Was it only January this year when the Civil Aeronautics Board slapped Cebu Pacific with an unprecedented P52 million fine for operational lapses and a disproportionate number of delayed and canceled flights over the Christmas holidays?
If I didn’t google it, I wouldn’t be sure at all because it seems Cebu Pacific continues to earn the ire of some of its passengers.
Acclaimed Film and TV director Lore Reyes just recently posted a rather long rant over being charged fees for travel insurance which he opted out of.
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F**k you, Cebu Pacific.
Cheats of the first order.
I just bought a ticket online and I definitely unchecked the Travel Insurance option. Only to find out in the final receipt AFTER PAYMENT that somehow you tricked me into NOT NOTICING that the Travel Insurance that I NEVER WANTED was back and included in my bill.
I know what you’ll say. Alam ko tatanga-tanga ako that I didn’t notice your sleight-of-hand deception in your website.
Pero just the same, F**K YOU ALL, CEBU PACIFIC!
Maging CEO ninyo sana si Noynoy Aquino!!!
His complaint didn’t go unnoticed and the airline did try to make amends with the film director. However, Reyes pointed out that the flaw in the website’s booking/sales page which caused him to rant hasn’t been fixed.
UPDATE: Jeus Somera of Cebu Pacific Guest Relations emailed me promising to reverse the insurance charges that I did not opt for but that I was deceived into paying for.
My reply to Cebu Pacific:
Gentlemen:
I appreciate the gesture.
But you cannot deny that you have a deceitfully designed website, where it would take more than above average diligence, focus and patience to get past your traps of automatically reserved paid seats and travel insurance. That is plain and simple deceit, and I hope you will not deign to deny that.
Whether you decide to change your deviously designed booking page is up to you. I and many of my colleagues in the entertainment, arts and film community never fly your airline for many other reasons, but you just added another reason not to fly Cebu Pacific. Profit drives you. (I should have said GREED instead of profit.) Not service.
You have deliberately put in TRAPS in your booking website that will cause the unwitting customer to pay for services that they don’t want, don’t need, and cannot afford to pay for.
Kawawa naman ang mga Pilipino. Ninanakawan na ng mga nasa gobyerno, pinagluluko pa ng mga nasa private sector na walang konsyensya tulad ng company ninyo.
Lorenzo A. Reyes
I bet Direk Lore isn’t the only one who experienced this and the problem with Cebu Pacific’s website will continue to dupe passengers into paying a fee that they may have opted out off.
In the sales page of other websites, additional options are usually offered before the check-out. But in this case, the default option includes the additional options and so the airlines may be making money from passengers in a very dubious way.
What? Did I hear someone say economic liberalization will solve this? Well tough luck guys, that ain’t gonna happen soon.
Writer.
I had been making my bookings online with cebu pacific for the last 5 years but i had not bought their insurance for the simple reason it does not issue you a certificate stating what you are insured for in detail.Unless it does that, it is practically taking their customers for being fools.
Of course, economic liberalization can solve this problem. Here’s how – book at philippinearilines.com
Cebu Pacific sucks ass. Its just ike everything else in the FAIL-ippines: A SCAM. Once,while waiting to GTFOH, the airline said that it was cancelling the AM flight to Manila out of CDO,yes? they said it was due to ‘mechanical difficulties’ BUT THEY WERE LYING ! The AM flight was not 50% full and so Cebu_pacific made everyone who was booked on the AM flight wait until the afternoon flight was sold out to leave and get to Manila. The company is a bunch of cut-throat scumbags that lie to everyone that flies on their planes,treat their employee’s like slaves and never service their aircraft. Due to the nature of lawsuits NEVER seeing the light of day in the Philippines,they can get away with anything,including manslaughter.
You see,Cebu_Pacific has a policy of not taking the plane into the air until planes get sold out, that is the reason for the delays. THAT IS IT, right there.I know this for a fact. and it will continue because they make mor ePeso’s that way and the $1.2 million dollar fine (P52M)will be clawed back by the continuance of this and other shoddy business practices. FUCK CEBU-PACIFIC !
The jeepneys of the air.
You know this for a fact, how? I’ve flown to provinces via cebu pac and there were times that the plane was almost empty. They used smaller planes, of course, which makes sense too.
I recently tried to book Cebu Pacific from the U.S. it took me 6 hours to FINALLY be able to pay for my flight. It kept kicking me off when I wanted to pay. Oh, and how convinient, the price doubled! After all my efforts on all three flights, I spent a total of 9 hours trying to book my flights. Be very aware when booking, it automatically ads food. If you opt out, you have to do it 2 to 3 times for it to become 0. Same with all the other extras. I feel bad for people that are just scratching by when buying their ticket. It is a Budget Airline and I appreciate that, I just do not appreciate their tricks. Not fair to any customer. I bought the extra insurances… only because I know of thier bad record of delays. Cursing does not get anyone anywhere… Though it feels better when you let it out, it is not professional. How do you expect anyone to take you into consideration if you say the, “F ” word or anything else along those lines. Cebu Pacific, stop tricking people! Otherwise you will be Boycoted and lose a lot of valued Customers!
Really? So who says that cursing gets you nowhere? and exactly where does not cursing get you? same place,huh?
DUH !!!!
kung same lang pala ang ending, ba’t kailangan pa mag-mura? cursing shows how ill-mannered you are; no class, no breeding.
“For lack of better term. Greed is good…” “It works…” According to the movie:”Wall Street”.
Notnto defend CebuPac (which very plaainly sucks) but very often it is the client’s own fault leading to “sticker-shock” for failing to check a box on a website or choosing the wrong options leading to higher charges. A business conducting business online should be able to retrieve logs or a record of the options a client chooses in order to defend itself later against suits.
I do understand that user-friendliness of a website is a big issue (there is a big difference between having travel insurance as the defalut rather than as an option), but that in itself isn’t enough to make someone a cheat in my book.
It is not user friendly. I too am not defending the Airline…but people really do need to pay attention while booking. Example: When you book on first option it gives you one price…ok, i thought $2,850P it includes the extra fees…cool. But wait! You click continue all of a sudden the price changed from $2,850P to $5,200P. Hmmmm, why is it $2,150P more? So that is when “Carefully” read each line to see why the price it originally quoted me drastically changed. Then that is when I did the extra work of unselecting the extra things I did not need. They do charge more to select a seat, but budget airlines always try to make up price somewhere… My point is… People, just pay attention. Always print a copy of your receipt or take picture of screen for proof. This way they don’t figure another way to get you at Airport… I fly Cebu because it is affordable… I do not like the service 100%… but then again… it is a Budget Airline after all..
Good luck all!
“But wait! You click continue all of a sudden the price changed from $2,850P to $5,200P. Hmmmm, why is it $2,150P more? So that is when “Carefully” read each line to see why the price it originally quoted me drastically changed”
If it’s a budget flight, the option should be direct and regular or promo tickets should remain cheap. Kaya pala gusto nila every Juan ang makalipad kasi karamihan kina Juan madali magoyo at walang magawa kundi magpasensya.
Cebu Paciifc sucks balls! Anywtime I take Cebu it’s the same sorry ass excuse from the fligh crew. “Thank you for your patience and we apologize for the delay, just sit back and enjoy the flight”. How the fuck can I enjoy sitting on the plane for 45 min’s waiting for the flight to take off or land! Their flights are never on time…ever! I take PAL as much as I can, and the difference in price is worth the headache.
Cebu Paciifc sucks balls! Anywtime I take Cebu it’s the same sorry ass excuse from the fligh crew. “Thank you for your patience and we apologize for the delay, just sit back and enjoy the flight”. How the fuck can I enjoy sitting on the plane for 45 min’s waiting for the flight to take off or land! Their flights are never on time…ever! I take PAL as much as I can, and the difference in price is worth the it.
it takes a really huge personality to have these things get noticed, these things happen everyday to us ordinary people, pardon me Direct Lorie Reyes, it had to be you so that the deceitful practice of this company finally be noticed……
I used to prefer CEB when they still stand to be a budget airline. Not anymore as most of the time (without any promotion), CEB is more expensive than non-budget airlines because of the many extra charges when you book online.
bbut but.. you can say the same thing for pinoy cinema, right? all that money for a ticket and you get what.. a corny love story? a comedy horror flick? even supposed indie events like cinemalaya are a disappointment.
When you see their booking site and compare it with PAL you will think that they have cheaper fares as they put only the basic, in the end you will have to pay for everything. I think same goes for all Low Cost Airlines, however when you book for let’s say Air Asia it is presented with clarity.
Anyway in addition to this is their rude cabin crews. I remember one time that a cabin crew wants my husband to give way to her inside the plane and to think that my husband is carrying two bags and my baby. She did not even offered a hand, but instead her gestures was to let my husband give way to her. We did not complain for humanitarian reasons that she has a family to spend with. I hope that this will be ammended in the future.
got victimized by cebu pacific recently as well. I’m a 100% sure that I booked round trip tickets with baggage allowances for all the passengers but upon checking in the counter, my baggage allowance didnt reflect. I argued with the reservations agent because I made my booking last February 13, 2015 and that was before they did a redesign of their website. Its possible that my baggage allowance got lost after their redesign. I paid P1,800 on the spot just to have our baggages checked in and its more expensive than if you booked on their website. I couldnt argue with the ground attendant because she couldnt understand how a simple redesign from a website can affect the live data although I really tried to reason out with her. If you notice they changed the way you book flights. There are now three columns : base fare, Book base fare + meal, base fare + baggage etc.. I believe that affected my booking last February 13, 2015 when there’s only two columns that we are familiar with: regular fare and promo fares then the succeeding pages is where you add baggages and meals.
The travel insurance is a huge trap as well. You cant uncheck that during booking and who needs that anyway? Almost all credit card companies now provide travel insurances.
After all this I dont want to book for a flight at cebu pacific anymore unless its the last resort.
Seats are crammed also from rows 15 to the back and youre forced to buy the seats in front for P350 per seat. There’s wider legroom from rows 1 to 5 where they sell those seats.
I have a lot of complaints with this airline and my complaints will only go to waste if I call their customer hotline. It doesnt solve the problem.
Who cares if he’s an acclaimed director? He apparently doesnt know how to navigate a website properly. I’ve flown plenty of times with Cebu Pacific and with other Legacy Airlines using their respective websites to purchase my flight tickets.
I’m not defending Cebu Pacific or any airlines for that matter but using a website to spend your money without fully understanding what you’re paying for is foolish. There are travel agents who would gladly do the booking for you at minimal cost or if you’re that stupid to even know how to contact an agent, go to the airport directly. If he is as important as he makes himself sound to be, then he can afford to pay the premium when purchasing a ticket last minute.
So, instead of accepting his mistake and contacting the airline directly, he writes a foul mouthed account of what he experienced. Further proving that he is only doing this for attention.
But then, the kicker is, the airline wanted to make amends, but instead of being gracious and accepting the refund, he writes another letter letting everyone know that he’s from the entertainment industry. Like that is supposed to impress a company who makes 3 billion pesos a year. In cases like these, i think diplomacy would have been a better choice.
Hellooo! Isn’t that the reason of his rant? He knew what he was paying for or in this case, what he was not paying for and he was still charged for it. It is his prerogative to rant in his FB page. It’s not his fault that the press picked it up and made it news.
And before you deny that you are defending Cebulok Pacific, try to read the other horror stories here.
And by the way, I am not defending the acclaimed director. Mwahahahaha!
Think before you click.
we have a tendency to skip to the bottom of the website ’cause we cant be bothered to read an entire page. I’ve booked my flights using cebu pacific’s website many times and i’ve never encountered this kind of problem. here’s why: i always double check before confirming my purchase. kahit pag nagbubook ako ng flight sa website ng PAL or Air Asia, or any other airline, PALAGI ako nagdodouble check.
I booked first time to their airline, and already made payment, then their website crashed down. Afraid my booking got thru, I go to their nearest ticketing office, they checked my name, email even the card that I used, they said my booking wasnt confirmed. Im still not convinced, because they already had some bad issues regarding booking online. So,I called my friend to checked her bank if its been charged to her card or not, the bank returned back to us with the transaction ref, whIch means its been already charged. So, i get back to their ticketing office and they cannot answered me. Instead they me to call their customer service for further inquiries. After i resolved the issues, waiting for so many hours to answer me then pass me back and forth I never tried to booked to their airline again.
And redeeming they make redemption of their Cebu Pacific Citibank Vouchers a very complicated process.
Went to cebu pac office to accompany an aged relative, with his gov’t ids presented and with him looking reallyold, he was denied the senior citezen discount.
Kainis!
I still fly with cebu pacific because it gives us the opportunity to fly on budget. Gone are the days when only the rich could go on tour to foreign destination. Thanks for the Piso fare.
Sorry to say that this article is a bit unprofessional. Biased na biased ang author. I’ve used various airlines and booked online. All sites have charges here and there. But budget airlines would have more “choices” than non budget airlines as they let you customize your trip. And they are by no means hidden. Lahat yan makikita sa options but a lot of people are lazy to check and blame it on the “website” when the only one to blame is really just oneself. Mahirap sa karamihan ng mga pinoy they don’t like to take responsibility. Laging kasalanan ng iba.
If your conduct is determined solely by considerations of profit, you will arouse great resentment.
I must say, he should get a lawyer if he’s so serious about the complaint or try to amend it nicely with Cebupac to meet his demands, than ranting online, unless of course, he just wants attention.
Failing to read the terms before clicking was his error in booking his flight, just like his failure for posting his reasoning lapses online.
It’s sad to read articles such as this one. Lack of research, biased and plain stupid. I’m sure my comment won’t be published but I just want to tell the writer of this article to at least use a bit of your brain, I’ve flown with AirAsia, TigerAirPH and PALEx, these are all low cost carries just like Cebu Pacific and lahat sila may automatically ticked options, all you have to do is READ. Magbasa lang po, ganun ka simple. Kung ayaw, un-tick. Simple as that. The problem with people like you and Mr. “Director”, when they fly, they want the red carpet treatment, papansinin lahat ng mali at magrereklamo. Typical pinoy flyers. Spoonfeeding ika nga. Tsktsk. Shame on this article, gamitin lang ang utak minsan, di naman masama 🙂
True!!!!! All I read was meaningless ranting from the writer and the guy complaining:)) di siguro marunong gumamit ng booking website.. Tamad kasi mag basa kahit naman dito sa middle east carriers like etihad and emirates ganun yung options, matic naman yun. hay I wish people like them get properly acquainted with the use of a booking website, a little reading wouldn’t hurt you know.
I bet the two of you are one of those dimwits at skyscrapercity who are attacking anyone who is criticizing cebu pacific.
Ano ba tong article na to, walang kwenta eh pareho namang bobo yung nagsulat at nagrereklamo, maski 10 years old na pinsan ko alam kung paano mag uncheck ng extra fees. Basa basa din kasi pag may time. TANGA.
Hahaha buti nga sa kanya.. karma lang yan sa mga pedophile. Pa importante ung putang inang bading na yan.
If you don’t know how to navigate a simple website, read its contents, and uncheck a goddamn option, then don’t book your aged ass online. Call a ticketing agent. I’m pretty sure you won’t accidentally include the insurance talking with them.
Cebu Pacific is garbage. I fly Air Asia or Philippine Airlines within or outside the country.
i have booked with Cebu Pacific countless of times and never have i been charged for Insurance or anything which i did not choose. I make sure to uncheck add ons which i do not like. You do not need a college degree to navigate and uncheck the options. Just common sense.
I also have my share of frustrations with the airline but, everytime I buy online, I make sure everything is In order. Whether cebupacificair or otherwise. Yes there are a lot of add ons that are not “first attempt friendly” so I try to be persistent! It wastes some time in doing the effort though. HOPE THEY WILL FIX IT! YES CEBUPACIFICAIR DID GIVE A LOT OF PINOYS a big chance to travel but that thing is inevitable. Other airlines would’ve done the same in the competition.
Bottom line is, I try to be meticulous before to click the NEXT button.
There are a lot of people flying these days that really should not be flying.I know that sounds bad ,but it is true. Every single moron that has never been in an airport is now infesting the terminals of the countries airports and they show up with too much luggage, cant pay for it, clog the lines and take hours to have things explained. It is as if the streets of the worst ghetto’s ,and their massa manners, have filed into the airports. It is really a mess and all to make a peso. The jalopies that fly in Cebu_pac’s fleet are junk-boxes that do not get serviced its just horrible experience and take your life in your hands when you get on one of these aircraft.Same thing with the Ferry system and it makes the roads the surer ,safer way to travel. I know how that sounds as well, but when I have to get somewhere in the country I drive at night 10 PM to 6 AM and then get off the road, at least there are no nightmare traffic jams and I get where I need to go. The country is just a mess and might be better off sinking.
napaka-burgis mo naman mag-isip. isa ka sa mga salot sa lipunan natin at dahilan kung ba’t di umuunlad ang bansa natin eh. Imbes na makita mo yung mabuting nadulot ng mga low-cost carriers tulad ng cebupac, nilait mo pa yung mga nagpapakahirap magtrabaho malayo sa pamilya nila. These are some of the people you are calling morons. Yung mga hindi kayang makauwi sa pamilya nila madalas dahil mahal ang pamasahe. Nilait mo din yung mga magkakaibigan or magka-pamilya na nagpakahirap mag-ipon para makapag-bakasyon sa ibang lugar dahil halos nagpapakalunod na sila sa trabaho nila. Nakakahiya naman sayo at naabala ka nila pag-travel mo wherever. Ikaw lang kasi ang naagrabyado sa airport eh. i hope you review what you just wrote and realize that you’re the ghetto with the masa manners and not the people you just insulted.
No I am not. I know how to walk thru/navigate an airport. I know how to weigh my luggage and mark it properly for ID purposes at my reuniting with it at my destination. I am capable of paying for a missed flight if I am late and or miss a flight.You do not like the comment because it is the truth, and that is OK. No one said you would like it to begin with.
I bet your one of those people that goes out at night and can pay a P400 cover charge to get into a nightclub and then has to nurse one drink all night as you cant afford to buy another one,aren’t you? But you’ll clog the dance floor like you own it,won’t you?HERE IS A HINT: if you cant afford to go out?STAY HOME !
i can see you’re annoyed and judgmental too. lol. and “clog the dance floor”? haha. really? is that what you do? lol. i don’t go to night clubs and i’m not poor, if that’s what you’re insinuating. And by the way, check your grammar :p
Read the direction carefully always.
katamaran lang naman kasi sagot diyan. magkukuripot ka pero di mo naman tinitignan mabuti kung ano pinag-cclick mo. i don’t think cebpac’s website is meant to confuse customers with their purchases. They let you customize what you purchase para makatipid ka. Kay tamad lang kasi natin i-review mga ginagawa natin kaya nagkakaron ng ganitong incident.