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Air India responds to Ricky Kej’s complaint on business to economy class downgrade, rude staff

Grammy-winning music composer Ricky Kej slammed Air India for its deteriorating customer service in a post shared on X.

Updated on: Aug 3, 2024, 12:31:42 IST
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Grammy-winning music composer Ricky Kej slammed Air India for its deteriorating customer service in a post shared on X. Kej claims that he was downgraded from his business class seat to economy without reason. Moreover, instead of apologising for the inconvenience, the airline staff was rude with him, he claimed.

Ricky Kej is an Indian-American music composer. (Location: Radisson Blu Mumbai International Airport)
Ricky Kej is an Indian-American music composer. (Location: Radisson Blu Mumbai International Airport)

The Indian-American music composer said it is the third time that Air India has downgraded him from business class to economy class without providing a clear reason.

In a post shared on X this morning, Ricky Kej said he was booked to fly from Mumbai to Bengaluru on an Air India flight. He had booked and paid for a business class ticket, which often cost more than double the price of an economy class ticket. However, the airline refused to refund him for the fare difference, he claims.

“Wow.. 3rd time this is happening to me in one year. I booked and paid for a business class ticket on Air India from Mumbai to Bengaluru. When I reach departure gate, the staff rudely tells me that I have been downgraded (for no reason) and they cannot give me a refund,” he wrote on X.

Kej also named the person on the counter who spoke with him, calling her “absolutely not helpful, and impolite.” He concluded his complaint by asking Air India to introspect. “It is ok to have operational issues due to unforseen circumstances. But to not provide quick and effective resolutions for the same is absolutely criminal.. and not befitting of a reputed brand,” he wrote.

Air India responds

Full service carrier Air India has been facing increasing complaints of incompetence, dirty airplanes, poor upkeep, rude staff and more.

The airline responded to Kej’s post by promising to address the issue.

“Dear Mr. Kej, we wish to assure you that rude behavior is not at all accepted at any of our contact points and we always strive to offer courteous and hassle-free experience to our passengers. Kindly help us with the booking details via DM to address this,” Air India wrote.

The music composer complied with the request and shared his booking details over a direct message.

“Sent you the details on DM. Lets see how helpful you are @airindia. It is time for you to prove you actually care about your paying customers,” he wrote.

  • Sanya Jain
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Sanya Jain

    Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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