A Rant, But a Good Reflection Of Filipino Culture
Ten more days in the office and I bump into bureaucratic woes. The scientist in me believes that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But for some reason the people around me takes pride in going through tangeted loops just to get from one point to another.
For the record, I’ve always hated the red tape here both in government and private offices: Where you need ten signatures to get an ample supply of paper clips, and have to start the ball rolling some 6 months in advance to get things done when you need it. Just how efficient is that?
And then when you make a follow-up after 3 months, you’ll find out that your paper is stucked in somebody’s table simply because there has been a mishap in the signatory loop. Arggggh…
So to get what you want today, the request you made yesterday wouldn’t grant you your wishes, you should have placed the request 6 months ago!
And then when you complain and attack their working system, you end up as the “out of this world” bad guy who’s got time-management problems who personally attacks the employees who are apparently doing everything in their power to be the best in their assigned jobs.
My goodness, when will we ever get out of such a rotten system?!
Ten days…ten days more of this. :-S
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POSTED IN: General: Philippine Culture, Personal Experiences
August 1st, 2007 at 11:47 am
Greetings!
I am Rodolfo D. Aniceto (72 years old) from Pampanga. I am related to his Most Rev. Paciano B. Aniceto, DD. We are holding GUM/MNL/GUM ticket. Ako po ay na off load last 28 July 2007 from Manila. My wife and I traveled together. She is a handicap passenger and on wheelchair with catheter. She underwent cataract surgery two weeks back.
My It’s about experience started when I check-in at 730pm for GUM and your staff NING said that I cannot be boarded because I hold a non-revenue ticket as they are only accepting revenue passengers without any other reason but that. I told her what PAL Guam office told me that I will not encounter any problem and my booking was ok and confirmed with seat assignments but she would not hear me as she said they do not honor anything from Guam. I even have it my booking reconfirmed. I asked for her complete name but she refused to answer me. She just told me that I cannot be boarded that’s all. She was affront rude and disrespectful. She asked me to get out of the line and wait if I want. She can check-in my incapacitated wife can be boarded without any problem.
Why is your staff overly rude and disrespectful? We waited until the closure of the counter for Guam. Unfortunately, we were not taken in for consideration and compassion. We were not minded at all. The porter brought us to counter 13 for the reschedule for the following day. They gave us a gift of rebooking NUF free. Was it my problem to get into this dilemma? Your staff at counter 13 shouted and told me that her transaction will be long and we cannot wait for her. It was good thing that the guy occupying counter 11 observed what has happened and called us to assist and help. He gave us sorry head shake when I said I was off-loaded for no valid explanation except that I am a non-revenue ticket holder. That was already 10pm. We did not have our dinner and my pitiful wife was so stressed out and hungry. My problem was where the hell will we stay and rest until your 10:20pm flight for the following day? Throbbing pain and anger ang feeling ko for the inconsideration you gave my wife and me. We finally ate at 2am.
I did not ask and begged for the ticket. I won the promo and in our excitement we decided to buy another for my wife and what a presumably happy homecoming experience turned out be a miserable incident. Had I known that I will be overly bothered using the ticket they awarded me - I will refuse the free travel outright.
We do not deserve your appalling treatment.
The following day your customer relations officers (duty officer should be helping pax like me at 6am)but was never available. Only the guards were there. Where are they? The Guards are your customer relations officers as they feed and keep giving me numbers to call (879-5698/5916/5918/5917/5920/8558000) that are neither working or a fax phone or just ringing.
Finally at 930am, someone answered and handed it to a certain Rene Reyes, who talked to me and said that I cannot be boarded as the flight was over booked and my priority is PD8 meaning that my ticket is bookable but can be off loaded anytime without any notice. If I want to be boarded I need to change my priority code to N with the VP and that will be very hard, she said. And will still wait til Monday.
I was also advise that my wife was off-loaded due to an immigration problem and the counter people were the only ones who knew about it. How can that be possible, we never had the chance to reach the Immigration due to my outright bumped off. She was not off-loaded in the first place. She is incapacitated and will need someone to assist her to go the Immigration.
Why all these problems cropped up and presumed when it was just a plain classic case of an unexplained off-loading a promo winner of a non-rev ticket? Very good Advertisement.
FYI, we are green card holders and her passport expires in 2011 and our documents are inorder.
We are poor elderly passengers but we are not beggars to be push around the way you did to my wife and me.
This is a pitiful and deplorable experience for someone who housed and accommodated your staff out of kindness for months (Agnes Buenaventura and another male person from your PAL Sales office in Manila) from an unknown environment years ago when they were assigned in Guam without any compensation.
Why is respect for elders out-dated and obsolete?
Are your staff foreign to compassion and consideration?
Are these the kind of high-tech training they get now?
The slogan “It’s about experience” that you are very proud to claim was made sure was done to us.
Mine will be My Pal’s Pathetic Experience (MYPalPAc EX).
I know you will do nothing about my My Pal’s Pathetic Experience.
Now I know that your airline represents mga PINOY na mayabang at bastos and your airline is elder-unfriendly. You made us feel that we are nothing. That you do not need our business. Ayaw ninyo ng bother na walang monetary na kapalit. You all do not believe in respect and sincerity.
Kaya nga “It’s about experience”. Good or bad it’s still about experience.
Bastos kayo! Wala kayong respect.
You have no regard for the elderly.
May you experience the extreme thoughtlessness and insensitivity you provided my wife.
CAPITAL BASTOS kayo MGA TAGA PHILIPPINE AIRLINES.
I REFUSE TO BE A FILIPINO KUNG KASAMA KO KAYO
MGA TAGA PHILIPPINE AIRLINES.
NAKAKAHIYA KAYO!
I will refuse PAL TICKET UNTIL I die.
Thank you and GOD Bless!
Rodolfo D. Aniceto
I am listed in Guam directory.
Promo Winner / Whiner
August 9th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Greetings!
Here is a copy of my email to PAL.
to Poch_Azucena@pal.com.ph” ,
rey_garcia@pal.com.ph,
ajo_tan@pal.com.ph,
puds_laraya@pal.com.ph,
Marilou_Mendoza@pal.com.ph,
viclo@kuentos.guam.net
date Aug 6, 2007 8:13 PM
subject Re: Aniceto/Rodolfo R/BM63P2 GUM/MNL/GUM - REF:MNL/CPN/310707/20855
mailed-by gmail.com
Greetings!
It’s been a week but all I get was sorry and further patience.
WHY IS PAL TAKING SO LONG TO ANSWER ME?
They are most likely trying to lose/mislay all pertinent records about my complain. The next we knew the records were all washed out by the computer and have forgetten all about it.
And nothing more is heard from PAL.
What are they are covering and washing out?
Or was there ever an investigation being done in first place?
Was there ever a looking out and securing of the handling details being made?
Mother of the maybes was the staff relative to the owners or politicians or high people?
Or may I ask what I am expecting?
A poor old man should not anticipate anything from the Giants.
Their staff shoo the old dogs and that’s it. PAL THINKS THAT
no matter what clarification you need if you are poor and nobody you will never get anything practically NOTHING!
I need explanation on the terrible dilemma we went through.
Winning a PAL Ticket is such a pain.
YOU HAVE YOUR PROMO IN MICRONESIA MALL AND I WON THERE. WAS IT A SIN TO WIN IN YOUR PROMOS?
We have earned respect in our lives somehow.
Respect is our pride how can we pride ourselves now?
WHY MUST THIS BE DONE TO US IN OUR RIPEN YEARS?
Had I know this will happen…
I should have thrown my PAL ticket or could have donated it to the dogs instead.
I should have considered Hawaii for my wife cataract surgery than my country.
I could have refrain and have spared us from this bad experience.
I could have not subjected my wife with that very miserable experience.
Or I should have taken Continental Airlines.
Maybe until now I STILL have high regards for my country’s airline.