Lufthansa macht es wie Air Berlin: Auf Beschwerden einfach nicht antworten

„Ich habe eine Beschwerde an Lufthansa geschickt, aber ihre Antwort ist nicht akzeptabel“

Herr Zvi R. schrieb uns am 19.9.17:
Please forgive me for writing in English.I hope you can assist me.
I have sent a complaint to LH,but their response is far from acceptable,and as a body that governs such companies,I’m asking for your assistance and investigation.
In August of 2017 I purchased 2 business class tickets from Israel to Florida.I paid close to 6000 euro for both tickets.The reason I paid such a high fare( vs 2500 euro for two tickets in economy class) is to have extra COMFORT needed for my lower back,as I can’t sit long in an a regular economy seat.
1-Surprisngly,I found out upon entering the aircraft,that LH does not have business class seats AT ALL on the flight from Israel to Germany and return.The only benefit you get as a business class passenger is an empty seat next to you.That does nothing to you comfort,especially when you get NO extra leg room,NO extra recline,NO business class bedding,NO entertainment ,or power ports.How can an airline sell such a product and call it BUSINESS CLASS,and charge Business class fares? And why LH does not advise their clients that they will actually sit in regular economy seat for 4 hours each way to/ from Germany? This is outrageous ! Needless to say I suffered lower back pain as a result,and I have medical documents to proof that I suffer from back pain for years.
I believe LH should partially refund my business class fare,as 8 hours out of 28 hours of flying were NOT in business class comfort,rather economy class comfort.
2-Upon boarding our flight from Miami to Frankfurt on Aug 12th,LH463, LH failed to aircondition the cabin to an acceptable comfortable environment.We sat in a very hot cabin( temp above 30c) for over an hour.LH cliams that due to „technical issues“ they can not regulate temperature in the cabin while on the ground.As I work at the airport,I discussed the matter with pilots and mechanics,and the reason for Airlines not running Aircondition on the ground is to save fuel,as running the aircraft’s generator to power the Air Condition unit,requires burning fuel.If the aircraft generator is out of order,there are options to use external power,or portable Aircondition unit to hook up to the aircraft.Its hard for me to believe that LH had none of these 3 options,and left us to suffer in a very hot/ stuffy cabin.As a result my 12 years old son felt ill,and vomited,and was ill for the duration of the flight to Germany.
My pleas to the flight manager to lower the temp in the cabin were refused.The crew also refused to bring us ice to relieve the heat and the nausea ,since the ‚fasten seat belt sign‘ was on.That sign did not disturb other crew members from moving around,and passengers were using the bathrooms without restrictions,but getting ice was refused.Inhumane,especially when we are talking about a minor who is not well.That cabin crew was well aware of our situation,and it was reported to them that my son was ill( myself included) as they kept the temperature very warm for the duration of the flight.Passengers were sleeping without blankets as it was so warm.I also asked to get the name of the cabin crew that refused to bring us ice,but I was refused.
On the flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv my 12 years old son was REFUSED entry to the bathroom,under the pretext that all passengers must be seated 30 minutes before arrival in Israel.My son ,together with me was present at the toilet door 32 minutes before arrival,however another cabin crew felt that her needs came before a need of a minor to use the bathroom,and when she came out of the bathroom,she signaled him to enter the bathroom,but another cabin crew said NO,and sent my son back to his seat without being able to relieve
Himself.That act borders with cruelty and exposing a minor to discrimination vs a cabin crew in priority to use the bathroom.My son suffered terrible bladder pressure and pain for 30 minutes,until landing.He was actually in tears from the pain,and tried for a second time to ask permisssion to use the bathroom ,and was REFUSED.When I spoke to Flight Managers on other airlines they said they would NEVER deny access to a bathroom to a minor,definitely not because he missed the dead line by 2 minutes because of another cabin crew putting her needs ahead of him.
LH Offered a compensation of 200 euro for all the above failures.I believe that if I paid 6000 euro,and flew 30% of the way in economy seats,my son was ill due to heat and suffered pain due to refusal of access to bathrooms,this is a much more serious matter that should be investigated by an outside agency.( maybe even violation of minor rights and dignity to relieve himself.
Any assistance or advise would be appreciated .
Kind Regards,
Zvi R.
—
Verbraucherschutz.de leitete die Anfrage am 20.9.17  nach Erhalt der Buchungsnummer an die Lufthansa weiter, erhielt aber keine Antwort. Wir schrieben am 4.10.17:

Sehr geehrter Herr Carsten Spohr,

am 20.9.2017 übersandten wir Ihnen die nachstehende Anfrage von Herrn R.

Da weder wir noch Herr R. bisher eine Antwort von Ihnen erhalten haben, möchten wir Sie nun dringend bitten, uns eine Stellungnahme zukommen zu lassen.

Sollten wir bis zum 06.10.17 keine Antwort von Ihnen erhalten, möchten wir hiermit Herrn R.  bereits bitten, einen Anwalt aufzusuchen.

Wir werden den Vorgang dann veröffentlichen.

Nachdem wir keine Antwort erhielten, schrieben wir Herrn R.:

Sehr geehrter Herr R.,
Lufthansa hat unsere Anfrage nicht beantwortet und wir werden den Vorgang veröffentlichen.
Wir beschäftigen leider keine Anwälte, aber ich habe unseren Partneranwalt Herrn Rechtsanwalt Aydin ins „cc“ gesetzt und dieser wird sich zeitnah mit Ihnen in Verbindung setzen, um Ihnen eine kostenlose Ersteinschätzung der rechtlichen Lage zu geben.

Rechtsanwalt Vincent Aydin
MEA Rechtsanwälte
Gneisenaustr. 51
10961 Berlin
Deutschland
Telefon: 030/52687238
E-Mail: [email protected]

Herr R. schrieb uns:
Thank you very much Ms.Lauckenmann for your assistance,and the time you took to research this complaint.
Im under the impression (if I understood correctly) that LH is not responding ,so I hope Mr.R.V.Aydin could contribute to a fair resolution of this unfortunate case .Believe me ,I would have preferred to have had a wonderful experience with them ,and not return home upset and frustrated…and my son ill..However I have no choice but to pursue a fair and respectful feedback from LH.We paid a lot of money for an upscaled product, and received in return a subpar product and human services /approach that were very lacking.That is to say the least .

With Kind Regards,
Zvi R.

Am 25.10.17 erhielten wir dann doch eine Antwort von der Lufthansa:
Dear Mr. R.

Thank you for your correspondences forwarded to us by The Department of Transportation and the German Consumer Protection Board. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.
We are sorry that our replies have not met your expectations. We wish to reiterate that the safety of our passengers is our highest priority and therefore ask our guests to comply with the instructions of the crew regarding all matters while on board.
As much as we understand your wish to receive more compensation, we kindly ask you for your understanding that our reply remains unchanged and that we consider this case to be closed.

Sincerely,