Greedy Airline

Last January 22, 2012, my family and I were scheduled to take the 5pm flight from Cebu to Bacolod. The ticketing staff informed us that the plane to be used would be a propeller type (not a jet) and that they had to check the weight to balance out the plane. They weighed our luggage, our 3 hand carried bags and even ourselves and they then said that we were ok.

Just before the final x-ray to the boarding area, we were stopped by CebuPac personnel and were told that one of our handcarried bags was too big and that we had to check it in. So, despite the hassle, we cheerfully went back to the check in counter where we were told that we had to pay extra if we checked in the bag. We told them it was not our fault because the size of our handcarried bags were in conformity with the standard sizes allowed and that the weight of all our bags were also within the limits allowed. (To be more specific, the bag in question weighed 5 kgs only).

The female supervisor (name unknown but I’m sure CebuPac can figure it out) kept insisting that our bag was too big and could not fit the overhead cabin space. One of CebuPac’s staff got the bag and tried to fit it into the “bag size tester” which was located right at the check in counter area. Lo and behold! The bag fit perfectly! When we pointed this out, the female supervisor just kept insisting that it was still too big because the plane was the propeller type and the space was smaller. I told her that since it is not our fault that they decided to change the plane, and since we followed all their limitations and rules, they should just either allow us to handcarry it (and it would have fit under the seats), or they could intercept it, or they could simply just check it in at no charge to us since it was all their fault. I told her that it’s obvious that we followed all the rules and that the problem is with Cebu Pacific.

To make a long story short, we finally checked the bag in with one of our companions who barely had any luggage with them. During all this time, the supervisor kept on insisting that rules must be followed and telling all staff at the check in counter to double check our companions’ tickets to check if we could be allowed to pool our luggages. I told her to go away since I solved the problem myself. She took the time to tell her staff to double check everything before she left. Good riddance, I say.

Now, this was such a simple matter and any of the suggestions I gave above would have solved the problem ( The plane was not even full). What started as an enjoyable vacation got ruined by this female supervisor who obviously had all the staff cowed and who would not listen to reason. It’s really simple. We were not at fault, it was CebuPac’s negligence (and plane change) and therefore, CebuPac should solve it. Is CebuPac really that desperate to earn a few hundred pesos?

My family have been regular Cebu Pacific fliers and despite several misgivings, we have continued to patronize CebuPac. But this seems to be the last straw. Let me point out some things:

1. Cebu Pac claims to make flights affordable for every Juan. It’s really unfortunate that most people are not named Juan. If you happen to be a Carlos, or Jose or Miguel, rest assured that Cebu Pac will try to put Juan over you. The succeeding numbers will tell you how and why.
2. Cebu Pac wants us to think that savings are passed on to the customers. I’m afraid not! Using a Turboprop (propeller) plane saves CebuPac lots of fuel (and I mean LOTS!!) But when it inconveniences passengers who are forced to check in their otherwise valid sized handcarried bags, CebuPac will refuse to check it in for free. Oh no! Those extra hundreds of Pesos you need to pay is just what CebuPac wants to happen. Want more?
3. If your luggage is 1-2 kgs overweight, even if you’re travelling as a group and your handcarried bags weigh a lot less than 7kgs, CebuPac will insist on charging you for those extra kgs. It’s either pay or transfer some of your items to your handcarried bags (which I do). It’s not as if they’ll be carrying extra weight, they just want to try and make a couple extra more Pesos. Try PAL, and you’ll see that they’re a little bit more flexible.
4. CebuPac tries to save on a lot of things: smaller legroom (PAL definitely has more legroom), no use of airport tubes (saves on payments to airports? I guess busses are a lot cheaper but really a bother especially if you’re travelling with kids), no snacks, etc. How come PAL does all these things and I pay practically the same amount (sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less) that I pay CebuPac. Makes me feel stupid for patronizing CebuPac when PAL always gives a little bit more.
5. I’ve noticed that when booking online, CebuPac has a lot of add-ons to the price. You think you’re going to pay P1, 000 for a flight…. Click…and your final charge becomes a lot more. And be careful when booking international flights because the maximum weight allowance for your baggage is usually pre-checked. That means, you’ll be paying for 20 or 30 kgs even if you just plan to bring up to15 kgs. Hmmm…maybe I should write congress about this. They can follow the new US airfare advertising regulations that started this Jan. 26, 2012 )which requires airlines and advertisers to post the final price) and put it into law.
6. And I’m not even going into how many times CebuPac flights have been delayed…. Maybe, if I changed my name to Juan, I might get better service.

So now, since I have no intention of changing my name to Juan, I’ll be emailing this message to CebuPacific. Let’s see if Cebu Pacific responds to this message. If I get no reply, oh well, I expected that. They lose my family’s business and anyone else I can get to listen.

Aljo Arceo

PS. It’s been about 3 weeks since I sent CebuPac this complaint and as expected, I got no reply from CebuPac (except for the system generated message that told me they’d get back to me in 1 week).