Issue with Disabled Services on Turkish Airlines
Hello dear friends, first of all, I apologize if my issue has caused any inconvenience. I want to share a recent experience that left me extremely frustrated. The issue pertains to Turkish Airlines and their inadequate services for Turkish citizens (incident dated 09.06.2024 at 11:00 AM).
The matter is quite simple: additional services for the elderly and disabled. My maternal side of the family lives abroad and usually comes to Turkey for vacations during the summer. While there are no issues when they arrive in Turkey, they have been facing problems during their return trips for the past two years. This is specifically related to wheelchair services. I have been unable to secure wheelchair services during check-in and ticket purchase. My friends, both of these passengers are elderly and have difficulty walking. As a last resort, I called the Turkish Airlines customer service. Up to this point, there were no issues; I am usually patient and try all possible ways to get the service. I called the customer service numbers (0850 333 0 849 / 0850 333 2 538). I diligently called both numbers. The automated system is so designed that it seems they do not want to serve Turkish citizens. I am not exaggerating; now I will get to the most critical point. I was left with no solution until one of my relatives from abroad suggested pretending to be a tourist. They advised me not to mention being a Turkish citizen and to say I am a tourist visiting for the season. After providing all necessary information to my relative, I was sweating in the hot weather while working on the computer. While I was in the shower, my relative called me back within 2-3 minutes and said, 'It's all sorted, don't worry.' They managed to get through to a customer representative using the same numbers I provided and were able to secure the wheelchair service without any questions asked.
If I, as a Turkish citizen, had tried to do this, they would have asked numerous questions, even about the card used to purchase the ticket. The customer representative would have kept me on the line for an hour before even getting to the wheelchair issue.
