NOT A VERY HAPPY AIRPHILEXPRESS CUSTOMER

I have bought our tickets Manila-Tagbilaran for October 31 from Airphilsexpress last July 17.  Last Thursday, October 18, I got a call from an Airphilexpress agent that our flight was cancelled.  She reasoned that PAL would takeover the said route and we were transferred to the 5:20am flight of the same day.  I told her that it was too early, we got the original time of 1:30pm because we have a two year old and a seven year old with us.  She told me that she'll put me on hold and see what she can do.  After several minutes, she was back on again and she told me that she can put us at the 8:15am flight of the same day but told me that she has to break us up into two groups of 3 (we were six) because the system wouldn't accept 6 passengers at the same time.  I told her that we would need to be on the same flight.  She said yes.  I repeated that I'm allowing her to break us into two groups as long as we'll be on the same flight.  To which she stated her positive response once more.  She gave a reservation code - EKKJUZ for the first group (Me, Ramir and Yayay).  Then she told me that we'll use our original reservation code - JFKHMU for the other group (R, S, and L).  Then she told me emphatically that we need to have our tickets issued within 48 hours in any Airphilsexpress Ticketing Office.

The next day, October 19, we went to their ticketing office in Cubao.  When I was about to pay, the lady in the counter told me that only 3 persons were confirmed on the the 8:15am flight.  She also told me that there were no more seats available on the said flight.  I told her, "How could this be? The agent told me that we have confirmed reservations and we need to have our tickets issued.  That's exactly the reason why we showed up in their office the day after."  The lady told me that she couldn't do anything about it.  There were four flights that day - 5:20am, 8:15am, 9:40am and 1:30pm.  All the other flights were fully booked except the 5:20am.  Since I have made all the necessary arrangements, I couldn't rebook on another date.  So I decided to have the tickets issued for the 5:20am flight.  I asked the lady if she can trace the name of the agent.  She said yes.  I told her that I would want to talk to her.  I just would like to find out what happened.  She dialed their hotline number and looked for the said agent.  I think the person on the other line asked why she was calling because the ticket lady replied that I was there.  The ticket lady handed the phone to me, I narrated everything that has happened.  She told me that she was Mars Castanares.  And she too couldn't do anything about our dilemma.  To my dismay, she told me that she couldn't transfer my call because their phone isn't capable of doing that.  I ask her if she can just give me the name of the said agent, she told me that the lady's name is Ms. Rojo and she isn't allowed to divulge first names.  I asked her if can she give me the name of their manager because I would write a letter and I would want my letter to be read by the right person and she said, she isn't allowed to do that either.  She just gave my their customer care email address.  She told me that my letter would be read even if I emailed it there.  She also asked me to give my contact number so that Ms. Rojo can air her side.  I did give her my name and my contact number.  After 5 minutes, I got a call from Ms. Rojo.  She verified that she was the one I have spoken to and everything was now settled because I have already confirmed our flight at 5:20am.  Then the call got choppy, the line went dead and she didn't call back.

I have read reviews about how bad Airphilexpress customer service is.  But I didn't believe them.  Until I got a taste of it.  I wasn't being unreasonable.  Our original flight was at 1:30pm.  The least they could have done was reserve us at the same time available (1:30pm).  I just felt we were being held up.  Forced to take whatever was there just because they committed a mistake.  Ms. Rojo repeatedly told me that we were confirmed on the 8:20am flight.  We did everything they told us, even if we were the ones who were hassled.  We went into their ticketing office to have our tickets issued because that's what they said.  And it was even Ramir's birthday.  We're stuck there for almost an hour negotiating and everything proved to be in vain.  And I felt they were covering each other up - can't transfer a call, can't give the first name of Ms. Rojo, can't give the name of the manager.

Some people may say, what do I want out of this?  Honestly nothing.  I just want people to know what happened to us availing of the services of Airphilexpress.  I also would want fellow customers like me to do something about bad customer service.  We should not take things sitting down.  We should air our complaints and grievances, better if we can write about it. It's through our documented feedback that services would get better, or would prompt companies (not just airline companies) to really take care of their customers.  I hope that no one would experience what happened to us.  And for Airphilexpress, I hope you'll train your people more (especially your customer service representatives) because they can make or break your image.  As for us, we need to force ourselves to look at the brighter side of life.  At least we'll be starting our vacation early (very early). Well, there's a reason for everything.