Dear ASS Editors,
I booked air tickets for my parents to attend my wedding ceremony in Chongqing on 19 Dec 2015. They were scheduled to take AirAsia flight AK712 from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and flight AK192 from Kuala Lumpur to Chongqing on 16 Dec 2015. Due to 2 hours delay in flight AK712 departure, they missed their flight AK192 in Kuala Lumpur. AirAsia arranged for their accomodation in Kuala Lumpur and arranged for them to take the same flight on the following day.
My parents arrived Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at about 5:00pm on 17 Dec 2015. Though there were many passengers waiting to check-in for their flights, only 2 counters were opened to process the check-in. It was later reduced to 1 counter despite the fact that many passengers have yet to check-in. My parents were delayed for 3 hours and missed their flight which departed Kuala Lumpur on 7:50pm
Flight from Kuala Lumpur to Chongqing was fully booked on 18 Dec 2015. They decided to book their return tickets to Singapore on 19 Dec 2015 because they knew they could not make it on time to attend my wedding. As the result, their return tickets from Chongqing to Singapore on 21 Dec 2015 were 'wasted'.
During my attempts to contact them for refund of my parents 'wasted' return tickets, I was disappointed to realize that :
(1) AirAsia do not have an office in Singapore. Not even a local phone number for customers to contact them.
(2) Their reply was standard format claiming that operational problems caused the delay. In fact the delay was due to 1 counter serving hundred of passengers during checked in.
(3) When I tried to claim travel insurance online, I could not continue after a pop-up message "Please note that currently we ONLY allow claims departing from Malaysia" was displayed. What is the point of selling travelling insurance for Singapore customers when customers will not be allowed to make any claims?
AirAsia has lost thousands of dollars in revenue from me and my parents as we travel to China at least once a year. I will share my experience with my colleagues, friends and relatives when they plan to fly with AirAsia.
Will you fly with an airline who does not even has a contact number in Singapore?
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