Jazeera Airways and K.
I woke up this morning to a sms message: “Bahrain. Next Weekend.”
I figured .. a trip this close to the Eid holiday is probably not the smartest thing to do. As always .. the smartest choice is not the one that usually prevails. So off I go to Jazeera Airways to purchase a 5kd flight (new promotion) to Bahrain.
The reservation system is quite easy to use and fairly straightforward with plenty of options; although, they have removed the option to choose your seat, which I personally enjoyed (I am a window-seat person).
I chose the going/returning flight; the times worked out perfectly. The ticket came out to a total 25kd (10Kd round trip + 14Kd tax + 1Kd Credit Card Fee). The price was quite good compared to the other alternatives.
Now here was my issue .. I couldn’t pay using K-net. I tried about four times to pay with K-net but it refused to go through.
I replied to my friends sms: “Jazeera down.”
To which they replied: “K-net down, use CC”
I pull out my dusty NBK Credit Card (they are somewhat useless in Kuwait), I go through the order process once more time. After clicking the confirm button, I left the page open and went to have breakfast. I came back to a blank screen and a message in my inbox with a confirmation number. Then a couple minutes later I received another email with another confirmation number. Great, I was worried about getting one reservation earlier .. now I have two. And for the record; I have purchased everything from food to cars online; and I know better than to double purchase.
The email told me to contact Jazeera at 177 for any issues. I pick up the phone and try to call, endlessly, network busy. Apparently the Jazeera helpdesk has been swamped by calls as I was unable to get a hold of anybody for over three hours. I figured I would try the next best thing, email. I could not find any email contacts on the website .. I even tried emailing back to the confirmation email; no luck. I did find a contact us page on their website, but alas, that was broken too. I emailed Fawaz Al-Sirri(Communications and Image Manager) to find another way to contact Jazeera regarding my duplicate charges.
So here I am, stuck halfway between breakfast and work wondering how I am going to get my 25Kd back, and hoping they don’t try to pass it off as a credit for the next time I attempt to buy a ticket. I was on my way to a meeting when I then decided to try my luck with 177 one more time: Busy, Busy, Connect!
The lady on the other side of the phone quickly checked my confirmation numbers and cancelled the duplicate transaction; she said that the CC fees would be refunded within 24 hours.
And after I returned to my office; I found that Fawaz had replied to me with the following message:
Dear K,
Yesterday morning a fiber optic cable broke in Saudi Arabia causing a extremely slow and disruptive internet for half of Kuwait. As result the Ministry of communication quickly changed the internet link-up to Dubai and that has helped but not enough help.
This disruption, which continues to today (since the Dubai link up is not supporting Kuwait very well), causes slow internet connections on your side and our side, leading to the situation where you had to wait for several minutes after entering your payment details on our website. I am sure that after the wait you tried booking again and ran into the same issue, and eventually you ended up with multiple bookings on the same flight because you never received a confirmation.
Here is what we are doing to resolve this:
- Refunding you the extra bookings in full - no questions asked.
- Continue to push the Ministry of Communication to solve this as soon as possible in order to stop it from repeatingIn sum, please rest assure that you are not at fault, or us for that matter, and your extra charges will be refunded to you in full within 15 days (depending on your bank its credit card refund processing procedures)
In the mean time, please don’t hesitate to contact us for any questions or if anything is unclear.
Regards,
Fawaz Al-Sirri
Communications and Image Manager
Jazeera Airways (K.S.C)
If anyone is/has experienced any issues with the Jazeera website; you know whats going on. I was going to blame their IT team for the website errors, but seeing how their servers are probably hosted overseas and the NBK/K-Net gateways are in Kuwait… the only people at fault are the Indians behind the undersea cable (strike 2).
All in all, great customer service from an amazing company. Al-Jazeera has really impressed me with their airline service. Although they should fix the ‘Contact Us’ page on their website and at least add an email for following up on these things.
very nice customer service indeed a7ayehom.. though doing things online is easy, but stupid problems like these make you mad and confuses you.
Nice.
5kd huh? 25kd in the end.
Hehe really nice :>
well
i know jazeera has great customer service
but didnt the call center give u a different answer than fawaz?
on top of that i dont see anything special in this example of great customer service, actually its quite normal, its their fault, they have to fix it
K this happened to a lot of our customers this week…they tried using their K-nets same for credit cards….
And as for their service they suck…
Honestly Yazeed for them to tell you what the problem is straight and they will refund you no hassle then that is great customer service. They made sure you were happy working with them. Most places in Kuwait dont give a damn at all.
The Cable did break with Saudi since this morning around 4am if not mistaken.. it was the time I felt cut-off from the world!
Dawn Fairy:
Stuff online can go a bit off at times .. bas all was resolved in this case.
Delicately Realistic:
5Kd going .. 5Kd coming back .. then you have the tax.
At the end of the day its still cheaper than any other options including driving.
Yazeed:
Chna imdal3eeink ib America .. Its Kuwait, Any money back and a straight answer is beyond good customer service here. Just make sure you have enough money in your bank account.
Maze:
My K-Net Card didn’t go through, but my NBK CC did go through .. Jazeera needs to relocate their servers to Kuwait for better efficiency in times like this. Which service sucks? I experienced everything perfectly .. with other companies they would give me a hassle for my money, then blame me for making an error and then give me store credit.
Marzouq:
Exactly! Ithba7ona ib hal cable .. I think someone is fishing with dynamite again.
What’s in Bahrain?
i got the same email…. lets just hope they live up to their word. for people who paid 5 times, keep in mind they reserved 5 seats! so thats a loss of 4 seats for jazeera. how are they gonna deal with that?
adorra:
A race track.
Fonzy:
I am sure they are getting the reservations fixed .. and they didn’t lose 4 seats; they can cancel the double records.
informative…
Very cheap!
7ayak fee deertek.. i sent u an email with hotel referrals.. let me know if u need more info.
I faced the same issue where my ticket got booked 4 times. The the sad part is i am stuck in India who tried booking for my brother in Kuwait. I have lost count of the money Im loosing on International calls. And to my shock i got an email from jazeera yesterday saying
“Dear Sir
We would like to inform you that we were not able to find your reservation number with the details you have provided in your mail. Please can you send us the details like Passengers First Name and Last Name, contact number that was given in reservation and date and place of travel?
Thank you,
Jazeera Airways
Commercial Team
To which i sent all details (For the 3rd time) and now Praying to get a response from them
Dear k,
u should know that we r not in the states anymore which means K-net is useless ya3ni etha ma difa3t chash u wont get a thing, online booking is useless(it’s not like expedia), customer service workers dont do theirs best mithil ma ta3awadna 3alaihum back in th US.
NBK need ALOT of ta6awurin their services, they r the best in q8 bil i3lanat so they better be the best in everything ;p
so my friend when u have a problem just pick up ur car key o go solve ur problem (face to face)
Joobi:
Did you get a reply? Hopefully everthing was settled.
Rimo:
Hehe .. The situation in Kuwait is not as bad as it seems. There are alot of issues with Knet/NBK and the websites that use them (clicknbuy/usws/jazeera); but the service is getting better. I would have driven to Jazeera to talk to them .. but I heard the line at customer service was a very long. I have better things to do than wait 3 hours for a plane ticket.
Hi,
I’ve been reading Jazeera Airways posting the FAQ was a great idea! In a small space of time I learnt a lot. I noticed that Jazeera Airways is similar to Southwest Airlines. Is it true you’re based on SA?
Anyway. I’m doing an airline project and I was wondering if you could recommend a few book titles or websites for my research. Any help from anyone would be appreciated.
Thank you
Omar Mohamed
Whom do you mean by “the Indians”? All brown-skinned people are called Indians. How did they break fibre-optic cables in Saudi Arabia from under the sea?
Unfortunately, your experience does not await most Jezeera customers. I recently had one of the most devastating experiences in my life from booking on Jezeera website using credit cards, am still trying to get my money back (some 1000 KD) and do not think I would ever use the facility or even the airline again.
Libjohn:
By Indians, I am referring to nationals of the Indian Republic. The local internet link is controlled by Flagtel (Indian Company).
I have flown on Jazeera Airways several times with surprisingly good service. While their payment system has had its issues in the past, Its been flawless as of late. Albiet for the slight slow downs when Jazeera Airways announces a new discounted fare.
As for the your money, they should follow up on a refund if it is a computer error. Otherwise, con tat you bank to withhold payment. Although, what flights could amount to charges of 1000kd; my flight charges have rarely exceeded 50 KWD.
Hi
I am India and wish to book return airticket to Dubai . But I dont have Credit Card . How do I book with Jazeera ?
Sandeep
How many flights has aljazeera cancelled from Dubai to the maldives ?
I am worried as I have a booking with them for the 13th of Feb and have made comittments for hotel bookings between the 13th and the 17th if Feb.
Can Aljazeera confirm weather they have enough booking to fly on these days ?
Am hearing many of the flights on that rout have been canceled.
I had a very bad experience with Jazeera Airways.
One of the worst of its kind. I rue over my decision.
I know you all must be wondering why I am writing all these things. But its a long story. Will mention it once I am back from my vacation. I am based in Dubai. I will never recommend anyone for Jazeera Airways.
Abdul