A Rant on 5J - Cebu Pacific!

Okay, now before I continue with my post, let me make it clear that I love 5J! I've been flying with Cebu Pacific Air since 2006, and so far, so good. I mean, they do give out great deals and you get what you pay for. I only get irked when they contradict themselves. Forget that they made me pay 3000+pesos in excess baggage just so I can transport breastmilk back to the Philippines from Hong Kong. I offered to have them taste it to make sure it wasn't dangerous, but they wouldn't let me carry it because I didn't have a baby with me. I mean, breastfeeding advocates should push for breastmilk baggage allowance on flights! Who wants to pump and throw??!! Gaaah!

Anyway, last year, when traveling with RL, A and their nanny back to Manila from Hong Kong, we were told that RL's stroller counts as part of my baggage allowance of 15kg! Uh, hello.... your website specifically says that a stroller is allowed carriage ON TOP of the baggage allowance, provided that you are travelling with an infant. I had posted the following on the 5J complaint thread over at PEx last year, right after the incident, because I had tried to get a clear explanation from their call center, to no avail.

I AM POSTING THIS HERE BECAUSE THE CALL CENTER REP COULDN'T HELP, AND ACCORDING TO HIM, IT IS REALLY THEIR REGULATION TO COUNT THE STROLLER AS THE ACCOMPANYING ADULT'S BAGGAGE. BUT THE WEBSITE AND THE TERMS ON THE E-TICKET SAY OTHERWISE. (i'm pissed, hence the ALL CAPS, excuse me) Baggage On top of the free baggage allowance, we allow carriage of: Baby stroller (only if traveling with an infant) ^^^where does it say that a stroller is counted in an adult's baggage allowance of 15kg? the lady at the counter in chek lap kok ATTEMPTED to charge us excess because of the stroller we had. We were traveling with a 7-month old baby! we were 4 in our party (including infant) so we had a total of 45 kilos baggage allowance. our baggage weighed a total of approx. 36-37 kilos, so we had about 8 kilos to go. i had wanted to transfer some of the stuff from our handcarry so that we won't be lugging things around HK's huge airport, but we were told that if i move more stuff to the baggages, we will be over the limit because according to the lady at the counter (she's cantonese), and i quote "FOR BUDGET AIRLINES, THE STROLLER IS COUNTED IN THE WEIGHT ALLOWANCE OF THE ADULT BECAUSE INFANTS DO NOT HAVE BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE!" i have been flying with 5J for the past 3 years, and this is the first time i am traveling with an infant. on my previous trip last March 2009, i was charged an arm and a leg for the expressed breast milk i HAD to check in OR "THROW AWAY" (again, i quote 5J's Filipina employee at the check in counter in HKIA). she told me i can only transport such when i am with an infant. but then NOW with an infant, i cannot bring a stroller???!!! hey 5J!!! i even quoted the website baggage conditions, but your employee refused to listen stating "you travel budget, budget airlines do not allow same allowance with other airlines." wt? was she insulting MY CHOICE OF AIRLINE?!!! YOUR employee just insulted YOUR customer for choosing YOUR airline to travel to and fro HongKong! isn't she familiar with your conditions? your website says ON TOP of the baggage allowance... so did i read your conditions wrong? i will be traveling to Hong Kong again on September 2. with an infant and a child. i expect that your employees will be more familiar with your regulations! i just called the call center, and according to my BFF call center agent, Jun... that's how it works. they were instructed that a stroller is counted. so if my stroller weighs 15kg, i can no longer bring clothes. grrr. i am pissed. then i asked, do they need a copywriter to write their conditions, because obviously, their website and e-ticket state otherwise? management daw kasi ang naglalagay sa website ng conditions, tapos sila daw, ininstruct lang ng supervisor nila. so lamang sila at supervisor nila sa management na sumulat ng patakaran sa website? susmio. 5J, you are NOT baby friendly. nakakainis.

So today, I decided to give 5J a call because I checked their website on this and it was nowhere in sight! I had wanted to print out the regulation to avoid the hassle when we go on our trip next month. I will be traveling alone with the kids, and I don't want problems. After about 5 minutes of waiting, the call center agent gets back and tells me that it is the same regulation... "on top of your baggage allowance, ma'am". So I went a step further and said, "it is not on your website anymore. Can I get something printed out or sent to my email, so I can print it out and show the check-in officer, just in case. I don't want the hassle kasi." So she puts me on hold to check. 5 minutes later, the line went dead. She hung up on me.

So, Cebu Pacific, I am blogging about this in hope that someone from your end replies. I've tried emailing you, calling you, ranting about you on threads, but no one has ever replied! Please answer my concern. I still appreciate that you've allowed every Juan to fly, and I still love your airline... but please, sometimes, you need better people representing your company. Your frontliners are... well... not knowledgeable. More training perhaps? Sayang ang 50.6% market share kung di niyo inaalagaan ang market niyo.

It's a Small, Small World!

I had an Oh My Gosh moment yesterday. After lunch with the family, and Marmaduke with the kids at Eastwood's Ultra 7, A and I proceeded to church with RL, whose nanny went on her day off. The hubby actually was in church yesterday (he hasn't been to church service since... well, I don't remember when)!

As people spilled out of the theater after the service, I rushed out to the welcome table to surrender my parking pass (haven't had the chance to actually park at Reserved Parking for two sundays now, and I felt it wasn't worth the 60pesos/ sunday na). I was surprised to see a friend from the office. He was standing by the table so I decided to say hi. I asked who he was with, and he leaned towards this lady standing by him. I took one look and saw her talking animatedly with the hubby... yes, MY hubby. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it - where, when, how???

Then I saw her daughter.

Gee.

Geez.

Press rewind to backtrack to year 2008. It was February, and I had R's camera in my hand. I was walking around Robinson's, nervous at what this small gadget could reveal. R had just arrived from the US two months before, and kept mum about his 5-month escapade there. I was able to get hold of the camera, and needed to be in public, just in case its contents would freak me out. Better to be in front of millions, so I'll be forced to keep my composure. I rushed through photos and photos of R with a girl (who I later learned was JL, a girl he fooled into taking him in for free lodging and food, and well... you know what else...). Towards the end of the set, the photos turned local, meaning the same memory card held photos of his escapades here. Photos of different women with him, some on the same day! Photos of him with his hands draped over this girl's body, around this other girl's waist, cheek to cheek with another... basta, multiple women!

And one of those he saw around January of 2008 was this woman he was talking to in church! Cheek to cheek photos. Photos of them eating at Bacolod Chicken, photos of them at some hotel, motel, etc. Basta maraming photos! They were obviously dating. Well, it looked like it was more than friendship. He even has pics with her daughter!

Get this, when R noticed me talking to this girl's guy friend, he turned to us, points to RL and tells the girl "eto bunso ko!" He sees me give him a quizzical look, and says, "si T, client ko nung nasa ABS-CBN pa ako." She smiles. I nod.

"Yea, right. Client. I don't take cheek to cheek pics with clients." But no one heard that since I said that in my head. :P

And it's funny, because this friend of mine from the office is seeing this woman. In fact, they used to be an item way back when. And this woman reportedly (well, I have my sources!) has marital issues as well.

Waitaminuteeeeeee.... back in 2008, was she having issues back then too? Sigh. Women! Value your families!!!

~~~

A few weeks back, I found out that one of our consultants in the office turns out to be part of the circle R actually has been hanging around in. As in, they-are-friends. Eeps. What more, this consultant's officemate, who happens to be reporting daily to our office as well (they're working on a project for us) is actually my ex-phone pal's nephew. Yes, the phone pal from September. Nyar!

My world small enough? :P

Disclaimer: To my friend from the office... I don't mean to burst your bubble, but do take care.

Muziklaban Na!

I've been getting a free rock concert all day. At 6am, some guys with a megaphone started announcing an event happening at Metrowalk today. That woke me up groggy and confused. Was I supposed to be at work early today? Did I have to catch a flight? Nope, just some guys disrupting my sweet Saturday slumber.

Then during lunch, the music started blaring through my balcony. Red Horse Muziklaban Kick-Off Party at Metrowalk's grounds. Yea, just what I need to perk up my lazy Saturday. I was worried that RL's nap would be interrupted, and true enough, less than 20 minutes into the event, my son wakes up all sungit.

I decided to take my kids out to the mall, keeping my fingers crossed that a tired little boy will surely sleep through all that noise tonight. But noooooo... I finally got him to bed at 30 minutes ago. He kept waking up to the sound of whoever was singing and screaming "raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh" on that too-loud microphone.

Gimmeabreak, I love music. I even work for a music company. I handle 3 major foreign labels, all of which have rock music albums in their line up of releases. But please, someone please tell those guys to take their noise elsewhere. Their volume's just too loud. I'd rant and call the association, but Metrowalk is just outside their jurisdiction. :( Oh well, at least the little one's asleep. I, however, am so much of a light sleeper so I'll probably see shut eye at around 4am or so. :P Yea, lucky me.

Free noise, anyone?

*Red Horse Muziklaban's audition and Kick-Off Party is currently happening at Metrowalk NOW. Entrance is P50.00 and that comes with 2 free beers. Woopee. :P

Cold Calls

I've been a victim of numerous cold calls lately, most of which come from banks and credit card companies offering loans and what-nots. A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from a major credit card company, two of which I already have. Anyway, this same person calling me up at the office saw me at one of the events I attended in the past month, and he was so persistent - to the point of ugh. So I gave in, thinking "he probably just needs to meet his quota." And indeed, as I was giving him the information he needed, he goes, "ayan, makakauwi na ako."

So over the weekend, while out of the country and using my card from the same issuing bank, I received a text telling me that my application was for review. I thought hard to recall what application that was, and only remembered that pesky (sorry!) guy from the said bank. What he didn't know was that I gave him a phony credit card (not quite, but a card I've never used, so naturally, no credit history on it) as the proof he needed that I was a Gold Cardholder already. Plus, my current cards are all in my maiden name, so yea, good luck. I mean, c'mon, you forced me into this. I told you I didn't need another card!

So today, as expected, I received a text message telling me that my application has been denied at this time. :) Since college, I've probably cut out too many cards to avoid spending beyond my means. On my last trip to Hong Kong, I tried so hard not to burn plastic because small spend adds up!!! Who needs to be in debt anyway?