Cheri

Jan 30, 2024

KLM unfair practice to passengers who chose to buy cheaper tickets. (refund policy and dispute resolution is a joke)

My partner had booked tickets way in advance to fly return from Netherland to South Africa, and because we knew we were not going to change our flight dates, we chose the cheapest tickets. The day before his departure, he couldn't do the self check-in which was odd. So he went in early got checked-in, but they refused to allocate a seat to him. I think there was about 4 other passengers that experienced the same. They waited till everyone boarded, only to be told told they were being involuntary disboarded. (Unofficially we were told this was because we had bought the cheaper tickets and were single tickets). This practice of overbooking flights to make more money is disgraceful. All they did was offer us a refund and another flight via Frankfurt. At this point his luggage got lost between KLM and Lufthansa. This was very stressful as our return flight was booked to coincide with bringing out dogs to Netherlands, and this delay could have seriously impacted all arrangements we had made months in advance. The dogs cargo fees was no cheap. And after months of requesting a better refund and having our case bumped from one KLM department to another. All we got back was their standard refund amount for all the stress they put us through. Whats disgusting is that this treatment of its passengers is not new. This practice of overbooking passengers, leaving their passengers stranded with little regard for what it means to their passengers shows a company that cares little. Stop doing this to us.