My Costly Mistake: Trusting Etihad's Representative to Book My Ticket

 Hey, have you ever played a game of "telephone" as a kid? Well, my recent experience with Etihad Airways' customer support team felt like a never-ending game of "telephone on steroids!" I mean, I lost count of how many times I had to repeat my issue to different representatives, only to receive conflicting advice and no proof of issue resolution. It was like being stuck in a never-ending loop of confusion and frustration!

It all started when I tried booking a ticket with Etihad, only to end up with a wonky glitch that made me seek help from their support team. They suggested I use initials for my last name and call back later to fix it. But when I did call back, they wanted to charge me a whopping $100 for their mistake, or suggested I cancel and rebook, as if my name was some kind of shrinking potion! I mean, come on, I'm not a wizard like Harry Potter!

Eventually, I stumbled upon a fix by removing my daughter from the passenger list, which exposed a glitch in their system. But despite spending hours on the phone with their support team, I still don't have a ticket with my correct name, and no one at Etihad seems to be able to help me. It's like they're trying to make me pay for their mistakes, or maybe they're just playing a game of "hot potato" with my problem!

In the upcoming section, I'll share the transcript of my chats with Etihad's support team, where we'll dive into the dizzying world of contradictory advice and lack of resolution. So buckle up, grab some popcorn, and get ready for a wild ride!

Etihad Call log

Issue Description: When trying to book a ticket for my self and family I got the below error:

Total Length of first and last name is too long. Input includes adult and infant names. Please change your input and try again.

03.17.2023

07:29 PM ET (9 min: 26 sec) First call about name length issue

• Issue discussed:
• I am unable to book a ticket as I get a name too long error.
• Action taken:
  • The representative asked for my full last name
  • I spelled out my whole last name
  • The rep told me that I need to initial the last part of last name and use:
    • Prabha R instead of Prabha Ravindran
  • This resolved the issue and I was able to go ahead with the booking
  • She said once the booking is complete, I need to call Etihad support on the same number again and ask them to update my actual full name.

08:23 PM ET (23 min: 27 sec) followup call to update full name as per rep's suggestion

• Issue discussed:
  • I am calling up as suggested by the previous rep to correct my name after completing my booking with initials
• Action taken:

• Asks me to send a mail to ccdocs@etihad.ae with the following:
  • Subject line: Name verification: Booking ref: XXXU2 (masked
  • Copy of my passport page that shows my full name.
  • I did as instructed.
  • Said will call me back after one hour.

03.18.2023

1:37 AM ET (24 min:35 sec) received call from "Private Number"

• Issue discussed:
  • Turned out to be Etihad support person who was supposed to call me back after one hour
• Action taken:
  • She says I have only the following two options:
    1. Pay $100 to correct my names
    2. Cancel and rebook
  • I explained that I was just following what the Etihad Rep told me to do and that shouldn't result in any additional charges.
  • Then the rep told me that the earlier rep who advised me was wrong and what she is saying is the correct policy
  • I explained that rebooking would not solve the issue and that ticket prices had increased since I initially booked.
  • The new support person suggested that I enter the initial for my daughter's first name instead.
  • In order to avoid being misled again, I requested a copy of the policy that stated this type of name change would not incur additional charges.
  • However, the representative refused to provide any documentation or send an email.
  • The call gets disconnected

02:14 AM ET - Reported the full issue to 'ccdocs@etihad.ae`

• Send the following email:

  Hello Etihad Team, 
  
   Booking ref: ****U2
   
   While attempting to book my ticket, I encountered an error (please see screenshot below) and contacted Etihad's support hotline for assistance. The representative advised me to use my initial for the second part of my second name, which enabled me to proceed with the booking. However, the representative also instructed me to call back after booking to correct my name to its full version.
   
   Upon contacting Etihad's support again to make the correction, I was informed that I would have to pay a $100 fee for the change or cancel the ticket and rebook. I explained that rebooking would not solve the issue and that ticket prices had increased since I initially booked. The new support person suggested that I enter the initial for my daughter's first name instead. In order to avoid being misled again, I requested a copy of the policy that stated this type of name change would not incur additional charges. However, the representative refused to provide any documentation or send an email.
   
   I find it unreasonable for Etihad to charge me for a website error and misinformation provided by their customer support. I would greatly appreciate it if you could investigate and resolve this matter promptly.
   
   
   Thank you,
   Regards,
   Praveen
  

• Never receivd a reponse

02:44 AM ET - Raised complaint via Etihad Facebook page

• Raised the following complaint via Etihad facebook page:

  While attempting to book my ticket, I encountered an error (please see screenshot below) and contacted Etihad's support hotline for assistance. The representative advised me to use my initial for the second part of my second name, which enabled me to proceed with the booking. However, the representative also instructed me to call back after booking to correct my name to its full version.
  
     Upon contacting Etihad's support again to make the correction, I was informed that I would have to pay a $100 fee for the change or cancel the ticket and rebook. I explained that rebooking would not solve the issue and that ticket prices had increased since I initially booked. The new support person suggested that I enter the initial for my daughter's first name instead. In order to avoid being misled again, I requested a copy of the policy that stated this type of name change would not incur additional charges. However, the representative refused to provide any documentation or send an email.
  
     I find it unreasonable for Etihad to charge me for a website error and misinformation provided by their customer support. I would greatly appreciate it if you could investigate and resolve this matter promptly.
  

• Got a reply as below some time later:

  You need to call the contact centre team from your end, Praveen. You can find their contact numbers here 
  https://www.etihad.com/en/help/contact-us. You just need to choose the country you're calling from to find the number. *Pika
  

02:50 AM ET - Meanwhile Raised complaint via Twitter

• Raised the following complaint via twitter:
  • Tweet link
  • Here is the tweet:

  Dear @EtihadAirways, I faced website error & was misinformed by customer support while booking my ticket. Still, you charged me $100 for correcting my name & refuse to provide policy documentation. Please resolve this issue. #Etihad #CustomerService #UnreasonableCharge
  

  • Didnot receive any response

12:55 PM: ET (11 mins: 18 sec) Call to (+1 877-690-0767) again as per facebook support

• Issue discussed: - Explained the initial issue and told the rep that I need to change my name in ticket to the full Name as in passport

• Action taken:

  • Rep asks for passport to which I mentioned I had already sent to ccdocs@etihad.ae
  • She was able to find it from her mail box with subject line: Name verification: Booking ref: XXXXU2 (masked)
  • agent agress to all the change name without any additional charges
  • Rep doesn't reissue ticket she says she has added a note.
  • Again no document to prove any of this was actually done

And the saga drags on... Who knows if I'll ever get this mess sorted out, or if I'll be left stranded at the airport gates with my family because of @EtihadAirways' technical glitches and incompetent support team. Fingers crossed for a happy ending! #Etihad #CustomerService #UnreasonableCharge tweet

Big Bang(Book review)

The Big Bang model of the universe is perhaps the most important and glorious scientific achievement of the 20^th century. It has evolved over several decades and stood the test of time and observational evidence.

Here is a brief description of events that lead to the acceptance of the Big Bang Model

1.        1915 Albert Einstein developed his General Theory of Relativity, which gave a new theory of gravity that explained high-gravity environments better than Newton’s theory of gravity.
   2.       The gravitational implications of the Theory of Relativity meant that everything in universe attracted each other and so the universe should collapse into a singularity. Einstein hated this conclusion and added a “cosmological constant” to the theory with an anti gravitational effect that would act against the attraction and stop the universe from collapsing.
   3.       FriedMann and George Lemaitre ignored the “cosmological constant” and proposed an expanding universe that explained why there was no gravitational collapse. They were both ignored as there was no observational evidence and Einstein vehemently opposed their models.
   4.       The scientist community mostly believed in a static universe.
   5.       Edwin Hubble observed that majority of the galaxies were racing away from us (red shifted). He publishes his famous paper where he shows that the velocity by which the galaxies are receding is directly proportional to their distance (Hubble’s law), possibly implying that all the galaxies started from the same point in spacetime.
   
   
   a.                  Extrapolating the observational results back in time showed that the all the matter in the universe should have started in the same place 1.8 billion years ago.
   
   
   6.       Einstein changes side and supported Big Bang after viewing Hubble’s observations, but he was concerned that the age of the universe calculated as per Hubble’s observation was less than some rocks found on earth that were 3.6 billion years old.
   7.       The major supporters of the Big Bang Gamow, Alpher and Herman came up with a mathematical model of Big Bang using which they were able to explain the relative abundance of Hydrogen (90%) and Helium (9%) atoms in the universe. They failed to explain the formation of heavier elements by nucleosynthesis as they were stuck in the 5 nucleon crevasse.
   8.       Gamov, Alpher and Herman continued their work on the model and predicted CMB (Cosmic Background Radiation) that should be released 300,000 years or so after the moment of creation if the Big Bang model were true.
   a.       Thus discovering the CMB would prove that there was a Big Bang
   b.      They were ignored as theoretical astronomers and nobody searched for the CMB.
   9.       Baade and Sandage detected an error in Hubble’s calculations and recalibrated the age of the universe to 5.5 billion years.
   a.       One hurdle in the Big Bang was resolved.
   10.   Fred-Hoyle over came the 5 nucleon crevasse by predicting the existence of an excited state of carbon (which was never identified before). This was proved later by observation.
   a.       The nucleosynthesis issue with Big Bang was solved.
   11.   Penzias and Wilson accidentally discovered CMB after about 20 years of it being predicted (by Gamov, Alpher and Herman); providing compelling evidence on the Big Bang.
   a.       At this point nearly all cosmologists switched sides to Big Bang
   
   
   12.   The only problem that the non supporters of Big Bang highlighted was that the CMB that arrived from different directions (as observed from earth) did not show any variations in wavelength. This implied that the average density of the particles that resulted from the BigBang was relatively the same which couldn’t justify the observed matter concentration in the galaxies.
   13.   Every attempt to find any variation in the CMB from earth failed.
   14.   1992 the detectors mounted on top of the COBE satellite (headed by scientists George Smoot and John Mather) discovered the variations in the CMB radiation coming from different parts of the sky. COBE indicated tiny variations in density in the early universe, which would have seeded the formation of the galaxies.
   15.   George Smoot and John Mather, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for their work on the project.
   a.       Here the Nobel Prize committee’s comment is work noting, "the COBE-project can also be regarded as the starting point for cosmology as a precision science"
   16.   Later the WMAP satellite was deployed that was designed to measure the CMB radiation at thrity-five times better resolution than COBE. The mappings generated by WMAP further confirmed CMB variations and provided convincing evidence that could lead to the observed concentration of matter in the universe.  WMAP also:
   a.       Estimated the age of the universe to be 13.7 billion years with an error of 0.2 billion years
   b.      Identified the composition of universe as 23% dark matter, 73% dark energy and 4% ordinary matter.
   
   

Where is Mr. Zaki

Friday, 7 October 2005, 11:40 GMT. Reports from unfeigned sources reveal that as per the post dinner cosmic broadcasts received at the International space station, Mr. Zaki is alleged to be drifting over the guttery, dusty Martian surface. The sources held that Mr. Zaki's assertions exploded the common myth of a dry contaminated atmosphere over the red planet. He claims it be full of life and lot of water (!!!!?). He said he was attending the call from a Martian, night club neck deep on a Jacuzzi over a peg of martini. When enquired about the lot of .umm .uhh sounds over the communication channel; a timid Zaki is known to have agreed the presence of a relatively large no: of skimpily clad female beings from the human species (Uh-oh). All he could add was that the Martian vocabulary identified so much of these Wow!-els in their language which is used extensively over Martian Republic.

He is planning his return journey on 29 B.C 1900 Hrs Martian standard time. On his way back Mr. Zaki is expected to indulge in his all time favorite "MOON TREK" when the mother ship re-fuels at Moon Station, "BeeDI9998678", named after the number of beedis he has puffed before he quit them for cigars. Maybe we will be fortunate enough to get a first hand report when he is back.

Till then good bye and good luck….


-Your honest reporter

UFO hit Anish

6 July, 2005: A Un Identified Object which resembled? a dumb bell hit the left little finger of Mr. Anish when he was on his usual work out session in his favourite health club at MK2. The UFO instantly crumbled into an un known number of pieces. The Gym keeper claims that he was able to successfully identify atleast 15 solid pieces that belonged to the original dumb bell-like-object. Experts evaluate the bang that followed the collision as the second biggest bang after the BIG BANG!!!

Mr. Anish feels that it was just a simple application of the combined impact of The modern theory of Relativity and the parallel theory of the Universe. When asked to give his thoughts on the incident he explained it as:

In his own words:(Verbatim) "You know the problem started when the relative velocity of my left little finger differed with that of the dump bell object which was moving parallel to the cosmic alignment of our galaxy at the square of the inverse velocity of light.
The quantum uncertainty principle made it difficult to simultaneously estimate the accurate circular velocity of the spinning object and the position of it at space-time."

He also added "In my opinion the eventuality could have been avoided if the converse of the scenario that would have raised from the reverse impact on the nearest galaxy to milky way were triggered by ionized atmospheric particles by oscillating with a frequency that was two counts less that the current!" This he says "would have improved the probability of estimating the imaginary part of the complex equation that could be substituted in the differential equation which would yield the exact co-ordinates of the object, mid air" (......
OXYGEN!!!).

His simple explanation to such an exceedingly complex scenario is known to have set many a fresh reporters spinning like valence electrons of an isolated cesium atom in a particle accelerator. Few of the recovering reporters who gained conscious at the St. John's hospital mentioned it as the "blinding flash of the obvious".


History:
======
Mr. Anish Philip, a former UCEian has of late developed a deep interest in building his body. Having built the NSK (Non stop Kernel) for Hewlett Packard from scratch with his bare hands, he believes that he should build his body too right from the scratch!

On another occasion Mr. Philip had attempted an onstage adventure with a hot Hindi number Woh Lamhe, Woh Baatein.... at the fresher party organised at his firm, nick/sick named Wipe-Raw (meaning literally wipes you raw). The 30 odd girls present at the occasion had been reported injured, in the stampede that followed the 'historic event'.

Mr. Philip has registered his honest inability to figure out whether it was his masculine V-torso anatomy or the magic of his voice or even a complex intermediate mixture of both that drove the, adrenaline levels high, on the girls.

Latest news
=========
Mr. A.C.P is known to have submitted his resignation letter at Wipe-It-Raw effective from 29th July. On further enquiry he revealed that they were sucking his blood faster than he could replenish.

-Your honest reporter

Software giant hires Rat. !!

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, may 9. An Indian multinational software company with a name that mimics INFOmation SYStem had hired a rat!


Competitors allege that Mr. Rat had lured the lady HR with his thick whiskers abundantly prominent under his nose, more than a Bachelor Degree from the University College of Engineering.


Who is The Rat?

The Rat is renowned in rodentian circles for his toothy political smile. Having played a commendable role on Kalluvathukkal liquor tragedy this former Campusrat had briefly served as President of the Indian rats union during the 2000 election crisis.

Out door speech has it that of late the Cat-Bert kind of evil managers of resource at the giants den is running out of preys. This recruitment is believed to nourish the cats at the giant's disposal so that at some point of time the cats will grow into a TIGER.

Whether the giant just invented a typical rat race or does it drive in another TOM and JERRY series provides for interesting observation.

your Honest correspondent,

Running for a cause (Minutes of Marathon)

I couldn’t say no when on one of the Fridays Amitanshu asked me whether I am ready to run for a cause, nobody ever expects something like that from him. We two then convinced the other bachelor, Lattu.

A word about Lattu, his top three concerns are:

1. Girls
2. Chicks in jeans
3. points 1 + 2 & 3

We approached Lattu with the sure shot modus operandi:

In Amit’s words: “Man heard that there are lot of chicks running. Would you by any chance like to join us”?

We were almost sure of the answer but the toughest part was getting him to participate in the 21 Km, half marathon. He was more than ready for the 7 km, Celebration run.

This time Amit: “You know, in 21 Km race there will be thrice as much gals as in the Celebration run.”

Thanks, to the fact that Lattu was quite good at Math and his bachelor degree in mechanical engineering didn’t leave him much time to learn how the world works. This time he couldn’t resist.

Amit is my pal and the first person to suggest that prejudice could be reason for my disdain for fiction books. That evening we talked with our aerobic instructor Milan, on the kind of shoes we need to wear and the stuff. Prejudiced with the low physical competence of software engineers he tried his best to dissuade us from the half marathon and go for the celebration run. He expressed his deep concern and desire to see us all alive on the next Monday.
A bit disappointed and a bit scared we thought of going for the celebration run. To the surprise of me and Amit Lattu stood firm on half marathon, may be the thrice as much part was difficult for him to get over!!!

We finally registered for the 21.1 Km event!!!

On that fateful Sunday morning at about 6:23 A.M, Lattu’s Radar enhanced telescopic view spotted the chick draped in pink T-shirt and blue track pants with a pony tail much ahead of us in the crowd.
6:30 A.M: the starter fired the gun; the crowd broke into running like mad dogs for the respective causes they ticked in the registration form, except Lattu. He started for the cause of catching up with a mad running pink T-shirt. Soon we realized that Lattu’s object of attraction wasn’t that bad after all. Some how, all of us felt the necessity to keep her on focus to derive enough inspiration for the event.

Unfortunately, I had to withdraw from this exercise when I became aware of the TV cameras prying on us. The unusual thought of solutions to equations of those electromagnetic waves resolving into television images at my home and the existence of a remote possibility of my mom turning the right channel at the wrong time dint leave me with enough inspiration to purse it anymore. I tried in vain to distract Lattu by telling him that we are being overtaken like our official transport at Hosur Road.

I moved ahead of the group. After some time there was a trio clad in blue, white and a green approaching me. I decided that till that far traffic signal, I wont allow any body to over take, I picked up and ran with all the energy to get over them, they were an easy lot to take over they dint try hard either. After the initial pick up I slowed down again. Then after some 5 mins there was again this same group right behind!!!, luckily we were running down an incline of a flyover, and I knew that stretching the legs as far as possible is the key, the rest will be taken care of by mother gravity. At 66.7 Kgs I stood a better chance with gravity down the incline.

Soon it turned out into a monotonous run with nothing much happening, except for the cheering from the stalls serving water for the participants, which stood at every kilometer or so. I reached half the marathon some where around 55 mins from start. Then circles and swirls through the never ending Hebbal fly over and finally returning back by the other side of the road. But this time there was a difference, it was almost 7:30 am and lot of people crowded around the foot paths.

I missed the energy drink as the guy before me collided with the one serving the drink. Then again boring run…… I was woken up from the half alive state by an old women shouting :

“Do it man”

“Do it! “

I smiled at her and tried to pull hard.

10 to 15 mins of lone running, those ahead of me were very far ahead and those behind me were not to be seen.

Then I saw a little girl who raised her hand out to strike with mine. I realized that I dint have much energy to lift my hands, they felt very heavy but the enthusiasm in her eyes; I couldn’t turn it down. I raised my hands weakly and tapped with her's softly and smiled. She smiled back, I was touched. I don’t know how I suddenly felt like an energy bundle. I ran like wild a bull!!!, forgetting all the pain right from toes to all over the body. After about half a kilometer or so of vigorous running, the pain in my hands and neck returned, I slowed down. Some one from the crowd shouted “only 5 more kilometers”. Gosh I couldn’t think of 5 more damn kilometers, I was expecting the finishing line some where around the next turn. Again I asked a police man on the way how much was left? He told me some 7 kms were left. Damit, was I running back wards?

Later I realized that each of them used a different algorithm to arrive at the random number that they shouted. I asked a few more guys, some one took it even upto 11 kms, I thought I couldn’t take it anymore and stopped asking.

I don’t remember exactly which turn got me into the Kanteerava stadium back, by that time I had almost lost faith in turns and assumptions. At the entrance there was a huge crowd cheering. Again I got my jet pack back, bundle of energy, for the last few 100 meters and stopped at the finishing line when the huge titan clock ticked 2hours 6 mins 37 seconds. The impact of a sudden stop after about 2 hours of continuous running, came as though iron ropes were run into my legs, I tripped and fell down to the ground, and took the opportunity to relax on the track. Some kind soul helped me out of the track to the lawn and got me a bottle of water, Thanks to him, I could have been run over by a bull dozer if lied long enough on the track.

-Blogger Boy

The Corkscrew Episode

Disclaimer:

All characters in this story are fictitious, any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

Of late a handful of engineers at #188 have developed a significant detest for wine bottles, an incident that took place on a Saturday evening has the credit for it. To do justice I must again take you to the Saturday evening:

There was an unusual air of applause when one of the leads announced that it is wine instead of beer that he got for the evening. Little did he know that he had just brought in more than 300 bucks worth of sheer trouble. Anyways, the wine bottle was an instant hit; it passed hands till every member had a chance to examine the artifact thoroughly, few of them even opted for a second and a third chance.

I must maintain with great clarity that, other than suggesting a nail cutter to withdraw the wine cork, my part in the series of events described below is insignificantly small. Even before I could realize the stupidity of the suggestion some body was already at it!!! By the time he finished his experiment with the nail cutter, his assiduous efforts had an appreciable portion of the cork carved away from the top. The second one just managed to deepen the crevice.

Then some one suggested a knife.

Next in the order was a screw driver.

Before the screw driver arrived the engineer with a knife had done a neat job of not only disfiguring the cork beyond belief but also chipping away a portion of the bottle rim.

Screw driver too proved to be futile.

The remarkable perseverance of the engineers took it further to try a few more vain methods. Finally it was the combined employment of a screw driver, knife handle and an industrious engineer with lot of muscles that worked the cork into the wine bottle.

The engineers let a sigh of relief!!!!

With great enthusiasm the others collected around the genius engineer who finally did it!!! Without mention he is the hero of the evening and deserves to taste the wine first.

In fact the funniest events were to follow…..

Each time the bottle was tilted the floating cork came in and blocked the flow as if determined to avenge the insults and injuries impinged on it. The despise for the highly hauteur demonstration of civilities by a low bred cork was reflected in each of the engineer faces. It was difficult to figure out which one of insult, fury or frustration was the prominent emotion; all of them were evident with amazing audacity.

Then a brilliant engineer applied the screw driver once more for the cause.!!! The wine came descending first through the rusted edges of the screw driver and then through the broken bottle rim carrying pieces of cork wood all the way. Eventually their diligent efforts yielded a mixture of rust, wood, wine and fine glass!!!

Few of the engineers who were involved in the exercise of ingesting the uncanny mixture claims to have run it through purification processes unknown to man kind till date, which according to them makes it purer than the original wine itself.

Today you can find a bunch of engineers at no: 188 who maintain extreme contempt and loathe for wine bottles, which becomes instantly evident when you offer them a free bottle of wine!!!

A word of caution:

Confidential research experiments conducted under a highly constrained laboratory environment reveals that seven out of the above eight subjects preferred to have wine cork shoved up the nose of the instructor, who offered a free bottle of wine. The other subject preferred to have the wine bottle shoved up his nose.

- Blogger Boy

Episode II

On his way to the beer parlor Mr. ‘A’ meets the alien cats who asks him to go for wine, against beer, which our hero politely declines. Then….chaos!!!

.

.

The first bullet to part the barrel leaves enough time for our hero to dodge which he completes in a neat backward somersault.

Phew!!! the bullet, …..there is a tunnel in the tree behind.

Few quick kung-fu steps fill the air,

Somersault again

This time spin kicks…

Bullets flying off like confetti ..----..

Few more somersaults

Lightning punches,

Finally dust piling up.

.

.

.

Every thing settles after a few minutes; there are people who have seen a dead cat at the spot, but no trace of Mr. A???

Then you see Mr. A silent and lonely, he is in deep meditation, his neurons busy transmitting fast electric impulses that will soon raise him to a temporal dimension. (You are requested to visualize going round, with Mr. A at the center in a dark room) He hears beckons from the only things that have driven him crazy, and they are: books, books and books alone. An electric pulse from within conveys the message to his brain:
.... Time to get back!

Mr. A dashes to the nearest book shop and then buries himself into one of the big books. He has already started dissolving into it and finally Mr. A becomes indistinguishable from the numerous alphabets in it!!!

And miss M, she continues her journey to future and slowly evolves into one of the vast number of mammals and becomes one among them!

Then there is this symbolic- clueless, vi foobar filling up all over

~

~

~

~

~

A big drop of water from Saturday evening's rain materializes on the sun shade of my window. After a few seconds of struggle with surface tension and gravity….forcefully pounces, slanting, on the grillwork, then goes rolling beneath one of the girdles and finally makes it straight on my forehead!!!

The void between delusion and day light began to broaden for me.

I lifted my face to shake off the water!!!

- Blogger Boy

Post script:

You get more points if you read this episode as: I have decided to improve the odds of my survival in a blue planet.