I managed to get in touch with Cebu Pacific management. They were all courteous and polite. They offered to give me a full refund, though I told them I didn't really want any exceptions made for me. What's important is that policies are addressed. It's not right to charge customers for a refund (which takes 45 days to process, FYI), especially after a bad experience (their fault)with their airline. But it's not about me. Changes need to be made for all. They said they would look into what happened and initially said the delays were due to a combination of the aircraft engine being fixed and terminal congestion. None of that explains why the situation was handled so poorly. None of that was ever explained to us. It was always "hindi po namin alam" and "wala pa po kaming naririning".
I've seen other videos from passengers on the web and it was total de ja vu--the anger and frustration over not being told what the real deal is, and the bewildered looks of the staff. My companions returned from Iloilo yesterday. Both their flights (Mae in the morning and Jay, late afternoon), were at least one hour delayed. So it looks like delays are fast becoming the norm.
I told my friends this experience with the airline really brought up existential questions for me because it really made me so angry. I told them what really brought it to the fore was the story of the mother who brought only enough milk for a 2-hour delay. God! That Filipinos are forced to make allowances for terrible service is just the saddest thing. We all have to stand up for our rights as consumers and stop viewing ourselves as small and insignificant.
This is the same story as our plight with our corrupt government. We cannot do NOTHING just because they are too big and we are too small. No such thing. There are a million things to do in a million different ways, but the first is to speak out and stand your ground and stop thinking or believing that one voice is nothing. The less we do, the more big business and government will feel free to behave abhorrently. It is a cycle. Our behavior dictates much of theirs, so we cannot just keep swallowing, swallowing, swallowing.
In the meantime, it is good to get the word out so that people can prepare themselves. For now, I am putting my energies there.
3 comments:
panjee,
sorry i dont have a google account, anyway what happen in the airport is a result of GREEDINESS of some companies. they oversold some flights but their planes are not enough to service the demand. it happened to us on the way to palawan and one of the staff told us its because they oversold the tickets when they had this 9.99 pesos ticket promotion last year. i hate it. in other countries, the legal system will not allow that as rights of the consumer is the primary concern of the government. in our country its the other way around. it is the rights of big enterprise which takes precedence over the rights of juan dela cruz. I still believe that one day the Filipino people as envisioned by our Filipino revolutionaries will rise to the occassion and make this TRUE REVOLUTION AGAINST the irresponsible greedy oligarchs and super duper corrupt politicians. Then our country will be cleansed. I hope that well have a revolution like what the French had in Bastille Day. Where peasants, farmers, teachers, carpenters, vendors, doctors, etc. will come together to create a new country. It may be bloody but it is worth it like what Rizal and Bonifacio did. Let's dream...
Francis
Hi Francis,
Cebu Pacific did explain their policy on overbooking and say that every airline overbooks to a certain degree to cover the loss for no-shows. They say they overbook at standard levels only. But I did say that the burden is always carried by the customer when everybody shows up, right? And, how many people would actually not show-up? I just feel it's an issue of balance and bottomline and the customer is not at the center of the picture. I'm for a TRUE REVOLUTION but I firmly believe it begins inside. INNER CHANGE--individual change towards societal change. There is no need to dream. We can begin it today!
Panjee
Sorry to hear this story, Panjee and company!
In a another country, I was off-loaded from a plane after I was one of the earliest passengers to check in. It was December 19 (on my way home for Christmas), and I was told my seat was taken ONLY when I was already standing in the aisle to take my seat and finding out that the airline has put someone in there, instead. I took 2 days of being wait-listed for me to get a flight home. ... There are many terrible travel stories.
And when we distill the whole drama -- it does boil down to the 2 individuals. The Service Provider who is responsible for the comfort of the Consumer (who paid the Service Provider).
No matter what airline was at fault, the people on the ground should have behaved differently towards the displaced passengers. It's their job to make a Consumer feel the value of the money they paid for the service expected. It is their responsibility to be fair in trading -- this means honest and accountable for their over-bookings, etc. No excuses blaming the higher ups or policy. After all, the people on the ground are the ones we are faced with.
Too bad, their face value is just a mask of a bad personality. Tatanda silang pangit!
Post a Comment