I don't normally do this kind of things but I feel that I really have to state my grievances on the service I have received through the Air Asia agents in the last few days. If you ask anyone who knows me personally they very well know that I am a frequent traveller and that on most of my trips I would use Air Asia, that whenever any of them (my friends) tell me about just how bad Air Asia I would dismiss their negativity and state that Air Asia is really the best of all budget airlines!!
I have always been impressed by how the company is run and how the guests are treated each and overtime I fly Air Asia, that is until my most recent trip!! On the 9th of May 2014 I decided to fly back to my hometown to prepare a surprise Mother's Day celebration and thanks to Air Asia I was able to book a last minute flight at an amazing deal; a connecting flight:
Singapore (SG) -> Kuala Lumpur (KL) -> Brunei Darussalam (BN)
So upon checking in that morning, I asked all the questions anyone would ask:
"This is a connecting flight from SG to BN correct?"
"Will my bags be flown directly to BN? Or do I have to retrieve them in KL?"
"There isn't a need for me to exit and re check in at the new KLIA2 correct?"
I was assured by the counter staff that my bags will be transferred directly from SG to BN and that all I needed to do was follow the signs for connecting passengers as the counter staff was able to check me in and printed my boarding pass for both my flights.
So as the plane took off (it was a delayed flight) from SG, our flight arrived at KL later than expected but passengers who were traveling in this connecting flight all managed to get on to the flight from KL to BN which was also delayed and we arrived in BN late.
Upon arrival while waiting for my check in luggages, I started to have a bad feeling as it was taking too long for my luggages to come out and it seems like passengers after passengers have already found their bags and left the airport. To my horror the conveyor belt stopped and the service attendant said there were no more bags!! At this sentence there were about 10 passengers or so who immediately rushed towards this poor attendant and demanded where our bags were and we were redirected to file a report of our missing luggages.
This was were my dilemma started:
1) After filing the report I was told that the reason why our bags were not in BN was because there WASN'T ENOUGH TIME TO TRANSFER THE BAGS FROM OUR FIRST FLIGHT TO THE SECOND FLIGHT!! That although the passengers were able to "run" to catch the plane…our luggages however were not able to.
2) I was reassured that my luggages were left in KLIA2 and that I would be able to retrieve it the next day 10th of May 2014 on the very first morning flight Air Asia had from KL to BN; this however was false hope given to a distraught man who had checked in his laptop's power adapter, mother's day gifts, clothes for the trip back home and some kitchen utensils needed for the celebration.
3) The morning of the next day (10th of May 2014) as I approached the Operation Attendant at the AirAsia office located in Brunei international Airport, I was told that the request has already been sent and unfortunately the bags may only arrive in the afternoon flight (as Air Asia flies from KL to BN twice a day) and was told that they would give me a call at noon that day; AGAIN FALSE HOPE!! No call was given at all!!
4) I then decided to try calling the office for 2 consecutive hours!! The phone rang BUT no one even bothered to pick up!!! And I have seen the office it's SMALL and theres really NO WAY for anyone to not have heard the rings!!
5) Went back down in the afternoon to see the agents and was told the operation agent were handling the second flight arrivals, so was told to come back again in 30minutes time; this again was false hope!! As after giving them 30minutes when I came back the office was CLOSED!!
6) So I went to the door and peeked in and there they were all the attendants inside, SO I knocked to get answered! IT TOOK THEM 10 minutes to finally decide that I wasn't going to go away and opened the curtain and asked me what do I need? LIKE SERIOUSLY?!?! I was here just 30 minutes ago?!!
7) Demanding an explanation and an update on my luggages, very nonchalantly the attendant said:
"We cannot for see these kind of outcomes and as of now the status of your bags are under tracing status, so for now all you can do is wait, usually these kind of things would take at least 2 weeks to process."
WHAT?!?! How did my luggages within 24hrs turned from "left in KLIA2 to TRACING?!?!"
8) Realizing that the attendants in Brunei International Airport Air Asia's office were not going to do anything or be proactive about it, I asked for the Malaysia office numbers or better yet luggage lost numbers and to my disdain as a customer I was given this answer in the most inhospitable and unhelpful tone you can imagine:
"We don't know what number is being used right now, when we were located in LCCT we had a number, but now that we've moved to KLIA2, we are not sure and don't even know if there's a number to call at all, so all you have is this office's number to call and if there are any other updates sooner that expected, we'll call you."
Furious and not wanting to blow out and curse at a lady I simply walked off fuming with a spoiled image of what Air Asia used to be!! My question is how can an airline which boasts excellence and guest first have such an attitude in serving their guest?! Totally unhelpful and unclear and passive about helping their guests!!
So here I am taking it to the social media hoping that it would somehow reach someone working higher up in Air Asia to at least DO SOMETHING about this, that this kind of service or treatment would never happen again!! I have since sent a formal email complaint to Air Asia and it's been 5 days since my luggages have been under "TRACING" and it's been too quiet i.e no updates whatsoever, even tried calling and still no one ever picks up the phone (and I am telling you I have tried every possible combination of hours)
So Air Asia, I really hope you take this seriously and really just do something about it!! Still going to be a customer…just that I'll be more careful and wary now about where and how I am going to fly with you...
Lau Ber Nard
TRS Contributor