I will NEVER fly Singapore Airlines again

[Jobu]

You are emerald - fly One World next time and put this down to experience.

Actually there were no One World flights to Vietnam at the time. Qantas told me I could fly Jetstar but I was not keen on them.

In fact, the SQ flight was the most expensive flight I was offered (double the price of other decent airlines) but I chose them because I relied on their reputation.

Cheers

J

 

[Therma]

Hi DL8698,

Welcome to FrequentFlyer and thanks for such a well written response.

Honestly there is not much if anything that I disagree with you.

1. I believe like you that the flight was overbooked and they weren't trained on how to handle it.

2. I could have definitely worded my letter better.

3. I never wanted a response from SQ but the fact that they called me up just to complain took me over the edge so to speak...

Actually since relaying my story to dozens (possibly over 100 people by now) I have heard similar experiences with SQ's WA state manager. It's unfortunate because I like the look of their new business class seat and they have such a broad coverage but nevertheless I will stick to my guns. In fact I now work for a major global company and am in a position to divert travel away from SQ, which I have been doing without hesitation (diverted 12 business class flights away from SQ traveling Australia to Europe and Asia just last month). Whilst still immaterial to SQ the dollars are getting more serious than what a single disgruntled passenger can do. That is my team alone and as I move up the ranks of the organisation I won't hesitate to continue doing this.



J

Woo Hoo

This is really sticking it up the most profitable airline in the world where business class rarely has any vacant seats. How about giving it a rest and getting some other purpose in life? Your business is a drop in a bucket to SQ, After you started this thread I have had 5 or 6 return flights to HCMC. I have found the ground staff to be nothing less than examplary, the only truly nasty experience I ever had at check in with SQ was in Melbourne. I have never been on an overbooked SQ flight in 7 years and never heard of them turning anyone away. I have also turned up to KLIA with check in luggage 30 minutes before the flight and SIN 35 and was allowed to board.
Trust me, I am far from an SQ fan. I fly with them at least once a week, sometimes twice (return) in economy and constantly complain about dilution of standards, inconsistent seating allocations, etc etc. But all it takes is a flight on another airline to realise there is nothing better out there.


What you also need to consider is Asian and especially Vietnamese mind set and make allowances. If I were to get frustrated with my Vietnamese clients and channel partners I would have even less hair than I do not. It does not help anyway. Explicit instructions frequently go ignored. Anger and raising voice is seen as a sign of weakness on your behalf and loss of face on their behalf. Nothing is worse. Resistance is futile. Put it down to experience and move on.

 

[RB]

I wonder if your new "major global company" appreciates you using company time & effort to prolong a personal vendetta. I hope I am not a shareholder!

 

[Jobu]

Woo Hoo

This is really sticking it up the most profitable airline in the world where business class rarely has any vacant seats. How about giving it a rest and getting some other purpose in life? Your business is a drop in a bucket to SQ, After you started this thread I have had 5 or 6 return flights to HCMC. I have found the ground staff to be nothing less than examplary, the only truly nasty experience I ever had at check in with SQ was in Melbourne. I have never been on an overbooked SQ flight in 7 years and never heard of them turning anyone away. I have also turned up to KLIA with check in luggage 30 minutes before the flight and SIN 35 and was allowed to board.
Trust me, I am far from an SQ fan. I fly with them at least once a week, sometimes twice (return) in economy and constantly complain about dilution of standards, inconsistent seating allocations, etc etc. But all it takes is a flight on another airline to realise there is nothing better out there.


What you also need to consider is Asian and especially Vietnamese mind set and make allowances. If I were to get frustrated with my Vietnamese clients and channel partners I would have even less hair than I do not. It does not help anyway. Explicit instructions frequently go ignored. Anger and raising voice is seen as a sign of weakness on your behalf and loss of face on their behalf. Nothing is worse. Resistance is futile. Put it down to experience and move on.

So if you had several really bad experiences at a restaurant would you go back for more? At what point in time do you take a stand?

 

[Jobu]

I wonder if your new "major global company" appreciates you using company time & effort to prolong a personal vendetta. I hope I am not a shareholder!

Firstly - this happens in business all the time. I used to work for a consulting firm which constantly would win or lose work because a CEO or CFO hated this or that company or person. I've seen this at the highest levels of corporate Australia, so if you are a service business, you need to look after your customers.

Secondly (and more importantly) - we have preferential arrangements with Qantas. Just that they are not enforced. I am now enforcing that in my team, so actually if you are a shareholder I am saving you money. Do you think I would risk my job for something so "petty"?

I'm not such a bad guy you know - it's not like I spend time thinking of ways to "stick it to them". But if I get a chance to make a point along the way, I will. A simple apology a long time ago would have been nice.

J

 

[docjames]

I actually think "good on you" for sticking to your guns.

I have multiple businesses I wont use for personal affairs (i have little say professionally) and I also have many i will use (over others) due to the expemplary service they provide (often at fractionally higher cost).

Sure, SQ aren't going broke on your travel, but it's still money better spent as you see fit rather than just lumped in their pockets.

It's your money (well, you control it anyway) so spend it how you want I say!

 

[straitman]

I actually think "good on you" for sticking to your guns.

I have multiple businesses I wont use for personal affairs (i have little say professionally) and I also have many i will use (over others) due to the expemplary service they provide (often at fractionally higher cost).

Sure, SQ aren't going broke on your travel, but it's still money better spent as you see fit rather than just lumped in their pockets.

It's your money (well, you control it anyway) so spend it how you want I say!

docjames,

I agree entirely and my philosophy is exactly the same. If people give you good, or bad service then vote with your feet or wallet as appropriate. :idea:

 

[Therma]

So if you had several really bad experiences at a restaurant would you go back for more? At what point in time do you take a stand?

There are lots of restaurants, and not so many airlines. I have certainly had a lot more bad experiences with Qantas than I have with SQ but I still fly with them (with seatbelt securely tightened so I do not get sucked out of a gaping hole or crack my noggin on the ceiling when the plane falls a couple of ks). Have you checked out the forums here dealing with QF issues (just as example, not picking on them specifically)? There are people who have been badly screwed up by them as well. You are not the only one. Welcome to the world of corporate reality. You are dealing with a faceless, profit driven organisation. Some enforce the "warm fuzzy we-care" feeling much better, while others do not, despite of all of their promotions. There is nothing like seating there in a full economy class with reduced crew and having to endure the promo video on the 380 Suites or Raffles class, while you are being elbowed in an ear by someone who has never been on the plane ( or in a shower for a week).

What I am alluding to is that life is short. I do not have much of one at the moment, spending 6 days a week (on a good week - I am in a middle of 12 day trip to 3 countries at the moment, and have not had a full weekend off in 3 months) on the road. In my jetlagged daze, or in places where I feel unsafe to leave the hotel, I will stay up online for a long time and amuse myself with writing stories about how I did not get my free Ambassafor gift from such and such hotel, or whatever. I then get back to reality and realise how pathetic I am becoming and stay away from the forums for a few weeks. I am not saying that the forum is pathetic: it is great and has certainly helped me in getting answers to a lot of questions.

I am just trying to understand what motivates such a long - winded vendetta, when time could be better spent preserving your nerves, and chanelling your efforts and time into something more constructive - time writing about your experience beyond a reasonable period could be better spent reading a book, with your family, walking on the beach, taking over the world in your new job, whatever. Especially since it took you half a year to lodge the original complaint. So, you had a bad experience. By all means, punish the coughs. Take away their business. (See if they care). Just ease up a little bit. Nobody died. They did not destroy your luggage and refused to pay for it. You were not stranded for a week in Baghdad, fearing for you life. Take a look at things in perspective.

This is all

 

[DL8698]

Jobu,
every time you relate your "nightmare" incident, I'm sure your blood pressure goes through the roof. So, a hundred or so times you have related the story, a hundred or so times you have raised your blood pressure, and, all for what?

What I, and some of the other posters, are trying to say is, why harm yourself (giving yourself high blood pressure) just to "have your own back" on SQ? I believe you, you have been offended, but, honestly, aside from "voting with your wallet" is it absolutely necessary to also convert everyone you know or meet to your point of view, that SQ Stinks Big Time?

Bad service can be found in any company, business, restaurant, etc. What is important is, how prevalent is bad service as compared to good, or even, beyond the call of duty, service? I know in SQ of customer service agents, who, on their own time and expense, have carried out various "beyond the call of duty" service for passengers. (Don't ask how I know)

As you said, you have flown many times on SQ, and this is the first bad experience you had. Did you enjoy all those previous flights? If the majority of your flights on SQ were bad experiences then it will be a different story. But, looks like, for you, it's "One Strike, You're Out".

I guess by now you have flown on many other airlines. Can you honestly say, all those flights were absolutely perfect?

May I suggest this, for the sake of your blood pressure, don't actively seek out people to tell your story, but instead, tell the story only to those who come to you for advice as to which airline to fly with? It really serves no purpose (if your purpose is to move as many people as you can away from SQ) because you can not possibly move enough people away from SQ for it to even notice the loss. So, there's no point to keep cutting your nose to spite your face. Eventually, you may possibly even forget the whole incident and put it down to just another of life's bad experiences.

 

[DL8698]

Secondly (and more importantly) - we have preferential arrangements with Qantas. Just that they are not enforced. I am now enforcing that in my team, so actually if you are a shareholder I am saving you money.

J

I presume you mean it costs less for your team members to fly Qantas than SQ or other airlines, yet they choose not to fly Qantas?

I wonder why!

 

[drron]

Actually venting is probably good for your blood pressure,bottling anger up is bad.
We all base our decisions at times on irrational motives-just look at wall St.
I am probably going to base my decision on future hotel stays on a bad experience at the Waldorf Towers this trip-so what?

 

[DL8698]

Actually venting is probably good for your blood pressure,bottling anger up is bad.

Absolutely true, but only if you vent your anger at the time of incident, shout and scream your head off at all those who offended you, bang on the tables, threaten hell and high water. Go ahead, don't feel like you must look respectable, make a big scene, but then cool down and let it rest. I do this whenever I feel offended, but after I cool down, at times I conclude that I too, could have been partially at fault.

However, to carry a grudge and simmer, and to continue to rant about it, for so long (more than a year by now?) is absolutely bad for your blood pressure.

Really, it's time to move on with your life. Don't ever fly SQ, if that's what you feel is the right thing to do.

 

[Jobu]

Jobu,
every time you relate your "nightmare" incident, I'm sure your blood pressure goes through the roof. So, a hundred or so times you have related the story, a hundred or so times you have raised your blood pressure, and, all for what?

What I, and some of the other posters, are trying to say is, why harm yourself (giving yourself high blood pressure) just to "have your own back" on SQ? I believe you, you have been offended, but, honestly, aside from "voting with your wallet" is it absolutely necessary to also convert everyone you know or meet to your point of view, that SQ Stinks Big Time?

Bad service can be found in any company, business, restaurant, etc. What is important is, how prevalent is bad service as compared to good, or even, beyond the call of duty, service? I know in SQ of customer service agents, who, on their own time and expense, have carried out various "beyond the call of duty" service for passengers. (Don't ask how I know)

As you said, you have flown many times on SQ, and this is the first bad experience you had. Did you enjoy all those previous flights? If the majority of your flights on SQ were bad experiences then it will be a different story. But, looks like, for you, it's "One Strike, You're Out".

I guess by now you have flown on many other airlines. Can you honestly say, all those flights were absolutely perfect?

May I suggest this, for the sake of your blood pressure, don't actively seek out people to tell your story, but instead, tell the story only to those who come to you for advice as to which airline to fly with? It really serves no purpose (if your purpose is to move as many people as you can away from SQ) because you can not possibly move enough people away from SQ for it to even notice the loss. So, there's no point to keep cutting your nose to spite your face. Eventually, you may possibly even forget the whole incident and put it down to just another of life's bad experiences.

I appreciate all of your posts, honestly. I think it's easy for some of my writing to come out differently from how I feel, I'm not the most articulate guy. I'm not seething or getting my blood pressure high about it anymore. In fact I only ever come here to reply to posts not to try and keep this thread alive. It seems to be resurrected every few months and usually by someone who hasn't read the entire thread and will post something that I feel compelled to respond to

Anyway, I do get some pleasure from being able to think that I can make a small difference in how they go about their business. The experience wasn't a "nightmare", but I do think that as far as customer service goes, it was pathetic. No one will care if I drop my grudge and go back to SQ. In fact, I people probably won't even notice. But if I have a choice to fly with them or not, given they never even tried to offer an apology, why would I ever choose them over another airline.

Yes I've had many bad experiences with many airlines. Some experiences even worse than my experience with SQ. But they have at least apologised. I can live with that.

Cheers,

J

 

[Jobu]

I presume you mean it costs less for your team members to fly Qantas than SQ or other airlines, yet they choose not to fly Qantas?

I wonder why!

Haha

To be honest with you, the reason is most often convenience.

Cheers, J

 

[JohnK]

I really cannot understand why people continue to post on this thread to criticise Jobu for the way he was treated and how the issue was handled.

I totally agree with your stance Jobu. Do as much as possible to attract business away from SQ, whether with friends or work, and hopefully you will not go through another stressful situation like the one you experienced. Yes it is not going to make a great deal of difference to SQ in the grand scheme of things but it will make you feel a lot better.

Can one of the moderators please close this thread as I feel the majority of new posters have nothing to offer other than to criticise?

 

[straitman]

Can one of the moderators please close this thread as I feel the majority of new posters have nothing to offer other than to criticise?

I agree, it's time to move on with life

 

[sadlier]

I agree, it's time to move on with life

It was time to move on with life when Jobu made his complaint 6 months after the event.

I fly in and out of HCMC with SQ every month or so and it really is not so bad. SQ has a reputation and they believe their own marketing and hype but they remain better than most. Certainly better than QF and their ''mothers'' at BA.

Next!

 

[Jobu]

It was time to move on with life when Jobu made his complaint 6 months after the event.

I fly in and out of HCMC with SQ every month or so and it really is not so bad. SQ has a reputation and they believe their own marketing and hype but they remain better than most. Certainly better than QF and their ''mothers'' at BA.

Next!

Another not so subtle jab. Couldn't resist could ya? Just had to prove my point...skip the entire thread and show your colours. Whatever. I agree, someone just close this thread before I accidentally "offend" another SQ suck up. Some people take it so personally that I have upset the sensitive SQ fan train or imply that their beloved airline sucketh. Trust me the Singaporeans don't care, ok lah. Cheers to those that were at least considered or thoughtful in their responses, even if they didn't agree with me. Give me Qantas any day. Or even Jetstar for that matter.

JOBU

 

[Platy]

It was time to move on with life when Jobu made his complaint 6 months after the event.

I fly in and out of HCMC with SQ every month or so and it really is not so bad. SQ has a reputation and they believe their own marketing and hype but they remain better than most. Certainly better than QF and their ''mothers'' at BA.

Next!

Yes, what next from Sadlier? Yet another rave about the greatness of SQ, convenience of SIN as a hub, brilliance of their FF scheme, etc?

Reading your previous posts one could be forgiven for concluding that you might be employed by a certain Asian airline?!

 

[sadlier]

Yes, what next from Sadlier? Yet another rave about the greatness of SQ, convenience of SIN as a hub, brilliance of their FF scheme, etc?

Reading your previous posts one could be forgiven for concluding that you might be employed by a certain Asian airline?!

I have my moments when I cough about SQ as well as others but I just find it imperious to say that I will NEVER fly with them ever again.

I avoid QF because my experience has not been good but I still use them when necessary. I even fly with Garuda when necessary.

I might be tempted to say that I would never fly with LionAir or Aeroflot and others but they are in a different category.