The Final Insult

The voucher that Silk Air sent me as recompense for the flight cancellation (see Words in a Different Order with the Same Meaning) was sent to our office in Singapore.  Last week the letter was forwarded to me here in the Philippines. 

Whilst not anticipating it being something worthwhile, I did retained some hope that Silk Air would come good in the end and surprise me.  Of course this wasn't going to happen.  What Silk Air sent me was a S$30 (£14.63 at current exchange rates) voucher stapled to their in-flight shopping magazine, which is the only place the voucher can be redeemed. 

So now, let me see:  in return for the loss of around £400 of direct and associated costs I'm given a £15 voucher that must be spent on a Silk Air/Singapore Airlines flight.  Hmmmmm, somehow I don't think I'm going to be enticed back to Silk Air by a £15 voucher.   That's a £15 voucher that is probably largely recoverable in profit from the lucrative duty free trade - not to mention the profit from me taking another flight with them.

Browsing through SkyShop magazine here's what I can buy for under S$30:

• Some stylish (not) Fitness First plastic sunglasses.
• A Toblerone variety 5 pack (good for my waistline)
• A Paris Bijoux crystal scooter mobile phone accessory (who chooses this stuff????)
• A fluffy high heels luggage tag (now it's just getting silly . . . )
• A Silk Air screen cleaner and keyboard brush (at S$12 I could buy 2 of these!)

And that's it.  Thanks Silk Air

Honestly, their meanness is breath taking.  And to further add insult to injury, the voucher has four boxes to tick of varying value, and can you guess which one they've ticked?  Yep, the lowest value.  So it's nice to know how much they value me as a customer.

I'm flying to Singapore in couple of weeks and this time I'm going with Cebu Pacific.  I couldn't care less if I had to stand for the whole journey and was made to wear a hair shirt, I wouldn't fly Silk Air even if they offered me the Paris bijoux crystal scooter AND the Tolberone variety 5 pack.