AirAsia review: daylight robbery premium line, inept staff 5

Disappointed by Poor Air Asia Service

As a frequent traveller of Air Asia I am extremely disappointed with the service I received on the 9.20 pm flight AK 457 from Medan to Kuala Lumpur on the 14/11/2010. My friends and I were extremely tired and were looking forward to getting home. We were seated along row 11 and upon take off we realized that the seats behind us were vacant. As one of my friends was big built I decided to allow him more space by moving to the seat at the back of mine.
I was approached by an air stewardess by the name of Erlin Purnamasari who informed me in the most arrogant manner that we were allowed to switch seats but not to the hot seats. When I tried to justify, that since the seats were vacant would it be alright for me to sit there her facial expression clearly displayed irritation as she told me that I would have to pay extra if I wanted to sit on that seat and to write in a complaint if I was unhappy which was totally uncalled for. I returned to my designated seat and conveyed my dissatisfaction to the lead stewardess; Sutha Perumal. She perfectly understood our point and told me that she would ask the stewardess to apologize but came back after a good 15 minutes to inform me that the stewardess refused to apologize. I was also informed that they frequently faced the mentioned situation giving even more reason for the air stewardess to be able to handle the situation in a more appropriate manner. Since the situation is common in most flights I would suggest that the prohibition against switching seats to hot seats should be mentioned in the flight briefing.
I am perfectly okay if Air Asia is strict about only paying customers to be allowed to sit on its hot seats even if all of them were vacant on a particular flight. My source of disappointment is the manner in which the message was conveyed by the mentioned arrogant air stewardess. There is a way in delivering even the worst news and this a skill expected to be possessed by the cabin crew as they are supposed to be able to act aptly even in the worst emergency situations. Merely a powdered face and bleached head would not serve the purpose.
Air lines are well known for their hospitality to ensure that their customers feel welcome and comfortable. The attitude of the mentioned stewardess is not only disappointing but also reflects badly on the management and implies either or all of the below:-

a) The cabin crew of Air Asia are given poor pre-service and in-service training.
b) The management does not act upon complaints on their staff hence allowing the cabin crew to get away with poor performance and service.

Although Air Asia is a low cost carrier it should not compromise on the quality of the service offered. Perhaps Air Asia should consider imposing a hospitality fee in future if it is necessary in providing better service.

Truly, truly disappointed,
RC

i called the premium customer service line for hundreds time, but nobody pick up my call. I spend hundreds just to wait them. What a stupid "Premium" line.

I've just registered as an Airasia member. Upon registering I was sent an email notification requesting me to activate my membership on-line. Upon clicking the link, I was taken to a member activation webpage that didn't work. Message was "Buzz...buzz, sorry we are a bit busy". No instruction whatsoever about what I can do or who can I contact to solve the problem. So I looked-up Airasia customer service number to call, found that they charge RM1.95/min. If Airasia really cherish its customers’ relationship, why does it need to charge an exorbitant RM1.95/min for dealing with customers problems which in most cases originate from Airasia's own lacking in the first place? In any case, I picked-up the phone and called the customer service. Upon calling, I was put through a very lengthy promotional welcome script which last over a minute. At the end of the script, a customer service officer answered my call. So I asked the customer service officer who picked up my call whether I would be charged for listening to their promotional script. She said "Yes". I asked her why do they need to charge customer for listening to their promotional script and she said that is the standard procedure and she can’t do anything about it. I told her the reason why I called was because the Airasia's website was not working and I don't believe I should be charged anything for contacting Airasia let alone charge for hearing the promotional script. Most airlines have toll free numbers anyway. The officer said I was rude and hung-up on me. So I tried calling them the second time. Again I had to go through the standard promotional script and this time around, Mala answered the call. Again asked her the same questions and she said she can't do anything about it as the server was busy but asked me to try to activate my membership after 3pm. So I said I want to lodge a complaint. She asked me to fill-up a form on their website. Other airlines would be much obliged to take customers complaints as part of their customer relationship improvement initiative! Again before I could finish my conversation, I was cut-off. So called the third time and again went through the same promotional script which I have to pay RM1.95/min for. Mala again answered my call. I asked her why she cut me off but she said she didn't. It was the system that cut me off and that there is nothing she can do about it. This time I asked to be transferred to her manager but she said there is no manager on-duty at that time...was told all their managers were in a meeting. She didn’t even ask if she can get someone to call me back. Instead I asked that her manager call me within the next hour and left her my number. An hour past and nobody from Airasia called. So, I tried to fill-up the e-form on Airasia's website. The link didn't work. So I called-up customer service the forth time...this time another customer service officer answered...again she said she can't do anything about all the problems above as the server was busy. I asked her why I have to pay RM1.95/min if she can't solve any of my problem...she said it is management decision...asked her to transferr to a manager...she said manager not around. This is now after 4 hours of trying various means of solving the problem with your customer service. I really couldn't believe the sort service we as customers of Airasia are getting. We are paying a premium RM1.95/min first of all to listen to their promotional crap then put through to customer service that can't really do anything to solve problems which originated from Airasia in the first place? What is going on with Airasia? Have they become too profit centric driven? I'm really surprised that they have won the "Best Low-Cost Airline" for three consecutive years by treating customers like idiots and ripping off customers by charging for practically for everything including their customer service call centre when customers have problem accessing their website. I think Airasia has taken the no-frills concept too far...good luck to Airasia but I will not hesitate using other airlines even if they are slightly more expensive. N/B: 3 days have passed and I have yet to receive a phone call or email from them.

3213, at least someone picked up your call. I paid money just to listen to the promotional script, nobody even bother to pick up my call. at least i see some "improvement" in your case.

I used to fly with Air Asia until 2 years ago, but never again. Their fares aren't special when you add in the extra charges anyway. I would rather pay more and travel with a real airline. Air Asia is the Airline from Hell, where, I hear, that they have just enlarged their offices and hired more demons to work as cabin crew.