I decided to take Airphil Express going to Legaspi to attend a friend’s wedding only to get a bad customer service experience.

Upon disembarkation, I noticed my checked-in bag was moist but I did not bother to open it.  When I arrived at my accommodation, I was very surprised to see my clothes were wet.  I immediately went back to the airport and talked to the airline manager.  He immediately informed me that an investigation will be conducted.  

After a week of follow-ups, I found out from the manager that an email was already sent to their Customer Service.  I immediately emailed CS to inform them of my disgust over the incident.  I received a reply a day after I lodged my email complaint.  Their letter did not express sincere empathy for the inconvenience that the incident had caused me. They even went to the extent of blaming me for not opening the bag while inside the airport and not reporting it immediately.  Without hesitation, I called the Airline Manager based in Legaspi.  He admitted that indeed the plane was wet when it departed from Manila.  I mentioned the Manager’s admittance about the incident to the airline’s Customer Service.  During my conversation with the Customer Service staff, I asked her to revise the apology letter and let her supervisor sign it.  A day after the phone conversation, I received the scanned copy of the apology letter.

With my experience in taking Airphil Express, I suggest that if you are taking their flight , make sure to use a water proof bag and that before leaving the airport premises, make sure to open your bag in front of their staff.

It was half past five in the morning when I and my three office mates left the inn in Legaspi to go to Donsol.  We took a tricycle (PhP40.00 fare) to Satellite terminal.  From the terminal, we took a van (PhP75.00 fare) for Donsol town proper and waited for more than 30 minutes for it to be filled up with passengers.  It was only until everyone got tired of waiting when the driver asked us to pay an additional fee to cover for the vacant seats.  We had an arrangement with the driver to bring us to the tourism office but when we were at the town proper, the driver made an alibi that the van’s break was not working.  We did not argue and instead took a tricycle (PhP20.00 fare) to Tourism office.  From tourism office, we registered and paid for PhP3,500.00 for the boat and guide plus additional PhP100.00 for the environmental fee. 

There were a lot of tourists that day so we had to wait for a while for our turn to ride the boat.  Only a limited number of boats were allowed to set sail in order to lessen the impact on the whale shark population.  At first, my companions were a bit scared of the whale shark to the point of returning to the boat immediately.  I, on the other hand, enjoyed swimming that I felt like it was one of my longest swims ever. I did not even notice my companions were all aboard the boat so I already thought of joining the other group’s boat had I not found my companions.  On our next encounter with a whale shark, the guide told us to jump over board which I did but only to realize that the rest did not jump so I ended up holding onto the boat as it moved to a different location. 

On our last attempt to see the whale shark, everyone jumped out but the life vest of one of my companions was defective.  We swam back to assist him as he was a bit panicky of the situation. From there, we decided to go back to the shore so that we can return to the city earlier than scheduled.  Unfortunately, in the town proper, there was no air-conditioned van so we had to contend ourselves in taking a jeepney.  The jeepney had a flat tire along the way and the trip was delayed for half an hour.  But this streak of misfortune did not stop us from going to Cagsawa ruins to buy souvenirs.

On the third day, some of my companions went to Ligñon Hill while I went to the airport for my flight back to Manila.  I hope to be back by next year for another whale shark adventure.

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Visited last  April 16 – 18, 2011