I was schedued to fly yesterday Boston to Madrid and confirmed multiple times. Cost was over $1,000 and reserved in Novmeber. Yes I had a confirmed seat 28L and yes the flight was on time. But when I got to the airport I was bumped off. Me and 40 other people because we did not print our boarding passes at home! huh? nobody told me we had to do that.

I know with the volcano, many flights were cancelled but that does not mean they just bump confimred people off. by the way we are talking about Iberia.

And another thing-the phone number for Iberia is listed wrong on its web site in 4 places. The ticket agent at the airport gave me the same wrong number. Directory assistance gave me another number that is Iberia but I get a recording saying they will call me back "as soon as posible". yeah right.

I work in government and if we had customer service like this, we would all be fired immeditaely! So much for the wonderful superior private sector.

Thanks for listening! Feel free to share your rants too.

Wow that sucks.

I've always printed my boarding pass @ the airport. Sounds to me like they fucked up and were just using that as an excuse.

"because we did not print our boarding passes at home"

Make sure you double-check that you were definetely, definetely not given this information anywhere in any documentation, and then make a formal complaint to the US office of the airline saying that you expect to be compensated for this inconvenience. If you were a UK/EU citizen I could offer more advice but I don't know much about US consumer protection laws.

@abgemacht-me too. always printed it at airpot. but beware-the rules have changed!!!!!!!!!!

@Jamie-yeah well they are giving us $400 USD. (If we can find the right office in Madrid to turn int he voucher) BIg whoop! Not worth the trouble at all. but I think that means they acknowledge that they F--ed up

Check whether anything you have been given confirms that by accepting the $400, you are agreeing that you have no further right to complaint. If it does not state this, write a letter of complaint anyway.

"So much for the wonderful superior private sector."
Why do you have to bait me like that, lol? I won't derail the topic though :-D

Hope everything goes alright for you Crazyter. I'm sure a lot of people are having trouble due to the volcano and all the flight cancellations.

Seems to me that things (at least in the U.S.) have been on a downward spiral since the eighties and deregulation... Initially the prices improved and that made people happy... but now, in order to get the coveted lowest price, airlines are short-cutting on service (including, god help us, the servicing of airplanes), over-booking, meals, and now baggage fees. Personally, let the price be 10% higher and give me no hassles, no headaches, no safety worries, and no nickel and diming. There must be airlines that still base their business on quality rather than "value"... who are they?

I think if you're going to Iberia the great circle routes would still have taken you through the ash, maybe.

But I dunno.

I mean, did they give you a refund or something?

@ Thucy, read the thread properly, he's getting $400 of his $1000 refunded.

If I read it correctly, the $400 isn't a refund, it is compensation for delaying the transport. Crazy will still be transported to Madrid, just not at the time that was agreed upon. That is my understanding of how these things normally work.

What Alderian said. I don't know what he missed as a result of the delay but it seems to me like $400 is pretty reasonable compensation.

Not to rain on your rant, but airline complaints (though yours doesn't really apply) to this rant by comedian Louis CK that I love:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

That airline service is the worst. I fly Virgin America, though-- and they are actually pretty great.

Just to update a few people, Crazy is a woman.

The reason you got nailed is probably because of the horde of people going to England, France and Germany desperately trying to get anywhere in Europe so they can get where they want.

Oops, my bad. I think I actually knew that but my memory is horrible, and it's generally safe to assume the male gender on this site. The females I can count with my fingers. =)

I think that $400 (that's USD or in UK around £250) is the standard compensation given to anyone bumped from a flight... and it's normally 'awarded' for each day that you are bumped. Usually in terms of vouchers that can be exchanged for future flights, airlines sometimes offer cash in lieu, but cash amount will be lower.

Airlines always overbook for flights and sometimes get it wrong. The volcanic ash spreading over Europe could mean that, for example, Iberia used a different aircraft with lower capacity. It could be that the passengers who printed boarding cards at home had simply filled all available seats so there was nothing left for those choosing to print at airport.

I'm not sticking up for Iberia (or any other airline). Would be interested to hear what happens to Crazyter and if there was indeed anything in the Ts & Cs about printing boarding card at home.

I guess this isn't really mine but my families complaint.

first a little history. At 7 yrs old my brother had a brain hemorrhage which made his entire right side of his body weak as well as many other complications.
so because his right knee has been weakened by this it was dislocated a couple years back.

he was down in florida for spring break with my family at Universal studios and his knee got bumped/twisted funny on a ride, and so he needed a wheel chair.

so they left and their first flight goes fine except the airlines said there would be a wheel chair waiting for him. no wheel chair and they had a flight to catch i think a 30 min time frame to get to the other gate. so ten min later a 75 year old woman walks over with a wheel chair and so my mom was thinking she could wheel my brother quickly to the gate but the old woman wouldn't let her. so what happens, she rams my brothers bad knee into a pillar . . . twice, and still won't let my mom wheel my brother, because she(the elder) was expecting a tip from us. I'm still trying to convince my family to sue the airlines or at least threaten to spread the word.

this has happened at least three times because people want tips and end up hitting my brother into something.

It disgusts me that people do this. and of course i cant do anything cause i'm at college but that woman deserves a swift kick to the knee :)

and i have nothing against older people but they've been the culprit every time this has happened