Turkish Airlines Refused the Ticket Change Request Caused by Illness
Due to my illness, I attempted to change my ticket for the IST-JFK flight on January 1st to January 7th through the THY website on December 30th. However, I couldn't process the change or get a refund as the website kept giving error messages and directed me to call customer service. When I called, I was told to fill out a feedback form and open a case. Despite opening the cases, no one got back to me. It was impossible to reach the responsible people by phone or email; the only option was to wait for a callback. Meanwhile, my illness worsened, and I was hospitalized on January 1st, for which I have a doctor's report. Despite emphasizing the urgency every time I called, no one responded until January 5th.
On January 5th, a representative named R**** S. contacted me and admitted that the initial customer service representative should have made the change, as they always had the authority to do so, and apologized for the staff's mistake. However, when I asked R**** S. to make the same change, he requested an additional $400 due to the unavailability of the same class ticket. I refused to pay for the staff's mistake. R**** S. then promised to discuss the issue with a higher authority and get back to me. An hour later, I received a dismissive email with no mention of the mistake or apology, just a negative response.
I called customer service again. This time, the representative also acknowledged R**** S.'s mistake and advised me to open a dispute case, assuring me that I would receive a response within a few hours. I did as instructed, but hours passed with no response. I called multiple times, only to be told that they couldn't connect me to a responsible person but would mark the case as urgent. Despite these urgency marks, it's now January 6th, and I still haven't received a response.
THY's staff incompetence and sluggishness have only compounded my distress. There are now less than 24 hours until the flight I need to be on, and I still haven't received any update on my rightful ticket change.
Turkish Airlines repeatedly sends responses with the same heavy scripted tone. No one has yet called to provide an explanation as I have persistently requested. My advice to consumers and Turkish Airlines victims reading this is not to try to resolve their issues with Turkish Airlines. This feedback file creation process traps the consumer in a one-sided communication. You end up waiting for a response from a unit you cannot call or reach via email. This unit never engages in dialogue with you. They send such mundane responses by selecting sentences from pre-written scripts. Instead of dealing with Turkish Airlines channels, if it suits your situation, fill out the complaint form of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation or the Consumer Arbitration Committee Application Form through e-Government. I also think you can express your grievances through social channels like Twitter. I'm not sure how they operate, but CIMER is also an option.
