I just got back from a ten hour bus ride from Penang. Thankfully, it was quite comfortable as my father tried to make the best out of situations and bought me a *luxury bus ticket back to Singapore (nothing else was available, actually).
The ticket was sought and bought on the very same afternoon of the day which I was to travel back. All thanks to AirAsia and the operator who told me that I could pay for my ticket when I check in for the flight.
When I called to check on the flight a day before departure, I was told that the booking was not made as I had not made the payment. There were to be extra charges to fly for the same flight that had the botched booking but it was a compromise of my stubborn (and bruised) integrity.
Heck *karma and ladylike manners. I'm bad mouthing the cheap airline and boycotting their cramped seats.
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Dear Air Asia Customer Support,
This is to express my extreme disappointment with your telephone booking staff and to inform you of the grave inconveniences that the event has incurred.
On January 26, I successfully made a booking for a flight from Penang to JB for the evening of February 1 at the price of RM224.99. When I informed the female telephone operator that I wish to make a cash payment, she said to "check in two and a half hours earlier (because the usual check in time was two hours) to make the payment".
She then proceeded to read me the terms and conditions, which gave me the impression that I had successfully made a booking for the flight. Since it was my first time ever making a flight booking at any airline, I was particularly careful with the information she has provided, taking note of things that mattered to me (eg, that I had to give 48 hours notice for any change of date and baggage). I am very certain that she did not tell me that I had to make a payment two days from the date the booking was made. Otherwise, I would have definitely made sure I got the payment made to come back to my university classes that would begin on February 2.
In fact, I even repeated the information to her, from the flight details to the checking in time of two and a half hours which she confirmed.
Imagine my dismay when I called yesterday morning just to confirm if everything was as scheduled to be told that I do not have a booking. In fact, your telephone operator promptly informed me that "“it was a misunderstanding"” and that "it is common knowledge (for the staff) and they could not get it wrong". In addition, there was to be a new charge at RM274.99.
This is my formal complaint that I did not 'misunderstand' the instructions and I am deeply insulted that the customer support staff members have dismissed my claims without the slightest doubt that maybe the staff attending to me was a trainee or not paying attention to what she was telling me or my replies. Furthermore, I was not about to pay more for a mistake that was definitely not on my part.
This has caused great distress for me and my extended family on Chinese New Year. All of us were worried about how I can get back safely to Singapore with only so little time to source for a ticket.
Previously, I have viewed AirAsia'’s philosophy of bare-bones flying and being frills-free’ to be a wonderful introduction to air travel. Little did I realise that it would mean cutting down on quality service. The treatment and experience from this incident forms a scarring impression on your company and is something I would not hesitate to pass down by word of mouth or through other means. I guess it is true of the saying that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Now I get the meaning of flying on a budget ticket.
Regrets,
(a very frustrated *Damsel)
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Beware the wrath of a person who has written for the Malay Mail (a Malaysian tabloid paper) and still has contacts inside. Needless to say, I'm very angry and angsty right now.
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