Never Again Zest Air

I was so excited when I was booking my flight for Manila this October. I was thinking that I will surely be in Manila for Ate Jette and Doreen's birthday and spend some QT with Abie and Kim. To my horror, Zest Air's website suddenly indicated that my session has already expired right after my payment was approved. I checked my debit card account and the payment to Zest Air was already reflected. I waited for a few minutes for an email from Zest Air to arrive in my inbox confirming my booking. The minutes became hours and there is still no confirmation. I was getting pissed. While I was getting pissed, I came across this blog about Zest Air. The blogger had a really bad experience with the airline. And the comments are mostly people who all have bad experiences with Zest Air from the rude ground staff, stolen items, misinforming the passengers with changes in their flight schedules, and lousy customer service among others. Reading all of those reviews had me more pissed and nervous especially since there is still no email confirmation in my inbox.

I was able to get Zest Air's contact numbers courtesy of Ate Jette and
Nerie. First thing the next morning, I called Zest Air's ticketing office in Elizabeth Mall but I was told to contact their ticketing office in Mactan International Airport since the system used by the E-Mall branch was down.

I called Zest Air's ticketing office in Mactan and talked to one of their staff who identified herself as Jean. After i explained to her my issue, she asked me to hold the line while she checked their records. I was on their system minus the reservation I made the night before. I am a temperamental person and it took all my control not to yell. She asked me to fax a copy of my statement of account which I did. She told me that she's going to send it to their Manila office and that she will call me back.

Sure, she did call me back only to tell me that they can't find my itinerary and some verification is still needed. I asked her how long will it take and she does not have an answer to that. I badly want to strangle somebody from their company.

I also sent my concerns to their customer service in their website and Facebook fan page. The one on their site never answered. Their facebook page asked for contact and flight details. I was told that since the department handling my concern only operates until 6pm, they will see to it the next day. And that was the end of it. I sent them another message and there's nothing from them.

Ate Jette said that I could ask the bank to have my payment reverse to my account. I called Unionbank and I was told that it can be done 11 banking days after I sent a letter of dispute. The catch? We have to wait for the merchant to respond to my letter so they will know if said merchant received my payment or if the payment is still "floating".

I already sent my letter and now we're waiting for damn Zest Air to answer. I am so not happy with this. What if they only find time to answer in October or never? Pffft... I am not recommending them to my friends. And I won't be booking any of my future flights with them. Never again.