Ugh, maybe it’s just me, but when I have a frustrating experience with a customer service rep, I usually feel cranky for at least some portion of the day after the call. Two days ago, I had contacted AirAsia about their infamous credit shell was issued to me when the Novemeber 2011 BKK floods had affected our plans, resulting us to postpone our Asia trip until the end of March.
Long story made short, the credit shell never made it to my email or AirAsia account until the first week of February, long after I had already re-booked my itinerary. The rep argued that the credit was issued by AirAsia on December 15, 2011 and had an expiration date of March 12, 2012. I tried to politely explain to her that I did not have a credit shell on my account until the beginning of February (with paper work to prove), and I kindly asked her if I could apply the credit to the flights I had already booked.
After listening to about 30 minutes of her robotic English, reading from what seemed to be a teleprompter, she kept saying, word-for-word, “We are sorry to inform you that your AirAsia-issued credit shell can not be applied to existing reservations; however, we’d like to invite you to use your credit for future travel to some of our wonderful destinations.” She was clearly not listening to anything I was saying, and like a stubborn bull, she wouldn’t budge. I asked to speak with a supervisor, and of course, they were all “busy assisting other customers”. Um, sure…
So there I was… left to make a choice. Do I let this experience ruin the rest of my weekend, or do I try to make light of it? After my crankiness settled, I decided that my best bet was to hope that one of my readers has some upcoming travel in 2012 that I could apply my credit shell to.
With that said, here’s what I have on the table: an AirAsia credit shell worth 7963.44 THB, approximately $258.
Here’s how this might be beneficial to you:
If you’re thinking about booking upcoming travel on AirAsia anytime in 2012 and don’t mind me booking your ticket for you (credit shell can not be transferred to another account, but I could rebook for a different passenger other than myself), then you’d be a fantastic candidate for this credit shell. Do keep in mind that your reservation must be booked before the expiration in March 12, 2012.
Since I am assuming the possibility that more than one person might be interested in this, I’ll turn this into a contest to make it fair to all. To enter, simply leave a comment with your tentative AirAisa travel plans, along with your most frustrating airline customer service story. I’ll choose a “winner” using random.org on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 9:00 am EST.
I’m hoping someone can benefit from my frustration! That’ll turn my day around, and karma points can be good from what I hear :)
just bought a ticket from EWR to SIN for thanksgiving. need to visit family in HK. probably can do KUL – HKG or SIN – BKI – HKG.
but i have flexible travel plan, so i prefer to maximize your travel credits by buying cheap tickets!
Nice idea, but I cannot use it. I hope it of benefit to someone. I think AirAsia screwed up, but this is the airline business. You’s have far better luck if was a domestic carrier, but I think you are stuck. You’ve probably got a good case, but making them believe it is just not going to work. If you try again, expect the usual GI upset for the next 24 hours. Been there… Good luck!
Does this shell have to be used for travel by the end of this year?
Hi Angelina- I would be ecstatic to win the AirAsia credit. My wife and I just booked our first international trip. We will be flying in to Kuala Lumpur in June. Our plans are to then fly AirAsia to Phuket and Chang Mia, but that portion of the trip has not been booked. As for my most frustrating story, I suppose it was getting stuck in Denver during a snowstorm and then being placed on hold for seemingly ever as I was trying to get out of there as soon as possible. Thank you for the generous contest.
Hi Angelina, I live in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam so I am in a unique position to take advantage of this wonderful offer. I would use the credit shell to purchase tickets for me and my fiance to have a nice weekend getaway to Bangkok in March.
As far as frustrating airline customer service story, I would say it was the time that I booked a trip on Lufthansa from Bangkok to Frankfurt but there was a problem with confirmation. They allowed me to check in and everything. When I appeared at the gate from the lounge before the flight was to depart, they notified me that I must pay full Y for my ticket right there or they would not allow me to board the flight. The manager was in such a rush and so pushy about it and assured me that I could talk to customer service and refund my money at a later time. Well, firstly Lufthansa doesn’t have a customer service line, they only have an online comments box which takes weeks for responses. Over a period of emails for months they decided to deny the refund for the difference which was actually a quite big number. That situation left an extremely bad taste in my mouth for a long time!
I would use the AirAsia credit to get to a few more cities (likely Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh) on my round the world trip to celebrate/mourn turning 30!
Worst customer service experience definitely involved Air France. I had to make it back to the US for an interview and there was a delay on the train (yes, I was cutting it a bit close). Even though the flight was 2 hours delayed they refused to check me in because I had reached the check in desk 50 mins to the originally scheduled flight.
Great stories so far! Glad there are others who can use my credit shell. @Jay, yes travel must be completed by year end 2012. :)
Thanks for the generosity. Need to book some positioning flights from my base in Penang.
Most frustrating experience..hmm.. not being able to check through luggage through PVG and explained by the check-in agent. Later found out there are no luggage transfer services in PVG.
Hi Angelina,
The AirAsia would be great for my trip from Thailand to Singapore May 24 – 27 to visit my friends that will be there the same time as I will be in south east asia.
Worst customer service experience was being left at the airport at IAD during the snow storm last year.
James
Hi Angelina,
Is the credit shell applicable towards new bookings with more than one passenger? Looking to possibly book with AirAsia (haven’t tried them before – but don’t really have any high expectations) for a family vacation in either Easter or the Summer Holidays from Hong Kong to Malaysia or Thailand.
If yes, could me in!
Oops. Left out ‘most frustrating customer service experience’ bit. Most frustrating is definitely with Aeroflot. Family member’s phone probably slipped out of his pocket during the 3-hour flight from Paris to Moscow, and discovered this in transit at the dreaded, dark and gloomy Moscow Sheremetyevo Terminal F. Aeroflot staff not at all interested in problem when asked if they could call someone to check onboard the aircraft we got off, suggested to file a report in Hong Kong – which was around 9-10 hours later instead of on-the-spot at Moscow.
Hi Angelina, I agree with you! Air Asia customer service sucks Big Time! & I try to avoid flying with them lately!
@ Samuel, yes I believe its good for more than 1 passenger… I believe it just deducts from the total reservation :)
@ David: Tell me about it! NEVER again will I consider them…
Thanks for the offer, but my travels are for the beginning of 2013.
Hi Angelina,
This is very generous of you. I live in Bangkok, but my wife’s family lives in Chiang Mai. Now that our son is older than 2 yrs old and have to buy a ticket, we don’t fly as much, so we like to take a family trip on AirAsia to Chiang Mai later this year.
My worst AirAsia experience was taking their 11 pm flight from Shenzhen to Bangkok and having it delayed 4 hours into the middle of the night with no food vouchers, clarification on when we will leave, or any other form of compensatoin.
I want to go to atrip from Delhi to Malaysia and Singapore with my family. I want to enjoy this trip on Airasia!
We want to go on a trip to Australia from India for a family of 3!
I wanted to go to macau to see the Ventian with my friend.heard its great and will travel from India!
I could definitely use the credit. I will be in Thailand in a few months and will be looking to take several trips within Thailand and perhaps Malaysia.
My most frustrating customer service experience is when we missed a connecting flight due to a flight delay on the first flight. The airline only had a daily flight to the destination and the next day’s flight was booked. The airline wanted us to wait two to three days. We ended up giving up on the airline and rented a car instead.
one of my best friends may be moving to Shenzhen so I’d love to use the opportunity to visit with her and travel around the region.
my most frustrating travel experience has been with aeroflot. the evening before our scheduled flight to Cairo via Moscow I received an email saying our flight had been cancelled. I tried desperately to get a customer service representative only to be told the office were closed and then autotransferred to a hold line with what can only be described as Russian elevator music, and finally to one sleepy customer service representative in Russia who at least politely informed me that no English speakers/managers would be available until the morning. By the time I was able to get in contact with someone, it was past the time my mother would have needed to leave to make her connecting flight. Oh and guess what? The flight hadn’t been cancelled. They had no explanation for why we received that email. Utter fail.
I should be teaching English in SE Asia in the next couple of months. I will first of all fly from London to Bali and then spend a month or so in Indonesia, before starting working in Thailand. During the infamous Icelandic volcano I was stranded in Europe, the airline wasn’t any help in allowing me to get back, so I had to get a Eurostar Train in the end, at considerable cost.
Hi,
I’m from Vietnam :)
If you don’t mind, I’ll buy your credit shell.
Please send email to me,
TQ,
Tin.
Hi Angelina –
I apologize for replying to your blog for this but I actually had the same situation happen to me and now I am also stuck with the credit shell for $250 that expires on June 18, 2012. Is anyone interested in them? I will be offering a 30% discount for the tickets.
Please send me an email at thenycjennie@hotmail.com if you are interested.
Thanks!
Jennie
Hi, I also have the same problem here.. but I couldnt change the contacts information to the person who i gave my credit shell to… so any idea ??
Thank you for writing this! The same thing just happened to me with Air Asia X. EGH–so frustrating.
I chose to rebook with JetStar and “save” the credit shell.
Maybe I’ll plan a trip before they expire..? After that, I will never plan future trips with Air Asia.
I have same problem here in Penang with Air Asia. I book flights they always cancel thm and notify me of credit shell too late. I will visit their Air Asia office on CHULIA road as they appear to have blocked me from live chat. Always make sure Air Asia is your last choice. I try Lion Air and other budget airlines before Air Asia especially with recent unexplained flight crashes with all killed on board.
Hello! I currently have $250 in credit shell for Air Asia as well!
I can offer 30% off of the ticket, as long as it can be redeemed by April 15, 2018. (You can book the flight date at any time).
If you are interested,
My email is Kathleendiep@gmail.com.
Hope this offer can work out for the both of us.