
Leta of Takoma Park, MD on April 29, 2012
Satisfaction Rating1/5
In November 2011, I booked two round-trip economy tickets from Dulles Airport (Washington, D.C.) to Amsterdam, using yahootravel.com (aka Travelocity). I proceeded to the KLM website after making the booking to do seat selection. I selected seats 11H and 11J for the outbound flight and seats 12H and 12J for the return. In "Manage My Booking," it showed that these were economy seats and that the seats were confirmed. The website also advertised that I could upgrade to "economy comfort" for an additional charge, but I chose not to do so.
When I tried to check in the day before the flight in April 2012, although "Manage My Booking" still showed that I had the same confirmed economy seats, the website tried to give me seats in the back of the plane, Row 38; and I had no online option for keeping the seats that were "confirmed." I contacted Delta customer service (since it was after hours), and they suggested that I cancel the check-in and get it straightened out at the airport.
This made me a little nervous, so instead I contacted KLM customer service the next day several hours before the flight time. I was told very rudely that the seats I had "confirmed" were in "economy comfort" and that if I wanted to sit in these seats, I would need to pay US $137 per person to keep them. I explained that I was never asked to pay for the seats, and that my booking showed the seats as "confirmed." The customer service agent said that didn't matter, and if I wanted those seats, I would need to pay extra.
I asked what "confirmed" means, and he did not have a reasonable answer for that. He kept insisting that I must pay. I asked to speak with a manager, and he said it would do no good and that no one could give me those seats unless I pay. Rather than take the chance of not being able to get seats together once we arrived at the airport, I got back online and continued my check-in, giving up my "confirmed" seats and instead selecting something available in the back of the airplane.
At the airport, I sought assistance from a KLM customer service representative at the gate. She started out being sympathetic, especially after seeing the printout I had showing that my seats 11H and 11J were confirmed. She called a manager, and the manager told her that I had already been instructed that I needed to pay for those seats if I wanted them. I said, "Yes, I was told that about three hours ago." But I asked if she thought this was a fair way to treat a customer. She said there was nothing she could do.
Interestingly enough, standing next to me with the exact same problem was another customer having the same conversation with the other gate agent (to no avail). If KLM has done this on purpose to try to get passengers to pay for premium seats at the very last minute, when little else is available, then this is a scam. If KLM did not do this on purpose, then at the very least they should be interested in finding out how this happened, so that they could correct the problem.
I fly a lot, and, in my opinion, most other airlines would have offered me something in exchange for my frustration and inconvenience. I am absolutely positive that nothing on their website or in the booking process ever indicated that I needed to pay extra to "confirm" the seats I selected. All I ever saw was that my seats were confirmed. Very, very, very frustrating.
Worst of all, my complaints and pleas for assistance fell on deaf ears. I also submitted a complaint via the KLM website with no response whatsoever. I was certainly "flying blue"--and I hope to never deal with this airline again. It has absolutely the worst customer service I have ever experienced from an airline. The consequences? Nothing serious, I have to admit. The seats in the back of the airplane (Airbus) and the service were great. The biggest problem is that I started off on my wonderful vacation angry and frustrated. The airline, that took my hard-earned money (and lots of it) for this trip promised me two nice seats near the front of the airplane, snatched them away at the last minute and then sent me to the back of the bus without so much as an apology or any show of concern whatsoever.