “loyalty” number: [protected]

My miles and the cash I’d used to pay for a miles/cash ticket have been cancelled/stolen by KLM and despite my complaints on the WhatsApp “service” number, NOTHING has been done to reinstate the ticket

Booking references: QWNUKA and JTDNVT

Hello, I just wanted to express some frustrations with the service I received regarding my trip with booking code QHKEC3, ticket number [protected], passenger Ms. Lea Dussurget.

I booked my flights on October 11, 2021 and had to meticulously time my Covid-19 tests according to each country's requirements through which I was going to pass. My flights were cancelled no more than a few days before my departure date and I received no notifications regarding the cancellations. I found out as I was trying to register for my flights the next day, where it was extremely difficult to get into contact with any customer service agents. I ended up on the phone for over an hour very late at night and was finally able to get my flights rescheduled. I lost $50 for a now invalid bus ticket to the airport and had to pay more than $100 for an emergency Covid-19 test (now that my previous PCR tests were invalid) that almost made me miss one of my connections.

I finally made it to my destination, and I tried to reschedule my return flight originally planned for January 10, 2022 to January 9. Because the WhatsApp agents seemed to answer more quickly, I sent them a message on December 28, 2021 with all of the necessary booking information. It took three days for the rescheduling to occur, and with my limited internet availability I was unable to click the link within 24 hours. I asked for the link to be sent to me again on January 3, 2022. I sent the same message again on January 4. They eventually responded January 5 saying that they would reach out again within 24 hours. They failed to do so, so I asked for updates on January 6 in which they asked me to simply be patient. I followed up again on January 7, where I was met with a similar response. With less than 24 hours before my return trip, I asked to speak with someone on January 8 and was met with the same response once again. With no tickets or confirmations, I went to the Fiumicino airport that evening to speak with agents at the company offices. They refused to help me and sent me to another company, who was closed for the evening. I came back to the airport a few hours later, where I waited an hour before I was finally able to change my flight for over $100. I then had to get my tickets from a separate desk, where I had to wait in line for an hour and barely made my flight. Essentially, I had been in contact with the company almost every day for over a week and I received very little and unsatisfactory help.

If you have more questions or concerns, I can be reached at lea. [protected]@gmail.com.

On 27th January 2022 I enquired/booked on KLM website a route to travel on 28th January 2022 from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Halifax, Canada. Accordingly, a route was displayed from Dar Es Salaam to Halifax via Amsterdam and Toronto of which I accepted and paid using my credit card.

On 28th I travelled from Dar Es Salaam with flight KL567 to Amsterdam. On 29th I connected flight KL691 from Amsterdam to Toronto. According to itinerary I was supposed to board WestJet, WS254

Boeing 737-700 from Toronto to Halifax at 22:20. When I went to WestJet counter first there was a flight cancellation because of storm in Halifax but also they could not find my name.

I had to contact KLM via this number [protected]. I explained my case including the response I got at WestJet counter. The person I was talking to told me that I have been rebooked with Air Canada from Toronto to Halifax. He asked me to catch the next flight which was about to depart (something like 15-20 minutes). I said its not possible to catch it within that short period as I was far from that terminal. He agreed with me, then he asked me just to report to Air Canada counter to board any next available flight. It was late night by then.

Early morning I went to Air Canada. They could not see my name in the system. I decided to go back to WestJet. Luckily someone gave me adequate attention, she found my name with these details reproduced hereunder (she wrote on a piece of paper to show it to any KLM staff)

FBPPZD-NO Ticket /NO itinerary

JHGHBB-NO Ticket but it does say YYZYHZ

She asked me to contact KLM. I called KLM twice. The last call I had the officer told me pay for my trip from Toronto to Halifax and lodge a claim. Same day at the airport I spoke to KLM staff who had came to handle flight from Toronto to Amsterdam. They sympathized with me but they said I should contact customer care.

My husband and I were returning from a trip to Madrid, Spain on January 29, 2022. We were originally scheduled to fly from Madrid to Lisbon at 6:50 am on flight # TP1023 proceeding with our flight back home to Boston, MA, the USA at 11:40 am on flight # TP217. When we arrived at the Madrid airport the morning of January 29, 2022, we presented all relevant documentation including passports, proof of COVID vaccinations, negative COVID tests per Lisbon’s requirements, and documentation of recovery per the United States’ requirements. We arrived at the gate (E69) at approximately 5:30 am and were told that our flight was canceled due to severe weather and that TAP airline automatically rebooked us on a KLM flight for the following day, January 30, 2022. As we had not received an email or other notice communicating the new itinerary, I asked the agent for an itinerary with our new flight information. I also expressed my concerns regarding covid documentation requirements for our new connection in Amsterdam as I had only prepared documentation for a connection in Lisbon, Portugal. While sympathetic to our situation, he informed me that he was unable to provide additional information or print off our itinerary and instructed us to speak with an agent at the KLM service counter (where passengers can check baggage).

Per his suggestions, we went to the KLM desk at approximately 6:15 am. After communicating our situation to the agent at the service counter, we were subjected to a series of offenses and non-compliant behaviors by the agent, which I have outlined below.

1. Inability and reluctance to provide pertinent information to us regarding our travel reservation:When I requested our new itinerary, she stated “the counter is closing I will not do that.” I informed her that the agent at gate E69 directed us to this counter for help. She continued to say that there are no more flights and that she did not need to be there. After continuously expressing that we were auto booked and don’t even know our flight numbers, she reluctantly printed our itinerary.

Furthermore, we communicated that we did not know the travel documentation requirements for Amsterdam. However, she only stated that the US requires a negative COVID test. We showed her our passports, negative antigen tests, and documentation of recovery. She was unwilling to tell us what documents were needed for our route.

2. Refusal to abide by CDC travel requirements per the US guidelines: As part of the US entry requirements, we were prepared with official documentation of recovery documents that met the CDC guidelines. These documents were verified by multiple travel agencies and licensed physicians and met all requirements for documentation of recovery. She refused to acknowledge that these met the US guidelines and stated “No. It is my rule, I decide what is accepted and what is not accepted, not CDC. This will not be accepted.” When we offered to show her the CDC checklists for airlines, she threatened to cancel our booking and began scanning our passports into the computer.

3. Refusal to escalate the issue to her superiors or identify herself as a KLM employee:

As the discussion escalated, we asked to please speak with another agent or supervisor. She refused to contact anyone else. We said we needed help, that our flight was canceled and that we needed information about our new route. She stated, “I am closing the counter this isn’t my problem.” At this response, I asked for her name. She then, turned her employee identification badge inwards as to conceal any identifiers. I asked if she was even a KLM employee and she refused to answer and scoffed at us, walking away from the counter. At approximately 6:44 am we saw her socializing with other colleagues at the air Europe counter around counter 540.

4. Inappropriate use of our personal information: We provided this agent with official documentation containing personal information such as US passport numbers, date of births, names, and personal health information related to COVID. This was provided to her as she presented herself as an agent able to assist us. However, she used our information to ‘flag’ and block our ticket. We were unable to check in to our new flight by phone, website, or app. When we arrived at the airport the next morning, the new agent was not able to check us in without assistance from other staff. This created additional inefficiencies amongst an already short, staffed counter.

Employee description: Approximately 5’5, female, Caucasian, 55-65 years old, dark brown/black hair, brown eyes, seated at or around KLM counter 429 at approx. 6:15 am on January 29, 2022. The itinerary receipt that she printed for us has an EMIS/issued by: [protected]/LIS and I believe that is her employee ID.

This employee refused to review our COVID-10 documentation for the US and is in direct violation of current US CDC COVID-19 protocols and likely did not follow standard company policies or procedures. This created significant hardship and distress, particularly in my current condition of being 18 weeks pregnant and her behavior should not be overlooked. She is unwilling to review COVID-related documentation, which is a direct responsibility in her role and will impact the continuous, global spread of the virus. While her unwillingness to review documentation prohibited us from gaining information about our flight or checking in, the same behavior and lack of protocol could result in COVID-positive passengers being allotted to travel without proper authorization. Please advise as to how this situation will be rectified.

My return flight from Montreal to Toronto has been cancelled and I had to buy a ticket myself to be able to be on the Toronto Amsterdam KL0692 flight !

As my flight was cancelled, KLM has booked me on the Toronto to Amsterdam flight KL0692 but forgot to book my Montreal to Toronto trip.

As a consequence of this, I had to buy a new ticket with Air Canada for the Montreal to Toronto leg which costed me an additional 600 CAD.

Filed a complaint 01/11/21

No one has responded yet. I have made sever calls, waiting upto 1hr each time for the call to be answered.

Terrible customer service

I made a booking online the payment was accepted, the locator was given. Received an email 10 minutes of making the booking advising payment failed, even though klm held this payment for 5 days.
The same flight was booked the following mor with the sa card, I a a freq flyer member and the fare was gbp58 more which went through

Hello, I tried to send you an e-mail with my complaints, but no respond..
I have recieved a decision from an attorneys office, regarding I have the right to recieve back economical refunds from KLM. How come you will not respond to the courts already decision?
Please see the attached file and contact me for to solve it.

Thanks in advance,

// Daniel

I booked a two-way flight from MEX (Mexico City) to MUC (Münich), and paid $20, 000 MXN, then after a while, I changed the date of the flight and two things happened:

1.- The date didn't change
2.- my return flight booking was CANCELLED

After an odyssey trying to figure out what happened an unhelpful customer service, they told me that my only option was to "reschedule" my flight and they charged me $16, 000 more on top of what I had already paid. No vouchers, nor refunds for a mistake of their software.

I was on the flight (KL 1230) with your airline, and I have some concerns that I wish to address. And the reason this has come about, is I had a connection to make at AMS to an international flight, in a time period of 50 minutes. Any delays, would have affected me greatly. So this is why the following is important. Be aware the flight I am trying to catch is 9 hours long. I miss that, my whole day is gone.

Flight was on October 5th
KLM KL 1230
CDG
OPERATED BY KLM
AMSTERDAM
AMS
BOARDING 09:45
DEPARTURE 10:15
TERMINAL / GATE 2F / -
SEAT TRAVEL CLASS 10D Economy

Departure was to leave at 10:15 am, the flight left at 11 a.m. The passengers were advise of 3 reasons for this.
Delay in boarding the airline.
Some passengers never showed up, and luggage had to be removed.
Delay of 10 minutes for high winds.

Under no circumstances am I going to complain about number 2 and 3. Safety comes first, including my safety. Thank you for doing those 2 items.

But their was a delay in loading the plane with its passengers. The line up for this boarding gate was 100 feet long with passengers. You only had one person, checking for passports. You only had one person running the boarding passes through. And you had an automatic scanner. This scanner people were having problems with it. Not once did I see a KLM employee come over to help people with it. Numerous times it did not work for people, so they had to go over to the one person checking the boarding passes.

I am in this line up, and been 62 years old, been in business 30 plus years, so I have been on numerous flights. I am thinking out loud to myself, that this was the worst boarding lineup I have ever seen. You want to see crowds, fly in the USA, but they handle it, and process in promptly. This was a fail, and it almost cost me a day.

Second problem. The flight takes off 45 minutes late. As soon as we get to flying attitude, with seat belt sign off, I ring for the flight attendant. The gentleman comes over, I advise him, that I had a connection to make that was 50 minutes long at AMS. And I advised him, that with the 45 minute delay, I have concerns that I will not make this connection. His reply was that the pilot will go faster, and we will only be 5 minutes late at AMS. This comment of a 5 minute delay, wad not correct, and is a falsehood; and his attitude was to flip me off, as if I have no concern. That is the impression I received in his conversation. He could have looked at my connection and advised me what route we can take to make sure I make it. Keep in mind this attitude. Fellow passengers in the row behind me also brought up, they had connections, and were concern they would not make it.

An announcement was made later during the flight stating the connections and where. The airline speakers you had on this airline, was so tinny, I could not understand, where that would be.

And then we get to the point where we are unloading the plane at 12:00 noon, and I have that connection to make in 25 minutes. I do not know the airport, and I could do with some advice. I go up to 2 of the flight attendants when I am getting off, and asked them what they could do to make sure I make this Calgary flight. And I am told was "you better hurry", and "just follow the signs". This is the attitude I get, that was along with the first conversation I had. Do you really thing as a customer that this is satisfactory?

I do not know the airport. I could have been told was at the very least, turn right, or left at the departure gate. But no I get that attitude.

So what I had to do was run (and correct me if I am wrong here), from 1A to gate F. I had to go through a passport control. I had to do a health check. And I had to run as fast as I can to make it. I get their at 12:25 pm, and luckily flight was delayed 10 minutes, so I made it. But I am not a big fan of having to run through an airport as fast as I can.

I have concerns on how this was handled. With the delayed boarding, lack of advice, and the attitude. That attitude shocked the heck out of me. I had employees for 30 years, and if I ever heard of my employee acting that way, their would be consequences.

This is what should have been done.

If that connection is that close, take those passengers into account and let them de-plane first. Does this happen, absolutely. I flew Air Canada business from Vancouver to Montreal 3 weeks ago. An announcement was made that 2 passengers had a very quick connection to make, and could everyone remained seated, so they could come to the front of the plane. That was done, and everyone was more than happy, to help, including us in Business.

Advice. Just a simple thing, when I said I have to fly international, what is the process at this airport. I could have been told turn right, and you would have to to the end of the terminal. But instead I am told "you better hurry", and "watch the signs".

Things are difficult for all of us, especially airlines. But as a business person, who had customer relationships for 30 plus years. I would never, never give someone that attitude.

We can say, things happen, delays to happen. So be it. But what is not forgivable is the attitude I received. That is just not on.

Recently we bought 5 tickets to travel from Cambodia to Ecuador. We are all Cambodian nationals. Upon arriving in Singapore to board the flight to Amsterdam. We were told at the gate we would not be allowed to travel for security reasons. With no further explanation.
Later we were told its because we did not check any luggage. It was all carry on.
Which is a flimsy lie and excuse. We were picked for our color and nationality. Other passengers had only carry on, yet boarded without issue. This is not the first KLM has treated our family in such a manner. We are heart broken as we have planned this trip and fully paid for everything. We are being treated this way solely for the color of our skin and nationality. My niece and sister in-law are in tears as this completely heartless, racist airline force them to return home and spend 14 days in quarantine. We have only been out of the country for 24 hours.
I own a home in Ecuador. My child and husband are there. I came to Cambodia to visit my mother and bring families members back for a holiday. KLM Airlines has ruined what should have been a joyess experience.

Dear Sirs,

When staying in the Netherlands, I and my wife Guurtje Kisch-Heringa needed to postpone our return flight to Israel from July 12 to July 21.
Since no email address was given to do this, I had to do it by 'phone
When trying to contact the KLM servicetelephone [protected], on July 5 and 6, I received recorded messages variously stating that that waiting times were over 10 minutes or one hour. On at least three occasions I waited for a reply for well over an hour, without getting a response.
This is appalingly poor service.
If you are unable/unwilling to let me have a convincing explanation beyond the standard "we are very sorry for the inconvenience", I will seriously have to consider not flying KLM in the future.
I may mention that I am a Flying Blue member of old standing, nr [protected] 3.

Yours sincerely,

(Prof.) Hanan Kisch
e-mail : [protected]@bgu.ac.il
Tel : +[protected]

Dear sir or madam,
I recently requested a voucher be issued for the remaining part of the journey (Minsk-Aberdeen) Booking # J9NPKE (Alena McRobb) I received an email from KLM providing a voucher for 115EU this is 25% of the original ticket purchased and an absolute insult to your clients, especially flying blue clients whom have regularly utilised the KLM service over years and when there is a travel ban the refunded part of the ticket is not even sufficient to travel back to the original destination.

I have made several calls to your KLM Netherlands office (at my cost) I have waited 30-40mins on hold, been cut off and not provided with sufficient answer as to why such a terrible refund would even be considered. I would appreciate an official answer as to why a reasonable offer wouldn't be made considering I have a friend whom was offered 250EU by KLM AMS just to take the next flight out returning to the UK, it would appear to me there are some serious flosses in the refund system?

To be completely frank I am so disappointed in KLM regarding this complete process, I would like this to be taken as an official complaint.

Alena McRobb
alena.[protected]@me.com

I was suppose to travel with my family (5 tickets) to LAX, USA on 30 May 2020. The Flights cancelled due to the current COVID-19, I requested for refund and waiting since 09-June-2020. Its Almost 5 months and there is no response from KLM. Then a Mail came to provide bank details and no updates since then. What to do next?

Ticket numbers: [protected], [protected], [protected], [protected], [protected].

5 March my flight from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur MH 1281 7.50 was announce delay at 6pm to 9pm. Well is ok I still can catch up with my klm flight to Amsterdam at 11.50. Then second announcement that the flight delay from 9 to 10.40. Why not announce once at 6 saying that flight delayed to 10.40 so that I can take a cab from Kuantan to klia? I still can make it. Now I have to rebook my klm flight and pay extra 500 USd. Your airline is really unreliable. I should have listened to my friends advice not to take this flight from Kuantan to kL because is always delayed. Very disappointed.

Customer reference number [protected] kl1432.
Why is your reply information system not recognising this number above, I have tried for four weeks to send you my passport information again and again without success.
The passport information has been sent several times previous, it is a clear case of you refusing to pay compensation for your flight delays.
I am now considering legal action against klm for refusing to pay my hotel bill and not providing the relevant compensation for a 24 hour delay (600 euros) for a delay on a flight over 3500km.

I travelled by klm1653 on 01 nov 2017 and made a onboard purchase of jbl cordless headphones (art code 72) costing 99 euro.
Txn id [protected].
Sales id 652920,
Auth code 84612
Df name a0000000041010
Whereas as per statement of account as recd from hdfc bank, I have been charged 115.68 euro. kindly help in remitting the excess amount asap.
Thanks