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I'm basically trying to get my ticket refunded from Etihad without penalty.

• I booked a flight to Thailand using Etihad Guest points
• Civil unrest erupts in Thailand
• I call Etihad, they say the ticket can be refunded in full because it is Thailand, but that a refund would take a month and maybe I would prefer to transfer the points to a different destination instead. I say I'll have a think about it (consulting my travel partner). The Etihad guy doesn't mention that there is a time limit on cancellation.
• I think about it for a few days, then decide to just cancel and call back.
• Now Etihad say that because the Airport is no longer occupied they are not refunding any flights anymore.
• I crack the sh*ts because if I had known about a refund time limit I would not have waited those few days deciding what to do.

What can I do? I've complained to them by phone and email. I've asked to speak to a manager.

In Australia I would threaten to complain to a higher organisation, like an Ombudsman or something. Might be a long-shot but is there an equivalent organisation here to complain to?

I can get the points transferred to another flight to Thailand, but I don't want to go to Thailand anymore, I want my 50,000 points back so I can do what I want with them. Just like I was promised.

Aughghghghghghghg!!!!!

As Etihad is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, there is little final recourse, however you have to keep going up the food chain. Find out who the big boss is and make as much noise as you can. You were robbed and the more you scream and shout and kick, the more they will feel ashamed.

Write a 'letter' to the newspapers and supply them a copy stating that this will be sent unless they refund the points.

In this town, the squeaking wheel gets the grease!



Knight

Good Idea. Thanks DK.

The guys on the phone have refused to put me on to someone higher up when I complain. They always tell me to write an email, and I have so far written 4 with no responses (over more than a week).

The thing is I'm running out of time, because if I don't get it sorted by 1st Jan I will lose the lot if I have not taken the offer of credit for another flight to Thailand.

I just Google Etihad Chairman and got a list of all the executive staff at Etihad and their phone and fax numbers. I think ringing up the Chairman, H.E. Dr. Ahmed Bin Saif Alnahyan by the way, would be a bit much but I'm thinking of talking to the Marketing Manager or, if I can find them, the head of Etihad Guest.

Ah, just re-read the last name of the Chairman. Think I'll leave that one alone.

If anyone is interested I asked a friend of a friend and he gave me the name and email of the head of Etihad Loyalty (Guest).

I've just sent him my sob story email so we'll we what happens.

More updates.

I got an email from the head of Customer Relations saying he was sorry to hear about my problem with Etihad and that a Manager will ring me soon to try and sort out the problem.

Awesome! You were 100% right Dubai Knight

Final Update:

Just got a call from some manager at Etihad and she confirmed that since they had initially committed to the refund they would honor that. Woo Hoo! Full refund of my points and taxes. Thank you Etihad.

So there you have it. Never stop with the call centres, talk to their boss or their boss's boss and things will happen.

Fair play to your perseverance Capt

I'm from Singapore and have a similiar problem with Etihad Airways. I cancelled my flights in Nov08. The local office has confirmed that I can get my refund of $3000. I waited for more than 2 months and I still have not get my refund. I tried writting to them via the website and called the local office many times, I always did not get a positive response. Moreover, the local office always refuse to give me the contact of their higher authority.

Feeling helpless, I google and found your case. Appreciate that you can give me the email address and contacts of the Etihad Chairman and executive staff. Thanks in advance.

If you post your email I'll email you the name I was given. He was the head of Customer Relations or something.

My email is seawhale_@_singnet_._com_._sg

Please ignore the _ (underscore) because at my level, I cannot post email address in the message.

Thanks alot.

Sent you and email. Good luck.

Have received the contacts, thanks alot.

I have wrote a letter to their CEO, and finally they are processing my refund, will get it by this week. However, I'm not happy with the way they handle this issue, only reply me with 2 simply email that don't comes with an explanation or apology.

I will write a 'feedback' to their CEO, but after i see the $$$.

Finally I got my $$$ back.. thanks for the help Captain !!.. and I also manage to hunt down 2 more email addr.. ha.ha..

Apart from the 2 simple ridiculous inhuman emails.. The Guest manager send a more "human" email 3 days later explaining the situation... She also credited 15000 miles into my guest account.. which i really dun find it useful.. well.. what the heck.. most importantly.. I got my $$$$ back after 2 and half months of "WAITING"....

Nice work seawhale. Glad you got your cash back. And a little extra it seems. Those Etihad miles are actually quite useful. Much more so than other airline Frequent Flyer miles I think. If you don't want to use them for flights go look on the website and see what goodies you can buy with them. Might be able to get something for 15K.

Sucks about the initial service though. I was so mad when they wouldn't take my complaint seriously initially. What did they think I would do? Forget about the whole thing and give up $2K in points? Idiots.

Same here, me too, not only mad but in distress too.. Imagine $3.5K held by etihad .. .. damn.. Give up anything on them.. no way man.. not even for $100..

I think you're right, I should make full use of those miles and get some goodies for myself to ease my anger..

Seriously their service sucks, they only answer to their CEO, I get my $$ back in 7 days.. "efficient" right ?? hah.a.ha.a.ha.

Guest what.. I received emails from 2 other victims asking for contacts. They had the same problem .. waited for ages with no respond and cannot get their $$ back.. hmm... I wonder how many more pple out there are in distress now...