I had international multiple destination flights with Continental Airline on June 16th. We flew from Houston to Narita, Japan for 10 hours already on CO7 only to end up flying back to Houston as there was a volcanic eruption somewhere close to Japan where I would have my connecting flight to Bangkok. But that was fine with me; better safe than sorry. We arrived in Houston @1am and had to stay in a long queue to get our new rerouted flight. I got to Bangkok without a problem. On June 23rd., I was set to fly from Bangkok, Thailand to Davao, Philippines. This was when I figured that Continental had made a mistake on my rerouted tickets. When I got to BKK airport, Cathay Pacific could not find my new ticket number as the record only says exchanged but they (Continental) didn’t reissue a new ticket number. Needless to say, I couldn’t get on board. I had 1 hour left to fix the mess Continental had made. My options were to contact Continental and ask them to reissue me a new ticket number or buy a new ticket. I bought a $30 worth of Int’l card just to call Continental in Houston as they don’t have office in BKK (or at least that’s what the airport staff told me.). My call couldn’t get through for some reasons & I didn’t have much time left as they already started boarding then. So I opted the last option. I bought a new ticket for my trip from Bangkok, Thailand to Manila, Philippines which cost me $730.31. My flight was delayed due to a bad weather condition in Manila and needless to say I missed my connecting flight for Davao City. I went straight to the Continental office and recounted my horrible experience. I asserted, argued, explained just for them to get the crux of my contention and admit their mistake. Finally, they figured their own mistake. But here’s the trick, they then reissued me a new ticket number for my flight from BKK, Thailand to DVO, Philippines. That was stupid! Why would she reissue me a new ticket for my Bangkok to Manila flight when I already arrived in Manila??? And it got worse as they wanted me to get my refund from Cathay Pacific and not from them. The employee that I was talking to said that I just have to show the new reissued ticket number to Cathay Pacific. Then I figured the game they were playing. They don’t want to deal with the refund issue so they reissued me a new ticket so I would be the one chasing Cathay Pacific just to get my refund.in other words, they wanted to get rid of me & leave me to fix the mayhem they brought me into. The staff in Cathay Pacific told me that they don’t do refund in the airport; I still have to go to Makati office, which is located relatively far from the airport, to process it. I didn’t have time for that nonsense as I still have another flight to catch up the next day since Manila is not my final destination. I didn’t accept the deal and told the Continental employee that they made this mistake they ought to fix this and not me. After hours of asserting with them they finally agreed that they will refund me but only if I processed it in Houston as the mistake was actually done in Houston and not in Manila. She told me that they already made a note about my case. And here’s more, Continental refused to answer for my hotel accommodation because the manager over the phone said that I was delayed anyway. It was already 11pm, I was so exhausted, stressed & was starving & with 2 huge & heavy luggage; the last thing I want to hear is them (Cathay Pacific and Continental) tossing back and forth about who is really responsible for my hotel accommodation. I was then very outraged as I tried to work with them the whole time, I was assertive but not rude and then they couldn’t even give a hotel accommodation even after the fact that they recognized their own mistake. Screw them… I broke in at the middle of their squabble and started my harangue. That’s when Cathay Pacific gave in and decided to take care of my transportation and hotel accommodation. I hate the fact that I still have to flare up just to get them to treat me right.
Continental Airline credited my bank account back $264.99 as a refund for my Bangkok – Manila ticket. I called 1-800-WE-CARE2 again. I talked to one of the Continental representatives and told him that I received an insufficient refund since I paid $730.31 on that ticket. The guy explained that their policy is to refund only the cost of the unused ticket and not the exact amount the customer spent… That’s a screwed up policy; good for the company but bad for their customers. So as the ramification of their mistake, I had to pay another hundreds of $ ($465.32) to compensate their negligence…. At my own expense!
I asked if I could talk to a manager; the guy in the other line said that the manager is not around. So I asked for an address where I could send an appeal in a form of formal letter with all the indispensable documents. He gave me the address but also said that he is almost positive that they will have the same decision about my case. They never even sent any reply to my letter or any letter of apology for the inconvenience they caused me.
Bottom line, Continental never takes responsibilities of their mistakes. Talking bad about a company is something I don’t normally do but I was treated bad and didn’t give me back what is rightfully mine so I want the rest to learn out from my experience and that of others too. It happened to us, it will also happen to you if you will be in a similar situation. Dealing with Continental Airline is a pain in the neck. This particular experience and the experiences of other customers tell us that they will fix their mistakes only when it works on their favor, that is, fixing their errors at a minimum cost; they don’t care even if it unreasonably cost the customers another hundreds or even thousands of $...in other words, they are NOT interested in providing their customers the satisfaction they deserve for doing business with them. Don’t do business with continental airline!
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