Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Wanted - Tips on calling numbers

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View from Coco Vida


I need to book a domestic flight from Tagbilaran to Manila to eventually make my way to Puerto Galera for the IDC. In order to do that, I need to get the phone number for Philippine Airlines to call because I have an open ticket that can only be scheduled via phone. I got a reservation phone number off their website and tried to call on my cell phone but I couldn’t connect for various reasons. It’s confusing here to dial phone numbers because how you dial depends on if you’re dialing to a cell phone or land line, and what carrier (Globe or Smart) you and the receiver use. I asked several people how I can dial the number including people at Genesis and native Filipinos. No body knew how to dial the number.

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Anita from Coco Vida


Throughout the day I hung out at Coco Vida and eventually Oops bar. At Oops, I met Jim, Mark, and Jason who were in Alona for a wedding. Ronnie, an Englishman living in Philippines for 15 years and one of the persons who helped create Alona Beach, joined me at the bar. I asked him if he knew how to dial the Philippine Airlines phone number I had and he told me not to ask him about dialing numbers because he was confused about the system. Even he didn’t know how to do it!

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Resident dog of Oops Bar - Oopsie


I gave up on trying to figure out how to call Philippine Airlines and decided to just have a local travel agent schedule my open ticket. I went to Sunshine Travel on Alona Beach and told them what I wanted to do. The girl helping me told me that she needed a booking reference number from my ticket in order to make the reservation. I asked if she could just call Philippine Airlines and have them look up my name. For some reason, she was hesitant and I found it odd that it never occurred to her to try this option -- again, another example of not thinking of other possible solutions to try to solve a problem and help a customer. Nobody at the Philippine Airlines answered the phone she said. Just my luck.


- jason

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