I have just returned from a 2 week holiday from Mumbai where I travelled to with my 2 kids and my parents. Our scheduled returned flight was 0007 on 5 March at 13.05. From the time of arriving at Mumbai airport to boarding the plane my mum was seated on a wheelchair and her health was continuously declining.
As per the Kingfisher check in guidelines, I tried to web check-in 48 hours prior to departure. Despite several attempts the system would not allow this. I then called the customer service at Kingfisher and managed to get through on one of the 5 no’s listed on their website. I explained to the officer on the phone how important it was for my parents to have seats with extra leg room due to their poor health condition. I also explained to her that this request had already been made whilst booking the tickets 6 months ago in London. The lady confirmed that the seats have been requested and this request is visible on the system and she confirmed that at the airport there should not be any problem.
When we arrived at the airport, and at the check in desk, I was at the counter for almost an hour having this discussion with 3 members of staff who were all trying to deal with my request for extra room seats. And despite having booked this in advance, despite the lady having confirmed this on the phone, all these 3 officers spent 1 hour trying to sort out the booking which according to them was not possible for 2 seats to have the extra leg room. After much discussion, the officer was able to provide me with 1 seat on row 11, and the other 4 seats on row 26. Although I was not happy with this I had no choice but to accept.
We then progressed to the departure gate. At this point one of the staff wrote our boarding card no’s onto a piece of paper and it was then I realised that we have all been issued with seats on row 26, instead of 1 seat on row 11 and 4 on row 26. Once again I had to have a full discussion and repeat the reasoning why I needed two front seats. At this stage I was getting very angry at the staff, the system and the complete lack of customer care despite my mother whose poor health was clearly visible. We were then told to go towards the aircraft which we did, and on reaching there we were told to wait more while they tried to find some suitable seats. In the end I had to tell my kids to go and seat themselves while I wait and sort out their grandparents seats. My parents were then given 2 seats on row 22 and the passengers from there were requested to take 2 of the seats on row 26. I eventually seated my parents and seated myself further on.
Having had heard about Kingfisher being a 5 star airline I was very much looking forward to travelling with them, but the whole experience has left a very nasty feeling. I certainly would not be able to recommend Kingfisher to anybody. There is alot of work required with this airline.
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