Let me share to you the worst experience I had with an airline company. Below are the emails I sent to their Customer Relations Officer-Sarah Reyes.
Good day! I am Ralph with mabuhay miles membership number 2XXXXXXX0. I have been flying with you guys since I was a small kid. Back then, the flight attendants were great coz they took care of the passengers pretty well. When I was a kid, I usually traveled alone and as an unattended minor, your flight attendants back then bended their backs just to assist me. Now that I am working, I travel around 2-3x a year and usually would prefer PAL over other airlines, but because of the recent experience I had with your check-in and in-flight crew, I would consider flying with other airlines from now on. I visited my relatives in Bacolod recently and took flight PR136 for my trip back home to manila. I took the 6:45PM flight yesterday, November 1, 2010. I admit I am overweight and would be needing extra space so upon check-in I tried to request an emergency exit seat. The check-in representative already printed out my seat without even suggesting I go for the choice seats or get an extra one for me to be more comfortable. The seat assigned to me was 22A and was very uncomfortable. I tried to have it changed at the counter, even offering to pay and asked them if the flight was fully booked, he said no and adviced me to ask the flight attendants to just transfer me to a choice seat. Back when I flew with your airline company last December 31, 2009, I was automatically assigned an emergency exit seat, same thing with Zest Air and Cebu pacificwhenever I fly with them. With the check in crew's advice though, I waited for all of the passengers to enter the plane before I proceeded the aircraft. I went to a flight attendant in the tail end of the plane, and I swear I could smell alcohol there. I asked him if I can upgrade to a choice seat and he just shrugged me off and pointed to an open overhead baggage compartment. All of the passengers were already seated and I didn't want to cause a commotion and I was already humiliated coz I can't fit in my seat so I tried one last time with another flight attendant. This time it was a girl and I asked her if I can upgrade or if she can transfer me to a choice seat as adviced to me by the ground crew. She just nonchalantly led me to my seat, I was on the window side, so she asked the passenger on 22B to move to my seat which I find rude. I was very humiliated by their actions and felt that PAL attendants didn't care about my situation. I also need an extension for my seat belt but no one bothered to check if I was seated with my seat belts on. I could barely move because the seat was very small and if I did, I would have invaded the personal space of the passengers situated in 22A and 22C. So during the entire duration of the flight, I can't buckle my seat belt coz I can't move and nobody bothered to check it and assist me with it, plus I had to stay with a very uncomfortable position which caused my arms and hands to be numb and make me feel light headed and nauseous. I wasn't able to eat my in-flight snacks and wasn't able to ask for water or anything to drink coz I am afraid I will just spill it due to the limited mobility I had brought about by the uncomfortable seats given to me. I couldn't open the tray as well since it would hit my belly and would cause further humiliation. This has been the most traumatic flight I have taken and I am disgusted to how I was treated. Indeed the flight was on time, It seems that what PAL cares about is just being on time even if it means they have to disregard the customers special needs. I would have gladly bought another seat if I knew but no one bothered to advice me or suggest as such. I was extremely dissatisfied with the flight that I had to air out my concern. So upon arrival, I took the lift just to go up to your office and asked for a supervisor. The manager wasn't around and the representative went to her supervisor. The supervisor seemed to not know what she was doing and she didn't even approach me. I was very furious by then so I aired out my concern to the representative. The representative went back to the supervisor and gave her a form for me to fill out. I tried to fill it out but because of staying immobile in an uncomfortable position for around 45minutes during the flight which caused my hands to be numb, and add the frustration caused to me by the poor and deteriorating customer service your company have, I could barely write on the form and was trembling in anger. I had to shout at the representative assisting me and asked her to tell the supervisor to just talk to me instead. They had me wait for around 10mins coz the supervisor was calling someone on the phone. She then went to me and advised me to just fill out the form without any consideration. She was unapologetic and not very empathetic. I advised her of my trembling hands and that I could barely write because of what your flight has done to me but she shrugged it off once again and told me to bring the form home or just send an email coz there is nothing she can do. I wasn't given any options by anyone from your company. They wasted more than 20minutes of my time and wasn't given any remedy. I feel discriminated against just because I am obese and because I just started my mabuhay miles membership and am not a million miler. I am extremely disgusted by the type of customer service I got from your company that I can puke whenever I see PAL. I know I am not a million miler but I do hope you take the time to look into this complaint and get back to me soon. I would appreciate a phone call from any managers. You can contact me at 0932XXXXXX1. I hope you do take tis complaint seriously coz I want to continue doing business with your company and I don't want to complain against another airline on air over the radio like what I did with cebupacific wherein I had a phone patch with Raffy Tulfo and the EVP of Cebu Pacific. Thanks for your time in going over this and I would greatly appreciate a prompt response.
I immediately received an automated message from them:
Dear Mr. Ralph,
Thank you for the message we received apprising us of your recent experience with us. At the outset, please accept our regrets for the disappointment you may have felt as a result.
A request for feedback from the offices concerned had been initiated to provide us with the full circumstances of the reported incident. The handling Customer Management Officer will be communicating with you again, as soon as the reports are completed.
Customer Relations Office
Philippine Airlines
pg/
This is a system - generated letter. It does not require any signature if it has been issued without any alteration.
Dear Ralph,
Further to our acknowledgment email below, please be advised that we're still awaiting
the reports from the offices concerned.
As promised, we'll correspond with you again, as soon as we have completed our investigation.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
SARAH
Dear Mr. Ralph,
Further to our telecom. this morning, as assured, we
only have the noblest intentions to get at the bottom
of your reported travel experiences with us and subject
to our findings, will initiate the necessary action to
prevent recurrence.
We will correspond with you again as soon as we
have completed our inquests.
Thank you for your further patience.
Sincerely,
SARAH
| Ralph 11/11/2010 02:13 PM |
|
Dear Sarah,
I hope you can speed up the investigation and present me with a reasonable resolution otherwise I would be forced to step this fight up to the next level like what I did with cebu pacific.
Dear Mr. Ralph,
Noted, we'll forward this information to our MNL station.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
SARAH
| Ralph 11/12/2010 05:28 PM |
|
the supervisor assigned around 8-9pm last november 1. thanks
From: "Sarah_Reyes@pal.com.ph" <Sarah_Reyes@pal.com.ph>
To: Ralph
Sent: Fri, November 12, 2010 1:16:48 PM
Subject: Fw: extremely dissatisfied customer
Dear Mr. Ralph,
Just an update on our investigation, please find below the feedback from
one of the offices concerned - Manila station.
It woud be best if you could provide us with specific names for a faster
and accurate probe.
Meanwhile, we are awiaitng reports from the other offices, as well.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
SARAH
----- Forwarded by Ma. Sarah S Reyes/MKTG/PAL on 11/12/2010 12:44 PM -----
sarah,
we are still unable yet to pinpoint the supv who pax was referring to since pax did not identify
| Ma. Sarah S Reyes/MKTG/PAL 11/11/2010 02:29 PM |
|
17 November 2010
MNL/CPN/031110/34067
Ralph
email:
Dear Mr. Ralph:
This is further to our series of correspondences. Thank you for taking the time out to give us your feedback when you took our flight, PR136/01Nov, from Bacolod (BCD) to Manila (MNL). On behalf of Philippine Airlines, may we reiterate our sincerest regrets for whatever inconveniences and disappointments this has caused you.
Please allow us to share with you our findings as we probed into the incident’s full circumstances. Our Bacolod branch disclosed that while your preferred premium emergency exit seat was being accommodated; unfortunately, this could not be assigned since you declined to pay the extra charge of Php224.00 for said seat covered by our Choice Economy Seat Surcharge (CESS) Program. Subsequently, you decided to ask for the nearest aisle seat instead since you considered that it was a shorter 45-minute flight only. However, your sequence number showed that you checked-in relatively later; hence, you were advised that all aisle seats were already taken. Our Customer Service Agent (CSA) then offered you the option of occupying the nearest window seat at 22A which you have willingly accepted. It may be noteworthy to mention, that said CSA did not advise you to tell the cabin crew to transfer you to a premium choice emergency exit seat.
We regret to learn of the reported lack of cabin crew assistance onboard. We certainly do not tolerate any acts of unprofessionalism, more so from our frontliners, whom we expect to emulate basic service standards and ethics. May we cite, with due courtesy, that under the CESS Program, our crew do not have authority to accommodate seat transfer requests onboard to avoid any misimpressions of partial treatment among our passengers. Likewise, they are not equipped to handle CESS transactions specifically given the short flying time. Since your request was made shortly before the closing of cabin doors, endorsements to our ground staff was no longer possible. It would seem best to request for a CESS seat upon booking a flight or during the check-in process, seat-permitting. Please allow us to clarify, that in an effort to assist you, our crew suggested the seat exchange for passenger seated at 22B to switch seats with you at 22A so you may occupy both seats 22B & C which was vacant at the time. Apparently, she did not notice that seat 22C was assigned to another passenger. With regard to the extension seatbelt, it would seem better for a passenger to request than the crew offering it as some passengers might feel offended. Our crew also attested that there was no alcohol scent at the rear cabin area.
Nonetheless, you will be interested to know, that as a matter of procedure when there are reports of service glitches regarding the attitude of our men and women in the cabin, our Line Administrator assigned to the concerned crew conducts a series of counseling to discuss the full circumstances of the apparent service glitch. May we assure you, that our cabin crew have been reminded to extend utmost care and sensitivity to passengers inflight. We certainly do not intend to offer any excuses regarding this concern, but rather, the assurance that your feedback merits our most preferential attention. We can only hope; therefore, to merit your understanding, that there was no deliberate intention to cause you any discomfort nor difficulty.
Moreover, we regret that since you were unable to provide us with the specific names of the staff upon your arrival in Manila, we cannot pinpoint the actual staff involved, although, we have endorsed you concerns to our Manila station, for their information and necessary action.
Mr. Ralph, we trust that we have sufficiently clarified our position. We, at Philippine Airlines, always welcome this chance to explain certain procedures for the purpose of minimizing any misunderstanding that our handling had elicited. We are cognizant, though, of some instances when we have inadvertently overlooked other service areas; however, we remain resilient to correct these shortcomings, perceived or otherwise. We wish to assure you that our commitment to provide only the best in passenger care and safety will never wane as we look forward to continue serving your travel needs.
Very truly yours,
MA. SARAH S. REYES
Customer Management Officer
Customer Relations
sr/
Dear Mr.Ralph,
We have noted your additional comments, with thanks.
May we clarify that what we have replied to you is based on our findings provided by the office concerned. However,
when there are counter-points/issues presented by our passenger, such as yourself, we likewise forward the same
to said office for their further review and necessary action.
May we add that per labor laws and union agreements which we respect, surely, you will agree that there are progressions
of sanctions based on the service glitch committed by our staff.
We hope that we have sufficiently explained the initial action/measures taken by said office to address your concerns with our
"...crew reminded to extend utmost care and sensitivity to passengers inflight..." for the impressions elicited from their actuations.
Likewise, both our Bacolod and Manila stations have been made aware of your travel concerns.
Moreover, with regard to the safety issue of the unoccupied exit row, we referred this to the concerned department - Safety,
Security & Environment, explaining that it is not a safety requirement to have passengers seated on the exit row seats. In fact,
having them vacant will facilitate a faster evacuation should an emergency situation arise. Any assistance from able-bodied passengers
will be appreciated by the airline. On the other hand, it will be a safety violation if these seats are occupied by non-qualified passengers.
We would rather keep them empty as safety comes first, and the rest, including revenue, just follows.
Still and all, we remain committed in achieving a higher level of service, worthy of your continued patronage.
Sincerely,
SARAH
| Customer Relations/MKTG/PAL 11/21/2010 08:30 AM |
|
-----Forwarded by Customer Relations/MKTG/PAL on 11/21/2010 08:29AM -----
To: Wecare@pal.com.ph
From: Ralph
Date: 11/19/2010 12:25PM
Subject: Re: LETTER FROM PHILIPPINE AIRLINES
Sarah,
I appreciate you looking into my concern, but you have provided me with nothing but excuses. You automatically take the word of your employees as undisputable fact. This letter is nothing but BullShit. Mind my use of crass language but i think its well deserved. With the tone of your letter, I feel that you don't care about the customers, and you automatically took a defensive stance by covering up the asses of your mindless employees. I shouldn't have wasted my time raising this to you in the first place, if I only knew you would just automatically take the side of your employees. Honestly, I am fuming in anger right now because of this insincere and bias letter and I wish that this be escalated to someone else above you otherwise, I will do everything in my power to dessuade people from using your company. I would enlist the help of all my blogger friends and would send this to all fat and obese advocacy group such as biggermanila and the likes.
First and foremost, as I have mentioned, they never offered me any options upon checking in and the said CSA at the front desk did suggest for me to try asking the flight attendants if I can be transferred. Why would I lie? I wouldn't waste my time complaining if I knew that they didn't do anything wrong. Another thing, I firmly asked that CSA if they were fully booked, and he promptly said NO.
With regard to the in flight attendants, they didn't make any effort at all. I had to ask them to assist me, lest I would have been standing on the aisle for the entire duration of the flight with my baggage at hand. With regard to the seat assignment, I was assigned to 22A, and seats 22B and 22C were already occupied when the lady suggested me to transfer They should get their acts together coz they are blatantly lying in my face just so that they can get away with this. You can call the passengers assigned to 22B and 22C coz they can testify themselves of the hassle brought about by me exchanging my seats with them. They were there seated before me. If you read my complaint thoroughly, I did advice you that I waited for everyone to be seated before I asked for their help just so that I can get their full attention. Meaning, the cabin doors were already closed when the exchange of seats happened. Call the passengers if you will and see that what I am telling you is the truth.
As you've mentioned yourself,
"with due courtesy, that under the CESS Program, our crew do not have authority to accommodate seat transfer requests onboard to avoid any misimpressions of partial treatment among our passengers."
With that said, for that lady to just transfer me to a different seat without any consideration to the other passenger is a complete violation of this fucking policy!
As far as the seat belt extension is concerned, I would have gladly took it upon myself to request for that, only if I wasn't in a very uncomfortable position and only If I wasn't so pissed off with my experience. In addition I deliberately waited for someone to call my attention regarding the seat belt thing to see if indeed your flight attendants are keen and wouldn't ignore such things that would cause a major liability had there been an accident which would cause damage on the passenger due to not wearing the seat belt. Had they checked if I had my seat belts on or not, I would have promptly requested for that, but your crew were in a hurry to leave and be on time. As you have mentioned yourself, you don't want your passengers to be offended, so I would pressume I rather have them check it and me telling them discreetly, than calling their attention and shout that I need an extension for my seat belt which I think would be more humiliating to the customer. In addition, as flight attendants, they should also be trained to not just rush things to be on time, but to protect the passengers welfare. Thus, it is their responsibility to check on the seat belts. If I was a first time passenger and I wasn't aware that there are seat belt extensions, I wouldn't know what recourse to take if this thing happened and there was no one there to assist me.
Another thing, The choice seats were vacant, If there was an accident, no one would have been there with easy access to open the emergency exit doors asap.
With regard to the alcohol incident, who in their right mind, with the knowledge that if they get caught they will get fired, would admit that they drank liquor during their shift? Common sense. I know I can't prove that they did, but I am disgusted with your report about you believing them when they claimed they didn't drink alcohol during the flight without further investigation. This will be the butt of jokes in the forums if I post this.
With regard to the name of the lady supervisor at the manila office, how would I know her name if she didn't even introduce herself to me. I think with simple logic and deduction, On November 1, 2010 at around 7:45-8:30PM, there are only a couple of supervisors in the office. If you want, I can go there again and pinpoint her to you. I think my case is pretty unique and you can ask all the supervisors assigned during that time whether they had me as a customer or not. This is a matter of Integrity. she would have taken it up to herself and admit that she was the one who faxed me then and face the charges against her. She should be responsible enough for her actions.
Furthermore, just a suggestion, I would suggest you change your email to wecare@pal.com.ph to like wesuck or wearetwisted@pal.com.ph as exemplified by your excuses.
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