My Horrible Airphil Experience in Lumbia Airport

“i love airphil no doubt about that but my airphil express lumbia airport experience makes me think twice…”

This is how my fb post started.. APX became my buddy when travelling.. I always choose it because of its cheap price and a very accommodating staff especially in Manila.. but last February 28, 2012 I had a very horrible experience happened in Cagyan de Oro Lumbia Airport with Airphil Staffs.

Our fight scheduled going to Manila is 9:50 am, we arrived at the airport at exactly 9:05 AM but since there’s line going inside we need to wait.. we reached the check-in area at about 9:10 AM and there is already a closed sign. The girl named Marianne (APX staff) told us that we are not allowed to check-in and that they were closed since we were late for 5 minutes. They are strict “DAW” with their policy that their counter closes at exactly 45 minutes before estimated time of departure. She even encircled the statement in our ticket. We begged, pleaded and asked her to accommodate us and we really need to go back to Manila because of our work schedule. She stressed that it’s not allowed. Sabi pa nga niya “out of 135 passengers, kyo lang ang late.” Is that a proper way of talking to your customer? Did you guys (APX) teach your staff in Lumbia Airport customer service 101? We saw the baggage of the passengers, they were not yet loading it. We are still saying things and talking to her but what she did was so repulsive. She looked at the computer, as if she’s checking something and don’t listen to us. She talked to her co staff beside her using their dialect so definitely I don’t understand what they’re talking about. Okay to end things we have no choice, we are late, that’s our fault and we accepted that. We will be on their next flight at 3:55 PM and we need to pay 1650 pesos for their LCI fee. To kill time and withdraw some money to pay for the LCI fee we went to CDO SM. We went back to the airport at 1:10 pm. We saw group of people falling in their counter. Thinking they have same flight with us going to Manila we fall in line and wait for our turn. The security guard approached us and asked us if we are going to Cebu and we said no, we are going to Manila. He told us to move away from the counter. Our conversation go something like this:

Me: diba pede ng mag check-in kahit 2 hours pa? nakapila naman kami ah.

Security Guard: oo nga pero dun nalang kayo magintay (pointing to side near their office)

Me: Pag late kami ayaw nyo kami i-accommodate, tapos ngayong ang aga namin ayaw niyo parin kaming i-accommodate?

SG: anong problema mo?! Blah-blah-blah

Naginit ang ulo ko sa sinabi niyang iyon pero para hindi na lumaki hindi nalang ako nagsalita at umalis. When we are waiting for them to accommodate us someone approached me and ask if the line we were was for Cebu flight. I said no and ask what is her departure time, she said 1:50 pm. It’s already 1:20 pm in their clock. Holding on to what they said that they are strict with their 45-minute before eta policy I expected that they will not allow that passenger to check in, I even told the girl that they might not accommodate her. Me together with my cousin and sister looked at the lady as she approached the counter. Wow! What was that? They allowed the lady to check in even though she was 15 minutes late. What are they trying to imply? We felt discrimination, we are discriminated. Just because we are on their piso fare they will do that to us? We were 5 minutes late and  they did not accommodate, the lady is 15 minutes late and they allowed her to check in. C’mon they are really strict in that 45-minute policy, aren’t they?

On our turn to check in we had a conversation with their staff named Maria Balacait (SJ is my cousin and EJ is my sister)

SJ: strict pala talaga kayo sa 45-minute before departure policy nyo ano? Kya pla yung babae na pa-Cebu na accommodate nyo kahit 15 minutes late, tapos kami 5 minutes hindi pwede. How inconsistent?

Maria looked at Marianne and talked to her in their dialect and looked again in the computer in front of her and grin.

Maria: imposible po yun close na  kami ng 1:20.

EJ: imposible? Kitang kita namin. 1:20 andyan siya nagche-check in.

ME: kami pa ba ang magkakamali sa oras ngayon? Dapat pala kinuhan ko ng picture. By the way do you have cctv camera here?

Maria: wala po

Shoot!! Sayang. That can be the best evidence we can have.

That incident made us think, are we going to use Airphil on our future filghts? Hell, no! if their staff would be someone like Marianne and Maria who I think don’t know what the meaning of customer service and fairness were. Bakit naman ganon? Hindi naman ganyan ang staff niyo sa Manila ah.. I saw how your staff in Manila respond to cases like this. They didn’t do things like what the two of them did to us.

Another thing, the guard they have is so impolite. He shouted not only on me but to other passenger. How rude? Nakita pa namin siyang dinuro duro ang pasahero.

No offense but do you have a proper training for you staffs in Lumbia Airport. I don’t want to change the good impression Airphil staffs in Manila had imposed to me but now im in doubt because of the incident happened in CDO.

That day we also had a delayed flight. They made us waited for 2 hours. 5 minutes kaming late and we paid 1650, they are late for about 2 hours, babayaran nyo ba kami Airphil? Muntikan pa kaming ma-late sa work namin. Eh what if we were late for work or worse wasn’t able to go to work, are you going to pay for our 1 day salary? We are not just talking for hundreds here, we are losing thousands.

DO SOMETHING AIRPHIL!!

I sent an almost similar article to Airphil last March 5, 2012. I haven’t received a reply from them after 3 days so I need to resend my email and include in the end that I need a reply as soon as possible. They replied naman (thank God!) on that same day saying that they  will initiate a feedback with the offices concerned to provide them with the necessary information and that they will communicate again with me once they complete their reports. Unfortunately up to this very moment “WALA PA RIN NANGYARI.” Delaying tactics I think!

My ultimate getaway turned out to be a nightmare because of what happened. Ilang araw din akong hindi nka move on ah dahil sa inis at galit. Haaayyy! I am very frustrated! 

Nevertheless, I still love my adventure in Cagayan de Oro.