The fall out from the cancelled Silk Air fiasco has led to a chain reaction and has had further repercussions. It was like vampires leaving the belfry upon sniffing blood.
I tried to cancel the connecting flight from Cebu to Iloilo with Cebu Pacific. Allowed but no refund. I tried to reschedule it. Not permitted. So basically I've had to write off the cost of that as well.
Then there was the planned trip to Taiwan next week. I called China Airlines, and if I asked once I asked a dozen times (sometimes v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y to make sure I was being understood) that if I cancelled my girlfriend's ticket I could claim a refund. Every time I asked I was told I could. Really, I couldn't have been more emphatic. So I cancelled. I was told I could claim the refund via the web site. I logged on and went to the refund section and guess what? No refund available. By now I was losing the will to live. And it was too late, I'd cancelled the ticket.
Next I called Philippine Airlines to cancel the ticket from Iloilo to Manila (to fly to Taiwan). Cannot reschedule. Not permitted
Really, it seems to me that the airlines have resorted to some very sharp practices that Del Trotter would be proud of in order to boost their profits.
All in all I'm down by score short of £400. And the worst thing about all this is when you try to pursue your grievance to try and resolve it you just come up against a stonewall of "company policy" or "there's no one here to deal with your enquiry right now".
It's odd though how quickly there's someone around when it's time to take your money.
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