Joy Adalia
Netizen XC Duco was looking forward to getting back to work after enjoying the holidays in the Philippines but was enraged to learn that her CONFIRMED booking to Singapore via Jakarta last January 2 was not valid.
What is even crazier is that Duco found this out at the airport upon checking in.
Armed with a printed copy of her flight itinerary, she checked in for her flight but was informed it does not exist. She was set to fly on the 22:40 PM flight to Singapore via Tiger Air which had entered into a merger with local budget airline Cebu Pacific.
She also had a copy of the e-ticket on her mobile phone.
Although the ticket was bought and paid in full last September 19, 2014, the Cebu Pacific staff would not honor it, saying Duco did not buy a ticket for a Cebu Pacific flight and that there was NO FLIGHT via Tiger Air for that schedule. Also, her name was not on the passenger list for the Cebu Pacific flight.
When she insisted that she be allowed to fly on the Cebu Pacific flight because she bought a ticket to a flight for the same time on its partner Tiger Air (which did not have a flight on that schedule), she was told she could not be allowed to do so. She must buy new tickets for the Cebu Pacific flight which now cost Php 27,000 – almost thrice what she had originally paid for (Php10,323)!
This is puzzling because as early as the first quarter of last year, both airlines have announced that they are sharing a booking system following their merger; thus, travelers can book Cebu Pacific tickets via Tiger Air and vice versa.
A male supervisor told her it was possible she booked the flight via Tiger Air but they still could not honor it because the “circumstance was beyond their control because it was a debut of a problem on their part.”
She was then asked to move aside so the staff could accommodate the rest of the passengers checking in for the flight. Assured the staff are ‘doing their best’, she sat down and waited. She was told by the Cebu Pacific they are trying to get in touch with Tiger Air staff in all terminals but their calls were unanswered.
Though her ordeal began at 8:30 PM, there was still no resolution by the time she went home at 10:40 PM – the exact time the flight was supposed to leave with her on board.
At 10:20 PM, she was informed by Cebu Pacific staff to file a written complaint they will “forward to the proper authorities” because Tiger Air’s customer service line was only until 10:00 PM. This is weird considering she was there since 8:30 PM.
She ended up going home and missing a week at work. She also incurred additional expenses because her January 2 flight was not refunded and she needed to take a new flight via Philippine Airlines as she vowed never to fly via Cebu Pacific or Tiger Air anymore.
Aside from posting her ordeal on Facebook, she also sent a letter of complaint to the Civil Aviation Authority, also demanding refund for both the missed flight via Cebu Pacific/Tiger Air and the new one she took with Philippine Airlines. She also wants the airlines to pay her for the week’s worth of work she missed because of their ‘incompetence’.
