jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
I had an absolutely remarkable experience with Emirates customer service on my trip back from Kolkata to Orlando via Dubai. It involved a lost Passport that the Emirates staff at the Business Lounge moved heaven and earth to search their plane and find it for me in the 3 hour connection window that I had between arriving from Kolkata and departing to Orlando.
What had happened is that while I was sleeping on the flight from Kolkata the Passport fell out of my pocket and lodged itself somewhere deep in the bowel of the lie flat seat. So when I woke up and disembarked it was not with me anymore. I had booked Emirates' excellent meet and greet service to help me transfer from the incoming flight to the lounge and then from the lounge to the departing flight. Upon arriving at the lounge I discovered the missing Passport and reported it to the concierge. The gentleman who took my lost Passport report owned the issue and made his personal mission to find the Passport.
First he checked with Lost and Found and we discovered that they had only found two mobile phones on that aircraft. I informed him of the seat I was at and that it is unlikely that a cursory search would locate a Passport that fell through the cracks of the seat. Upon hearing that he called up his pal in the mechanical department who sent out someone to the plane to do a detailed search of the seat I was in, while the plane was being prepared for its next departure. He told me it will be at least half an hour before we will hear back, so I went back into the lounge and settled down with some food and drinks.
Almost precisely half an hour later he came back smiling saying that they had found the Passport, but mechanical folks are not allowed to come into the terminal and he did not want the Passport to be transferred through too many people. So he had arranged for them to come to my boarding gate to deliver the Passport to me, which worked out as planned.
While all this was going on he was chatting with me and he told me that he had refrained from informing US Security about it as they would immediately cancel the Passport. He chose to do a thorough search before taking the next step, which would have been to inform the US Embassy and have them issue me a Maroon Emergency Passport, but that would have involved one days delay for me anyway. Fortunately I had my Passport Card on me as well as my GE Card, Florida Drivers License, and an old canceled Passport associated with my Indian OIC Card, so establishing identity and citizenship would have been no problem. Anyway I was amazed that he had thought through all this and basically took care of the whole thing.
If only we could all get such personalized service everywhere. I wrote a special letter of commendation for him and left it with his supervisor at the front desk as I departed to board my flight to Orlando.
What had happened is that while I was sleeping on the flight from Kolkata the Passport fell out of my pocket and lodged itself somewhere deep in the bowel of the lie flat seat. So when I woke up and disembarked it was not with me anymore. I had booked Emirates' excellent meet and greet service to help me transfer from the incoming flight to the lounge and then from the lounge to the departing flight. Upon arriving at the lounge I discovered the missing Passport and reported it to the concierge. The gentleman who took my lost Passport report owned the issue and made his personal mission to find the Passport.
First he checked with Lost and Found and we discovered that they had only found two mobile phones on that aircraft. I informed him of the seat I was at and that it is unlikely that a cursory search would locate a Passport that fell through the cracks of the seat. Upon hearing that he called up his pal in the mechanical department who sent out someone to the plane to do a detailed search of the seat I was in, while the plane was being prepared for its next departure. He told me it will be at least half an hour before we will hear back, so I went back into the lounge and settled down with some food and drinks.
Almost precisely half an hour later he came back smiling saying that they had found the Passport, but mechanical folks are not allowed to come into the terminal and he did not want the Passport to be transferred through too many people. So he had arranged for them to come to my boarding gate to deliver the Passport to me, which worked out as planned.
While all this was going on he was chatting with me and he told me that he had refrained from informing US Security about it as they would immediately cancel the Passport. He chose to do a thorough search before taking the next step, which would have been to inform the US Embassy and have them issue me a Maroon Emergency Passport, but that would have involved one days delay for me anyway. Fortunately I had my Passport Card on me as well as my GE Card, Florida Drivers License, and an old canceled Passport associated with my Indian OIC Card, so establishing identity and citizenship would have been no problem. Anyway I was amazed that he had thought through all this and basically took care of the whole thing.
If only we could all get such personalized service everywhere. I wrote a special letter of commendation for him and left it with his supervisor at the front desk as I departed to board my flight to Orlando.
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