I Experienced Significant Inconvenience Due To 15 Hours of Mismanagement and Delays by Turkish Airlines
On Sunday, October 1st, I planned to travel from Istanbul to Gazipasa with my mother and relatives (10 people aged between 70 and 80) on flight TK 2594. After a 3.5-hour delay, our flight was canceled. Most of my companions use wheelchairs, so they were told to wait to be taken to ticketing services. The wheelchairs arrived an hour later. They were brought to the ticketing area 1.5 hours later. No ticketing was done until everyone reached the area. During the time we lost, everyone else completed their ticket changes. There were no seats left on alternative flights. A staff member handling ticketing told us that he could open seats for us with special permission. He took our tickets and left. We waited for him for about 3 hours. We wanted to be transferred to nearby cities, but he gave us conflicting information and was in and out. When I applied for a refund, after waiting in line for an hour, one desk told me they couldn't process refunds for credit card purchases, but the next desk processed it. We were directed to lost and found to get our luggage. After waiting for 2 hours, 7 out of 10 bags reached us. The remaining 2 bags arrived 2 hours later. During this time, the baggage tags got mixed up multiple times. The staff changing shifts left without proper handover. The manager did not follow up at all. Our bags were finally delivered thanks to the persistent follow-up of the last lost and found employee. However, one bag is still missing. We filed a report after waiting for an hour. Nine passengers over the age of 70 waited for 15 hours, hungry, thirsty, and sitting on chairs. I also spent 15 hours trying to manage the misguidance from every THY representative I spoke to. In the end, the wheelchair attendants, who took pity on us, escorted us to the gate. From ticketing to ground services, info desk to parking, every person I spoke to gave different and misleading information. Well-intentioned but significant mistakes were made. One of our passengers is a dialysis patient and missed their dialysis appointment. Others couldn't take their medications as they were in the luggage. They are experiencing blood pressure and sugar problems. THY representatives and the call center did not address the issue. Our ticket numbers are: 2352202545382, 235 22 02 91 96 26, 235 22 00 90 4420, 235 22 00 90 4421, 235 22 00 90 4422, 235 22 00 90 4423, 235 22 00 90 4424, 235 22 00 90 4425, 2352201180661. I request your support in evaluating and compensating for the inconvenience caused and ensuring it does not happen again.
