As the saying goes: “the customer is king”. While most tend to disagree, there’s no denying that people expect to at least be treated nicely and with some modicum of respect. Unfortunately for local blogger Ong (王宏量), staff of a certain airport didn’t even afford him that.
Ong had just landed in Malaysia when he discovered a tear in his luggage bag. He’d initially attempted to file a damage report with China Airlines. However, to his surprise the airport staff disregarded his complaint. In fact, they even got defensive when he was recording the damaged bag on his phone!
Kedah-born travel blogger Ong was returning to Malaysia from Taiwan on 24th February. He landed in Penang International Airport via China Airlines in the afternoon and as usual, went to collect his luggage. But to his shock, he found a split in his suitcase. Ong claims damaged luggage isn’t uncommon. So, he sensibly went to file a damage report with China Airlines at their counter.
However, he was told by the staff there that they were not employees of the airline. As such, they could not help him. Instead, they instructed Ong to go to the third floor office. “The office on the third floor was closed,” Ong later shared. “And one of the airport staff pointed out that this was their ticket office.” Upon returning to the counter, the staff told him to wait at the third floor.
As they could not give him a wait duration nor could they answer any other inquiries he had, Ong decided to be productive while waiting. He took out his phone to record his experience, as a blogger is apt to do. However, this apparently worsened his situation. “When the staff (on duty) saw me taking out my mobile phone for photos, their attitude suddenly changed. They took us upstairs to deal with (the matter in person),” Ong stated.
Ong claimed he was beset by a group of girls once they were away from the public. “(They) blocked the exit and attacked us (by) yelling and swearing,” Ong said. They alleged he had taken photos of their friend’s face. Ong also claimed the group had made fun of them, saying it was “their first time on a plane” and that they “didn’t know how to deal with a broken suitcase”. To his shock, they even called in the security guards and the police.
Ong admitted their action had made him feel like “a terrorist”. “But after the guards and police learned (more) about the incident, they left because (it) was a trivial matter,” Ong stated. However, it had been enough to catch their supervisor’s attention. And upon arriving at the scene, the group was quick to turn timid and disperse. The supervisor later apologised to Ong after learning more about the incident.
Nonetheless, Ong was not pleased with the matter. He pointed out that on top of having poor attitudes, the airport had poor service as well. “Actually, the employees on the job only needed to contact the relevant airline employees to come to the counter. Then my problem would be solved,” Ong pointed out. As it was, it took him nearly three hours to file a luggage damage report.
Ong added that although the airport was known as the Penang International Airport, it was not of international standard. He opined that if such service was given to foreign tourists, they might not visit Malaysia again. On that note, he hopes the airport and other airlines will handle the issue seriously.
