Singapore Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

I am totally fedup and disappointed with the kind of service that SilkAir has on it's website. I was trying desperately to get my wife a return flight from Thailand back to Singapore. I tried for at least 45minutes to 1 hour and failed miserably each time when I tried to click the suggested tab which states that I understand and accept the terms and conditions after filling in all the necessary payment details. Each time I tried clicking that box it doesn't light up and I had to return back to my original bookings. In the process of doing this, the original timing which was available at 10.25am was lost, then subsequently the next available flight which was at around 14.50 was also lost and the final straw came when I called SilkAir directly over the phone and guess what. After asking all the questions over and over and finally the last and final flight for that particular day was also LOST.
How do I as a rather frequent flyer of Singapore Airlines/Silk Air have anymore confidence on SilkAir? Fortunately it was just a matter of trying to get back home and not for any live saving matter, what happens if it was the case? All I got from the customer service agent on line was "I'm sorry Sir, I'm sorry Sir!" Is this the kind of service that I or anyone else should expect. Best of all, I was even told by the customer service agent that as the flight was to originate from Thailand that I should contact SilkAir ticketing office in Thailand for assistanace! What utter rubbish is this ? Fortunately, I had the wit to have another platform online to get the one way return ticket and thank god I got the ticket though the flight time was much longer due to a stop over but at least the preferred date of travel was available. SilkAir, I totally deserve to have you make a proper explanation as to what had gone wrong with your system and level of service!

When an upgrade becomes a downgrade

Dear forum members

I thought I would share with you a recent travel event that you might find interesting (And amusing).

I flew on sq235 from singapore to brisbane. Upon boarding the flight I was told my seat had been changed and I was moved from 58h (Economy) to 12h (Business). Naturally I was pleased with this turn of events as although I fly a great deal with the airline (Up to 100, 000 miles / year) in my experience they never upgrade passengers..

Approximately 20 minutes later after having settled into my seat, ordered my dinner and begun a conversation with my neighbour, a ground staff representative came to my seat and told me that I had to return to my original seat in economy.

As well as being inconvenient (Having to pack up once again) and disappointing (Being in business class was very pleasant), the biggest issue was the embarrassment of having to stand up, collect my belongings and move. I felt like some sort of criminal - really quite humiliating.

More generally, I think this episode reflects very poorly on singapore airlines customer service. I did receive an apology from the airline but I thought it rather half-hearted.

Complaint - Silk Air / Singapore Airlines

My ticket details.
Onwards
Singapore Airlines - BLR to SIN 15th June, 2013
Silk Air - SIN to LOP 16th June, 2013

Return
Silk Air - LOP to SIN 23rd June, 2013
Tiger Airways - SIN to BLR 23rd June, 2013

I travel a lot, on a lot of flights - Emirates, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia, Air Asia, Tiger Airways, Singapore Airlines, Silk Air, etc.
But, this was a crazy incident - both onward and return.
I travelled from Bangalore to Lombok (Indonesia) via Singapore and back as mentioned above.
I did not have a Singapore Visa as I was not planning to get down at Singapore.
This is the worst experience I have had and would never want to travel Singapore Airlines / SilkAir and will not recommend to anyone.

First of all, when I reached Lombok, one of my check-in baggage which was checked in directly from Bangalore did not reach Lombok. (I had totally two checked in luggage - 1 came).
Heard there is a compensation, but no news of when and where I will get it, who will give it, etc. I did not have any clothes. I had to buy everything. And, nobody (concerned Silk Air staff at Lombok) had any clue whether I will get my luggage back or not.
The luggage came to my villa resort the next day afternoon. (after around 30 hours).

Then, when I came back from Lombok to Singapore, they did not do direct check in of luggage to Bangalore. They asked me to do it in Singapore.
I was fine with it. They asked me to contact the transfer desk and they will help me out.
I went to the transfer desk in Singapore. They told me that I have to get past immigration and check in the luggage.
As I did not have a Singapore Visa, this was not possible. Hence, I lost my 2 check in baggage. They told me I cannot take the Tiger Airways flight back to Bangalore as they are aware that I have 2 check in luggage and that I would have to buy a non-low cost flight which will do check in of my luggage for me. I told them that my brother is in Singapore (who was travelling with me) and he would take my luggage. Then, they allowed me to travel, without my check in luggage. They wrote that I do not have any check in baggage and asked me to sign it.

I would like to complain about these two incidents to the concerned heads and also I want to let everyone know about how Singapore Airlines / Silk Air / Tiger Airways staff at Singapore transfer desk treated me.

What they should have done:
At the time of verification at Bangalore Airport (Singapore Airlines), they asked me for my Singapore Visa. I told them that I do not have it as I am not getting out at Singapore. Then they asked me to show the return ticket. I showed them my return ticket from LOP to SIN via Silk Air and SIN to BLR via Tiger Airways. I was let in without any problem.
If there was any issue with check in baggage, they should have notified me then and there itself.

Also, at Lombok Airport, they told me to contact the transfer desk at Singapore and the check in baggage can be transferred. Here, if they had told me that I cannot take check in baggage without getting out, I would have carried it as hand luggage and would have had no problems at all. (atleast, I could have taken one of the luggage as hand luggage). This was not informed.

Also, the staff at Singapore transfer desk were very rude to me. And, whenever I mentioned "YOU", all the staff were taking it personally. But, when we say "YOU", we mean the aircraft group and not any one person. They should understand this.

These information should be given prior to travelling and not while I am stuck at the airport having no other way than to let my baggage go.
What if I was travelling alone? I would have lost my baggage or would have had to buy another flight ticket.
What if I did not have money to buy another air ticket? Should I stay at the airport terminal?

This is very poor service from Silk Air, Singapore Airlines.

Today I called Singapore Airlines and was met by the most unfriendly staff named Louie. He was a Filipino I think based on the accent but he was so rude that he placed me on hold for 15 minutes every time and disconnected my call twice. I also asked him to call my mobile if we get disconnected and he told me that he's not allowed, the second call I made he said that he could not make an outbound call because of high call volume. He also said to me in a very defensive manner 'Sir I do not disconnect calls'. Eventually I asked for a supervisor, and lo and behold he was so friendly like a puppy dog! Please watch out for this representative.

Sir/Madam,

I am an Indian worked in Brunei jan-11 to Jul-12, On 27.04.12 I made an online booking Brunei-Chennai-Brunei Electronic ticket number-[protected], Airlines booking reference-MSVRMY. Unfortunately I had quit my job in Brunei and cancelled my Singapore air ticket online on 15/06/12.
Immediately I got a mail message from Singapore airlines saying that a cheque for the refund amount will be sent within 14 working days. Please refer the file attached.
I had sent so many mails to Singapore airlines and local Singapore airlines sales officer and I have not receive any reply and the refund amount is not credited to my bank account, Please guide me to get back the refund amount.

Thanks in advance,
Yours
Dhakshnamurthy Elumalai
29.09.2012

To whom it may concern

Recently I returned from a trip to Barcelona to see my son, traveling on Singapore Airlines. Before departing from Barcelona I purchased 3 bottles of duty free spirits and boarded to Singapore with these as hand luggage, causing no problem at checkpoint.
However, although in transit at Singapore Changi Airport, when I boarded there to continue on to NZ, these bottles were taken from me and I was not allowed to travel with them.
Needless to say, I was very upset about this. Not only had I paid close to $50 for the spirits, I had just had an 8 hr wait at Changi and tried unsuccessfully to be allowed to take my purchase with me, showing my dutyfree receipt and explaining that the Barcelona DFS had boxed and bagged them.The man told me unsealed bags were not allowed.
I asked to try and get a sealed bag at the airport, but he said as I hadn't purchased the spirits there they would not let me. A kind passenger behind me tried to help, suggesting I could put my hand luggage in the hold but he wouldn't allow that either.
I have done nothing wrong and made the same hand luggage purchase in Barcelona last year, traveling the complete route to NZ on Singapore Airlines with no problem. I did not see any warning notices at Changi, yet when I complained to my booking agent here, she spoke to a Singapore Airlines rep, who commented that this happens all the time !
Something is wrong and I believe your airline has a responsibility to put things right. I'm sure I'm not the only upset passenger.
It doesn't make sense that I can travel half the route home on the same airline, with duty free spirits as hand luggage, but not the other half. I feel this is just a racket in Singapore that allows staff to obtain a supply of free alcohol. You cant tell me they dispose of these bottles ( as I was told ), and someone else no doubt drinks the spirits I have paid for.

I cannot speak highly enough of your airline but what happened is grossly unfair and I await your reply. I hope to go to Barcelona again next year but will not use your airline if this is what will happen again.

Kind regards

Jeanne Richards

My flight with SQ 319 on 28 June 2012 from London to Singapore. I forgot to take my camera bag from the upper compartment (camera and camcorder with our precious family vacation with Europe photos). I quickly called them and they said that they have found it and keep it with them. Went the items were collected, the 32G micro chip memory card and 8G memory card was missing from inside the camera. I was so shocked in disbelief. In the FOUND ITEMS RECEIPT written that they received those items. Although the memory cards only cost a few dollars, but the photos in them are very valuable. They do not respond to my complaints until I wrote in several media complaining about this. None of them want to be responsible of this matter. And although Singapore Airlines has admitted that this is their mistake, but they refused to refund the stolen item appropriately. This has proven that it is NOT SAFE IN CHANGI AIRPORT SINGAPORE AND SINGAPORE AIRLINES. This is a very terrible company that do not bother about their customers. I feel like dealing with the world's lowest, cheapest airlines that don't care about their customer at all! The airlines don't have any good intention to resolve this matter. We are keeping the Lost Items Found receipt right now with the staff signature on it.

Delayed in SFO for 5 hours (1am to 6 am) and were ill informed about what was happening. Information over PA stated once and only caught the end of the message. Need to repeat each time to begin with. Frequent updates on situation would reassure travellers. Had to ask other passengers at the queue to the desk as to what was happening. Cold airport overnight on delay. They ran out of blankets. 'Kids' food supplied - sandwich(one per person), small chip packet and Oreoles, small water. Adults would like a wider selection and fizzy drinks and beer/wine. Travellers were trapped in the airport overnight. Very poor assistance given.

Singapore Airlines claims to be the best in the world but is one of the worst experience I have had so far. The ground staff is least helpful and actually no one cares about the customer in need. The in-flight service was okay - thankfully. Most frustrating part is that their website is down always. We had to personally travel to the front office to make any change and it so happened that I had to leave my work and visit their office thrice in a week just to change my date of travel. When you call them, they put you on hold and do not bother to answer for a long time and when they do get back, you are again on hold for another reason. They promise to call you back after the long hold, which they never do. Sick service! It has been over a month and I am still waiting for my ticket to be refunded. I just found out that the refund request was never taken. There is no complaint number - Beat that! I am never going to fly Singapore Airlines again!

ORBITZ SHIFTS BLAME FOR OWN MISTAKE TO SINGAPORE AIRLINES AND DENIES REFUND

On July 4, I bought a ticket on from Mexico City to Singapore on Orbitz, entering the exact name, as it appears on the passport, of the person traveling. When the confirmation arrived, the complete name was not included. The person traveling called and spoke to a supervisor at Orbitz named Sidney, who acknowledged the name was captured correctly but not passed to Singapore Airlines. Her solution was to buy another ticket where the two last names were joined together and we would receive an immediate refund (within 2 days), including the difference between the first and second ticket, which was of a higher value. She said to call if we had not received the refund on the date she committed to (July 10).

On July 14, I called and spoke to a supervisor named Linda. The call was cut off, I called back and spoke to someone who investigated the situation and told me that the refund would be credited in a matter of hours. It wasn't. I received an email from Linda saying that although we were cut off, she was investigating the matter and would respond. I provided her with contact details. On the 15th of July, I received this email from her:

Discussion Thread
Response Via Email (Linda) 07/15/2012 11:54 PM
Hello Mr. Brian X,

I apologize for the late response.

We are still reviewing the reservation and the refund for the original ticket with locator PBORB1316733234.

We understand that the passenger's name was incorrectly inputted online and having "X" as a middle name instead of adding it as part of the actual last name. Because of this, an attempt to correct the name has been requested multiple times to the airline but failed.

A refund request for the full amount of the ticket was sent to the airline and regrettably, the airline declined the full refund. Another refund request has been sent to the airline to retrieve at lease some of the unused taxes. The refund request for the taxes is still pending.

As we reviewed further, we found out that the root cause of this matter was because "X" was incorrectly placed on the middle name box instead of being placed on the last name box as per the traveler information requires. Regardless of how many first name or last name a customer have this personal information should be typed in accordingly in the respective boxes provided online.

We are still reviewing this matter and need more time. Please allow me to provide you another update tomorrow, July 16 within the day.

Your patience and understanding regarding this matter is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Linda
Orbitz Team

I responded to this message, citing many of the above facts, and went on to say:
Today, after not receiving your response on time, I wrote and received a message from you that now implies we are in the wrong, the airline won't refund the money and that maybe the taxes can be recovered. Clearly, this is not acceptable.

I am assuming the airline in question that is refusing the refund is Singapore Airlines and that you are aware that the replacement ticket that we bought at the suggestion of Sidney was also on Singapore Airlines. I fail to see how an airline could refuse a refund in this case, especially when the matter is explained to them. However, that is not my problem, it is yours. Your commitments are clear.

Linda then responded again:
Response Via Email (Linda) 07/17/2012 12:32 AM
Dear Mr. Brian X,

Please accept my apology for the late response. Also, the last email we forwarded was not meant to blame and it was never intended to offend. We only wanted to relay all the information gathered regarding this matter after reviewing the reservation multiple times. Please accept my apology for the misunderstanding.

The refund that was promised is still being reviewed for further approval. Although my updates are late due to the heavy volume of calls we are experiencing, I will continue to provide you an update regarding your refund. I will do my best to provide an update earlier tomorrow, July 17.

Sincerely,

Linda
Orbitz Team

On the 17th of June, a further follow-up from Linda:
Discussion Thread
Response Via Email (Linda) 07/17/2012 11:29 PM
Dear Mr. Brian Hubbard,

Please be informed that I am still waiting for the final approval for your refund. I will not be available from Wednesday and Thursday but I will be back on Friday, July 20. I will check if the refund has been approved and provide you another update with in the day.

Sincerely,

Linda
Orbitz Team

I had a phone call from Linda on July 22nd at 3:30am my time, in which she assured me that the refund was awaiting approval, it was too much for her to approve herself, and that it would include the difference between the 1st and 2nd ticket, which as mentioned, was of higher value. The implication was that it would happen within a day or two.

Today, I received this incredible email from the Orbitz refund department, once again shifting the blame and responsibility to Singapore Airlines and saying that IF the refund was approved, it would be approx. 45 days in being credited.

Discussion Thread
Message Via Email (Refund Department) 07/23/2012 04:30 PM
Dear Brian,

We wanted to let you know that we have submitted your refund request to Singapore Airlines.

• Orbitz Record Locator - AP110101NQRR7OH0

If the airline approves your refund, it will take an average of 45 days to process the refund to you. We will send you an e-mail once the airline has confirmed the final status of this request.

Thank you for traveling with Orbitz.

Sincerely,
The Orbitz Refund Department

I am incredulous at the amount of blame shifting and lack of responsibility and integrity Orbitz has shown in this matter. We bought a second ticket with Orbitz because they admitted their mistake, promised a refund and now they are doing everything possible to avoid responsibility and payment.

While in my mind, this has nothing to do with Singapore Airlines, I happen to live in Singapore and plan to take the matter up directly with them here and on their complaint site locally, sharing Orbitz's blame-shifting emails. It is interesting how Orbitz says that Singapore Airlines refused the first refund in a matter of days, but the latest request will take over a month to process.

Orbitz is deceptive, irresponsible and lacks integrity. What more can I say?

Singapore Airlines, HQ
Customer service Director
Singapore.
SQ573379
Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to complain and claim compensation for the awful and mishandling of my daughter's baggage on her life time trip to the Indian Himalaya organized by JIS, Brunei.
The trip which my daughter trained for two full years turned sour and failure due to Singapore airlines failing its duty to deliver her bag upon arrival with her group.
My daughter proceeded to the North of India without any clothes and of course all her gears which we spent a lot of money to acquire like hiking and climbing gears as well as her protective clothes.
My daughter suffered enormous distress and mental anguish as well as falling ill due to having no proper warming clothes to protect her from the weather.
She also was unable to fulfill her religious duties as her praying clothes were not available.
She has no clothes to wear for more than 10 days, This is a disgraceful failure by Singapore airlines.
Her much needed clothes were not available this is beyond words.
The complete and utter disregard to her needs has left her with immense mental anguish and huge disappointment for not being able to carry on with her life time dream for the trip that cost us 10, 000B$.
She was looking to her achievement and completion of the Duke of Edinburgh program that she embarked on 2010 and ended in failure which Singapore airlines must bear full responsibility.
I am in consultation with a local lawyer as well as our solicitors in Bath, UK for further escalation once we receive your reply..

M Omran/ Yasmeen Omran
[protected]
[protected]@yahoo.com

I came to Singapore for a business trip for 2 days. I flew to Singapore by Singapore Airline from KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) in the morning on 9th July 2012, return date was actually at night, but I changed my flight date to 10th July 2012 at 9.15pm because of business reason.
On 10th July 2012, knowing my flight is at 9.15pm, I arrived at Changi Airport at 8pm. I went to row 12 at Terminal 2 (Singapore Airline), there was no one. So I went to row 9, the crews directed me to row 2. Then row 2 said I should check in at row 12, I told the crew that there was no one at row 12, she insisted there is definitely someone at the counter. So I walked back to row 12. I really wonder how she know there is people at row 12 when she is at row 2, the distance from row to row is horribly far. And yet again, no one was at row 12. I went back to row 2 and told the crew there was no one. The crew brushed me off by saying she cannot do anything. I walked to Singapore Airline customer service, it was already 8.45pm, I knew the gate is going to close if I continue to be pushed around by the handful of ridiculously useless staffs of Singapore Airline, so I hurried the customer service staff, they told me my case is not under their care. What is worse is, the way they speak to me is very rude, as if I should be the one serving them.
Thanks to these useless staffs, I missed my flight. One of the crews changed my flight to next morning under my persistence. Since SIA can compensate for their carelessness for closing the counters at 8pm, shouldn't they think of where I should stay that night? I was told by SIA crews that because there was not many people taking the flight that I am taking, so they close the counters early. I was amazed by what these crews can tell me without a sense of guilt.
Luckily I have a Singapore friend willing to lend me money for hotel fee, otherwise I would be sleeping in Changi Airport. She also helped me to approach SIA and then again, SIA pushed the faults around, saying I should arrive 40 minutes before the flight. Funny thing is, I was 75 minutes early, SIA did not ask exactly what happened and try to push me away.
I keep the hotel stay receipt and taxi receipt to claim back from what SIA made me suffer. If I knew this is the kind of service, why should I pay for SIA flight? I could have taken a smaller plane, its name is Airasia. Though the seat is uncomfortable, but at least the staffs counter are open, and there are always enough staffs helping the passengers.
SIA did not agree to compensate to my hotel stay and ask me to wait for 3-4 working days for them to investigate what exactly happened. My concern is, all the staffs are rude and stupid, that simply tell where SIA management intelligence level is, what is the point to investigate if that is the case? Just compensate to me, since SIA can compensate for my flight, it means they admit their mistake, then please compensate fully including my hotel fee and taxi fee.
Please LOOK into it. Be fair and stop pushing responsibilities around. Someone has to bear, definitely not the customer.

I would like to provide some constructive feedback to Singapore Airlines based on my experience in Sao Paulo, where I arrived on 18th June and departed, on a Lufthansa flight to Munich, on 20th June.

The situation:
1. I was originally on a TAM flight from Rio to Sao Paulo, and from there I was to take the SQ67 flight (19 June 01h35) but due to official commitments that kept me longer in Rio, I had to purchase a Jol ticket on a later flight to Sao Paulo instead.
2. The Jol flight was delayed and so I missed my connection to Singapore via Barcelona.

I do understand that the primary responsibility lay with Jol. However, I simply want to discuss basic courtesy, politeness, grace and compassion. These are traits that are not legally binding on Singapore Airlines, but are helpful in times of distress.

I believe that all passengers should be treated fairly and kindly by all airline staff, regardless of frequent flier status or booking class. However, the important point here is that my office—despite the economic downturn—continues to fly its management staff on business class not solely for comfort during frequent travel. The point is that business class travel is authorized precisely as a contingency for difficult circumstances such as the one that I faced in Sao Paulo—to facilitate solutions over missed flights, delays, luggage, et cetera.

Now, the promise of being treated with exclusivity and distinction was made by SQ. As an Elite Gold cardmember, I wait less for phone service, use exclusive service lanes, et cetera and on board staff are far more solicitous and attentive. In addition to Elite Gold cardholders’ expectations of enhanced service, there is also the Singapore Airlines brand. Professionalism, efficiency, comfort, better service.

So imagine my surprise when, at 2am at the SQ office in the Sao Paulo airport, Neil Tan, Station Manager Sao Paulo, treats me with less politeness than expected and tells me ‘to be frank with you, it’s your fault’. I decided right then that if I would find any solution to my problem it would not be through him. His only advice was to seek a solution with Jol airlines since Singapore Airlines would not afford me any assistance.

Thankfully, the Sao Paulo office is otherwise staffed with a few professionals, who seem to understand the SQ brand and on top of that are simply good and kind human beings. I would like to commend Mauricio Gomide, Customer Service Agent, who quietly took charge after it was clear that Neil would do nothing further. He escorted me to Jol airlines and helped explain the situation to them in Portuguese, which resulted in Jol’s provision of complimentary four nights’ hotel accommodation and hospitality in Sao Paulo); in addition he coordinated a search for my luggage (which was, unsurprisingly, delivered by Jol to the wrong place). He provided me a care package with toiletries and, all in all, acted with the simple professionalism and courtesy I expected from the beginning.

I would also like to commend Argos Bosse, Cargo Supervisor, who just happened to be at the SQ office the next day, when I returned to try to sort out my flights and re-booking. He welcomed me to the office, offered me a seat and some water, provided use of the office line to call SQ reservations. Simple acts of courtesy and kindness for a stranded passenger—nothing to do with business class or gold card.

In the end, my office decided to buy me a new ticket on the Lufthansa flight to Munich. I asked Lufthansa for a business class upgrade and they gave me one. My SQ ticket was then used for my Munich-Singapore leg.
Check my Krisflyer history and you will see that I’ve been a member since 2001 but that I have been rather inactive until just the start of this year. I have been a Lufthansa Senator for some time now but I thought to switch to Krisflyer; I believe that I will return to the airline with the better service.

You do not breed brand loyalty—the kind that influences purchasing decisions—without inspiring loyalty. I hope that this feedback will help Singapore Airlines improve its office in Sao Paulo in time for the increased volume of passengers to/from Singapore with the opening of the Singapore High Commission there and influx of investments.

its always the same problem with SQ, only after flying with SQ the lugages got damage and SQ somehow couldnt repair it properly. today i want to confirm my booking that i made by calling the ticketing office of SQ in jakarta.indonesia. they said my booking will be held until 4pm local time. they said i could pay with coming to the office before 5pm (as they said they close at 5pm) but i couldnt find anytime to go there and want to confirm by phone with giving the credit card details. asi booked it for my boss and i need to ask all details from him, they said i could try call again later aroud 4pm. i tried start call them at 3pm it always the macchine answer, then i figure out that the office already close at 3pm so does their line tho' (+6221 [protected]) if they not taking any call again before 3pm they shouldnt tell us to try again call at 4pm. what kind of service that? so in the end we lost the tickets.
SQ maybe the best flight company in 10 years ago. but time by time as they become so famous flight their service become decrease even they have best plane but the service, management, beraucrachy is suck at all...

On 10th May, 2012, I had traveled to Singapore from Mumbai with my family and friends in all 13 persons by Singapore Airlines. I have selected Singapore Airlines under the expectation of the best of the services and very much conscious about the customer service. But to my surprise, first of all when we were traveling our TV was not working through out our journey. Secondly they offered some Kris shop gift voucher of 75S$ per passenger to be redeemed against shopping from On Board Kris shop list but catalogue mentioned one product price of 45 S$ but they first took 55 S$ from me and latter when I complained they refunded 10 S$ after lot of conversation and convincing. Thirdly though Singapore Airlines wants to offer lot of privileges as token of good memory of traveling in Singapore Airlines in the form of Boarding Pass Privileges but to my surprise neither of this benefits are being informed/ conveyed to the passengers and in a way deprived the customer of the benefits which Singapore Airlines claims to give to its passengers but due to lack of transparency and lack of informing to the passengers about their right to bunch of privileges which they are otherwise entitled to with boarding pass but don't get as they are not so informed either by check in people nor by inflight announcing staff nor even by advertisement or hangouts or displays at the counters of various establishments/ attraction centres who are supposed to give discounts to passengers of Singapore Airlines. All the above incidence suggests that this is not good corporate governance and is also not a good customer service where in customer is deprived of his fundamental right of being informed.

Today I read in the newspaper about it. Just now I see a lot on the internet. SIA website has lots of problems. Last Sunday I booked a trip to Penang online. When I was on the page to confirm my credit card payment the process just stopped. Then I went to the Silkair website and completed my booking. When finished I found both flights confirmed in my email and called SIA to get their ticket cancelled. Later I was called back that this would cost me SGD 100 and of course I did not accept. I am in the airport this Friday and will then claim in person.
Last year I has similar experience with Jetstar and was lucky to get someone hearing my complaint after calling and waiting endlessly. I did not get everything refunded and stopped using Jetstar. Is my conclusion now correct? SIA is same as budget airline?
Vincent

The Airline is a more extension of the police state. It accepts no criticism and only tell dissidents to be prepared for “untold consequences”. I have flown to them many times and even redeemed a SIN-BCN return flight once. I flew with them once recently and it is the most appalling experience you can expect. I was told to sit up straight in a rude way by a cabin crew and I responded by criticizing him in a harsh way nothing physical or unruly. It was an early morning flight and I am sleep deprived. I have never been spoken to in a such as a rude way in my hundreds of flights(including budge carriers which is the biggest irony).

I was threatened with detention by security at the airport if I don’t show “remorse” and apologize to the crew concerned on the basis of using ”vulgarities”. It is the most self serving act you can expect from a reputable airline and it is no better than how North Koreans are expected to worship Kim Jong Il. Using harsh language is not a criminal offense and I have every right to express my feedback although the language may be a bit harsh.

I am Varun Srivastava from Wellington, New Zealand. I had to travel urgently to India on 7th May 2012 and I went online on Singapore Airways Website for bookings. I put my credit card number and once I clicked submit the payment confirmation page did not poped up. I called up Singapore Airways call center and explained the situation to them, they said booking has not been confirmed and I will have to re-book. I re-booked with them over the phone and when they tried to charge my credit card it declined, I was surprised as I knew there were funds available in the card. I called up my bank (Kiwi Bank) and they said payment has already been taken by Singapore Airways. I called back Singapore Airways again and said payment is with Singapore Airways and requested them to issue the ticket. Singapore airways said they cannot as that booking is cancelled as I booked online, now I said to them payment has been taken by them now why can't they issue me with the ticket, they said the reservation which I made online has been cancelled and refund will take minimum 5 working days, I said I have to to India tommorrow due to a situation in my family the money has been taken by Singapore Airways and they should be issuing tickets to me. They said they cannot issue the ticket to me and I will have to pay them again for the ticket. I said I cannot as the limit of my card has been used by Singapore Airways and I need to fly tomorrow, the airlines denied to give me the ticket. Now the situation is, Singapore Airways has taken the payment but denied the ticket. I am helpless, where should I go, I need to be in India tomorrow, payment is with singapore airways but they have denied me the tickets. Singapore Airways booking confirmation aeme38 & jerpwu.

I think Singapore Airlines really suck… this is based on my own experience dealing with them recently. What is written here is accurate and reflects my own personal views only. I am updating this thread regularly – it seems these days companies often dont value complaints against them seriously unless those complaints are made public. I write many reviews online, both good and bad. As a consumer I feel this is my right. I have not made any unsubstantiated claims I am just stating my own opinion based on my own experiences with Singapore Airlines.

What basically happened:

I purchased a return ticket in Singapore Airlines through Expedia agent. Expedia stated that the ticket rules were “unknown” since SA had not made them available – strange why should SA not make their rules known, why should Expedia sell tickets with unknown rules (another complaint coming soon!) and why do SA let agents sell their tickets with unknown rules.

I called to change my return ticket. I was told it was a use or lose ticket and i could not change.. impossible… I would simply have to buy a new ticket.

I made many last minute changes to my itinerary and plans, cost me time and money etc

Next day, following my “public complaint” and email to SA’s PR team i got another phone call – (i think it was from someone else.. not sure) and they said… they had made a mistake and it IS possible to change but i have to upgrade the ticket class by paying $312.

OK – so I managed to change my ticket.. but I was given wrong information from SA the previous day and had to make changes to my itinerary. It cost me time and money and a great deal of stress.

I asked as compensation – for a free upgrade on my return flight but they declined. In all fairness they did offer to refund me approx 50GBP for an additional flight i had to make with a budget carrier as I had to change my plans. Well that doesnt cover the inconvenience to me. Also they requested I mail (not email) the ticket to them. I am a busy person and having to post tickets off, trip to post office etc is not worth 50GBP to me – but I did email it to them.

Update for Singapore Airlines Suck email thread

Merv

You gave me incorrect information about the rules of this ticket. And you still appear not to know them.

It was not a Use or Lost ticket as you state here. I spoke with someone from Singapore Airways yesterday who advised me for $310 i could change the ticket class and my travel date… why wasnt i told this when i called the day before.. when SA said it was impossible to change the ticket and i would have to buy a new one. FALSE INFORMATION COST ME A LOT OF MONEY. When you guys contacted me back finally (after i had to post my complaint publically to to my blog and contact your PR team) i was then told sorry you guys made a mistake due to the call being sent to another call centre (was a public holiday) where they didnt have correct information regarding the rules of the ticket. I was told i can upgrade for $312 dollars and change my flight which I have done reference ******(removed). [Note] This wasnt you helping me out and letting me change following my complaint – it was ALWAYS possible to make this change, it was NOT a use or lost ticket. Changing ticket class WAS possible but I was told it wasnt[Note] Unfortunately between being told I couldnt change and then being told i could change.. i made a load of last minute change of plans and itinerary which I did not need to do.. its been a huge inconvenience.

Yes called on a public holiday but your phones were answered. I wasnt aware i was talking to an outsourced call centre who might not know the correct ticket rules, and I was given false information and you guys have openly admitted.

Something has clearly gone wrong with your (SA) system because you didnt pass ticket rule information to Expedia and internally you also appear not to know the ticket rules. This shouldnt be my problem as a customer, and its not acceptable to pass the buck to Expedia because it is clear.. when I called SA on 7th March that SA did not know the ticket rules either and I was given incorrect information being told there was NO WAY to upgrade/change the ticket so I could fly on 18th march. False information as clearly stated.

My complaint still runs on http://www.gogoflorist.com/blog/2012/03/singapore-airlines-suck/ and is generating quite a bit of interest.

Yesteraday – a day after you told me i couldnt change i got an email from YOU (Merv) stating

On 7th March the person I spoke to on the phone said its a use or lose airfare with NO WAY to change the date (wrong). Yesterday I was told I could change it (and did My reference is now ******(removed)Y). And even now today you say its a Use it or Lost it airfare.

Im not particularly blaming you personally… its clear that Singapore Air does not know the rules of their own tickets internally.. and additionally they have not told the ticket rules to Expeida (agent).

I had to change all my travel plan, miss out on several meetings and the cost of this balls-up has cost me a great deal in terms of money, opportunity costs as well as stress and some personal problems with my family having to make changes to their plans also. Then yesterday being told I could change the ticket.. ive had to change a lot of plans back again and the whole experience has been a nightmare.

I appreciate your request to refund me for the budget ticket I purchased yesterday the ticket is attached. No im not going to go through the inconvenience of having to post it to you in the mail.

To put this right… you should upgrade my return flight to business class, its the least you can do. The inconvenience to me is worth far more than this but i would appreciate the guesture.

Im forwarding this to your public relations team again

You, or call centre staff you notify customers the correct ticket rules regardless of being a public holiday your staff or outsourced staff should have access to ticket rules as should travel agents who sell your tickets. Its a no-brainer. You are at fault here… and your offer to pay me the 50 GBP for the budget carrier is not sufficient to save your reputation in this case.

[Note] What seems to have happened here is that SA issued a ticket to me with “unknown” rules attached to it. These rules were not given to my agent (so they say – see below). I am inclined to believe them because it seems that even SA do not know their ticket rules. One operator told me changing ticket date was impossible and the next day a different operator told me i could change ticket class for $312 so I could make the change [note] ********************

Original Compaint

Singapore Airlines is meant to be the best airline in the world, or is it Emirates? Anyway – they are meant to be a very good airline. Anyway here are my experiences and Singapore Airlines Review

I purchased a ticket to/from Chiang Mai. The terms of the ticket stated “Rules and restrictions as imposed by the airline(s) will be applicable to your fare should you need to change or cancel your flight(s). ”

When i called Singapore office to change the date I was told I had purchased a special fare and was unable to change the ticket even for a fee. The phone system was awful, I was stuck on the phone for a long time speaking to someone (i assume) in India – sounded Indian and I could hardly understand a word and he was telling me theres no booking for me to Shianghai.. i was literally shouting not Shianghai.. CHIANG MAI but he couldnt understand the phonetic alphabet either, kept calling me “sir” and constantly interrpting and getting right up my nose the way these people often do. After talking with his supervisor he told me that someone in my country would call me back that day in the evening (it was already the evening) – i received no phone call. Here – Singapore Air, made a promise, commitment & verbal contract to contact me and they did not.

Ive feel ive lost out on a very expensive ticket over this. I spend over $10, 000 per year on airfares if they do not sort this out I will never use Singapore Airlines again. When travelling via Thailand I will always use Thai Airways, I have never had a problem with changing tickets with Thai Airways or any other carrier. With Thai – you just call their 24 hour line at the airport there and speak to an English speaking Thai person right there at the airport. About $30 to change your ticket no problem at all. As far as I am concerned Singapore Airlines Suck

Heres what is available on further reading available AFTER the ticket was purchased

Fare rules and restrictions
We have not received information regarding the rules or restrictions for this flight. When you purchase your ticket, you agree to the following rules and restrictions.
Please assume that the fare is non-refundable and any change or cancellation will result in full forfeiture of the value of the ticket with no refund or credit available.
Rules and restrictions as imposed by the airline(s) will be applicable to your fare should you need to change or cancel your flight(s). **** (what rules, how can you ask me to adhere to rules when you dont state what they are.. if this is special fare it should be clearly indicated as such)
Airline tickets are non-transferable. .. OK so they are not transferable, im not asking for transfer of passenger only travel date
Some flights do not qualify for frequent flyer accrual.

So whats “any change”… change of person travelling, change of travel date, change of destination? OK well anyway I didnt see this when ordering anyway but it certainly wasnt marketed as a special fare. I havent heared of airlines like Singapore air who arent happy to charge you a fee for changing a travel date. More fool me!

Right… so Expedia.. biggest agent in the world sell tickets without knowing their terms? Singapore one of the “best” airlines allow their fares to be sold without Expedia knowing the terms? And why havent Singapore told Expedia the terms.. and more to the point why wasnt I told the terms when ordering. Can Singapore Air accept some fault here? Expedia seem to be passing the buck to Singapore by saying they “have not received the rules from them”. If thats the case – why didnt they receive them? When i try to email Expedia they say to contact the airline directly because they take 48 hours to respond to inquiries so I am not in a position to argue with them now as my flight leaves before then. Im not asking for a free ticket just a change of date which I am happy to pay for. This is not clearly indicated BEFORE purchasing the ticket. Nothing here saying “SPECIAL FARE” or no refunds. Do Singapore Air do not check on how their flights are marketed by their distributors? Do Singapore airlines not have a responsibility to ensure that companies who sell their tickets (Expedia is a very large company) are provided with and displaying correct rules for the tickets that they are selling? I purchased the ticket nearly a month ago and Expedia is still saying they have not received ticket rules from the airline.

More fool me for assuming that one of the best airlines in the world would allow me to change ticket dates.

CUSTOMER LOSES! Pass the buck, indian call centre.. someone in my own country who was supposed to call me back yesterday but never did.

Seriously.. I chose Singapore Airlines because I wanted to give them a chance – I do a lot of travel around Asia. I could have flown Thai for a cheaper price and been able to make date changes. I am now in Bangkok and I need to get to Chiang Mai if I have to take this flight which is very inconvenient for me. It is even more inconvenience that Singapore Airlines have not contacted me to give me a definite answer. I made the mistake of assuming Singapore was a good airline… I assumed I could change the dates, and I was not told that I couldnt.. i admit i was not specifically told that I could… so I guess legally that makes me in the wrong…. being a mere economy class passenger vs a multinational airline. Well the ball is in their court. But its not good business, so I hope they can accept my complaint too. Unless of course they are going to put this right in the next 12 hours.

Discraceful.

On further research I have found a number of dedicated websites to the “Singapore Airways Suck” theme such as http://singaporeairlinessucks.blogspot.com/ and plenty of online complaints like http://amplicate.com/hate/singapore-airlines and http://borneomandms.blogspot.com/2009/01/singapore-airlines-sucks.html and many more
Singapore Airlines Review

Interesting Google Searches

“thai airlines suck” – Returns 0 Results

“singapore airlines suck” – Returns 246 Results

“malaysia airlines suck” – Returns 6 Results

“air asia suck” – Returns 46 results (big budget carrier.. not many people complaining here)

“laos air suck” – Returns 0 results (ok i admit they dont have many customers)

“cathay pacific suck” – Returns 9 results

“emirates air suck” – Returns 0 results

Perhaps not a very fair assessment on ranking an airline, but it must mean something!

Have a pleasant flight! – I will, next time I fly with THAI and NOT Singapore. Unless you sort this out.

It is unfair to sell air tickets without stating the rules!… or not providing the rules of the fare to companies who are selling your tickets!

NOTE: Today I have realised its not just that you dont tell agents the ticket rules.. but it appears agents in some of your call centres (the one i got forwarded to on the public holiday) also do not know the rules. Perhaps your ticket rules are not stated on your internal systems too? I was told first “impossible cant change” then later “can change ticket class for $312″. Between which.. i made many changes to itinerary and plans.. huge inconvenience having to change plans suddenly.. then change them back again. Embarrasment for me too.. stress.. time and money. My time. No upgrade offered as compensation. I still had to pay the $312 too.. not good really! Sucks infact!

I would like to change this review to a positive one, if a positive outcome can be reached. Im not asking for a full refund, or a refund for the $312 or a refund for the additional “un-needed” flight i had to book with a different airline. Im not asking for compensation for having to change my plans, change hotel booking, change plans and meeting dates twice. A sincere appology + upgrade to my return flight would be most appreciated and I think it would be the right thing to do.

When I make mistakes in business that effect my customers I always appologise, state if it was my fault and compensate them.

I had really bad experience with singapore airlines booking system and their service. after we booked the flight ticket, they are changing the time without notice us. we only find out when we went on to the website and review the information! so we have to call Singapore airlines during the day time and make them to correct the tickets, that took me about a month to get correct ticket information, not even mention how many times we need to call singapore airlines and how much we spent on the phone.
That wasn't over, after the tickets are fully fine. The hotel we booked with singapore airline has problems, after 3month later we booked with singapore airlines. we've been told the hotel is not available during the period which we booked! Why you didn't change it on the website to mislead customer? Fine, then I agreed to switch to another hotel, then the singapore airlines told us need to pay around $150 more because of different category? really? the price wasn't different when we booked the hotel back then... what a scam!

not happy with the service and too much trouble to deal with them, so if you dont want to spent too much time and wasting time on this . please think twice before you book with singapore airlines, there are plenty of the airlines you can choose!