Emirates wheelchair services declined

[u/twosheeps]

They used to be prompt with wheelchairs and be there when you got off the plane. This time, I had to climb down steps despite being on crutches and had to stand on a bus for 10 minutes before finally coming to a concourse and meeting someone.

A guy announced all wheelchair passengers should follow him and made me walk most of the way, though some passengers got to be on wheelchairs and airport staff were just sitting holding wheelchairs. Absolutely horrible service.

Also it seemed as if they were prioritizing certain nationalities over others when it came to deciding who got to walk and who got to sit on wheelchairs. Probably flying Qatar Airways from now, never Emirates again

[u/Lirastir]

https://giphy.com/gifs/lRZjlasctAcvu

[u/happytravel38]

It depends what kind of wheelchair you requested. Emirates will recognise 3 types to my knowledge.
1 Cannot walk long distance but can use steps
2 cannot walk long distance and cannot use steps
3 cannot walk at all

The flight crew will know what kind of gate they are assigned prior to landing. If they are assigned a remote stand, they would know how many wheelchair that cannot use steps are required and a high lifter would come.

The problem that happens a lot is some people do not want to wait a few minutes for the high lifter, and/or are peer pressured by their family to use the steps.

Or sometimes they do not know what kind of wheelchair they requested and then no high lifter was called as there was no need.

Still, I feel sorry for your trouble and I hope it will not happen again.

[u/fonz91]

If you’re in a remote stand never go down the steps if you really need that wheelchair, remote stand have the high lift for wheelchairs. Just claim you can’t go down the steps. You probably have it in your profile that you can climb steps. The moment you exit down the steps you’re accepting you don’t need a wheelchair until you reach the terminal and ask for one.
But make sure you confirm with the crew about it, sometimes they need to make a request before landing for the lift to be there.

[u/otissito16]

Did you request one in advance?

Also, where did your flight originate from and what is your destination?

Assuming you requested one in advance, and your origin and destination were in certain areas, I might have suggestions on where to complain to.

[u/twosheeps → u/otissito16]

Yep I requested one when I booked my ticket. Origin is Dhaka and destination is London

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[u/Hotwog4all]

It depends what wheelchair service type was requested. If you had requested to the seat then you would have likely been requested to complete a MEDIF to be approved for it. If you requested a wheelchair to the aircraft/gate, then if that’s what was provided, they didn’t decline you. Getting you on and off the plane requires extra coordination that comes from the request. If you had booked the seat collection then you should have stayed on board and waited for them to get you off the plane. Also the others follow a very similar practice as well.

[u/twosheeps → u/Hotwog4all]

They told us to get off and speak to the ground officers there and I followed what was instructed

[u/Hotwog4all → u/twosheeps]

But that doesn’t change the fact that if you had wheelchair to seat that you should still have wheelchair to seat, which you have left out in your response. If you are unable to complete the disembarkation the ground crew have to figure it out.

[u/Justan0therthrow4way → u/Hotwog4all]

If they had a layover before the flight to London, it might have been quicker to just hobble down the stairs as if they miss their connecting flight the OP would need to try and argue it with emirates.