Source: AirAsia
An AirAsia customer recently related an incident in which the airline allegedly cancelled the wrong air tickets in a group booking.
On 29 Sept, Facebook user Ivan posted on the platform about “one of the worst budget airline experiences” they had.
Source: Ivan on Facebook
He explained to MS News that his wife had booked a trip from Singapore to Bali, scheduled for 29 Oct to 2 Nov.
He said she booked it as a treat for her group of friends from her new job’s first paycheck, opting for a low-cost airline to keep within budget.
While initially a group of seven, one friend ended up unable to make it due to personal reasons.
As such, the group requested the cancellation of one ticket on 17 Sept, providing the reasons to the airline.
To facilitate this, AirAsia split the booking in two, one with six pax and one with just one.
On 21 Sept, the group allegedly received a notification that AirAsia had completed the cancellation request and given the refund.
To their horror, they found that the airline had instead cancelled the 6 pax booking, leaving only one ticket belonging to the person who couldn’t go.
Ivan and the group attempted to get the mistake corrected, but on 26 Sept, AirAsia purportedly replied that they were unable to reverse the cancelling of the tickets.
Image courtesy of Ivan
In another email, customer support said the transaction for the refund had already been processed to the bank, leaving them unable to reverse the changes.
Image courtesy of Ivan
The group was left outraged by the situation. The remaining flights available that could replace the cancelled booking were either more expensive or did not have the right timings.
Ivan wrote on Facebook that they were left with accommodation bookings but no flight tickets to get there.
He said his wife became extremely upset that the nice thing that she wanted to do with her first paycheck would end up incurring a much higher cost or be cancelled with penalties from the Airbnb booking.
Furthermore, AirAsia allegedly did not admit to the mistake at the time and offered no compensation or suggestions of possible solutions for the group.
On the morning of 2 Oct, AirAsia HQ reportedly reached out to Ivan’s wife and reinstated the bookings.
The airline requested the group to pay the amount refunded to them for the cancellation of the 6 tickets.
Ivan told MS News that AirAsia has also apologised for the “lapse in their system”.
He felt that the response was “the least they can do” for the panic and inconvenience caused and said he might not fly with the airline again.
Source: AirAsia
Furthermore, he said it was a “missed opportunity for them to go the extra mile on their customer service”.
Ivan added that two friends in the group had already dropped out of the travel plan by then.
The remaining commuters still intended to go ahead with the Bali trip on their reinstated flight.
However, their Airbnb booking had now been cancelled at a 50% loss, a reversal of the original situation. As such, they were currently looking for new accommodation.
In response to MS News , Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer (Airline Operations) of AirAsia Aviation Group Datuk Captain Chester Voo said that they have been made aware of the situation and had been in contact with the guest involved in the incident.
“We sincerely apologise for the situation,” they said, adding that the matter has been “rectified”.
“We thank our guests for their patience and understanding, and look forward to flying them to their destinations.”
Also read: AirAsia Passenger’s Luggage Goes Missing After Reaching S’pore, No Updates From Airline Since 5 June
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Featured image adapted from AirAsia.
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