Ah, here we are again, on another Cebu Pacific rant. This first rant I did on Cebu Pacific nearly three years ago was one of the most visited posts on this blog, EVER. With at least 30,000-40,000 page views registered over the years, it attracted a phenomenal number of reader comments. I actually had to delete nearly 3-4 dozen of the comments over the years because they were so angry, so pained, so explicit that even I couldn’t just leave them up there, true or not, though I suspect much more of the former rather than the latter. Then the following year, I tried to give Cebu Pacific another chance, and ended up writing this post instead, also a very high traffic post garnering a lot of reader interest. Since then, I swore never to take Cebu Pacific until there was a credible improvement in their on-time departure record. But right now, I sit at my computer writing this rant, while the Teen, along with her classmates, are still waiting at the airport for a domestic flight that is supposed to take off by 6pm, nearly 12 hours since she woke up to head to the airport this morning… One of the parents chaperoning the group apparently said “Hay naku, I wish Marketman were here to raise a stink”, to which the Teen apparently replied with something along this line “Ay Tita A, if Dad were here, he would have probably throttled someone into producing a replacement ticket on PAL hours ago.” She has my number, I will grant you that. But I would have been at the destination a long time ago. :)
A quick rundown. Kids scheduled to leave on an 825 am flight. At 330 am, a text was sent that the flight was delayed to 1110 am, and that check-in would be at 9:30 am. The kids head to the airport later than originally planned as a result of the text, arriving at 915 am. They were soon told that the 1110 flight was not only overbooked, they were offering to pay people PHP1,000 to leave the next day instead. If not enough people accepted, they would kick people off the flight, despite confirmed reservations. Or they could try their luck on standby. Because the traveling group was a big one, some folks managed to get confirmed seats on the 1110am, while others were in a sense, forced to accept seats on a 1220 pm flight instead. They were advised on phone enquiries and at the airport that new departure times were confirmed. Then 1110 am came and passed, then another hour, and finally, the 1110 am flight departed at 130+pm, 5 hours behind original schedule. The folks, including the Teen, originally confirmed on the 825 flight, then moved to 1115 and forced onto 1220 pm, were told that their flight had now been delayed to 330pm. Then at 330pm delayed again and now expect to depart by 6pm in the evening. Absurd. Ridiculous. Outrageous.
If the airline were truly service oriented, they would have bloody well known things were out of control early this morning. They could have just asked folks to take an immediate cash refund and try their luck at PAL, at least as an option. They could have been more fortright about likely departure times. I could go on and on. But basically, this only confirms my personal view that Cebu Pacific has simply horrific service, more than just some of the time. And they had the nerve to boast about finally attaining on time departure records late last year in the mid-80’s percentile, only to post now on their webpage their recent performance (last 5 months) which has slipped back into the 60-70th percent on-time departure levels. And I doubt that statistic includes rescheduled flights. I honestly don’t know how they can get away with this. Are Filipino consumers so forgiving, so insensitive to being treated in such a cavalier manner that they just keep patronizing a business with such a ridiculous record of customer service? And I haven’t even started in on delayed refunds, another major bone of contention. I checked the PAL flights this morning to the same destination, and ALL four flights left on time. So it wasn’t a weather issue. Or a visibility issue at the destination airport.
Imagine the thousands of wasted man-hours, the frustration, the money spent on feeding themselves at ridiculous airport prices. This is truly a sad, sad example of a nation of consumers who simply appear content to just take it as it is dished out. And in an earlier iteration of this class trip, a chartered ferry was supposed to be waiting at the destination to take them to a nearby island. Can you imagine if the kids were 8 hours late? And if I had anything to do about it, as a Cebuano, I would ask the airline to remove Cebu from thier name. Because all they are doing is bringing shame to a province that doesn’t deserve the negative association at all. It was so easy to get Cebu lechon on the map, but of the millions of seats Cebu Pacific flies every single year, some 30+% of them are late, and in cases such as today, so incredibly, inexplicably, pathetically late. Suffice it to say we, as a family will never fly them until they have reversed this service record. They may be cheap (PAL is not far off on most destinations), but the aggravation they bring on is simply not worth the measly savings, if any. A big fat BOO and TWO THUMBS DOWN to everyone in the management of Cebu Pacific. As a personal protest, I will also turn down any future offers to do features in related Gokongwei publications such as Yummy (where I have done two things for free in the past), will stop buying every single product that is produced by a Gokongwei majority-owned company including Universal Robina Corporation products (teas, chips, etc.), Sun Cellular and Robinsons Land Corporation. I know this personal protest won’t individually do anything of consequence, it will just make me feel a little bit better. And I know that MANY folks at Gokongwei family owned companies READ this blog on a regular basis, and I hope you understand the anger this type of customer service engenders. It is indeed ironic that the family of a very senior manager at one of the large Gokongwei group companies was with this group today, so they can confirm exactly what transpired at the airport. Good service should always come first. And I hope more and more Filipino consumers choose to vote with their wallets. Only when consumers fight for a fair exchange for their hard earned money will companies with chronically or habitually poor service start to listen and improve their operations, or go out of business. Cebu Pathetic indeed. :(
P.S. It’s six pm and the Teen and others have finally started to board their plane. By the time they leave, the total group of almost 30 people at say an average delay from original flight time of roughly 8-9 hours, will have wasted 240-270 man hours waiting on their sore bums. Imagine what the owner of an airline would do if their own young children were stuck in a pre-school classroom because of a malfunctioning door, electrical meltdown and strangely expanding hardwood frame AND school management waited 240 hours to get them out? Or even just 10 measly hours to get them out — telling them all kinds of half-truths, excuses, failed estimates, etc.? Oh, and only giving the children one piece of Jollibee chicken and rice with no gravy to keep hunger at bay? What kind of RANT would THEY write to the school administration then? It’s not as farfetched a hypothetical example as you might think.
86 Responses
How I hate Cebu Pacific…let me count the ways..
…wait I lost count already.
Ang puso niyo po, ang puso niyo po…
Not only 2 thumbs down, but all fingers down!! Or better yet, all middle fingers up!!!
This rant just gives me another reason not to fly Cxxx Pathetic Airlines. Being also a cebuano, I am in favor of them dropping the Cebu in their name. Hmmmmm, maybe we should talk to our mayor about this when he gets back next month.
I’ve only flown Cebu Pacific once, and only because it was the cheapest flight I could get. While a low price should not be an excuse for crappy service, you do get what you pay for.
it is outrageous that people pay good money only to waste their time and endure terrible customer service in return. i know airline delays are not exclusive to CP, but they are more the exception, not standard…
chinachix, I checked U.S. Dept of Transportation figures for delays, and last year, the best airline was Hawaiian Air at 93% on time arrivals, with the AVERAGE for all large US airlines at 83%, including snow/weather/etc. delays. And that is in a country with far more airports, jets, complexity,etc. I would personally expect that domestic performance in the Philippines should be roughly 85-90% on average including typhoons, rains, etc., which I suspect PAL just about makes in the past few years. We have far fewer airports, jets, flights, etc. But to have Cebu Pacific doing 62-72% (last 4 months, by their own reporting) when they control more than half the domestic passenger traffic, you really have to wonder… And let me reiterate, I am not a FAN of PAL, I just find they are noticeably more on-time over the past several years.
Franky, imagine the hundreds of passengers at the airport… I am at home relaxed and typing… they have been waiting nearly half a day!
Wow, MM, if you have a rant service-oriented blog, you’d have a lot of people pitching in their own experiences on shoddy service and the service-oriented companies on their tippy-toes later on!
I believe the reason why Pacific Airlines have such a poor record is PURE AND SIMPLE GREED. They don’t have enough planes for the number of scheduled flights they offer.
This kind of story just scares me! I am worried now about flying Cebu Pacific when I return to the Philippines, and also worry about recommending it to non-Filipino friends who visit. Repetitive incidents of waiting the entire day at the airport make me wonder if our short holidays will be wasted mostly by sitting around waiting for a flight. I remember when Cebu Pacific was the reliable, on-time and great-value airline. No more, I suppose.
I understand and respect your rant MM, but I’ve never had any bad experience with CebuPac that’s why I continue to fly with them. Perhaps I was just lucky or things were going well on the days I flew with them; I hope never to experience what The Teen did today. Kawawa naman ang mga bata, :-(. But I do hope the rest of her trip will be more enjoyable.
Rhea, with a roughly 65-70% roughly average on time performance, there are many 6.5/10 flights that have left on time. So it isn’t surprising that there are quite a few folks out there who haven’t experienced delays like this. But let’s say you fly 30-40 flights a year, as I do, the 10-15 flights that statistically could be delayed for several hours would get really annoying. And is an improvement from say 70% to 90% a big deal? Yes, it is a really big deal for a service company of this sort. Personally, on all the CP flights we have taken in the past, I think our experience is closer to say 50% on-time performance, which is quite appalling for an airline. That includes many employee flights we had booked as well.
I had to chime in and thank you for the previous rants about Cebu Pacific. After reading the post, I didn’t use them for my trip to Palawan last summer, but ran into an awful lot of angry passengers who DID, who were appalled at the delays and poor customer service.
bernadette, it’s actually quite draining to write these types of posts, and I only do them from personal experience and usually with sufficient facts to back up the post, so a blog dedicated to these kinds of issues would be a really tough one to maintain and keep control of. If you return to the older posts I wrote and read the comments, there is a LOT of vitriol out there and to keep things in perspective, as with rhea, there are still many who feel they got the 70% of the equation which they deemed to be good value.
Rebecca, in a perfect consumer/vendor/service provider world… objective write-ups about service should yield dramatic changes in consumer behavior so much so that companies would adjust the way they do business. In the Philippines, there is so little consumer advocacy that the balance is, in my opinion, definitely tipped in favor of the companies rather than the customers. If I were at the Department of Trade and Industry or Transportation, I would publish performance metrics for ferries, shipping lines, airlines, trains and provincial bus companies and report key performance metrics like on-time departures/arrivals, safety issues (accidents, incidents, fatalities) average costs per leg of travel, data on consumer complaints, length of refunds, lost baggage, theft, etc. In this day and age of texts, WIFI, laptops and computers, such data shouldn’t be hidden away, or worse, not collected at all. With honest performance metrics, licenses or rights to operate routes COULD ideally be dependent on meeting the needs of the paying public.
what i hate most with airlines is their blatant lack of respect at their customers’ time. when i’m late, i pay…when i need to change my flight, i pay. pero pag sila ang delayed, maghintay ka! Cebu Pacific, PAL–naku, pareho lang sila. di kasi tayo nadadala, and Filipinos seldom complain to the right people.
Just wondering why the authority are not doing anything to ensure that these airlines shape up. Actually if there is someone who can calculate the no. of airlines they have and the no. of flights they open up in their website domestically and international you can probably tell that there is no way they can make it on time since they only use a few plane to go aroung asia and philippines.
Hahaha, Cebu Pathetic indeed.. We still fly Cebu PAcific though, but only in instances when they are way cheaper than PAL. But if there’s a connect flight abroad, I would always book my Mom with PAL (she would come pa from the province) so she wont miss her international flight! Imagine if theyre delayed like that, iiwan ka na ng connecting flight mo! :)
Completely sympathize with you. Same thing happened to my family last summer going to Boracay on CebuPac.
The service one pays for is for the airline to bring you to a specific destination at a specific time. That’s the deal. Bringing you to the destination late (especially if extremely late) is NOT part of the deal. This is not crappy service — it’s failure to perform the service.
And their refund policy is the real icing on the cake too.
I’ve never flown on CebuPac, I always took PAL :)
My offcimates & I went to Coron last Feb, some took CebuPac while me & my friends took PAL Express. CebuPac was delayed by at least an hour going to Coron and and also delayed going back to Manila. PAL Express was on time =D
I have taken CebuPac twice this year and have experienced a delay on one of those flights (both legs). One was around thirty minutes while the other was around an hour delayed. As we were on a not so critically time sensitive trip, it wasn’t so bad passing the time in the airport. On the upside the FA’s were gorgeous so the delay was quickly forgiven and forgotten. Maybe they should use FHM models as FA’s so guys won’t notice these problems anymore, a perfect tie-up for the sister companies. Hehe.
Why doesn’t someone complain to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and bring up your concerns. I’m sure they would perform a thorough inspection and see what is really going on. Whatever they find, Cebu Pacific would either be fined heavily or may even be shut down.
Thanks MM for the reply! I live in a place where tourism plays a vital role in getting its economy going. Transportation is always a crucial issue here. The municipality is always alerted or criticized when there are lapses in services of ferry bancas, tricycles, etc. I often hear of dialogues between them and the operators. Now, what I’m saying may be trite/miniscule—bancas compared to airline services but I think it should boil down to have the LGUs (the Cebu governor, for instance) thresh it out with private companies like Cebu Pathetic este Pacific. After all, it’s the Cebuano taxpayers who are affected.
MM, since I live in the province, I take the plane to Manila on a regular basis, rather frequently. I have long ago dropped Cebu Pacific even if it offers promo fares because the delays and cancellations are not worth the aggravation and time wasted. I have some unused air tickets for delayed flights and it was more convenient to just buy another ticket on PAL.
Hi MM,
I was wondering how did you restrain yourself from going to the airport and have the teen and company take a flight on PAL
I’ve never had the pleasure of flying Cebu Pacific and as an aviation enthusiast I keep myself up to date on aviation news. Whenever Cebu Pacific comes up during conversations with other enthusiasts, words like “delays” and “poor service” always comes up. I hope they improve their service soon! Improved service could translate to better competition which can be very beneficial to customers!
I agree with you…I don’t know why Cebu Pacific has to brag about their On-Time Performance online!!! OTP that’s lower than 90% is not acceptable! PAL has a lot better, or even above the industry standards OTP…i think it’s always higher than 92%…and yet they do not brag about it. So the “Plane Always Late” acronym should be forgotten already because PAL’s OTP has been consistently high. Plus they take care of their customers when there are unwanted flight disruptions….they don’t just leave them behind.
Cebu Pacific may be “marketed” as cheaper than PAL but I think that people should look at the difference in service and products between the 2 airlines. It’s like comparing a Louise Vuitton to a cheap brand. PAL has been trying to reach out to the public, and started offering good promotional fares…….and these are good deals huh! Oh yeah..and don’t be deceived by the marketing strategies and pricing strategies. For those who do not fly so much, you should always check the restrictions of theticket (like rebooking fees, refund fees, free baggage allowance…etc) you are buying…coz you might end up just paying more because you thought it was cheaper…or it was marketed to be cheaper.
I guess in terms of service, trust (that I can reach my destination on time, and that if ever a flight gets delayed or cancelled…that my needs will be taken care of), product, comfort and airline experience…..PAL is the way to go…no doubt about it. And I think that PAL still produces the best pilots in the Philippines and in the region…or can I say the world? PAL’s rigid training produces these world-class pilots that we should be proud of. Oh yeah…PAL is known as a company who gives top priority to safety….and not marketing only! I’d rather fly an airline who will safely take me to my destination – on time! and not just rely on the mega marketing on Cebu Pacific who has just been marketing and marketing but not delivering their promises.
So if price is the problem…..i suggest that you guys check and compare the prices of PAL and Cebu Pacific…and then measure the value that you can get from them. Plus….mas sosyal ata sumakay sa PAL! :-)
I agree that Cebu pacific is such a crappy airline! they do not care about service at all.Since our office was trying to save on airfare costs, they got Cebu pacific instead and it was such a nightmare! Imagine to my horror, our 6pm flight from cebu-manila, delayed to 12 midnight! the delay was because there were not enough passengers to fill in each flight, so what they did was they combined around 3 flights into one flight! only greedy and crappy airlines such as cebu pacific does this sort of thing…
Being the main competitor of PAL a.k.a Plane always late, you would think Cebu Pac can demolish the competition by being on time. Instead they do the opposite…where’s the logic there?
Because of this post, will avoid flying Cebu Pac AT ALL COSTS. Thanks MM!
Had bad experience with their ticketing office and really service overall is BAD. I really hope a competitor will surface to give consumers better options. ZestAir is a rising one but I’ve not tried it.
Comment wasn’t meant to come off as flip or irreverent. Deepest apologies sir. And as for the post, I bow down to the commitment.
Franky, no apologies required. I know exactly what you meant. Other readers, usually doctors, are tempted to send me chill pills when I write rants. But this is a mild one. :) Kit, I could have, but because it was a large trip involving many families, I didn’t want to get in the middle of that. We HAD been booked on PAL but last minute MM and Mrs MM decided to stay in Manila and we had to switch The Teen to join her friends instead. Others (half of the traveling party) were on PAL flights yesterday and they ALL reached the destination as scheduled.
One of the first times EVER that I took Cebu Pacific many years ago, they had a brand new airbus jet with a business class section. I was booked on that flight with a business class ticket and upon arrival in the airport told they had switched equipment to the much older DC9’s because there weren’t enough passengers and only me in the whole business class section. Not keen on old planes and annoyed at having paid a premium fare, I managed to get the Cebu Pacific Manager to stick me in a car that they provided, with one of their staff members carrying a cash refund on the spot, ride with me to PAL, buy me a ticket on the next PAL flight to Cebu on business class, and THEY paid the difference in fare. The person from Cebu Pacific did all the arrangements, and even checked me in at the PAL counter. I think they dropped their business class service within a few months of that. :)
Thanks for sharing MM. :)
Lots of comments about how some rants don’t seem to produce results. The rare times that I do decide that I want to rant, I try to focus on something the person I’m ranting to can actually produce. I have a lot of “evil”strategies in mind, which I suspect MM is a professional at. He he. Someone (maybe you MM, or me or someone) should draft a consumer’s “manual” / “manifesto” on how to get good service/knowing one’s rights/still-maintaining-dignity-and-not -shrieking on various scenarios in the Philippines: Airport, MMDA, restaurant, wireless internet, cab drivers, etc.
I think the simple laminated instructions that I see in cabs abroad are very helpful: As a driver, it is my right to. . .As a passenger, it is my right to, etc.
Pinoys as forgiving consumers? Perhaps! I think it’s a combination of that PLUS that PAL is an alternative, but still higher priced. If the prices were the same and PAL had enough tickets to go around, Cebu-Pac would have been out of business a long time ago.
Longer comment than I anticipated. :)
I will be on a Cebu Pacific flight on Sunday from here to Manila.. Good luck self!
lee, the probability of a 65% on-time departure is on your side. Then again, your association with marketmanila may just give you a 50/50 chance instead… :) Let us know how it goes… I would actually love to hear more from folks who have had nothing but on time departures and happy flying on Cebu Pacific… Fabian, I like that, a consumer manifesto. Just distribute it with a hand grenade or two. :)
Need to pump your blood pressure? Try the following, courtesy of Cebu Pacific:
Delayed flights (6 hours or more)
Refund (1 year or longer)
Lost luggage (gone for good, no compensation, no letter of apology)
Consuelo de bobo: Chicken joy minus plastic utensils and bottled water (sorry, maam, naubus na kasi).
N.B. All of the above based on personal experience. (I must be a masochist!!!)
my sister took cebu pacific flight yesterday (from the province)for an international flight today… guess what her flight was cancelled… and another person who was also taking the same flight had an international flight that same night… imagine the stress they can give to passengers… i hope cebupac will do something about this… service is getting worse each day
I’ve experienced delays with CP in the last three years, on average 45 minutes. I had to take several trips late last year, Mla to HK or Bkk, and chose to take CP because of the promos. My biggest worry was finding out that the move to NAIA 3 had caused pandemonium and even more delays. So I was expecting the worst and was quite surprised at the prompt departures. Based on what other friends told me, we figured that taking the earliest flight in the morning reduced the chances of a delay by 90% (there had been some reports of a few 6 am flights leaving at 6:30 am). I haven’t flown CP since December, and took my recent overseas flight on PAL (a recent marketing ploy by the latter seems to have caused a lot of rants too, the real deal was more like stand in line for hours to pay deal).
It is high time that a “Consumer Report” magazine (quarterly or semi-annually) be released for the benefit of Filipino consumers. Since most of the large publishers are suspect (ties to existing corporations), it’s got to be an independently run machine. A website might be the best medium for something like that, with consumer advocates dealing with the complaints, making enough noise with the companies (like aggravating mosquitoes) so they finally toe up. I’m sure there are enough retired lawyers in the Philippines to do that sort of thing!
Mila, Sept, Oct, Nov last year, CP reported improvements and breaching the 80% mark on on-time departures for one month, and promptly took out splashy ads in November, I think, then performance plunged to the low 60 levels (outrageously bad for an airline) in the next 4 months. I have to agree that PAL’s recent promos have been questionable as well, and poorly managed, with computer systems crashing one day and lines out of their ticket offices up the wazoo. I wish we did have a website as you describe, perhaps tracking the 100 top service companies with high consumer interaction… say airlines, ferries, hotels, telephone companies, department stores, fast food outlets, etc. Then a simple rating system for thousands of consumers to participate in relatively safely and hopefully objectively. And yes, you would need a lot of legal advice to keep this going as big business would not be happy. Government if they were on their toes, should support such initiatives. It’s pretty easy to come up with 5-10 key metrics per industry to compare all of the major players against each other. Sometimes, I suspect even polls on this silly blog with just 1,000 responses from a very small slice of the consuming public are a pretty good barometer for how I should spend my money with respect to service providers… Oh, and add to that website a way for people to report how much they paid for a one-way cebu manila (for example) ticket and with say 500-1000 responses, you could easily illustrate the average price and the deviations for the exact same distance and service. Now that is information the public could really use.
I’m getting scared . . I’ll take my first ever Cebu Pac flight soon to HK. *sigh*
ayen, sorry, didn’t mean to scare anyone, and as I said to lee, you have a 2 in 3 chance of an on-time flight. Please let us know after the trip how it went…
Cebu Pacific has focused on growth and expansion, copying AirAsia, based in KL, Malaysia. What they forgot was that rapid expansion requires a strong, well-trained middle management. So, service suffers and customer complaints pile up. I have been traveling the Philippines and Cebu for 10 years, if you always choose the lowest price, you get the lowest quality.
Sigh..
https://www.cebupacificairlines.ph/share-your-stories/
read the rants here including mine on my 8 month old refund which I got after I sent Mr. Gokongwei a letter. Sent a letter Day 1 got my response from his secretary by day 4.
CEBOOOOO! pacific? or CEBOO ERRATIC! more likely…
I have a theory why these things happen to Cebu Pacific flights. They are trying hard to recover the costs of their new fleet that they are squeezing every minute from it.
We should look at the maintenance schedules of these planes. They are run like EDSA buses, when it reaches its destination, its just filled up with gas, have a crew replacement and turn-around for the return trip.
For the delays, this has happened to me a few times a well, I think when a flight is not filled to half-capacity, they *delay* the flight to the next schedule so they could again save on costs.
They’re trying to save on costs, that food and beverages are overpriced. Its either P50 or P100. P50 for a small C2 and P100 for instant coffee and sandwiches.
booooooo to cebu pacific!!!!!! what i can’t understand is why they overbooked a flight, just delay a flight and let the poor passengers who pay suffer for their incompetence. why can’t they understand that people who book their flights have also schedules of their own and that every delay also means a lot to those people who book their flights. I feel that they don’t care coz’ after a few complaint blogs from MM which should have bothered them and at least have been points for improvement for them, they seem to not just care. In choosing an airline, its not enough that you just choose the one which always offers the lowest price……its should be one who cares and gives importance first and foremost to their clients. Pity those kids who woke up so early, looking forward to their early flight. Little did they know that they would be siiting for hours waiting if their flights would be canceled or not……..the gokongweis should do something about it. Even a lot of people clamor for their zero fares and lowest promos ever, if they continue to dissapoint passengers, they would also come to their end. afterall, its the public who patronize them……
I’ve been a long time lurker and it is my first ever attempt to post a comment. I just wanted to share the story of my friend on how their dog died on board Cebu Pac. This is a very horrible story. Hope you can read the link below:
https://honeymoonwife.blogspot.com/2009/04/our-dog-died-on-cebu-pacific.html
Nothing much to say. You can decide after reading the post if you still want to patronize Cebu Pac.
Thanks MM.
I agree wholeheartedly! Remove “Cebu” from that airline’s name! NOW!
gives me a headache just thinking of cebu pacific and the many, many instances of ZERO customer service.
Stumbled on this article from Pinoy Exchange. I’m not affiliated with PAL, but this is a good read if its true.
Talk about going the extra way for customer service…
Humility in high places
PEOPLE By Joanne Rae M. Ramirez / Philippine Star
Updated March 31, 2009 12:00 AM
Some men never let success go to their heads. Perhaps, that is why they are more successful than others.
On my return flight from Los Angeles to Manila, I was seated in the Mabuhay Class section beside businessman J. Castro of the Kylemed Group of Companies, a pharmaceuticals group. He has offices in both California and Metro Manila, so he shuttles between both places regularly.
California-based, he likes to take Philippine Airlines primarily because of the direct 12-hour flights from Manila to LAX, and back (though there are some flights to Manila that have to make a technical stop in Guam). He also likes arriving in Manila at the crack of dawn, refreshed after a good night’s sleep (the flight leaves LAX at midnight), and ready for a power breakfast meeting in Manila.
But now, he has another good reason for taking PAL.
Last November, he and his wife were traveling to Los Angeles from Manila on PR 102 and were seated on Row 4 of the newly-reconfigured Business Class section of the Boeing 747-400 that was assigned to their route.
After they were settled in their seats and just before take-off, they decided to try out the features of the high-tech seats of the reconfigured Boeing.
Alas, Castro’s seat wouldn’t recline. His wife’s seat also wouldn’t recline!
The flight attendants tried to help out, but it seemed these high-tech seats were not programmed to respond to manual manipulations. They were stuck. The plane was ready to take off and the Castros were faced with the prospect of an uncomfortable flight ahead.
The Castros politely but firmly told the flight purser that they wanted to be reseated.
The purser checked out the seating list but told the couple there were no other available seats that night. The Castros then told the purser that rather than endure a 12-hour flight sitting up straight for the price of a Business Class ticket, they would rather just disembark.
The plane doors were already shut, but the Castros were adamant. I can imagine the purser’s dilemma, because when a passenger disembarks, his luggage has to be offloaded, too, and this could easily cause a delay of one hour. Stuck in an aircraft on the tarmac, the rest of the passengers were going to be more than irate.
The purser had to think fast. He then asked Mrs. Castro if she was willing to take the one empty seat on Row 1, probably one of the best two seats on the house. The seat beside it was occupied.
“No, I want to be seated beside my husband, or we both disembark,†she said, not willing to leave her husband on the immovable Row 4 seat.
The purser was left with one last choice. He then approached the passenger on Seat 1C and respectfully whispered something to him. The passenger on Seat 1C then stood up and walked to the Castros with a very apologetic look on his face.
The purser then told the Castros, “Mr. Lucio Tan will give up his seat for you.â€
* * *
By this time the Castros had recognized the PAL chairman. They were stunned by his gesture, and by the expression on his face, which seemed to be more apologetic than annoyed. But since Mrs. Castro was not feeling well and could not really go 12 hours without reclining, they accepted the offer to exchange seats with the man who owned the airline.
Castro told me that each time he went to the toilet he would steal a glance at Tan, who was seating upright during the entire flight, sometimes with his eyes closed. Sometimes he would be scribbling on lined yellow paper. He didn’t use a laptop.
Sources in PAL say Tan gave up his seat because he didn’t want the flight to be delayed. It is said that he abhors delayed flights.
Thus, instead of inconveniencing all 400 passengers on the flight, he opted to inconvenience himself.
Granted that his decision was also a sound business decision — the airline would have lost money and a lot of goodwill with the delay — what was amazing was that he himself was willing to bear the cost (and I’m not just talking about a stiff neck) of his decision.
Tan is among the five richest men in the Philippines.
And the Castros remain among PAL’s many loyal customers.
Noel, WOW. Even I am impressed if the story is true.
Noel, I wouldn’t be surprise if its true of what Mr. Tan did. My brother-in-law, who is a pilot for PAL, mentioned that when Mr. Tan took over PAL and met with the crew and staff, he had only 2 rules for the employees to follow. Order # 1. The customer is always right.
Order # 2. When in doubt, refer to order # 1.
After he mentioned both rules, he went back to his seat.
5J is still ber than ZEST AIR. I have made two flights with that s****y airline and both where 4 hours delayed!
There is a new Pest in the Air!
Pest Air——–Asia’s most infuriating airline!
my oh my… PAL and Cebu Pac should both improve! haven’t had a bad experience w/ cebu pac yet though, had another bad experience w/ PAL just recently when they had their Real Deal Promo, i spent 2 days on the net to avail, but had no luck… based on your stories it’s time for them to really shake it up!!!
I agree that an inititative by the Department of Trade Transportation or any pertinent gov’t body to provide honest performance metrics on the relevant companies would be a boon to both Filipino consumers and companies.
For the the consumer, we will be aware of which provides better service at the moment and to which we would better entrust our hard earned money.
For the companies, they will know what their performance is relative to their competitors. This will then call forth an increased emphasis in service, which companies like Cebu Pacific lacks in a consistent basis.
hey marketman,
i had the a bad experience with Cebu Pacific couple of weeks ago.. what i did after ranting with their clueless and useless call center was email Lance Gokongwei himself [Lance.Gokongwei@jgsummit.com.ph] and i got my 2 refunds for the 2 flights for BKK that they charged to me and they stupidly cancelled my booking after. I got my refund the next day!
now, its my advocacy to spread around the guys email address to whoever needs it. :)
Hey Apple, I think the email address is lance.gokongwei@jgsummit.com.ph not jcsummit :->
apple, I corrected the email address as the first one said jcsummit which can’t be right. And yes, I would encourage folks to write senior management, particularly about delayed refunds as I think this is troubling many hundreds if not thousands of consumers. I have personally never published this email address before, but since you volunteered it, I will leave it up.
hi MM,
so sorry to hear about the teen’s flightmare… i’ve heard a lot of stories about cebu pac though i myself have no qualms. we took it to HK and we left on time and arrived 10 mins ahead of ETA…
i hope the teen’s return flight is MUCH better!
hi marketman,
an enjoyable read. your thoughts on consumerism issues are so true in many experiences.
have always wondered if there are anything out there that can protect our rights as consumer? Any avenue to lodge any complaints, for consumers to turn to?
as foreigner, such experiences really left us with lowest confidence possible on quality & reliability. i’m sure the feelings are not uncommon in the international community. in fact it is an expectation, informed as part of the 1st briefing before coming to the country, so as not to have any ‘cultural shock’.
Hi MM!
Refund takes forever w/ CP! They took the money from my credit card right away but when I asked for a refund, it took them almost a year! Tsk.
thanks for all these info. i’ve never flown CP but with all these rants, i don’t think i ever will. sabi ko na na nga ba there’s a catch pag ganun ka-mura ang tickets :=)
Took a CP flight to and from Dipolog this week. Going there, we boarded 30 minutes before departure time but was detained in the tarmac for another half an hour because of air traffic. The captain was apologetic for the delay but was quick to absolve the airline of any fault. Flying back to Manila, the plane took off 4 hours later (I missed two important appointments). Not a word of apology or explanation from the captain or his crew. And they had the gall to thank everyone for “choosing to fly CP” as if nothing unusual happened. Don’t these guys understand what ‘customer service’ means?
hey mm, i also had a terrible experience with cebu pacific in 2007 and vowed never to fly with them again. like you, i no longer purchase any of their products (from food to mags).
My experience has been that 0% of Cebu Pacific flights leave on time because every flight I have flown with them was delayed between 2 and 6 hours! After that happened 3 times I decided never to fly them again and I tell anyone i care enough about not to fly them also. The price difference is really not that much when you take all things into consideration.
Sometimes businesses only listen when you talk with your feet! If enough people leave they will get the message or go out of business.
The Teen has returned from her trip to Cagayan de Oro, flight departed and arrived about half an hour late. But still late. At least it wasn’t 10 hours late. :)
I’ve always flown with PAL and we’ve been happy with their quality of service except for the way they handled the “Real Deal” promo. There was too much traffic online and when we were finally able to enter the credit card number, we got an error message — twice!!! We had to call them to check if it went through. Getting through the phone was another headache!! Long story short, we weren’t able to book! We thought we would try Cebu Pacific for the first time. We’ll be going to Vietnam in June. Should we worry and expect to have a delayed flight as well? How is their track record for international flights (red eye ones)? Please advise, anyone. Thanks.
Wow, then I should feel really blessed since I haven’t experienced a single delayed flight from Cebu Pacific-local or overseas bound- yet. But oh yes, their refund system is the worst possible there is and their flights aren’t necessarily always cheaper than PAL. My December flight to Singapore last December was just a few hundred pesos more lang – not bad for a trip with meals and more leg room.
Praises for the Teen for having the patience of a saint waiting for 9 hours without raising hell at the airport. Would’ve done so myself if it happened to me.
This is probably out of the topis but somewhat related. I know a pilot at Cebu Pacific with shady/unscrupulous character. He is a swindler. So why should I fly with an airline with pilots that cannot be trusted?
I tried the email add of gokongwei and it’s not working. my refund is taking FOREVER!! Help!
Nina,
cebu pacific has bad leg room and makes you feel so kawawa—for a few pesos more–get PAL.
Was able to get the Real Deal with so much patience–heard that PAL was not prepared to handle the volume of hits in their web in that promo—
I went to the ticket office to get my ticket–they relented to service walk ins after the web’s failure.
That’s it! I’ve had enough of this trash company!
Last year, May 2008, were off to Iloilo for the National Conference for Youth Ministries. Our flight is delayed for four times which is about 5 hours!!! Is their apologies enough for this kind of delay? You tell me!!! Not even a drink nor food to calm you! Now, when we are off to Manila for last flight, we are already in the check in counter then suddenly this lady announced that the plan cannot accommodate us anymore bcoz the plane is in its max capacity already –> how can that happen??? how come that we are reserved and paid and the plane cannot accommodate us for a flight that we booked??? And this the highlight, the lady tells us that we should go home first and our flight will be the first flight on the next day! The hell??? Where are we supposed to go? We don’t live their in Iloilo! Can you imagine that??? Kinailangan pa namen iinisist na iprovide nla kame ng hotel and transpo for inconvience! Wala sialng kabalak-balak gawin un in the first place! Sila pa napilitan dun!
Last April 24, 2009, Im off to Laoag and again my flight was delayed for 1 hour –> again just apologies! And when Im off to Manila on April 26, again the flight is delayed by 30 mins! Never on time! Laging abala and all they can say is sorry! Stupid sorry!!!
Last May 9, 2009, Me and my PDYM friends are off to Bohol. Our electronic ticket shows that our flight is 615am and that we are supposed to be in the airport 45mins before the flight. We arrive in the airport 540am and the counter said na nasaraduhan na kami. Naiwan kami ng flight namen dahil umalis dw ung plane ng 530am!!! The hell??? Why would they write 615am sa electronic ticket and now tells us that our flight took off by 530am??? We may be late in time of arrival at the airport but hello??? nonetheless, why did the plane took off earlier as sked?? Fuck them! We need to pay huge amount to booked for the next flight para matuloy lng sa Bohol! See the difference?? Pag customer ang late, super dehado! Mi hindi nila mpagbigyan khet discount man lng dhil naiwan ka ng plane na umalis ahead sa sked na alam mo pero pag sila ang delayed all they can say is the stupid SORRY!!!
Now, this is the latest. Im off to Palawan last May 21 and my ticket says that my flight is 430pm. Im fixing my things and its just time for me to take a sleep at around 1am when I receive a text from cebu Pacific telling me that my flight will be delayed and will now be 530pm! The hell? No way! And so I called their customer service and this lady named “Adel” told me that is a scheduled plane maintenance that’s why that the flight is move! Lalo ako nairita! Eh scheduled plane maintenance nman pla eh, eh bket nag schedule ang Cebu Pacific ng flight na tatama sa sinsabing “Scheduled Plane Maintenance”????? And I was telling the employee, “so ganun na lng un? Kapag kayo ang may cause ng delay all you can do is say sorry?? Pero ung mga customer niyo, pag na late ba pwede ba nman sabihin sa check in counter na, sorry Im late, can you just book me to the next flight? without you giving charges???” To make the story short, hindi aq pumayag na malipat sa 530pm na flight. I insist that they should get me flight closer to the time I booked. And so she gave me an option for 315pm flight but then again I cannot confirm right there and there. Syempre hindi ko alam sked for the next day, eh mamya ma late ako sa 315pm eh di pagbabayarin na nman ak0 ng lecheng cebu Pacific na yan! I was suggesting them na bgyan aq ng 2 confirmation: one for 315pm and another for 530pm and i’ll have the freed0m to choose between the 2 flights dahiln tutal inabala nila ako sa disoras ng gabi. Iutb took us 1.5 hours to settle! And so the next day 315pm ang nakuha kong flight na syempre as expected delayed. I left Manila by 430pm!!! ka loka!! At hindi pa to natapos dito, when I took off Palawan on May 24, my flight is supposed to be 1015am but THEN AGAIN, THE EVER LATE CEBU PACIFIC AS EXPECTED NA, MY FLIGHT BECOMES 1230PM!!!
hay! grabe! KAYA KAYO, BEFORE YOU PURCHASE TICKETS FROM THEM, THINK NOT ONLY TWICE BUT A HUNDREDS OF TIME!
Ask yourself, kaya ko bang magsayang ng oras to wait for delayed flight? kaya ko bang tanggapin ang pangit nilang customer service? Kaya ko bang mapagastos ng di oras dahil sa gutom sa kakaantay ng flight ko????
And the funny part on this, every time you took off from their plane, sanay na sanay na ata ung cabin crew i-announce to na parang spiel na talaga nila for their flights “We would like to apologize for the delay on this flight and we hope to make up with you in your future flights” –> Hay! Ka loka! kelan pa sila makakabawi??? They are fucking joking me and they even have the gut to have this as their tag line — “It’s time everyone flies” –> Whatever! time?! Did you say time???!!!
Dear MM,
I went to your blog today to check whether you had some kind of consumer advocacy section because I wanted to see whether I could write about my experience with Cebu Pacific. What a surprise! You and your readers have something to say on this crappy airline. Last weekend, I flew to Palawan on a flight which was delayed 4 hours. Cebu Pac texted me at 2am on my departure date about the delay and told me to call their office. I called at around 9am (at least I have the courtesy to call at a decent hour) and the operator confirmed the delay. Here is a paraphrase of the conversation:
Operator: “Your flight is delayed; are you happy with your new flight sched?”
Me: “No, but what can I do about it?” (I was flying to Palawan to attend a wedding the next day.)
Operator: “We can give you a new flight, ma’am”
Me: “Oh, ok!” (I was thinking I could get a seat on an earlier flight on the same day.)
Operator: “Ma’am, we can offer you the same flight one month BEFORE and one month AFTER your original flight date.”
Me: ???!!!! “That is not a choice!” (Words failed me.)
I can’t remember what I said after but I have a memory of practically screaming. I think I said something like “This call is being recorded, right? Well, I hope your bosses hear what I have to say!” Whereupon, I ranted and raved about the stupidity of it all.
Predictably, my flight home was delayed as well. Even worse, I think the pilot learned to fly in Timezone as that was the most “unstable” flight I had ever been in. I am a frequent flyer, domestically and internationally, and I never get airsick, no matter how bad the turbulence is. On this flight, I was so airsick that I threw up and was sick to the stomach for two days after. I know there was no turbulence (I know what turbulence feels like); only the pilot’s very shaky, unsteady flying caused this miserable experience.
Really, something should protect the Filipino consumer. Most Pinoys just take it but I think that is also caused by our sense of cultural victimhood. It’s time to fight.
MM,
You can submit this on CNN’s Worst Travel Experience =P
Hi MM,
The closest we can get to a user generated consumer report of sorts would be a micro review site such as this. Nevertheless it’s a start.
https://www.pinometro.com/poll/cebu-pacific
Good Day!
FYI. it’s not the company’s fault. the reason why most flights get delayed is the single runway found at an airport. imagine hundreds of airplanes come in to our country and all of them have to share one runway. all pilots and cabin crews come in 2 hrs and airplanes are 1 hr ready for every flight so this means we dont get delayed flight because they move slow. luckily airports in clark have two runways now. every take off and landing are consistent.
hello, that is one of the DUMBER comments I have received. Of course it is the company’s fault. If PAL can have a much better on-time departure schedule, as does Singapore airlines or Cathay Pacific, then it isn’t true that ALL airlines using the same runway are as incompetent. Duh. While it is true Manila is congested, the flights are scheduled months in advance, with reasonable leeway for departures and arrivals. Inclement weather can and does occasionally screw things up, but it is NOT the runways fault, it is the COMAPNY’S inability to handle the variables such as planes, passengers, turnaround times, servicing, etc. that causes their problems. Dumb, just dumb.
well, marketman im sure you are paid by PAL by writing this “rant”. PAl has it own runway that is why they can handle their flights. PALexpress and AirPhil are sharing the 1 runway in terminal 3 that aggravates the delay of Cebu Pacific. They have their own runway at Centennial right?
And you’ve flown how many times with CP already? At hindi ka pa rin nadadala? It’s your fault man.. You are ranting at your own self.. I pity you for that tsk! tsk! tsk! It’s obvious Pal has fewer flights compared to CP so their OTP is not that bad. You know why? Cause their super old aircrafts can’t keep up with the competition. And they fly less passengers.. so naisip nila “sayang ng fuel..” haha! I’ve read a lot of ranting blogs about CP but their passengers increase everyday.. Kudos! I dont think you are a loss to the company man.. So what poor customer service? you can use cash naman instead of credit card. Important buhay ka makakarating sa destination mo. So what delayed? Lahat na airlines ganun. Blame Palexpress and Airphil for using the runway. :P
Yes you are all right,whenever they are late an hour or more,all they have to say is “sorry for d delay”.I always take CebuP in going back n forth to Davao,same with my kids,family n friends.Thanks for giving us the email add of Gokongwei.I have a very bad experience with them last June 26,2009.My daughter n I have a flight going to Davao at 5:15pm but due to heavy traffic that day,we came 45min before take off.When we were at d tket counter,this freaking employee at d tket counter told me that counter was already closed so we have to rebook for d next flight which i guess,was 7pm.I told d freaking lady,the plane was still here n im willing to leave my baggage to my daughter who was still waiting outside n all i have to bring is my hand carry.She told me that,if ill let u in,the guy who came ahead of you who also had hand carry will get mad if he will knew that i let u in.My fault i didnt rant n forgot to speak to their manager.I was really so upset that night,because of the long line at the rebooking counter then afterwards they will tell me that the nxt flight was fully booked n they cant accomodate me n my daughter.The sad part was,i have no choice but to get the early morning flight which was 4:10 am and the worst part of the story was i have to pay an amount almost 5thousand for the 2 of us because of that ticketing counter and that freaking lady.It was so easy for them,to tell us to rebook for the next flight.Every time we go back to Mla form Davao,there was no incident that they leave on time,”they are always late”,and for a passenger like me ,who was not even late that day ,was really disappointed on what they did.To hell,going home that night n be back early morning(2am)just to catch that 4:10am flight n to pay that said amount(4,800++)
hi guys!
i’m just like all of you, someone not spared from the inefficient and unprofessional service of cebu pacific.
apart from the numerous delays i’ve had in more than half of the flights i took with cebu pacific, the last incident which really made me snap involves my palawan flight for december (which i booked and paid for as early as may). just this morning, i received a message via text informing me that my flight for december 2, 2009 at 2:55 p.m. from busuanga to manila will be moved to 11:05 a.m. of the same date. while a difference of 4 hours may be nothing to most people, it is really a big thing for me. i am a diver and i have already made dive arrangements for 1 december. if i will have to fly at 11 am on 2 december, i have to be done diving before lunch on 1 december. it’s a must that divers allow a certain number of hours to pass by before getting on a plane after diving.
So after getting that message, i went to their website and checked out their policy on flight sched changing. this is what’s stated:
9.2 Cancellations and Change of Schedule
At any time after a booking has been made we may change our schedules and/ or cancel, terminate, divert, postpone, reschedule or delay any flight where we reasonably consider this to be justified by circumstances beyond our control or for reasons of safety or security.
Wanting to know what the reason is behind the sudden change in schedule, i called up cebu pacific (7020888). a certain “reema” accepted the call. after telling her what my problem is, she said that keeping the original schedule, as per my request, is impossible because THE AIRCRAFT FOR THE SAID SCHEDULE IS ALLEGEDLY (OR WILL BE) UNDER MAINTENANCE.
HAD REEMA GIVEN ME A MORE PLAUSIBLE EXCUSE, I WOULD NOT HAVE BLOWN MY TOP OFF. WHAT SHE DID NOT KNOW WAS THAT I CHECKED THE AVAILABLE FLIGHTS FROM BUSUANGA TO MANILA ON THE WEEKENDS BEFORE AND AFTER MY SCHEDULE AND ON SAID DATES, THE AVAILABLE FLIGHTS WERE TWO. ONE IN THE MORNING (11:05 am, just like the schedule she was giving me), AND ANOTHER IN THE AFTERNOON (at 2:55 pm, the time i had reserved). AFTER ASKING HER HOW IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE AIRCRAFT SHE CLAIMS WOULD BE UNDER MAINTENANCE ON 2 DECEMBER (A WEDNESDAY)WOULD BE FLYING ON NOV. 28, 29, 30, AND DEC. 4, SHE GAVE ME ANOTHER NUMBER (8539872) TO CALL. WHEN I CALLED THAT NUMBER, I WAS GIVEN ANOTHER NUMBER(2905271-72), WHICH, UNTIL NOW, IS “TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE.”
IT DOES NOT HAVE TO TAKE AN EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT MAN TO DECIPHER THAT THE REASON WHY THE AFTERNOON FLIGHT IS BEING CANCELLED IS BECAUSE NOT TOO MANY PEOPLE BOUGHT IT. IN OTHER WORDS, THE AFTERNOON FLIGHT WILL BE MERGED WITH THE MORNING FLIGHT SO THEY CAN SAVE ON FUEL, NEVER MIND THE HASSLE AND INCONVENIENCE IT WILL CAUSE ME.
MY POINT IS, WHY OFFER IT IN THE FIRST PLACE????? WHAT RIGHT HAVE YOU TO JUST NOT DO GOOD ON A PERFECLY VALID CONTRACT YOU ENTERED INTO WITH PAYING PASSENGERS? IS IT BECAUSE WE BOUGHT THE TICKETS ON SALE???? WE MAY HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF A GOOD DEAL WHEN WE BOUGHT THOSE SALE TICKETS, PERO HINDI KAMI MGA PATAY-GUTOM NA PWEDE NYONG LOKO-LOKOHIN DAHIL SA MURA LANG ANG IBINAYAD NAMIN.
I HAVE YET TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO RESOLVE THIS DILEMMA. I WILL NOT AGREE TO FLYING THAT EARLY (11:05) AND LET CEBU PACIFIC RUIN MY VACATION. I WILL LIKEWISE NOT AGREE TO A REFUND BECAUSE THE MONEY THEY WILL GIVE ME BACK WILL NOT BE ENOUGH FOR A NEW TICKET WITH PAL. I WILL DEMAND THAT THEY PURCHASE ME A PAL TICKET WHICH HAS AN AFTERNOON FLIGHT. MABUTI NA LANG, I’M FLYING VIA PAL FROM MANILA TO BUSUANGA!
cc:
MR. GOKONGWEI (VIA EMAIL)
just now i called cebu pacific to tell them that i will be adding another 5 people to our already booked flight, i told them that i cant seem to book them online on the same date we are leaving, only to be informed that the flight that were supposed to be in is CANCELLED! i was like WHAT?! how come im not informed about this? and their reply was MAM kasi po 3 weeks pa naman po yung flight di pa po yun yung final…. so kelan pala nila plan email yung may mga confirmed flight on the date itself?! and they even said that if we get on the next flight there wont be any rebooking charges! definitely di ba dapat kami pa nga macompensate rebooking…i told them right there and there to just cancel it altogether now ang worry ko naman is yung refund procedure nila… still workign on it..good thing i called them so i can call pal and see if they have a good deal rather than booking on the date itself…
before anything else, please read my comment dated 6 September 2009. it is necessary for you to understand where all this anger and irritation are coming from.
anyway, as luck would have it, i had another dose of cebu pacific’s rotten service. last september 11, i, together with my mother and friends, flew to boracay. our flight was supposed to be at 7:20 am. so i woke my elderly mother up at 4:00 to give her ample time to prepare. we reached the airport at 5:45. upon checking in, we were informed to wait for further announcements as there was news that our flight will be delayed. with my frail mother by my side, i tried to contain all my angst and opted to just shut my mouth up.
alas, around 7am, the news was official. our flight was moved to 9:30.
that boracay trip was my gift to my mom. it’s just so frustrating that everything started so wrong. imagine me having to wake an elderly at 4 am just to make her wait for 3.5 hours for a DOMESTIC FLIGHT??!!??
cebu pacific, what do people need to do and say to make you take action? HURTFUL WORDS DON’T EVEN GET TO YOU ANYMORE. the investments you made on your new planes are all WORTHLESS as your service is terrible. you hear me? TERRIBLE!?!? you might as well get out of the airline business because you are just a waste of airport space. you shame the whole country to foreign tourists. you are no different from public utility buses/jeepneys who will only speed off if their vehicles are already full. you RARELY fly on schedule. next time, you might as well provide us with your final schedule first so we can work around it.
just in case you’re wondering why i still fly via cebu pacific, i made the mistake of buying several sale tickets online months ago.
i don’t normally resort to ranting. when something dissatisfies me, i want it addressed. i am writing here because i have no other relief. i already emailed mr. gokongwei, even mr. henry gaw of the customer service department. no response until now. what even angers me more is that NONE of the FIVE telephone numbers of the customer service department given to me works. isn’t that odd?
talong, Philippines says:
well, marketman im sure you are paid by PAL by writing this “rantâ€. PAl has it own runway that is why they can handle their flights. PALexpress and AirPhil are sharing the 1 runway in terminal 3 that aggravates the delay of Cebu Pacific. They have their own runway at Centennial right?
And you’ve flown how many times with CP already? At hindi ka pa rin nadadala? It’s your fault man.. You are ranting at your own self.. I pity you for that tsk! tsk! tsk! It’s obvious Pal has fewer flights compared to CP so their OTP is not that bad. You know why? Cause their super old aircrafts can’t keep up with the competition. And they fly less passengers.. so naisip nila “sayang ng fuel..†haha! I’ve read a lot of ranting blogs about CP but their passengers increase everyday.. Kudos! I dont think you are a loss to the company man.. So what poor customer service? you can use cash naman instead of credit card. Important buhay ka makakarating sa destination mo. So what delayed? Lahat na airlines ganun. Blame Palexpress and Airphil for using the runway. :P
+++++ EXCUSE ME TALONG!!!! THE PHILIPPINES HAS ONLY 2 RUNWAYs FOR ALL AIRPORTS HERE IN MANILA!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT INCLUDES EVEN NAIA1!!!!!!!! SO IF YOU THINK THAT PAL HAS ITS OWN RUNWAY AND YOU WANT TO BLAME PALEXPRESS AND AIRPHIL FOR CEBUPAC’S DELAYS, DUDE, YOU’RE SO STUPID!!! KNOW THE CORRECT DATA MUNA BEFORE POINTING FINGERS AT OTHERS!!!!
READ THIS FRM WIKIPEDIA: NAIA has a primary runway (3,737 m) running at 061°/241° (designated as Runway 06/24) and a secondary runway (2,258 m) running at 136°/316° (designated as Runway 13/31….
THINK FIRST BEFORE YOU SPEAK!!!!
Cebu Pacific lost my baggage in favor of somebody else. They are not answering my calls nor giving me any feedback so I am building this site to let them know that big companies cannot just bully small people like us… at least not without a fight.
I will be posting my own “rant” against Cebu Pacific about the awful experience my American guest and I had flying from Manila to Cebu and being charged P4,000 for excess baggage, despite the fact that we had international flight connections. Check my blog for this “rant” around mid-February 2011, https://cbrainard.blogspot.com.
On January 5, 2011, I and 6 of my companions including my two-year old daughter were able to book a flight (5J 349) on February 12, 2011 scheduled at 5:40pm from Manila to Kalibo. Even without a sleep since we still have work as CSR the night before, we made it to the airport (Terminal 3) 3:00pm of February 12, 2011. We immediately looked at the huge monitor in front of the check-in counter and tried to find flight 5J 349. The monitor said that the flight is open for check in but there’s no counter number. We asked one of the guards; unfortunately we didn’t get his name, and told us that it will have a counter number soon. Since it’s too early, we stroll around the airport but keep watching the monitor for the counter number to appear.
After a long wait, we again looked at the monitor but still there’s no counter number. The flight prior to ours said that it’s been closed. With a panic, we immediately approached one of the guards at the check-in counter and asked him of our flight. It is around 4:50pm which is 50 minutes from our scheduled departure. He took our tickets with one of the passenger we don’t know and gave it to the counter clerk (if that’s how you call them). The clerk named Archie as we heard, showed the tickets to the lady behind the counter and said that’s its okay and asked us to fall in line. We excitedly fall in line and patiently waited since it will be my husband and daughter’s first time in an airplane. After a few minutes, the guard again called the passenger of Kalibo and asked us to go straight to the counter. We were very surprised when we were told that the flight has been closed and we will not make it to the plane. We immediately told the clerk Lovely Martinez and her co-clerk what happened and that it’s not our fault. With a poker face, she again just told us that the flight has been closed and that’s it. It seems that she just wanted us to go home. The clerks were unprofessional and rude. She told us that the final call was announced which we honestly didn’t hear and we believe that there’s none since we heard almost all of the callings. The clerk with Lovely then just leaves while we’re still talking. How rude!! We asked for the manager and Lovely said that there’s no manager and that they’re the only person we can talk to. The clerks did not offer anything to fix our problem and just keep on repeating themselves that the flight has been closed. They just delayed us more. I asked them what we can do and that’s when they told us to re-book or buy new tickets. What?!!! Buy new tickets? What if the passenger only have limited budget? Our entire vacation was ruined! Our situation is very embarrassing! Almost all the people near us are looking at us. We were so frustrated and upset with what happened which again we don’t think is our mistake. I really pity my child since she’s so tired and sleepy.
While trying to figure out what to do, one of the workers in your airline approached us and told us a “modus operandi†in your airline. He told us that your employees were entertaining chance passengers with under the table payment of at least P1500 plus they will still buy ticket. We’re in shock when we heard it and feel that we’ve been a VICTIM. Then, we ate at one of the food stalls and also told them what happened to us. And you know what? They just told us that it almost happen every day. It seems that left passengers is a usual scenario in Cebu Pacific. I’m pretty sure you’re receiving lots of complaint about this. Sadly you’re not doing anything to stop this.
I hate Cebu Pacific!!!