Malaysia Airlines e-Ticketing faulty.....
Jan 29, 2010, 9:15 am
#16
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: SEA(sia)
Posts: 5,181
Unfortunately, embarassment is not part of MH's culture.
They can close down their Golden Lounge in Langkawi with just 24hrs notice with no alternative provided for those who have purchased C/F tickets or their Golden Lounge programme.
They can just terminate the online booking bonus for Enrich branded credit card with no notice given.
They can offer you an upgrade, and then downgrade you later when they discover the fare you have paid is too low.
The list goes on and on ......
Basically they feel they have the right to vary anything at their whim and fancy, without any consideration to those whom they have promised a service.
As a matter of personal policy, I only fly MH if they offer extremely low fares. I rather give the revenue to any other airline when it comes to premium travel.
They can close down their Golden Lounge in Langkawi with just 24hrs notice with no alternative provided for those who have purchased C/F tickets or their Golden Lounge programme.
They can just terminate the online booking bonus for Enrich branded credit card with no notice given.
They can offer you an upgrade, and then downgrade you later when they discover the fare you have paid is too low.
The list goes on and on ......
Basically they feel they have the right to vary anything at their whim and fancy, without any consideration to those whom they have promised a service.
As a matter of personal policy, I only fly MH if they offer extremely low fares. I rather give the revenue to any other airline when it comes to premium travel.
Jan 29, 2010, 3:42 pm
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Little dot in Asia
Programs: AA-EP, TK-*G, HL-DM, HY-GLO, MR-LTP
Posts: 25,932
MAS management also haveto get off their high horse and come to realise that no one is going to 'invite' them to join an airline alliance if they think they can have conditions. Oneworld alliance asked MH to join a while back.. only to have MAS give a condition that both BA & QF move their hub from Singapore to KL. Really now.
MAS management is in denial and believes that with Malaysian Hospitality, people will fly them over anyone else. Take the case if having to choose between KUL and say PEK. MH thinks that people will choose MH over Air China. But with Air China in Star Alliance, people will go with them over so called Malaysian Hospitality. Then there's SkyTeam. MH's reluctance to join them now has given Garuda a chance to join. Lets see the skyteam passengers fly with Garuda over MH soon.
But with JL leaving Oneworld now, it may very well give MH a chance to join a world class alliance and start receiving the number of passengers again. It really cannot survive on its own... without a major alliance.
MAS management is in denial and believes that with Malaysian Hospitality, people will fly them over anyone else. Take the case if having to choose between KUL and say PEK. MH thinks that people will choose MH over Air China. But with Air China in Star Alliance, people will go with them over so called Malaysian Hospitality. Then there's SkyTeam. MH's reluctance to join them now has given Garuda a chance to join. Lets see the skyteam passengers fly with Garuda over MH soon.
But with JL leaving Oneworld now, it may very well give MH a chance to join a world class alliance and start receiving the number of passengers again. It really cannot survive on its own... without a major alliance.
Jan 29, 2010, 4:58 pm
#18
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 209
Thanks Guy Betsy and mario33
Absolutely spot on. I spent lots of time earlier on to search for fares on Star Alliance careers. If some Star Alliance airlines are able to offer similar fares or up to about 25% more, I would have gone for them over MH.
Me too. Many years ago I've discared MH and chosen SQ.
To be honest, I am nostalgic about MH, as it was the airline I used to travel with during my childhood years. Due to an incident which was again due to poor customer service by MH, and the fares between LHR-Australasia is so competitive anyway, I have always stuck to SQ since then.
However, as the fares this time are much cheaper on MH anyway (not LHR-Australasia route), plus I still often remininsce my childhood memories of flying MH, I thought why not give it a go again. But I regretted. It was a disaster. In fact if the refunds are penalty free I would have cancelled the flight to save me all this aggravation.
To Malaysia Airlines, to let you know:
a. Last year when SQ had to cancel one of the flights resulting in an involuntary schedule change, their Indian call centre contacted me and I requested an alternative date. The staff told me that that flight is full on my booking class, but since it is an involuntary change, they will waitlist me and contact the controllers of that flight to allow me on. They said should be within 48h. The next morning (less than 24h later), I received a text telling my waitlist has now been confirmed, and a new itinerary is in my e-mail. Now this is punctuality. Contrast this to MH's Call Centre staff, not one but two had told me "you are only flying in September aren't you" - I had a real sense that they think I am being way too urgent and I should just relax-lah. They never thought people need to finalize holiday plans, plus they weren't aware their inability to adhere to their promised time is precisely the reason why I cannot trust them and had to keep on pushing.
b. Last year as well when Krisflyer was doing their 25% off redemption bookings, somehow the online system is giving only a 15% off redemption. I contacted their Krisflyer number which was 24hours, and reached their Singapore centre. The agent tried doing it for me, and was surprised that it is also only 15% off. She said she'll ask a manager to call me back in the next hour. It was about 1am Singapore Time then, I asked her "are you sure, it's past midnight already?" She said yes. And truly, in the next hour, the manager called, apologised for the inconvenience, asked me and waited for me to book the redemption online, and then recredited my Krisflyer account, not to the 25% discount level but to the 35% discounted level. He even thanked me for pointing this IT problem up. His service was exemplary. Never was I demanding anything, but his apologies, his solving of the problem right there and then and his thanking me for pointing the problem up made me absolutely pleased with his service. Are MH managers able to do this? MH managers, to my knowledge, are treated as gods, held in high 'esteem' such that they are completely incontactable.
Then finally,
As an update to my situation. I received another e-mail itinerary today at 6.30pm UK time. Surprise surprise. My credit card has been charged, but the itinerary now only showed leg 1 of my flight. The leg 2 of the flight, after the stopover, disappeared. Maybe they cancelled my flight? Obviously, an angry e-mail followed.
MAS management also haveto get off their high horse and come to realise that no one is going to 'invite' them to join an airline alliance if they think they can have conditions. Oneworld alliance asked MH to join a while back.. only to have MAS give a condition that both BA & QF move their hub from Singapore to KL. Really now.
MAS management is in denial and believes that with Malaysian Hospitality, people will fly them over anyone else. Take the case if having to choose between KUL and say PEK. MH thinks that people will choose MH over Air China. But with Air China in Star Alliance, people will go with them over so called Malaysian Hospitality. Then there's SkyTeam. MH's reluctance to join them now has given Garuda a chance to join. Lets see the skyteam passengers fly with Garuda over MH soon.
But with JL leaving Oneworld now, it may very well give MH a chance to join a world class alliance and start receiving the number of passengers again. It really cannot survive on its own... without a major alliance.
MAS management is in denial and believes that with Malaysian Hospitality, people will fly them over anyone else. Take the case if having to choose between KUL and say PEK. MH thinks that people will choose MH over Air China. But with Air China in Star Alliance, people will go with them over so called Malaysian Hospitality. Then there's SkyTeam. MH's reluctance to join them now has given Garuda a chance to join. Lets see the skyteam passengers fly with Garuda over MH soon.
But with JL leaving Oneworld now, it may very well give MH a chance to join a world class alliance and start receiving the number of passengers again. It really cannot survive on its own... without a major alliance.
To be honest, I am nostalgic about MH, as it was the airline I used to travel with during my childhood years. Due to an incident which was again due to poor customer service by MH, and the fares between LHR-Australasia is so competitive anyway, I have always stuck to SQ since then.
However, as the fares this time are much cheaper on MH anyway (not LHR-Australasia route), plus I still often remininsce my childhood memories of flying MH, I thought why not give it a go again. But I regretted. It was a disaster. In fact if the refunds are penalty free I would have cancelled the flight to save me all this aggravation.
To Malaysia Airlines, to let you know:
a. Last year when SQ had to cancel one of the flights resulting in an involuntary schedule change, their Indian call centre contacted me and I requested an alternative date. The staff told me that that flight is full on my booking class, but since it is an involuntary change, they will waitlist me and contact the controllers of that flight to allow me on. They said should be within 48h. The next morning (less than 24h later), I received a text telling my waitlist has now been confirmed, and a new itinerary is in my e-mail. Now this is punctuality. Contrast this to MH's Call Centre staff, not one but two had told me "you are only flying in September aren't you" - I had a real sense that they think I am being way too urgent and I should just relax-lah. They never thought people need to finalize holiday plans, plus they weren't aware their inability to adhere to their promised time is precisely the reason why I cannot trust them and had to keep on pushing.
b. Last year as well when Krisflyer was doing their 25% off redemption bookings, somehow the online system is giving only a 15% off redemption. I contacted their Krisflyer number which was 24hours, and reached their Singapore centre. The agent tried doing it for me, and was surprised that it is also only 15% off. She said she'll ask a manager to call me back in the next hour. It was about 1am Singapore Time then, I asked her "are you sure, it's past midnight already?" She said yes. And truly, in the next hour, the manager called, apologised for the inconvenience, asked me and waited for me to book the redemption online, and then recredited my Krisflyer account, not to the 25% discount level but to the 35% discounted level. He even thanked me for pointing this IT problem up. His service was exemplary. Never was I demanding anything, but his apologies, his solving of the problem right there and then and his thanking me for pointing the problem up made me absolutely pleased with his service. Are MH managers able to do this? MH managers, to my knowledge, are treated as gods, held in high 'esteem' such that they are completely incontactable.
Then finally,
As an update to my situation. I received another e-mail itinerary today at 6.30pm UK time. Surprise surprise. My credit card has been charged, but the itinerary now only showed leg 1 of my flight. The leg 2 of the flight, after the stopover, disappeared. Maybe they cancelled my flight? Obviously, an angry e-mail followed.
Last edited by chowinlondon; Jan 29, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Jan 30, 2010, 12:51 am
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 12
Speechless......
Thanks Guy Betsy and mario33
Absolutely spot on. I spent lots of time earlier on to search for fares on Star Alliance careers. If some Star Alliance airlines are able to offer similar fares or up to about 25% more, I would have gone for them over MH.
Me too. Many years ago I've discared MH and chosen SQ.
To be honest, I am nostalgic about MH, as it was the airline I used to travel with during my childhood years. Due to an incident which was again due to poor customer service by MH, and the fares between LHR-Australasia is so competitive anyway, I have always stuck to SQ since then.
However, as the fares this time are much cheaper on MH anyway (not LHR-Australasia route), plus I still often remininsce my childhood memories of flying MH, I thought why not give it a go again. But I regretted. It was a disaster. In fact if the refunds are penalty free I would have cancelled the flight to save me all this aggravation.
To Malaysia Airlines, to let you know:
a. Last year when SQ had to cancel one of the flights resulting in an involuntary schedule change, their Indian call centre contacted me and I requested an alternative date. The staff told me that that flight is full on my booking class, but since it is an involuntary change, they will waitlist me and contact the controllers of that flight to allow me on. They said should be within 48h. The next morning (less than 24h later), I received a text telling my waitlist has now been confirmed, and a new itinerary is in my e-mail. Now this is punctuality. Contrast this to MH's Call Centre staff, not one but two had told me "you are only flying in September aren't you" - I had a real sense that they think I am being way too urgent and I should just relax-lah. They never thought people need to finalize holiday plans, plus they weren't aware their inability to adhere to their promised time is precisely the reason why I cannot trust them and had to keep on pushing.
b. Last year as well when Krisflyer was doing their 25% off redemption bookings, somehow the online system is giving only a 15% off redemption. I contacted their Krisflyer number which was 24hours, and reached their Singapore centre. The agent tried doing it for me, and was surprised that it is also only 15% off. She said she'll ask a manager to call me back in the next hour. It was about 1am Singapore Time then, I asked her "are you sure, it's past midnight already?" She said yes. And truly, in the next hour, the manager called, apologised for the inconvenience, asked me and waited for me to book the redemption online, and then recredited my Krisflyer account, not to the 25% discount level but to the 35% discounted level. He even thanked me for pointing this IT problem up. His service was exemplary. Never was I demanding anything, but his apologies, his solving of the problem right there and then and his thanking me for pointing the problem up made me absolutely pleased with his service. Are MH managers able to do this? MH managers, to my knowledge, are treated as gods, held in high 'esteem' such that they are completely incontactable.
Then finally,
As an update to my situation. I received another e-mail itinerary today at 6.30pm UK time. Surprise surprise. My credit card has been charged, but the itinerary now only showed leg 1 of my flight. The leg 2 of the flight, after the stopover, disappeared. Maybe they cancelled my flight? Obviously, an angry e-mail followed.
Absolutely spot on. I spent lots of time earlier on to search for fares on Star Alliance careers. If some Star Alliance airlines are able to offer similar fares or up to about 25% more, I would have gone for them over MH.
Me too. Many years ago I've discared MH and chosen SQ.
To be honest, I am nostalgic about MH, as it was the airline I used to travel with during my childhood years. Due to an incident which was again due to poor customer service by MH, and the fares between LHR-Australasia is so competitive anyway, I have always stuck to SQ since then.
However, as the fares this time are much cheaper on MH anyway (not LHR-Australasia route), plus I still often remininsce my childhood memories of flying MH, I thought why not give it a go again. But I regretted. It was a disaster. In fact if the refunds are penalty free I would have cancelled the flight to save me all this aggravation.
To Malaysia Airlines, to let you know:
a. Last year when SQ had to cancel one of the flights resulting in an involuntary schedule change, their Indian call centre contacted me and I requested an alternative date. The staff told me that that flight is full on my booking class, but since it is an involuntary change, they will waitlist me and contact the controllers of that flight to allow me on. They said should be within 48h. The next morning (less than 24h later), I received a text telling my waitlist has now been confirmed, and a new itinerary is in my e-mail. Now this is punctuality. Contrast this to MH's Call Centre staff, not one but two had told me "you are only flying in September aren't you" - I had a real sense that they think I am being way too urgent and I should just relax-lah. They never thought people need to finalize holiday plans, plus they weren't aware their inability to adhere to their promised time is precisely the reason why I cannot trust them and had to keep on pushing.
b. Last year as well when Krisflyer was doing their 25% off redemption bookings, somehow the online system is giving only a 15% off redemption. I contacted their Krisflyer number which was 24hours, and reached their Singapore centre. The agent tried doing it for me, and was surprised that it is also only 15% off. She said she'll ask a manager to call me back in the next hour. It was about 1am Singapore Time then, I asked her "are you sure, it's past midnight already?" She said yes. And truly, in the next hour, the manager called, apologised for the inconvenience, asked me and waited for me to book the redemption online, and then recredited my Krisflyer account, not to the 25% discount level but to the 35% discounted level. He even thanked me for pointing this IT problem up. His service was exemplary. Never was I demanding anything, but his apologies, his solving of the problem right there and then and his thanking me for pointing the problem up made me absolutely pleased with his service. Are MH managers able to do this? MH managers, to my knowledge, are treated as gods, held in high 'esteem' such that they are completely incontactable.
Then finally,
As an update to my situation. I received another e-mail itinerary today at 6.30pm UK time. Surprise surprise. My credit card has been charged, but the itinerary now only showed leg 1 of my flight. The leg 2 of the flight, after the stopover, disappeared. Maybe they cancelled my flight? Obviously, an angry e-mail followed.
Jan 30, 2010, 3:14 am
#20
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 88
There is nothing to be proud of the abused term Malaysian Hospitality! Took KUL - YOG flight on redemption in Y yesterday. No IFE, no in flight magazine, no duty free sale, limited copies of newspaper, limited pillows and blankets That left many passegers loads of time to do nothing. One half filled cup of juice and a miserable carbo laden snack box is all one gets .... Malaysian Hospitality my $&@$ ! .... such mediocre offering even AK beats it hands down. I am now truly ashamed of MH. Do keep us posted on the long haul product offering.
Jan 30, 2010, 8:36 am
#21
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: SEA(sia)
Posts: 5,181
Eeerrr... why should passengers be ashamed of airlines they fly with 
And to be fair to MH; KUL-JOG is only a 2hr flight, not sure what form of IFE you expect & you cant expect them to carry enough blankets for every passenger in Y (I am even surprised they do for these short haul flights), and honestly inflight duty free sale is a waste of time & effort.
And to be fair to MH; KUL-JOG is only a 2hr flight, not sure what form of IFE you expect & you cant expect them to carry enough blankets for every passenger in Y (I am even surprised they do for these short haul flights), and honestly inflight duty free sale is a waste of time & effort.
Last edited by mario33; Jan 30, 2010 at 8:48 am
Jan 30, 2010, 8:44 am
#22
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 209
Jan 30, 2010, 8:53 am
#23
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: SEA(sia)
Posts: 5,181
Its the management and ground staff who should be "ashamed" of themselves
Jan 30, 2010, 9:33 am
#24
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 88
Eeerrr... why should passengers be ashamed of airlines they fly with
And to be fair to MH; KUL-JOG is only a 2hr flight, not sure what form of IFE you expect & you cant expect them to carry enough blankets for every passenger in Y (I am even surprised they do for these short haul flights), and honestly inflight duty free sale is a waste of time & effort.
And to be fair to MH; KUL-JOG is only a 2hr flight, not sure what form of IFE you expect & you cant expect them to carry enough blankets for every passenger in Y (I am even surprised they do for these short haul flights), and honestly inflight duty free sale is a waste of time & effort.
Last edited by kenyalang69; Jan 30, 2010 at 9:36 am Reason: Wrong spelling
Jan 30, 2010, 2:53 pm
#25
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 209
Their management and ground staff, on the other hand, are definitely a liability to them. Long delays (or even no reply) to e-mails, being passed from person to person on a call centre, promised time not adhered to, luggage being tampered/vandalised at KUL... I shall stop here.
Let's hope the OP, david.chai's matter is being progressed swiftly.
Jan 31, 2010, 4:23 am
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 12
Thanks mate...
That I agree totally. Their cabin crew whilst, not necessarily the best I have encountered (Singapore Airlines is way better in my opinion), has been certainly positive to me.
Their management and ground staff, on the other hand, are definitely a liability to them. Long delays (or even no reply) to e-mails, being passed from person to person on a call centre, promised time not adhered to, luggage being tampered/vandalised at KUL... I shall stop here.
Let's hope the OP, david.chai's matter is being progressed swiftly.
Their management and ground staff, on the other hand, are definitely a liability to them. Long delays (or even no reply) to e-mails, being passed from person to person on a call centre, promised time not adhered to, luggage being tampered/vandalised at KUL... I shall stop here.
Let's hope the OP, david.chai's matter is being progressed swiftly.
Jan 31, 2010, 5:13 pm
#27
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: ZRH
Programs: LX HON***, FB Silver, BA Silver, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt GP, Hertz Gold, GHA Black
Posts: 830
really sorry to hear this story but I just can confirm that MH ground staff is not really capable. Check-in, call center, baggage etc. wherever you go..they are still feel working for a government owned airline...so relax...no work pressure..sorry and sad to say as I believe the crew in the airline does a good job but they can't repair the peoples experience before they get to the aircraft.
Jan 31, 2010, 8:56 pm
#28
Join Date: Dec 2009
Programs: Hilton Honors, Marriott Rewards, Starwood, Krisflyer, Enrich, Asiamiles
Posts: 21
The MH slogan was Idris Jala's idea and he is a good marketer. Perhaps he thought he can use it internally to muster his troops into moving up to the next service level. Now that he has left, and having hyped up the MH label, the people at MAS are clueless what to do. The crew are generally nice people - their smile and emotions tend to be more real than some other airlines - with plastic smiles or the 'don't try that with me honey!" attitude of some US airlines. But that's only the start - competencies are very, very, patchy, especially on local and short haul flights. The crew generally does not know how to respond to issues - either through customer service or on-board; all they do, if at all they do, is apologise sweetly. If all that was not enough, they tried to also attack the low cost sector - with their 5 star value campaign. Now they are not only to be the best but the cheapest. Talk about tall orders.
I feel sad for MAS, having been subject to a build up of hype they never believed they could deliver in the first place. Imagine a Toyota Camry (a nice car) being hyped as Porshe beater at Volkswagen prices! What would you do if you were in their place?
I feel sad for MAS, having been subject to a build up of hype they never believed they could deliver in the first place. Imagine a Toyota Camry (a nice car) being hyped as Porshe beater at Volkswagen prices! What would you do if you were in their place?
Feb 1, 2010, 6:42 pm
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 12
Tan Wai Fong
Dear Guy,
Thanks for your continued faith in us! Rest assured that we're looking into this.
David, chowinlondon,
We are truly sorry for this level of inconvenience. While it may be a systems error, it's essential that we rectify this to avoid similar incidences for other customers - for this, we are grateful for your feedback. Please allow me some time to bring this matter up to the Heads of Department and I will personally see to it that we address your cases soonest.
Please let us win back your confidence. Thank you.
Regards,
Tan Wai Fong,
Head, Media Relations
Malaysia Airlines
Thanks for your continued faith in us! Rest assured that we're looking into this.
David, chowinlondon,
We are truly sorry for this level of inconvenience. While it may be a systems error, it's essential that we rectify this to avoid similar incidences for other customers - for this, we are grateful for your feedback. Please allow me some time to bring this matter up to the Heads of Department and I will personally see to it that we address your cases soonest.
Please let us win back your confidence. Thank you.
Regards,
Tan Wai Fong,
Head, Media Relations
Malaysia Airlines