I will NEVER fly Singapore Airlines again.
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What follows below is a copy of the letter of complaint I sent to Singapore Airlines.
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Singapore Airlines
27 September 2007
To Whom It May Concern:
Letter of Complaint
On Sunday, 8 April 2007, my wife and I were scheduled to leave Ho Chi Minh on a 19:55 flight with Singapore Airlines. We arrived at the international airport in Ho Chi Minh City and lined up at the Singapore Airlines check in counter just behind a family that was checking in at 19:05, 50 minutes before the flight. A number of people were still checking in at the counters.
My wife proceeded to a counter adjacent to the one where a group were still checking in, and asked to be checked in. The female staff member completely ignored my wife, who, after about a minute of being ignored, then proceeded to ask the next counter whether we could check in. That particular female staff member pointed at a male Singapore Airlines employee and said “Check-in is closed. Speak to him”. My wife attempted to speak to the supervisor the lady had pointed to. The supervisor ignored my wife for several minutes, after which he informed her that it was too late to check in. My wife pointed out that there were other passengers still checking in, to which he did not respond. I observed the supervisor (Hoang) ignore my wife and walk away from the counters to prepare for take-off. I then questioned one of the Singapore Airlines check-in staff who again told me that it was too late to check in. That particular female counter-staff was contemptuous, and offered no explanation, despite us having pointed out that we had arrived whilst others were still checking in. Despite our obvious distress, she smiled, shrugged her shoulders, picked up her belongings, told us to wait until the supervisor returned from the boarding gates, then left. I was incredibly incensed by this behaviour, considering the fact that it appears to be Singapore Airlines policy to ignore customers at check in completely and shrug off questions in hopes that they won’t have to talk to us.
Another passenger also bound for Perth had arrived 10 minutes after us and was also denied check-in. He queried one remaining female counter staff what time check-in had closed. She responded, “40 minutes before the flight leaves. That couple [my wife and myself], got here 10 minutes before you”. My wife then pointed out that we had arrived 50 minutes prior to scheduled departure, yet were not checked in. The staff member said it was best we waited for the supervisor to return, which would be after the flight had departed, or go direct to the Singapore Airlines Office.
We waited for an hour for the supervisor to return (after noting that the flight ended up departing 20 minutes late in any case). We decided to try the Singapore Airlines HCMC Airport office. After talking to another staff member, Phuong, at your Ho Chi Minh Airport office, who was at least quite helpful, the best that she could offer was to place us on priority stand-by the following day but said that we may have to wait two more days for the connecting flight (again, waitlisted). We chose to leave the next morning, with the possibility of being confirmed on the Singapore-Perth leg by departure.
During our time at the office, the supervisor returned from the departure gates. We put our case forward, to which he replied that we were at fault, having arrived at 7:20pm, after check-in had closed. I informed him that I had arrived at 7:05pm and showed him my mobile phone which indicated that I had made a telephone call to family waiting outside at 7:10pm whilst we were in the queue and my wife was trying to check in. He replied “the clock on your phone is wrong then”. I pointed out that my phone clock matched the Singapore Airlines clock. The other passenger that had come to the office with us verified to the supervisor that the check-in staff had informed him that we had arrived 10 minutes before him, before check-in had closed, and were still not allowed on the flight.
This passenger verified our story, and threatened to report the supervisor to Singapore Airlines for contemptuous behaviour, which prompted the supervisor to change his tune. We observed him become very helpful at that stage, offering to fax the Priority Stand-By request direct to Singapore, and insisting that Phuong do all in her power to confirm us on the flights the following day.
The following morning, we confirmed our own flights by calling Singapore Airlines in Singapore directly, at our own expense, after the supervisor on duty that morning refused to confirm our flight and stated we would have to wait until we arrived in Singapore to attempt to do so.
My wife and I are frequent travellers, both internationally and domestically. I have Platinum Qantas Frequent Flyer membership and Emerald OneWorld membership – the highest level obtainable, due to my frequent travelling. We have never missed a flight, and have never encountered such rude and insolent behaviour. Notwithstanding cultural differences, it is a shame that this experience with Singapore Airlines staff has reflected so badly on your airline.
On this occasion I travelled to Vietnam on a $1,400 fare when I could have travelled on Royal Brunei on a $600 fare or Cathay Pacific on an $850 fare. I specifically chose Singapore Airlines regardless of the significant price difference because I expected to receive better treatment. Last year, I bought 10 tickets to Europe with Singapore Airlines to fly my entire family to Greece. Again, your airfares were not the cheapest, nor was the schedule the most convenient. In hindsight, we regret our decision to support your airline.
My wife and I are disgusted by the treatment of your staff in Vietnam. The blatant lies and accusations we received from your supervisor (Hoang) about arriving late and being at fault were completely inappropriate, and were proven as lies by several witnesses, including other travellers and airport security. We will never travel with your airline again, nor will I ever recommend it. In fact I have recommended and will continue to recommend against using Singapore Airlines since this experience. I hope that if you wish to retain valued customers, that you address the problem of poor customer service.
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Although, you were running it tight by getting there at 50 mins before the flight, but should have been allowed to check in.
I've heard from others that Singapore Airlines aren't particularly responsive to complaint letters, not sure if that's fact or fiction though.
Writing a letter 5 months after a flight isn't going to help much either due to the relevant parties not being able to remember events of the original day.
Also, it is rarely wise to advise " We will never travel with your airline again, nor will I ever recommend it" if you want a response due to airlines and other companies deciding that to not bother with someone who will never fly with them again.
1 week after sending the letter, I received a phone call from a manager at Singapore Air in Australia.
He called me to COMPLAIN to ME that my letter was months after the event and this would make it a real hassle for him to investigate as it is likely the staff in HCMC would not remember the event. He was actually exasperated!
I told him that he had some gall to call me to complain about my letter being late, and that I didn't give a #@% whether he investigated it or not because nothing he did would change my mind about travelling with them again.
That was about 3 months ago, so doubt I will ever receive a response.
Oh and I apologise for my poorly worded letter above. To be honest the rudeness they demonstrated really isn't brought out enough in my letter to the level that it was, as I had to tone down the letter significantly because I was so incensed by it, even tho I wrote it a few months after it happened.
Location: Home, Work, Airport, Here (not in that order!)
Posts: 4,267
Re: I will NEVER fly Singapore Airlines again
Does sound like you were treated roughly at check-in and later after writing the letter. I suppose not flying Singapore, (and publishing your complaint here) is about the best way to get back at them for what they did.
Cathay would at least give SC's (assuming an eligible fare class) and their staff are as nice if not better than Singapore in the sky, so I think you have a better choice for next time!
I am somewhat confused as to what you are trying to achieve here.As you are aware the best time to lodge a complaint and document it is at the time of the event.
Posting this so long after the event means it may not be treated as seriously as you wish.
Last edited by superchris; 15th January 2008 at 03:09 PM.
Nothwithstanding the rudeness you received from airline staff (which last time I checked wasn't limited to one airline), surely you have to take some of the responsibility for cutting it so fine.
Whether a flight closes 40 mins before takeoff or not, 50 mins prior to takeoff really isn't an acceptable checkin time in my book, irrespective of what status you hold.
I agree that sending a complaint 3 months after the incident is a waste of your time and the airlines and really isn't going to achieve anything apart from you letting off some steam and letting SQ know how quickly they're going to go out of business now that you've withdrawn your support.
TG
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Nothwithstanding the rudeness you received from airline staff (which last time I checked wasn't limited to one airline), surely you have to take some of the responsibility for cutting it so fine.
Whether a flight closes 40 mins before takeoff or not, 50 mins prior to takeoff really isn't an acceptable checkin time in my book, irrespective of what status you hold.
Travel Guru,
Jobu didn't actually say why he was running such a fine line with his arrival. There may (or may not) be a perfectly good reason that was out of his control.
Having said all that guys I'm sure that Jobu now feels a little better by having finally released his frustration and alerting the issue to others so they don't have to go through this type of situation. I'm sure if it stops one other from suffering the same fate then it's worth the release.
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cheers,
Bill.
themenuplanners.com
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QFF Platinum (OW Emerald,) 65.21% toward Lifetime Silver, UA Nothing, HHonors Gold, PC Platinum, Hertz Gold No 1, Ansett -- nothing any more!
The lesson here, is to submit complaints as soon as practical to do so after the event. Aside from the factors with staff remembering the events of the day, sending it in nearly 6 months after the event, perhaps indicates that you didn't feel strongly enough about it to get that letter off within a month or two.
Jobu didn't actually say why he was running such a fine line with his arrival. There may (or may not) be a perfectly good reason that was out of his control.
Having said all that guys I'm sure that Jobu now feels a little better by having finally released his frustration and alerting the issue to others so they don't have to go through this type of situation. I'm sure if it stops one other from suffering the same fate then it's worth the release.
Thanks for that Bill, you're doing a great job critiquing my posts lately.
Whether he was or wasn't intentionally late has no bearing on my comment, either way he has to accept some responsibility for the situation, though that by no means excuses the SQ ground staff's attitude and behaviour, though I will say that from experience, when one is cutting it fine for a flight and gets flustered, we tend to become overly critical and perceive ground crew in a way we normally wouldnt.
What about internet check-in? Singapore Air allows passengers to check-in online up to 48 hours before your flight. Would have saved a lot of heartache.
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