German Adventures including Bad Airline People and a Baptism

We just got back from Germany with Nuria to visit Claudia’s side of the family for the first time.  The flight over did not start out on a positive note.  It all started to go bad about a week before we left.  Claudia called Northwest Airlines (they handle all the booking, etc for KLM in the United States) to order a vegetarian meal during all of her flight segments.  While she was on the phone she asked about the bassinet just to make sure that it was still on order for our flight.  At that point she was told that we did not have a bassinet on order for Nuria dring our transatlantic flight.  Additionally, she was told that she and I were not even sitting next to each other!  When I booked, the booking agent had reserved a bassinet for us with the understanding that if Nuria was under 20 pounds when we flew that we could use it on the flight.  She also booked Claudia and I seats next to each other. 

So Claudia called me at work to make sure that I had reserved a bassinet and booked us seats next to one another.  Of course I had done so and called Northwest right back.  I was connected to an agent at Northwest by the name of Gabe who promptly cut me off in the middle of my explanation and asked for the confirmation number for my ticket.  Since I was at work, I did not have that but gave him the last names and the flight numbers to help find our reservation.  At this time I was still attempting to explain my problem to him which was greeted with “Sir, I am taking over” from Gabe and was put on hold.  A little bit shocked I waited on the line for Gabe to return to the line.  Upon his return, he stated “Sir, the cutoff for a bassinet is 9 months” to which I asked for clarification since the initial ticketing agent as well as the online site stated that the cutoff was 20 pounds for a bassinet.  Gabe once more cut me off and stated “Sir, the cutoff is nine months, period!” in a very rude tone.  Needless to say I was very shocked and needed a few moments to recover from my shock.  When I recovered, I retorted “They don’t give you very much customer service training, do they?”  And continued by asking him why he was being so rude to me to which he replied that I had insulted him.  How, I would never in a million years have been able to tell you since I had been downright pleasant up until my last comment!  When I asked him for his name again and any ID number, HE HUNG UP ON ME!!  I have never been hung up on by a customer service representative in all of my years!  When he hung up on me, the system kicked me into a queue to fill out a verbal survey on my experience with customer service.  I thought to myself “This is great, I can lodge a complaint right now!”  However, after waiting for the system, I was told that the system was not in operation at that time!  Can you believe it?

At this point I am livid and immediately called Northwest’s customer service back immediately and spoke with a very nice young woman that looked at our record and noticed that I had had a bassinet reserved when I initially booked and could not see any reason why that had been removed and our reserved seats reassigned.  She then put me on hold to research the problem.  When she came back she told me that KLM is much stricter that Northwest and puts the cutoff for baby bassinet use at 9 months and that there was nothing that they could do about that.  Although I was not happy (i might have booked with another airline if I had known that earlier) I appreciated the agents explanation and professional handling of the situation.  At that point I told the agent about my previous experience with Gabe and asked to speak with her supervisor to lodge a complaint.  I explained to the supervisor that I have flown Northwest and KLM exclusively to Europe for over 10 years and had thought that the company was good and valued my business.  I continued letting her know that this experience with Gabe had made me rethink whehter or not I wanted to give my business to a company that has disdain for their customers.  She assured me that this was not the case, asked for all the info about my call, let me know that all calls were recorded and that she would take care of the problem. 

I am in the process of drafting a letter to the company.  If I do not get more than an apology (I would expect a domestic flight or something for all the problems that we had), I will probably not fly with Northwest or KLM again.

After all of these problems, the flight crew on the KLM flight to Amsterdam were amazing.  They asked why we had not requested a bassinet and seats in a family row!  I told them my story and they preceded to tell me that they go by infant weight on the flight and even if the baby is heavier than the limit, they will put the bassinet on the floor at the parents’ feet!  Can you believe that?  So Claudia and I are sitting across the aisle from one another and Nuria is sitting on Claudia’s lap.  After the flight began, the gentleman next to Claudia agreed to switch seats with me so that I could sit next to Claudia.  The flight attendants then worked out a three-way seat switch by offering the moving individuals Business Class service which allowed Claudia and I to have a 3 person row with an empty middle seat for Nuria. 

On the return trip it didn’t go much better with the ground crew folks in Hannover.  When we arrived at the airport and checked in (at the time that the counter opened, we were not late), we found out that our seat reservations for the transatlantic flight had been given away and that we were not sitting next to each other.  In fact, I was 3 rows ahead of Claudia!  By this time, I am a little bit upset and ask why we were given seat reservations if they give them away, at which point I was informed by the check-in agent that seat reservations are not binding and that I would have to deal with it all in Amsterdam when we arrived from Hannover!  So we arrive in Amsterdam and do not have time to go to the transit desk as instructed and have to go directly to the gate.  At the gate, we spoke with a KLM agent and she was good enough to put Claudia and I next to each other in the family row.  Needless to say, it was a long 10 1/2 hours with Nuria awake most of the time and on our laps.  And again we were asked by the flight attendants why we did not reserve a bassinet.  She said that she would have given us one but since it was not ordered they did not have one of the plane.  I explained to her that at both LAX and Hannover, they would not allow us to sign up for a bassinet!  What a screw up!

It was almost as if everyone that we encountered that worked for KLM was wonderful and seemed to have alot of pride in doing their job well.  However, everyone that we encountered from Northwest (on the telephone and at LAX) and Swiss Air (the check-in agent in Hannover) couldn’t care less about the customer and the customer’s experience. 

But back on to more pleasurable topics….

This is the first time that any of our German family and friends, with the exception of Kirsten of course, have met Nuria.  All of the family came to Nuria’s baptism including Oma Kirsten, Tante Atti, Onkel Manfred, Cousin Kira, Tante Christel, Wilfred, Godfather Kai, Godmother Gabi, Godmother Susi, her husband Torsten, her kids Sophia (Claudia’s godchild) and Lennart,  Kiki & Cashi, Hilmar & Sabina, their twins Hannah and Juliana, Elke, Corinna, Onkel Lars, Tante Siggi, Jorge & Karen, their infant daughter Flora, Rita, Peter, Tante Ula, Onkel Helmut, Cousin Birget, And they really seem to enjoy getting to know her.  How could they not?  Our daughter is wonderful!

Today is Nuria’s official baptism and also her ten month birthday.  It is not her first baptism since I already took care of that in the bathtub in the first few weeks after her birth.  Did you know that it is one of two sacraments (the other being matrimony) that can be performed by untrained laity?  That is correct, any Christian can baptize a baby and it is just as valid as a ceremony carried out in a church.  If the intent is there during the baptism, it is a valid baptism.  But back to the story at hand…

Nuria was baptized in Hannover, Germany in the Bodelschwingh Church, the same church in which Claudia’s parents were married and Claudia was baptized and confirmed.  It really meant alot to Claudia that Nuria could be baptized here.  The pastor was a wonderful young woman that really made us feel very welcome at the church.

Claudia and Kirsten have spent the last week finalizing all of the arrangements for the baptism and the party afterwards at the TuS Mecklenheide, Claudia’s parent’s sports club here in Hannover.  Everything went off beautifully and without a hitch as it normally does when Claudia and her mother are on the job!  The ceremony took place at the normal Sunday service at the church where Claudia’s parents were married and where Claudia  was baptized and confirmed.  Nuria only complained a little bit when we had to hold her at the front of the church for a while.  However, every time that the pastor spoke to her, Nuria listened very intently to her. 

After the baptism, we all went to TuS Mecklenheide for a wonderful lunch of greek food with family and friends!  Unfortunately my parents and sister (also a Godmother) were unable to make the trip to Germany for the baptism but will have a little something to reaffirm my sister as a godmother. 

I guess that I should probably just post this entry before it gets so long that noone will read it!  Not that anyone reads it right now anyway!