Is SIA bartering customer service for money? (Singapore Airlines)

Member Name: Suhail

Product:	Singapore Airlines
Date:	26/12/08 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nil

Disadvantages: No concept of due care

I was on a locum appointment in Brunei. I decided to get my family to join me from Kuwait. They decided to travel on SIA on the route Dubai - Singapore - Bander Seri Begawan. I had arranged for a visa on arrival from Brunei, and a letter was issued by Brunei Immigration clearly stating that visa's for the passengers will be issued on arrival with which they proceeded to travel. They were subsequently denied boarding by SIA at Dubai airport's boarding gate because the SIA staff "felt" that their "visa" may not be valid. I was called at this point and I asked to speak to the SIA staff. In short he told me that, in his opinion, he had made his decision and he did not care if I sued SIA or took any further action, they will not travel on SIA. However, he also informed me that if I can arrange any other carrier to take them, he would endorse their tickets on that airline. Luckily, Royal Brunei Airlines was leaving Dubai for Bander Seri Begawan, a few hours later, and I had to make 10 to 15 international calls to Dubai from Brunei, getting in touch with RBA staff (far more customer oriented than SIA) and they immediately accepted the passengers, who were able to travel and reach Brunei on schedule. There was no assistance to either the passengers or myself from SIA.
The next day, I contacted Lim Marguerite Carla Phipps, Manager of Customer Services at SIA and brought to her attention the fact that SIA had failed to exercise due care when providing services, specifically, in its provision of services to my family. She responded by pointing out to me the Conditions of Carriage of SIA [2] that state in article 14, para 2 that, "Carrier reserves the right to refuse carriage of any passenger ...... whose documents do not appear to be in order....." regardless of if they are valid or not. This is a far cry from the concept of due care where an airline takes the interests of passengers into account to the best of its ability, on the understanding that this duty of care (interestingly omitted completely by SIA from their conditions of carriage) shall always be the first consideration and that any clauses restricting liability shall not detract from this duty.
I then asked her to ask her legal department to answer the following two questions:
(1) Is it official SIA policy to deny travel to passengers "whose documents do not appear to be in order"
(a) Even if this violation is attributable directly to the airline?
(b) Even if the airline has NOT acted bonafidely or in fair belief thereof?
(c) Even if this document eventually turns out to be valid?

(2) Does SIA not consider due care to be a passengers right (whether written or not) that will prevent this sort of abuse to a passenger? Do they not believe that SIA must take a lead to demonstrate that when this sort of abuse is reported, it will take the necessary steps to show that it will rectify its operations to exercise due care when providing services and in its provision of services are willing to take a customer's interests into account to the best of its ability, on the understanding that this duty of care shall always be the first consideration and that any clauses restricting liability shall not detract from this duty?

Lim Marguerite Carla Phipps then sent me a final communication on behalf of her legal department stating that SIA "policy is clear and transparent" in response to question 1, which I interpret to mean that the SIA expects passengers to agree not to make Singapore Airlines liable, whether or not the airlines has acted bonafidely or in fair belief thereof a policy that aims to put the burden of care on the customer and none on the airline. In answer to question 2, she stated that what her staff did was SIA's "standard operating procedure" which I interpret to mean that due care is not a policy of SIA, and making money takes precedence over customer service at all times. So how does this fit into Kaufman's assessment of SIA that "good profits are also achieved, but not as the end in themselves". I leave the readers to make this judgement for themselves.

Summary: Don't travel on SIA