Lufthansa Reviews

Our flights were all covered within the package. We flew to Frankfurt and boarded a flight to Istanbul for the cruise connection. While boarded and buckled in, the flight crew including Purser and Pilot came to us and advised we could not fly with the. This was a paid and booked flight. Reason given was my spouse had an allergy to "bell peppers" and meal service included these items.

We were not interested in meal service. My spouse, a retired RN carries medication and is prepared for an allergy problem if it occurs. We were escorted off the plane and told customer Service would look after us.

Eventually, we were successful in obtaining another flight later in the evening with Lufthansa, in Business Class but had to pay $3,700.00 Can to meet our cruise in Istanbul. We were travelling Economy Class and no seats available for 5-7 days minimum. we would then miss our cruise and lose $11,000.00 US.

The same meal service was on the later flight. No Economy seats available. We had to pay.

Since we were escorted off the flight for an allergy, Lufthansa errored in their judgement. They are not medical experts and did not wish to discuss this any further. We should be reimbursed for the added costs etc. They have refused. They wish to now refund $237.00 each for the initial flight.

Is this complaint something which falls into your mandate? Otherwise could you advise who can assist us. We have been treated very poorly for no fault of ours.

copy of email to CEO below.

----- Original Message -----

From: elwin *****

To: Lufthansa

Cc: ************@cta-otc.gc.ca ; Oceania Cruises

Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 4:33 PM

Subject: VRZ3NK *****, Judith & Elwin

Attn: Wolfgang ******** CEO Lufthansa German Airline

We have returned from our well planned vacation which included a Black Sea cruise with Oceania. Being very experienced travellers we ensure all reservations, connections, and booking of air are firm and in place, and follow up to ensure no changes have occurred. Being proactive reduces/eliminates most unexpected glitches.

Well, Mr. ********, Lufthansa has certainly topped the list for the unexpected, and in so doing, has seriously erred. My wife and I boarded flight LH 3342 on July 3, 2008 Frankfurt to Istanbul, and were in our seats and buckled in. Because my wife has a food allergy to bell peppers, which has been documented with Lufthansa on all flights for many years, she asked the attendant about the food service and reiterated that she had this allergy.

Staff on board previous flights have been very good to ensure she does not have any food with peppers. Being a retired RN my wife carries and is prepared to use medication should she have concerns over bell peppers in the food near by. She also carries an epi pen.

The attendant went to check on the flight meal service, and shortly thereafter the Purser and then the Pilot came to us and advised all food has peppers. They stated that they weren't prepared to deal with a possible medical emergency and that our option was to leave the plane.

We were told our baggage would be offloaded to the terminal and we would find it in Lost and Found. We were advised to go to customer service and we were assured that customer service would resolve the situation for us.

We were escorted off a fully loaded plane. Can you imagine the humiliation, disbelief, and embarrassment we felt? This was compounded by the knowledge that this undeserved, degrading spectacle took place in full view of a plane full of travellers wondering what we did wrong? Our character was now in question. Would this have happened to someone who had an allergy to other food products, e.g. peanuts, seafood?

With the tremendous and unnecessary stress, humiliation and anxiety, not to mention the unknown factor of 'what do we do now?' my wife was in tears.

After being bussed back to the terminal, we went directly to the customer service desk. It was early afternoon and we needed to get to Istanbul to continue our vacation and connect with our cruise. After speaking with the customer service rep, we were told that no seats were available to Istanbul for at least 5-7 days and that standby lists were also full.

We were advised that we should get a hotel room at our own expense and keep in touch. We questioned flights to other centres e.g. Munich, and then to Istanbul but apparently nothing was available.

We asked to speak to the supervisor; he was paged. When he arrived he spoke with the customer service rep in German, and did not look at us or speak with us directly. We reiterated that we must get to Istanbul to connect with our cruise otherwise we lose over $10,000. I produced my Visa credit card and said if necessary, I would cover any additional cost.

Immediately two Business Class seats were found available on the 10.30 p.m. flight that same day. Our cost for these seats on flight LH 3344 was Euro 1,094.23 each. We questioned rebate for our reservations on flight LH 3342 since we had been asked to leave the plane against our will.

The response was that no adjustment or refund would apply. Our total out-of-pocket costs for flight LH 3344 amounted to $3,700.00 Canadian (should have been processed in US dollars as per our itinerary). ALL FOR AN ERROR IN JUDGEMENT AND SUBSEQUENT ACTION BY LUFTHANSA STAFF.

This is unreasonable, unjust and discriminating since we had already paid for service which was not provided - through no fault of ours. In addition, the meal service on flight LH 3344 was identical to LH 3342 and my wife had no difficulty. The flight staff on LH 3344 acknowledged their concern over the treatment we received on flight LH 3342.

We had to contact our transfer agent in Istanbul to pick us up from this new flight with arrival time of 3:00 a.m. As a result of this delay we lost a half day of vacation time in Istanbul.

This incident was an irresponsible, unethical act on the part of Lufthansa that proved not only very expensive for us but also very traumatic and stressful as well. Lufthansa provided absolutely no physical or moral/emotional support for us after we were summarily escorted off of flight LH 3342. We were at your mercy and basically you held us for ransom.

We paid for confirmed flights months ago. We have flown internationally many times and on Lufthansa as recently as November, 2007. Never have we witnessed or heard of such reprehensible treatment of passengers.

As a senior Canadian Banker, I have never seen such treatment of customers. This is absolutely, totally unacceptable.

Our request is simple - refund the charge for the Business Class seats we had to purchase on flight LH 3344. In addition, compensation of $5,000.00 Canadian to cover our lost vacation time, and the horrendous stress and embarrassment suffered as a result of this incident.

Your response by August 15th, 2008 is anticipated.

Elwin *****

***** ******** Dr.,

Coquitlam, B.C.

V3E 1K7

*** *** ****

copy of email to CEO with copy of response from New York office

Attn: Mr Wolfgang ********CEO Lufthansa German Airlines

We are outlining below the response received from Lufthansa's New York office which is self explanatory. The response provides us with absoluteley no comfort or assurance that Lufthansa actually understands the seriousness of what has happened.

Mr. ********, it is also disappointing to see your office has merely passed this concern on to your New York Customer Relations North America Office where it was given to a clerk, with no authority or ability to resolve this matter. The offer to credit us with $237.00 each is absurd, to say the least.

Mr. ********, we have reviewed Lufthansa's corporate Mission Statement which seems to be supporting your commercial business but does not reflect any intention to provide superb service to your day to day paying customers. This was very evident from our contact with your flight crew on LH3342 and Lufthansa's Customer Service Staff at the counter in Frankfurt.

We were told by your Purser and Pilot that we could not fly with them and had to leave the plane, after having been seated and buckled in for the flight.

Your Customer Service rep states in her letter "Let me assure you that the safety of our passengers is our ultimate concern". Also she states "it was mutually agreed that you and your wife not take the flight as we could not supply oxygen on short notice".

Another error as we were told by the Purser and Pilot that we could not fly with them and had to leave the plane, against our wishes. We left the plane with both officials walking with us to the door. We were specifically told that Customer Service will look after us!

Is there an insinuation that we may be a "risk" to your passengers? Are we in same category as terrorists and unruly clients?

We were not bumped off the plane. We had an itinerary fully paid for and confirmed. Lufthansa staff clearly erred in making an issue over my wife's food allergy. In addition, passengers are fully within their right to ask questions about service or anything which may concern them.

The issue over oxygen was merely a comment from my wife that if she needed oxygen in an emergency, not that she has ever needed it, we were told by the Purser that they could not provide oxygen for her as this would then not be available for other possible emergencies on the flight.

This must violate flight safety regulations by not being able to provide for emergencies of more than one passenger with oxygen. "Safety of our passengers is our ultimate concern".

Lufthansa erred in judgement by having us removed from our paid for and confirmed seats on the flight.

Lufthansa violated their contract to provide air transportation to ticket holder with no grounds to support their actions

Lufthansa created an atmosphere of humiliation, embarassment and exteme anxiety when we were escorted off the plane.

Lufthansa did not provide any customer service support, physical or emotional, during this traumatic and stressful time in a foreign country as advised by Purser and Pilot.

Lufthansa basically held us ransom knowing our trip required us to get to Istanbul as per our flight itinerary.

To get to our destination, we had to pay $1,847.98 Can each. We do not fly Business Class but were forced by Lufhansa to do so to meet our travel plans. Lufthansa is required to correct the injustice by paying us $1,847.98 Can each which would then correct the injustice. After the offer of $237.00 Can each, this would require a payment of $1,610.98 each to correct the injustice. (note ticketing fees were applied to Business Class seats - a further insult).

Additional compensation as originally stated is also required.

Your reply by September 5, 2008 is anticipated.

Elwin *****

Canada

cc to Canadian Transportation Agency (by mail)

cc to Oceania Cruises

Dear Mr. *****:

Thank you for your letter to our CEO concerning your and your wifes recent journey on Lufthansa. Mr. Mayrhuber has asked me to respond on his behalf. I am sorry you were disappointed with your experience and immediately contacted the flight crew of LH3342 on July 3, 2008.

Let me assure you that the safety of our passengers is our ultimate concern. A review of the events reflects our crew was informed of your wife's extreme allergy to peppers. After considerable discussion since peppers were being served, it was mutually agreed that you and your wife not take the flight as we could not supply oxygen on such short notice. The captain was informed accordingly. I truly regret any embarrassment you encountered as that was not our intention.

In these instances, we expect our staff to assist all passengers and to do everything in their power to hold inconvenience to a minimum. As you have illustrated, the manner in which our staff handles such situations can significantly impact the perception of our customers and I apologize you did not receive the assistance as anticipated. Since you were traveling during peak season and seats in economy class were not available, the only option to travel to Istanbul to continue your vacation was to travel in Business Class.

As transportation in Business Class was indeed provided, we are unable to refund this ticket as expected. As a gesture of goodwill, I have arranged to refund cad237 each reflecting the unused portion from Frankfurt to Istanbul. Please allow approximately 10-15 days for processing and a few days for mailing.

Mr. *****, I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns. I am pleased our staff on board previous flights has been very accommodating and am confident that future dealings will again be in line with your expectations.

Sincerely,

Linda ******

Linda ******

Customer Relations North America

Lufthansa German Airlines

1640 Hempstead Turnpike

East Meadow, NY 11554

Tel.: *** *** ****

Fax: *** *** ****

copy of letter from Henry Bickle New York Office and response

----- Original Message -----

From: elwin *****

To: ************@dlh.de

Cc: Lufthansa

Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 9:10 AM

Subject: Re: Message from Lufthansa Customer Relations - File 20618429LS

Good morning Henry:

Why is it Lufthansa staff continue to praise each other at the expense of customers?

No one has acknowledged my spouse is a retired RN and is prepared for any emergency. She carries medication and when advised of menu service, decides if she needs to take a precautionary medication. We were not planning on using Lufthansa meal service on this flight. So let us forget that she could not partake in your meal service. This is not the issue.

The later flight which we were placed on in Business Class had the same menu. The crew were very good and acknowledged our prior concern. Very interesting and we were allowed to fly with them.

We have outlined our concerns over Lufthansa treatment. Far from what was indicated by flight crew. We were told "they (customer service) will look after you".

We were told we could not fly on this flight. not mutually agreed decision. We were told Customer Service would look after us( Not so).

We are out $3,700.00 as a result of Lufthansa error. This is unacceptable.

Suggest you provide us with your corporate solicitor name in Canada as we will proceed to court. You have left us no other alternative.

Elwin *****

Canada

----- Original Message -----

From: ************@dlh.de

To:*******@shaw.ca

Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 5:39 AM

Subject: Message from Lufthansa Customer Relations - File 20618429LS

Dear Mr. *****:

Please refer to your previous e-mails concerning your recent journey with Lufthansa. Mr. ********* asked me to respond to you on his behalf. I am sorry you are not satisfied with Ms.******'s message and have personally reviewed your file this morning.

Kindly understand that based on the information provided to our crew concerning your wife's extreme allergy to peppers, it was in your wife's better interest not to continue with this particular flight. As mentioned in Ms. ******'s previous e-mail, seats to Istanbul were limited as you were traveling during peak season; I regret that you could not be rebooked in Economy class.

I am pleased Ms. ****** exceptionally made arrangements to refund the unused flight coupon. No new aspect has come to light which would warrant a change in our response. Regrettably, we are unable to honor your request for a refund of your Business class ticket or consider any compensation.

I realize that my reply may not be the one anticipated and ask for your understanding of Lufthansa's position in this matter.

Sincerely,

Henry ******

Team Leader, Corporate

Customer Relations North America

Lufthansa German Airlines

P.O. Box 425

East Meadow, NY 11554

TEL.: *** *** ****

visit us at: www.lufthansa.com

United and Lufthansa have teamed up to offer small and medium-sized companies a unique opportunity to reduce travel expenses and earn valuable perks. For information on PerksPlus, visit www.perkspluspartners.com.

Sitz der Gesellschaft / Corporate Headquarters: Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft, Koeln, Registereintragung /

Registration: Amtsgericht Koeln HR B 2168

Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats / Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Dipl.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. ******* *****p>
Vorstand / Executive Board: Wolfgang Mayrhuber (Vorsitzender / Chairman), Stephan ******, Stefan *****

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Von: elwin ***** [mailto:*******@shaw.ca]

Gesendet: Dienstag, 19. August 2008 06:02

An: **********, **********

Cc: **********@oceania cruises.com

Betreff: Lufthansa Fb 20618429-ls//Recent Experience-*****, Elwin & Judith

Wichtigkeit: *****

Attn: Mr Wolfgang ********, CEO Lufthansa German Airlines

We are outlining below the response received from Lufthansa's New York office which is self explanatory. The response provides us with absoluteley no comfort or assurance that Lufthansa actually understands the seriousness of what has happened.

Mr. ********, it is also disappointing to see your office has merely passed this concern on to your New York Customer Relations North America Office where it was given to a clerk, with no authority or ability to resolve this matter. The offer to credit us with $237.00 each is absurd, to say the least.

Mr. ********, we have reviewed Lufthansa's corporate Mission Statement which seems to be supporting your commercial business but does not reflect any intention to provide superb service to your day to day paying customers. This was very evident from our contact with your flight crew on LH3342 and Lufthansa's Customer Service Staff at the counter in Frankfurt.

We were told by your Purser and Pilot that we could not fly with them and had to leave the plane, after having been seated and buckled in for the flight.

Your Customer Service rep states in her letter "Let me assure you that the safety of our passengers is our ultimate concern". Also she states "it was mutually agreed that you and your wife not take the flight as we could not supply oxygen on short notice".

Another error as we were told by the Purser and Pilot that we could not fly with them and had to leave the plane, against our wishes. We left the plane with both officials walking with us to the door. We were specifically told that Customer Service will look after us!

Is there an insinuation that we may be a "risk" to your passengers? Are we in same category as terrorists and unruly clients?

We were not bumped off the plane. We had an itinerary fully paid for and confirmed. Lufthansa staff clearly erred in making an issue over my wife's food allergy. In addition, passengers are fully within their right to ask questions about service or anything which may concern them.

The issue over oxygen was merely a comment from my wife that if she needed oxygen in an emergency, not that she has ever needed it, we were told by the Purser that they could not provide oxygen for her as this would then not be available for other possible emergencies on the flight.

This must violate flight safety regulations by not being able to provide for emergencies of more than one passenger with oxygen. "Safety of our passengers is our ultimate concern".

Lufthansa erred in judgement by having us removed from our paid for and confirmed seats on the flight.

Lufthansa violated their contract to provide air transportation to ticket holder with no grounds to support their actions

Lufthansa created an atmosphere of humiliation, embarassment and exteme anxiety when we were escorted off the plane.

Lufthansa did not provide any customer service support, physical or emotional, during this traumatic and stressful time in a foreign country as advised by Purser and Pilot.

Lufthansa basically held us ransom knowing our trip required us to get to Istanbul as per our flight itinerary.

To get to our destination, we had to pay $1,847.98 Can each. We do not fly Business Class but were forced by Lufhansa to do so to meet our travel plans. Lufthansa is required to correct the injustice by paying us $1,847.98 Can each which would then correct the injustice.

After the offer of $237.00 Can each, this would require a payment of $1,610.98 each to correct the injustice. (note ticketing fees were applied to Business Class seats - a further insult).

Additional compensation as originally stated is also required.

Lufthansa has violated our RIGHTS and must place us back in our position prior to their abusive decision by providing air service as per our contract and full refund of Business Class costs obtained while placing us under undue duress.

Your reply by September 5, 2008 is anticipated.

Elwin *****

Canada

Pre-event. On Monday 4th of August, 08 I called the Miles and more phone program and explained that I am travelling with my Mother, Father and daughter. My mother and I are in business class. My father and daughter were in economy class. So I called to upgrade my father and daughter to business class with both my miles and e-vouchers. I was told that there was only one seat available in business class and it is not allowed to leave my daughter alone in economy class. But I can check when I go to the airport for vacancies.

The first event. On Tuesday, 5th of August, 08: At the airport my mother (wearing a scarf like a Muslim) and father( dark skinned both seniors 59 & 70 years old respectively) approached the counters where Mrs. Tina (or Tania) was shouting at them because they were waiting for me as I was parking the car.

When I came to the seen I was told that they will check for vacancies in the Business class to accommodate my father and daughter. Five minutes later I was told there were no vacancies at the time, but when we go up to the plane we would be called upon if there were. I believed this and went along. Of course I found out at the first search station that my father, daughter and I were picked randomly for a special search! I guess that is fine as it was random? A senior and an 11 year old! I was told by the search people with their amazement that this is done by the airlines as random! Obviously random by Tina the shouting lady!

The time I wasted dealing with this when I should have been working. The stress and 4 days with no sleep caused by the stress of this. I had to cancel my WaMu debit card. Due to an unauthorized charge on my bank account back in May in New Hampshire, I had to close that down. I had NO money to get gas, food, nothing! I take BART into work and couldn't even pay for that! I told them this and they didn't care..same half hearted apology! I will need to ask how random is this random and what is the process to pick, is it just by religion, color or what? How is this process done by Lufthansa? Or is it just left to Mrs. T.'s mood and choice of whom she likes or dislikes?

Until then I didn't suspect any thing. We went on to the plane I found out from the crew that the business class (~80 seats) had only 45 seats booked and the rest were vacant. I then raised the question why would Lufthansa do this! I was then sent to the Tina (or Tania) person again and she started shouting at me, as if I were a student in primary school that I should have asked for this upgrade before coming to the airport. I then told her that I had done that but I was told to come to the airport and try again and there are 35 seats available I don't see why not I can not upgrade my father and daughter. She continues shouting and now changed the reasoning due to the non availability of service and that she only had 45 meals for 45 seats. Turning out to be a lie as there were more meals than that on the plane.

The second event When I went back on the plane the chief Stewardess as she identified her self told me the station chief is on the plane and I can tell him the situation. The man listened to me and promised he would look into it and try and solve it. The plane had to take off, the chief stewardess (never identified her name to me) told me that he said that he would send a fax to the captain. My father and daughter sat in the economy class. And then after the meals were eaten about two or three hours from the plane take off my daughter came and said she missed me and wanted to sit on the chair beside me for a little while to talk and she would go back. I then told her that it is not right to do so and the crew would not like this so she needs to go back.

She then said " Dady please let me speak to the stewardess and ask her if I can sit here for a while" I told her ok but if she said no, you will go back and she agreed. My daughter sat on the seat for about 5/10 minutes till the chief stewardess passed by and called on her and said excuse me mam. I then stood up and tried to ask the chief stewardess on the fax, but was I for a surprise. She shouted at me and yelled " NOT NOT NOT" and I told her what is it all u need to say "softly please as she is a child" is NO she can not and give me a minute and she will go back to her seat and no one is hurt. She then yelled again that "NO, RIGHT NOW NO MINUTES AND SHE REACHED DOWN TO GRAP MY CHILD AND PULL HER OUT OF THE CHAIR".

I then told her she will not touch my child. And I asked my child to leave to the back (crying she was). She then said that she will call the captain of the plane and I told her I think that is a good idea to see how she is treating me and the child. She then shouted at me "LUFTHANSA DOES NOT WANT PEOPLE LIKE YOU ON BOARD OUR PLANES AND U BETTER TAKE ANOTHER AIRLINE IF YOU WANT TO FLY". I then asked her if she was finished and she said YES and went off.

After a couple of hours, I asked a crew member if she can ask the captain if I can speak to him for 5 minutes. In a couple of minutes a man whom identified himself as a member of the crew management team asked me to tell him what I want because for security reasons I can not meet with the captain. I then reported to him what happened and asked him to have this in a written complaint. And he said he knew the chief stewardess for a long time and she is nice! I can only say that all this was not expected from Lufthansa and I will do as she said and find another airline as per the instruction of a senior person from Lufthansa. I am also asking for an investigation from Lufthansa on these circumstances and shameful events.

I called Lufthansa customer service in Boston and talked to Fawni Duplessis, the supervisor informing him of the situation. He than called Sarajevo airport and talked to the officials. They informed him of a new rule, in which it was stated that all underage children traveling alone needed an authorization letter stamped by US embassy. The unaccompanied minor form signed by me was not enough any longer. Mr. Duplessis informed me that it was not their fault, advised me to provide such letter and fax it to Sarajevo airport. He provided me with the fax number. I told Mr. Duplessis that no one had informed me of the rule on the departure, on June 25, 2008, when I released my son to Lufthansa personnel. Mr. Duplessis stated that no one knew about the new rule until he called Sarajevo.

Such mistake can not be tolerated. I was devastated, not to mention how frighten my son was when he was told that he could not be released to his uncle. If LH sends its aircrafts to Bosnia, they need to be aware of all changes and new rules, policies and procedures, so they can inform their customers. I would not have been so frustrated if it was about me, if I got stuck because of someones miscommunications, misunderstanding or, work neglect, but my son did not have to go through such stress. I travel very often to Bosnia. I used many other airlines, but decided to use LH, as I really trusted its service.

My son and I experienced a huge psychological stress and anxiety.

Everything started on Tuesday 3rd June. At 7 o clock in the morning I went to Newcastle airport really glad about going back to Greece after a long and difficult period of time in U.K (university examinations). I was ready to make my check in as usual but unfortunately they informed me that the flight LH4951 from Newcastle to Dsseldorf was cancelled without explaining the reason.

I was really annoyed, surprised and anxious so I went directly to the Lufthansa office to find out what happened. However, nobody told me anything and they even refused to help me find another ticket to Greece. I explained to them that I have a serious health problem (diabetes) but they didnt seem to be helpful at all. Fortunately I made a phone call to my travel agent and he managed to speak with them to find another flight. A really exhausting and difficult journey has just begun for me.

I stayed in the Newcastle airport for over 7hours waiting patiently for the next flight LH4953 to Dsseldorf. Finally after trying to match my name with the ticket (another problem I had to face) I finally left NCL airport at 17:25 and arrived in DUS airport at 19:50.

My next flight from Dsseldorf to Munich was delayed for about half an hour and so I had to stay there overnight abroad because there wasnt any other flight for Greece after that time. I went to the Lufthansa office in Dsseldorf to let them know about my problem and asking for any kind of accommodation in Munich. But, they refused to help me out saying that it wasnt a serious problem and taking no responsibility for the existing situation. As a result, I left Dsseldorf airport at 21:20 and arrived in Munich airport at 22:30 after a delay of half an hour.

I didnt want to stay overnight in the airport so I made another effort to communicate with the employees in the Lufthansa office and ask for assistance but with no respect. Thus, I decided to stay alone inside the terminal without any food or water because all the stores were closed at that time. It was the first time in my life I was alone in an airport with nobody to help me in case I needed something. Of course, I couldnt sleep at all and because I was really exhausted from the long journey, I had a serious headache and stomach pain leading to nausea and vomiting. Unfortunately, I couldnt find any medication which made my situation even worse.

After a really bad night I ended this trip by traveling from Munich to Thessaloniki with Aegean airlines, which in comparison to Lufthansa offered really nice services. I was completely exhausted, unable to do anything, wishing to return home as soon as possible. Finally, I left Munich airport at 10:20 and arrived in Thessaloniki airport at 13:35.

I have traveled so many times in my life in so many countries but this happened to me for the first time. I finally arrived in Greece after a 30 hour trip and was glad to be safe and sound, but it took me over 2 days to get over this. I will never again make a choice of this route (Newcastle-Dsseldorf- Munich- Thessaloniki) and especially this company (Lufthansa). The least that you can do to compensate for the pain and headache is to reimburse me in full for all the problems that you caused. Otherwise, legal action will be taken. Thank you for your cooperation,

I checked with Air Canada counter in Frankfurt airport for available seats and they confirmed that there are some seats available for me to go to Toronto but Lufthansa manager refused to send me by Air Canada which was the next flight to Toronto 3 hours after my own flight with Lufthansa. Instead she gave me 2 tickets one from Frankfurt to Chicago in U.S and the other one from Chicago to Toronto. At that time I advised her that the time between these connecting flights is too short and due to some delays, custom and immigration policies in U.S, I might miss the connecting flight to Toronto but she said that it is O.K.

Any way I flew to Chicago and as I predicted, I lost the connecting flight to Toronto. In Chicago airport I went to Lufthansa counter and explained my problem and asked them to provide me with accommodation but they said we cannot do anything for you. Therefore, I took my heavy luggage with me and went to a hotel as I was really exhausted and frustrated with this experience. Lufthansa created a lot of problems for me first of all my entire flight took me 24 hours longer than it was supposed to take and I got to Toronto one day later , secondly I spent a lot of money (as listed below) thirdly my wife took a day off from her work to come and pick me up in Toronto airport but my flight changed to midnight and she went to the Toronto airport at midnight to pick me up and because I missed the connecting flight I couldn`t make it and she left and the other day I had to take a cab to go home in Toronto too!

I expect Lufthansa to compensate for my expenses as listed below and all created by Lufthansa`s mess and awful customer service. 1) one night stay in Hotel in Chicago 189.70 USD 2) Taxi from Chicago air port to Hotel and return 60 + 60 = 120 USD 3) Telephone fee: I had to call my wife and let her know of the flight change which cost me 20 $ 4) meal: breakfast and dinner 17.77 + 17. 86 = 35.63 $ 5) Damage to my two luggage 400 $ 6) Taxi fee in Toronto (as I explained above) cost me 42 $ In total I spent 807.33 $. I would like you to follow up my complaint and reimburse this amount to me and also follow up why such a problem happened to me. By the way, I was in Frankfurt airport for my departure to Toronto on Time.

When I arrived in London, I waited at the baggage carrousel for my bag but I never came out. I immediately went to the Baggage Solutions counter and filed a property irregularity report.

I was told by the attendant that my bag had been left off the plane but would be placed on the next possible flight. I explained to him that was only going to be in London overnight and was returning to the USA the following day, and so not to try to deliver the bag to the London hotel unless it could arrive that same day.

When I checked into my hotel in London several hours later, I called the Lufthansa baggage call center to check on the status of my bag. I was then told that I had not been placed on the next flight (as promised) but they would try to get it onto another flight. I reiterated that the bag should not be sent to the London hotel unless it could get there that night.

The following morning, Saturday, November 17, after not receiving the bag or a call from Lufthansa, I contacted the call center again. I was told the bag had still not been sent from Munich but would be forwarded to the USA address I had provided. By this time, I had been compelled to spend 83 GBP on a change of clothes in London so that I would not have to wear the same items overnight and for a transatlantic flight to the USA.

After returning to the USA, I called the American call center on Sunday, November 18th for an update on my bag. I was then told that Lufthansa had attempted to deliver my luggage to my London hotel after I had departed, despite my having told them specifically not to do so.

Since that time, I have contacted the US and European call centers approximately every 12 hours to get some update on the location of my bag or when I could expect to receive it. Each time, I have told that they have no new information and no estimate of when I will ever receive my bag.

To add insult to injury, several of the agents have actually gotten angry and raised their voices to me for wanting some estimate of the location or delivery date for my bags. As I am the customer and I have sustained the loss, this type of behavior is unprofessional and unacceptable.

My bag contained leather dress shoes necessary for my professional work, along with shirts, pants, belts, sweaters, toiletries and a coat that I would estimate at a value of over $3000 to replace. While I simply want my personal items back, not compensation, at some point I must replace these articles as they are essential requirement for my job and personal life. The fact that no one at Lufthansa knows or even seems to care about getting my bag to me is appalling to me as a paying customer. Whatever the ultimate outcome of missing bag, I expect Lufthansa to apologize and offer some gesture of compensation for such terrible customer service.

After a long and tiring walk in the airport security checks etc. we realized that the check in coupon we hold is an economy one with seats 31C & 29F. My wife furious was looking for a Lufthansa customer service desk to complain. I was trying to calm her down believing that the girl at check in made a mistake. Finally we reached a Lufthansa desk where they told us that the flight is over booked so no seats at business class. I ask why the girl at the counter didnt give us the choice from there so to decide what to do, but he answered why dont you go and ask her?.

Finally we reached our gate we went immediately to the attendants to give us an explanation but they told us to refund us the difference back. To a First/Business class customer this is a stupid proposal, so I was trying to find a way to get the seats I paid for.

They insist again that we have to fly economy. I went to discuss the matter with my wife and when we decided finally to fly due to events we had to attend tonight they told us that they gave away our economy seats as well. At the counter I spoke with Miss Uebarricke and Mr. Frank Schwab (Flight Manager) who was very cynical and handled the situation totally unprofessionally.

It took us another 3 hours to get our luggage back and come to the hotel.

I was standing in a line with 5-6 people who were also on the flight, who were looking for their luggage and who also had these belts on their luggage at the Luftansa lost luggage counter.

When we arrived in our hotel in Rome, I went to refresh myself only to find my toiletries were missing and the frame of my suitcase was bent. The missing items were: 2 biore cleansers and wet wipes, tube of retin A, avon deodorant, viadent toothpaste, satin cap, 4 packs of trident gum, and beeswax hairgel. I can't believe this happened to me. I couldn't take my liquid toiletries with me on the plane and knew I better check them in.

Of course while in Rome, I couldn't find my Biore cosmetics for replacement and had to substitute. I told my husband as well as family and friends not to use Luftansa airlines, because they are not trustworthy. I've emailed executives with the Airlines, with no response. I am grateful no real damage was done and with years of suffering with acne, I didn't have a major breakout without my cleansers.

i found my luggage so wet from leaving it on the tarmac in the rain, and my camera and tools for my textile art work were missing and they dont want to respond to my losses. they have horrible customer service

For our return flight, on August 24th, 2006, we flew from Paris to Frankfurt on flight 4215, and then from Frankfurt to Denver on flight 446. I'll start with the worst incident: On the flight from Frankfurt to Denver, my daughter started to choke on a piece of candy while nearly everyone else was sleeping. She could not breathe and was beginning to turn blue. I frantically called out for the flight attendants -- for anyone, really -- to help us. I cried out I need someone to do a Heimlich! A Heimlich! Did any flight attendant appear? Not a single one. NOT ONE.

One kind passenger awoke from his sleep and helped us. After the candy came out of her throat, she vomited all over our seats and the floor next to the right of us. After about 5 minutes, once I'd calmed my daughter down, a female flight attendant came by with some wet towels and asked ME to clean up the floor. Not a word to me about whether my child was alright, if we needed anything -- nothing at all. It was appalling, to say the least.

I have never been so frightened in my entire life, and had it not been for the man who helped us, I don't know what would have happened. And so we spent the rest of the 10-hour flight in vomit-covered seats. I did mention, to a flight attendant on our way out of the plane in Denver, that these seats should be cleaned prior to anyone else having to sit in them. He took a mental note, gave me a lovely smile, and wrote nothing down.

There were several more instances -- horrible food (for me and my child); a broken seat from Denver to Frankfurt) and a stroller that was never returned to us at the Frankfurt airport so that we could use it in the airport. And when we eventually did receive it in Denver, it was completely broken. I wrote a long letter to Lufthansa outlining everything that had happened.

One month later I received a response from the Customer Relations person, Della M., stating that they would pay for the stroller ($100) and that the company would send as a gift of goodwill. Guess what the gift of goodwill was? They had the GALL to send us a gift basket to apologize that their in-flight service did not meet our expectations. A gift basket? Are they kidding? A lovely assortment of jellies and jams make up for the fact that my daughter almost choked to death on a plane where flight attendants are supposed to be on duty and ready to do first aid if necessary?

It should be noted that Lufthansa representatives were still nowhere to be found throughout this time. When I eventually managed to speak to the lost luggage company (Tourist Holdings) I was advised that my luggage had been routed via Vienna and would be arriving in Sofia at 11pm later that evening (06.09.05). The representative then stated that my luggage would be sent on by car to my booked accommodation in Sozopol, and would arrive by no later than 10pm the following day – why the need for a 24 hour delay between the luggage arriving in Sofia to it making its final journey to my hotel was not explained.

Is this the gold standard in customer service set and aspired to by Lufthansa?

As expected, 10pm on 07.09.05 came and went and all attempts to contact the Tourist Holdings office in Sofia failed. My luggage eventually arrived in Sozopol at 3.15am on 08.09.05! On speaking to the driver I was informed that he alone had delivered all the lost and missing Lufthansa luggage and had that day been ‘driving all over Bulgaria’ delivering bags!! As a result of this extraordinarily shambolic series of events I rang an acquaintance of mine who is employed by Lufthansa to get his views, and who shockingly advised me that this often happens when a flight has reached its payload capacity, particularly affecting passengers like myself who are connecting on later flights, and whose baggage never even makes it onto the aircraft in question.

This unwritten policy is a disgrace and deliberately misleads and affects passengers who are kept in the dark throughout.

When we got to Istanbul, Turkey the carry-on was missing. We went to lost luggage counter at the airport and corresponded with the Lufthansa agent. They opened a file and told us to call them back again that night of July 28, 2005. So we called back many many times and got the same answer. We are still trying to find the carry-on. We explained to them what was inside and that they are responsible for losing our carry-on. We faxed in a paper from my hotel telling them in detail what was missing. The answer we got each time was, we are looking for it and it takes up to 2 weeks sometimes. I also asked that if the carry on was not found, what would they do about. I told them that one of their agents took my carry-on from my hands and that they are responsible for everything inside the carry-on. They told me that Lufthansa will be responsible for all the items inside the carry-on.

When we got back to USA on August 11th, we came back without our carry-on, still no where to be found. We got a phone number at Dulles International Airport at the Lufthansa ticket-counter, because they don't have an office for lost luggages there. My wife called the 1-800 number more than few occasions and she got the run around. They were rude and hot helpful. Luckily, she got hold of a nice person that was willing to help. She made us write a letter and fax it to their headquarters.

We are still waiting to hear something from Lufthansa. It has been almost a month since they have lost our carry-on. We did not have a camcorder to record a wedding we attended. We did not have camera take pictures of the historic places we visited. My wife had to purchase new make-up. Lufthansa did not even give us any money to get make-up, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush and on and on. We spent money out of our own pocket to get those items. To date we are still waiting to get some kind of resolution on this matter. Please help.

In the letter we sent to Lufthansa, we estimated to have close to $10,000.00 in the carry-on. The following list is what made up most of that amount. Camera Camcorder Jewelry Sunglasses Make-up Electrical Razor Reading-Glasses Medicine Contact-Lenses