This has happened twice already this month alone.
We have had 2 sets of clients whose return flights, prior to their departure date, have been arbitrarily canceled, forcing those clients to rebook to an earlier or later flight that they did not prefer.
The first case was a client who went to Palawan and was supposed to return to Manila on March 3. On February 10 Cebu Pacific notified us that they canceled their afternoon flight for that day and tried to compel our client to cut their vacation short take the morning flight instead. Our client opted to move their flight to Tuesday, March 4.
The second case happened just a while ago; Cebu Pacific canceled their 5:15 pm flight out of Caticlan back to Manila on March 10. They’re “encouraging” our client to take an earlier morning flight out of Kalibo instead, also cutting their vacation short by half a day and adding a 2 hour bus ride from Caticlan to Kalibo to their worries to boot.
What is weird is that suddenly there is an almost-fully-booked 4:30 pm flight out of Caticlan back to Manila with one slot left — which our client can’t take because there are three of them. Where that 4:30 pm flight came from — with full bookings to boot — is a mystery to us. If it was the 5:15 flight moved earlier, our client should have been given first priority to move into that flight. Something sounds really, really fishy here.
What gives Cebu Pacific? Are your planes regularly experiencing Monday blues? Or is your management compelling your reservations team to conjure passengers on unpopular, near-empty morning flights?
I just hope you stop pissing off our clients, pretty please, or we’ll have to convince all our future clients that you’re crap and fly Philippine Airlines instead because the headaches you cause us are so not worth it.
27 responses so far ↓
1 Sidney // Mar 13, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Till now I am very happy with Cebu Pacific and they are interesting travel rates.
2 benjamin mark // Mar 16, 2008 at 7:59 am
I’ve also gotten very frustrated with Cebu Pacific.
One time, my flight back to Singapore from Davao was moved to an earlier time (4 hours earlier), but Cebu Pacific did not call me. They did send an email 2 or 3 days earlier, but I’m on vacation in a place away from the city, with no access to the internet. Good thing, the ground staff is able to book me a flight to Manila and then, Manila to Singapore. But so sorry about the person that I bumped out of the flight. I felt even more sorry for the domestic worker that went with me to Manila. There’s one travel document that she didn’t have (Exit Pass) so she’s not allowed to board the Manila-Singapore flight. The thing is, she was flown from Davao to Singapore. How will she get back home and get the neccesary document? If the Davao-SIngapore flight had pushed thru, she would have been left in Davao, safe and comfortable at home.
Then, there’s the case of overbookings (or should the term be oversold flights). Even if they would fly you on the next day, and add in a pair of travel vouchers, it still gets frustrating and stressful. Especially, if you have appointments in your place of destination. And when you try to make use of the travel voucher, you’ll find that it is very difficult to make a successful call to the cebu pacific booking hotline.
Perhaps, selling more tickets than the plane have is an ordinary business practice among airlines. Perhaps, it is so that the plane can accommodate the full number of passengers even if a few chose to rebook their flights. But I’d say the practice of other international budget airlines as regards guaranteed seating should be the standard. I’d rather have my ticket forfeited if I am late for my flight, than be told on the airport to take the next day’s flight because the current flight is oversold.
3 bonita // Apr 2, 2008 at 5:55 am
This is not related to changes in bookings. My luggage was ruined…destroyed,,,torn…. when i arrived in manila. I had to check-in my luggage since it was big for handcarry luggage. I had to complain,i can’t let it go. The Cebu Pacific Customer Service person told me to fill out their complaint sheet and somebody from their corporate office will contact me. after 2 years, i haven’t received any call. Talk about customer service. Do not be blinded by cheap fares, look at the service they have to offer.
4 Jon Limjap // Apr 2, 2008 at 7:03 am
bonita,
That’s something people have to keep in mind of course — you get what you pay for.
Fortunately for me I haven’t experienced anything really bad yet with their baggage handling, but peeking out of airport terminals reveal how haphazardly baggage handlers do their thing. So no checking in of sensitive stuff for me.
I wonder, what was it that you had to check in?
5 rose navarro // Apr 2, 2008 at 9:42 pm
bonita,
with cebu pacific, baggage handling is not a problem. EXCEPT, delayed flights. On my trip to Davao 5 months ago, the flight was delayed and I stayed at the airport for 2 hrs more and the same thing happened again in my Cebu-Mla flight. hay, naku!
6 phen // Apr 10, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Hi there, I just want to share my experience too with this airline.
I used to fly Cebu Pacific for my personal trips, the reason being cheap. However with what happened to me last April 4, 2008 for my Davao-Cebu flight, I will never be on this carriage again. I was supposed to fly to Cebu at 6.30 am, I was there at Davao airport 5am. Upon checking in, I was told that I couldn’t take the flight because my ticket wasn’t confirmed! I purchased it online with confirmed status clearly indicated in my print-out. The not-so-customer-oriented staff pointed out that the status for payment was pending, which was written at the bottom part of the ticket. Who on earth would think that you were not able to pay when you got a confirmation?! And worst, nobody from Cebu Pacific thought of calling me to let me know. I was denied right on the spot, and when I asked for their assistance to at least get me in, the lady in the check in counter just instructed me to go to the ticketing office.
Here comes the worst part, no one from the ticketing office had the consideration to prioritize me or give me a confirmed reservation for the next flight at the least. The ticketing staff, Mr. Jonathan Leonor, just told me to wait so that they could check. I was waiting already for an hour, and got the same response when I asked for a reservation. He had even the gut to go out for a cigarette break, what kind of staff are these?
I decided to pull out my ticket and shifted to AirPhil, where I got a confirmed reservation that very minute. I could not help comparing how lousy Cebu Pacific are as against with AirPhil people. They should go back to the training room and learn the basics of customer service. I can’t imagine how could they treat customers this way.
Passengers out there, please think thousand times before flynig Cebu Pacific. Go to PAL or AirPhil instead. They do have affordable tickets especially for early bookings. I wouldn’t want anybody else to experience the same fate I had when all I want was assurance that I could reach my destination.
7 Jon Limjap // Apr 10, 2008 at 9:18 pm
phen,
That monumentally idiotic way of ticketing has happened ever since they’ve switched to their new system.
I think it’s prudent to stay clear of Cebu Pacific until they’re able to clear the usability issues with their site.
8 sean gorospe // Apr 17, 2008 at 10:46 pm
all fleets of Cebu Pacific are Airbus A319 (150 seaters) and A320 (179 seaters), all brand new and with very comfortable leather seats. always on time pa sila. minsan nga lang may aberya out of their control OK lang naman for safety purposes they have to cancel my flight due to weather condition last December. We were all accommodated the next day. understandable naman they cannot compensate us kasi it is really a force majeure. This year lang they cancelled our flight due to aircraft technical problem. Fine lang din kesa naman to risk the safety of the passengers. They even provided us free ticket and 1 night hotel accommodation. Obviously the airline do not want it to happen kita nyo naman sa laki ng ginastos nila sa free tickets na pinamimigay at hotel accommodation namin. Some passengers opted to go home nalang and they were given 500 per person for transportation. Fair emough naman talaga. Come to think budget airline sila but the service is not cheap. They just really want their passengers to fly with them again even if their gesture costs that much. Eto pa, some passengers ay nagwawala pa sa airport gumagawa ng eksena, despite of the reasons like weather or aircraft problems. They do not seem to understand that the airline is not even happy kasi nga nagpapaluwal sila ng pera. Yung iba din kasi sorry for the word, gusto lang umistar. I would still fly Cebu Pacific again for all my future domestic and international travel. Cheap fares, good service and safe aircraft. Ay i forgot something tried lining up sa ticket offices nila super puno sa sobrang haba ng line nasa labas na ang mga tao. PAL and Air Phils at yung iba walang laman. Kahit mahaba ang line tiis nalang sa hirap ba namn ng buhay. We always have to bear in mind to always get the value for money di ba mga tsong? Cheap din naman ang AirPhils pero 25 to 30 yrs old na ang equipments nila nakakatakot naman at limited ang flights wala masyadong choices in terms of flight schedules. PAL is not an option to me ang mahal kasi. Lagi half the price cheaper si Cebu Pacific.
9 Jon Limjap // Apr 18, 2008 at 12:22 pm
sean,
There really are demanding passengers, and there really are cases wherein Cebu Pac is unreasonable. I have had flight delay experiences with them too, some as much as two hours, so I’m not really sure about their “always on time” claims.
I love their aircraft though. I’m an aircraft scale modeler (a Cebu Pacific plane is actually one of my projects for the future) so I take note of more details than usual.
phen’s gripe on their current reservation system is quite valid, in my opinion, I’m going to write a separate post for that.
10 Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX » Blog Archive » Cebu Pacific’s monumental failure: A new online reservation system // Apr 20, 2008 at 4:05 pm
[...] way they also changed things that shouldn’t be changed. A guy named Phen commented this on a previous thread about Cebu Pacific’s service: I used to fly Cebu Pacific for my personal trips, the reason being cheap. However with what [...]
11 .NET @ Kape Ni LaTtEX » Blog Archive » Cebu Pacific’s monumental failure: A new online reservation system // Apr 20, 2008 at 4:07 pm
[...] way they also changed things that shouldn’t be changed. A guy named Phen commented this on a previous thread about Cebu Pacific’s service: I used to fly Cebu Pacific for my personal trips, the reason being cheap. However with what [...]
12 donits // Apr 21, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Hi,
I didn’t know about this crap on line ticketing of cebu pacific till i purchased on line yesterday. my resersativation status is confirmed, however my payment status is pending. what should i do? my flight is on May pa naman. Am changing my mind after reading your comments here, Help….
13 Jon Limjap // Apr 21, 2008 at 6:01 pm
donits,
Check your email regularly, that’s where they will send the confirmation. We have had confirmations sent to us as far as a whole week after the transaction, so it could take as long as that. If it takes longer… hindi ko na alam
14 donits // Apr 21, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Jon,
Thanks for replying. Is there a way i can cancel my reservation? I called my credit card company and verify d transaction i made, they told me that under processing pa daw. I cant reached Cebu pacific hotline coz its too busy. Really sucks! I got a n email from cebupacific today with no reply status. what r d changes na maconfirmed payment status ko? do u know?
15 Melynn // Apr 21, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Hi Donits,
You can check the status of your booking at the “View or Change your Booking” link. It’s in the upper left side of the website. Just above or right of the Origin/Destination look-up.
Type in your booking reference and you will be able to see the status of your booking and payment.
16 Should I Worry About Cebu Pacific? « The Life & Times of The Renzie Man // Apr 21, 2008 at 8:07 pm
[...] Here’s Lattex’s blog entry on how unsatisfied he is with Cebu Pacific’s new Navitaire system. Read the rest of his blog for other Cebu Pacific stories. [...]
17 yeresera // Apr 22, 2008 at 9:42 am
Just want to share my experience with this airline.
Last Holy Week, we had our vacation to out province in General Santos, Mindanao. My brother told me that our airline would be Cebu Pacific since they have a cheaper fare. So for our flight from Manila - GenSan, we were on time. I was amazed, cause my perspective of Cebu Pacific is always delayed. The next day, its my aunt’s turn to travel GenSan - Manila. I was shocked to know that their flight was 3 hours delayed. Their flight was supposed to be at 3pm but they were able to leave GenSan at around 6pm. Imagine the hassle this caused them, having to bring 5 kids along(ages between 5-14). Anyway, I told my brother that we were lucky since our flight was on time. “We are on time 95% of the time”. But on our return trip from GenSan to Manila, I was shocked to know that our flight will be delayed for 3 hours. WTF!!! We are so pissed off with the airline that we decided never to fly with them again.
18 donits // Apr 22, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Thanks so much melynn
19 yeresera // Apr 23, 2008 at 9:35 am
Another thing with Cebu Pacific, have anyone tried to ask for a glass of water during the flight? The stewardess will tell you that they do not have potable water available but will ask you if you want hot water. Even water, you need to buy to them!!!
20 Cebu Pacific’s monumental failure: A new online reservation system « Reklamador’s reklamo // Apr 25, 2008 at 5:15 pm
[...] the way they also changed things that shouldn’t be changed. A guy named Phen commented this on a previous thread about Cebu Pacific’s service: I used to fly Cebu Pacific for my personal trips, the reason being cheap. However with what [...]
21 gerald // May 28, 2008 at 8:44 pm
nakakatawa ung ibang tao dito, kung magsalita akala nila cebu pacific lang ang nadedelay.. dont they know that all airlines expereince delays every once in a while? and whats up with all the drama saying that they will never fly cebu pacific ever again because they have experienced some sort of problem once. if that is their policy, im sure that they will never fly on any airline because nagkaroon ng problema.. nakakatuwa lang kasi feeling star sila..
22 chris // May 29, 2008 at 10:02 pm
most of their ground crew are arrogant! (the ones at the check-in counters) sobrang yabang as if they are so powerful bcoz they can make your travel miserable! yabang na, sungit pa!
23 hans // Jul 16, 2008 at 9:22 am
hi,
i bought a ticket in june 15. my creditcardcompany paid them immediately. but cebupacific still said, the CC is delined, which is 100% not true. so i wrote them (with copy of my creditcardcompany statement) around 6 mails. but so far, they did not answer. i tried to call them, no chance to get through. i tried mails direct via their website, but no answer also.
so, my flight is confirmed, but - according to CebuPacific - its declined. i guess, when i want to fly, they just dont let me fly.
1 month no answer. its not right what they do
regards,
hans@japan.com
24 Hoel // Aug 5, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Ok fly PAL Express!! Go for the BOmbardier Q400 aircraft w/c was sold to PAL by Scandanavian Airlines because of too many ACCIDENTS!!
Would Ratther wait that fly w/ PAL’s Flying Coffins!!
25 oliboy // Aug 5, 2008 at 5:02 pm
http://oliboycastro.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-cebu-pacific-story.html
26 Jon Limjap // Aug 5, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Hoel,
The issue of PAL Express buying SAS’s Bombardiers are totally irrelevant to the above issues.
Besides, when I wrote this entry I was talking about flights scheduled in Airbus A320 and A319s — models used BOTH by Cebu Pacific and PAL. 5J has yet to receive their ATRs last March.
oliboy,
Parami na nang parami ang nagsusulat against Cebu Pacific, pero ang impression ko eh naiiipit nang husto yung mga empleyado nila. Tipong walang guidance mula sa management on how to handle customers — mababa pa ang sweldo, pero hindi din makakita ng option na lumipat sa ibang airline.
27 iceman9 // Sep 7, 2008 at 10:24 am
my goodness, i think cebu pacific should test their systems rigorously for any possible bugs before deploying… heheheh
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