Qantas Call Centre Long Wait Times

My understanding (from unofficial sources) is that there is a pool of priority phone numbers that airport staff give to passengers which rotates every few weeks.

I will attempt to publish the currently active number(s) in this post:

1300 304 318
1300 659 161
1300 025 396
1300 659 116

1300 024 715
1300 025 390
1300 659 115
1300 659 134
1300 659 502

 

[RichardMEL]

Day of week	Friday
Time of call	1900AEST
Number used	General number 13 13 13
Status	Gold
Hold time	Call back offered, returned 2 hours later
Call Centre (if known)	Cape Town
Matter resolved	No
Details	Had a OWA to update, the agent got me when I was in an awkward position and it took me a minute to get to my computer. Could tell immediately they weren't happy about this. I had 3 changes to make to the booking, 1st change was ok, when I got to the 2nd change the agent started to become rude and frustrated. Told me "you have already called and made a change previously, why do you need to make another one?" After the lecture while I was going through the next flight to change they hung up on me.

Soo....

on the one hand QF spruik "fly flexible" - make all the changes you want etc... but this agent gives one grief for wanting to make changes?

In a pandemic?

seriously?

this is the kind of horrible attitude that needs to be addressed.

it is not up to the CS agent to judge your requests (I am sure on the "call center employee forums" there are endless stories of how they think customers are horrible with stupid demands, but that's for those boards) as being valid or not. SPECIALLY during a time of crazy changes affecting everyone. It isup to the agent to action the request to the best of their ability (and hopefully that is up to it) and keep the comments to themselves and their break room.

It's called customer service.

that agent didn't have it.

I feel like I should apologise somehow. Not that I have anything to do with it, but Geesh that is so inappropriate in my view.

 

[Spacetravel]

Ok for what feels like attempt #93832:

Day of week	Monday
Time of call	1200AEST
Number used	General number 13 13 13
Status	Gold
Hold time	Call back offered, returned 1.5 hours later
Call Centre (if known)	Cape Town
Matter resolved	Yes!! (I hope)
Details	Had a booking that hadn't ticketed properly and an OWA to update some flights. Got through to SA as usual and actually had a fairly decent experience! The agent had to put me on hold for over an hour to complete my request and when they took me off hold we got disconnected. However they called me back, apologised for the long wait AND the fact we got disconnected. This agent was great, completed my requests and nothing seemed like a bother. I was eagerly awaiting the survey at the end of the call but sadly didn't get put through. I mean I shouldn't be this happy they did their job and the request from first call to finish was about 3 hours, but its done. Which after my experience up thread I finally can rest! I just have to hope the tickets actually turn up in my email now and then I'll be confident they did their job.

Unfortunately I have to change the arrival city of a return flight award booking in about a week when I have more points show up. Not looking forward to that experience, but hopefully I don't have to come back here to complain about more poor experiences.

 

[dylarr]

Ok for what feels like attempt #93832:

Day of week	Monday
Time of call	1200AEST
Number used	General number 13 13 13
Status	Gold
Hold time	Call back offered, returned 1.5 hours later
Call Centre (if known)	Cape Town
Matter resolved	Yes!! (I hope)
Details	Had a booking that hadn't ticketed properly and an OWA to update some flights. Got through to SA as usual and actually had a fairly decent experience! The agent had to put me on hold for over an hour to complete my request and when they took me off hold we got disconnected. However they called me back, apologised for the long wait AND the fact we got disconnected. This agent was great, completed my requests and nothing seemed like a bother. I was eagerly awaiting the survey at the end of the call but sadly didn't get put through. I mean I shouldn't be this happy they did their job and the request from first call to finish was about 3 hours, but its done. Which after my experience up thread I finally can rest! I just have to hope the tickets actually turn up in my email now and then I'll be confident they did their job.

Unfortunately I have to change the arrival city of a return flight award booking in about a week when I have more points show up. Not looking forward to that experience, but hopefully I don't have to come back here to complain about more poor experiences.

This is great you (seemingly) got a resolution, but the fact that the agent had to a) put you on hold for over an hour, and b) the call disconnected highlights two ongoing problems:

1. MindPearl agents need to place customers on hold for incredibly long times to handle the most basic of requests, indicating lack of training and empowerment
2. There is clearly a technical issue with the phone system resulting in dropped calls as reported by so many people in this thread

This is pure speculation, however Qantas did recently move all their telephony from Telstra to TPG. Perhaps this has caused some teething issues relating to the second point?

Qantas to uplift comms with five-year TPG Telecom deal

Moves fixed and mobile voice services.

www.itnews.com.au

 

[Jacques Vert]

2. There is clearly a technical issue with the phone system resulting in dropped calls as reported by so many people in this thread

Call me cynical if you wish but I think the "hang-ups" and "dropouts" would have more to do with meeting some form of KPI about how long an agent takes to complete an enquiry/call or how many calls are handled per hour.

 

[Danger]

Perhaps AFF may consider getting in touch with a couple of mainstream journalists to see if someone might be interested in a story.

 

[RichardMEL]

Perhaps AFF may consider getting in touch with a couple of mainstream journalists to see if someone might be interested in a story.

Oh come now everybody knows the MSN is in the pocket of "Big Airline" !!!!

All jokes aside this is the kind of thing that would front up on ACA and the like from time to time and more or less be ignored. It is the kind of thing a shock jock would probably have a red hot go at, but the problem probably would be that a QF spokesperson would be trotted out to say all the usual and nothing much would happen.

 

[dylarr]

QF spokesperson would be trotted out to say all the usual and nothing much would happen.

Yep. All they'll do is bring someone from corporate affairs out who has never had to call 131313 in their life out for comment... and they'll just blame COVID, state border closures, Mark McGowan etc etc (despite these issues with the call centres existing well before COVID was even a thing).

 

[cinder]

Hi all,
Thankfully stumbled across this thread yesterday. Here's my saga with Qantas. This is already after jumping through several hoops to get an international flight voucher from 2020 re-booked for this year (nightmare in itself) but since that's resolved (after about 12 hours all up from the call centre) I won't go into it.

This one is just a return domestic flight to Airlie Beach for 3 of us, booked via Qantas with a voucher but travelling via Jetstar. All we wanted to do was move the dates from April to Sept. Not cancel! Change dates, which is permitted under the fare rules (changes allowed but a fee for cancellation). We booked the flights using a voucher but the voucher didn't cover the whole amount, so we paid extra $500 with credit card for the flight difference. The customer service person is trying to tell me that the $500 is a change fee and they can only use the original voucher amount (without the $500) towards the new flights. I keep saying, no, there was no change fee, I can clearly see that in front of me (see screen shot).

She put me on hold for ages to confer with 'another team' who told her to tell me no, they can only give me credit for what the voucher was worth, not the additional flight costs. She even said 'to be honest, I don't even understand it' as she could see my point. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After trying give me the run-around (I don't think the supervisors want to talk to anyone!) I finally got one on the line. She said she has to raise a request to have the additional $500 included and it has to be approved, and will give me a call 'this time tomorrow' with the outcome.

Begs belief really.

I'm pleased to see that 1300 number some people have spoken about, if I don't get that call back today, I will use it.

 

[encryptededdy]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1490726939291951108

ouch (but absolutely no surprise)

 

[cinder]

FYI this number: 1300 659 134
Seems to divert to 131313 (same menu, queue, etc)

 

[ozgod]

Hey guys, here's my Qantas call centre saga: I'm trying to move my flight from Sydney to LAX from this week to next week. I just tried the 1300 659 134 and it seems to be forwarding to the 13 13 13 number as it is asking for a FF number and pin. I provided it and was on hold for over 2 hrs before ending up at the Cape Town call centre. Same story to most here, some guy answers (without giving his name) and I ask if I can change my flight to LAX from this week to next week. He puts me on a "brief hold" which takes 20 min before I am disconnected and sent to Qantas's survey. I tried to call one of the other numbers, the 1300 659 502 appears to be disconnected while the 1300 304 318 number also asks for a FF number and pin.

As I want to change my flight by tonight I will try my luck with the 1300 659 134 number again but does anyone have any information on if the number has changed and if so what the new number is?

I'm even tempted to use my US cell to call the US number overseas to see if they will answer quicker...though I think it just routes to 13 13 13. When I called them from the US before my flight here in December it took them 4 hrs+ to answer the phone. But when they eventually did I spoke to an Aussie (named Frank) who was very helpful and was able to fix up my flights in a matter of minutes.

 

[Scr77]

Hey guys, here's my Qantas call centre saga: I'm trying to move my flight from Sydney to LAX from this week to next week. I just tried the 1300 659 134 and it seems to be forwarding to the 13 13 13 number as it is asking for a FF number and pin. I provided it and was on hold for over 2 hrs before ending up at the Cape Town call centre. Same story to most here, some guy answers (without giving his name) and I ask if I can change my flight to LAX from this week to next week. He puts me on a "brief hold" which takes 20 min before I am disconnected and sent to Qantas's survey. I tried to call one of the other numbers, the 1300 659 502 appears to be disconnected while the 1300 304 318 number also asks for a FF number and pin.

As I want to change my flight by tonight I will try my luck with the 1300 659 134 number again but does anyone have any information on if the number has changed and if so what the new number is?

I'm even tempted to use my US cell to call the US number overseas to see if they will answer quicker...though I think it just routes to 13 13 13. When I called them from the US before my flight here in December it took them 4 hrs+ to answer the phone. But when they eventually did I spoke to an Aussie (named Frank) who was very helpful and was able to fix up my flights in a matter of minutes.

Try 1300 659 115 (Came from a cancelled flight notification email) It will still go to Cape Town, but the hold time should be shorter.

 

[cinder]

As I want to change my flight by tonight I will try my luck with the 1300 659 134 number again but does anyone have any information on if the number has changed and if so what the new number is?

I unfortunately don't have this info (after it as well) but in my experience with the 131313 (which is a lot) - never hold on. Keep hanging up until you're offered the call back option. I've always been called. That doesn't meant they'll be able to fix your issue though! But at least you're not stuck on hold for hours.

The latest with my story is that for the international flights I had to change last week, she said the credit card I gave her didn't go through, so I gave her another. Turns out the original one went through, and the next once twice. Love this company!

 

[cinder]

Rang the Premium line again this morning using +1's WP number and the lovely Sara answered half way through the first ring! As it should be.

Try 1300 659 115 (Came from a cancelled flight notification email) It will still go to Cape Town, but the hold time should be shorter.

How did Jacques achieve the above then? Maybe platinum (I'm not platinum but we're gold)

 

[Jacques Vert]

How did Jacques achieve the above then? Maybe platinum (I'm not platinum but we're gold)

Yes, +1 is Platinum.

 

[ozgod]

Try 1300 659 115 (Came from a cancelled flight notification email) It will still go to Cape Town, but the hold time should be shorter.

Thanks, I just tried that and the message is different. "Your call has progressed in the queue and will be answered by the next available agent". Fingers crossed!

I unfortunately don't have this info (after it as well) but in my experience with the 131313 (which is a lot) - never hold on. Keep hanging up until you're offered the call back option. I've always been called. That doesn't meant they'll be able to fix your issue though! But at least you're not stuck on hold for hours.

The latest with my story is that for the international flights I had to change last week, she said the credit card I gave her didn't go through, so I gave her another. Turns out the original one went through, and the next once twice. Love this company!

I'm going to give the number that @Scr77 gave me a go and see if it works, since I can put myself on speaker and work while I'm waiting anyway. The wait time is definitely annoying but at least if the issue is resolved it almost feels worth it...the worst thing is waiting on hold and then getting thru to someone and then being put on hold and getting disconnected and having to start all over >.<

I'm just doing a simple flight change from one date to another...I don't understand why I can't just change it online like I used to. I have a feeling it's because of something to do with fare classes or something even though I'm looking at Business Saver tickets all the way through.

 

[cinder]

I'm just doing a simple flight change from one date to another...I don't understand why I can't just change it online like I used to. I have a feeling it's because of something to do with fare classes or something even though I'm looking at Business Saver tickets all the way through.

Don't even try to understand their logic, cos there isn't any! Other than trying to gouge the customer as much as possible.

Best of luck.

 

[CMA222]

Everyone who has had a bad experience on here should be keeping notes of there treatment (dates, times, delay issues, cut offs, no resolution or stuffed up resolution) and immediately prepare a letter (email) to Fair Trading in their State. If they get enough complaints consistently they will take it up with QF but only if people are serious enough to follow through and not just vent here. QF are showing absolute contempt to the consumers. The same letters could be copied to your local member of parliament. If there is no momentum to put a rocket up QF nothing will change. I will not book anything with QF at present in case I have to ring them with an issue. Rant over !

 

[cinder]

Everyone who has had a bad experience on here should be keeping notes of there treatment (dates, times, delay issues, cut offs, no resolution or stuffed up resolution) and immediately prepare a letter (email) to Fair Trading in their State.

I have raised a complaint with Airline Customer Advocate but their turnaround is 20 days so that's not going to help for people that need urgent assistance. But it'll be interesting to see if it gets me anywhere.

 

[ozgod]

Well I used @Scr77 number 1300 659 115 and the wait time was only about 15 mins before someone picked up. It was from the Cape Town call centre but the person I spoke to (Caleb) was super helpful and was able to rebook my flight and resolve all my issues. He had to put me on hold to price the ticket but promised to call me back in case we got disconnected but we didn't. That was a much more pleasant experience talking to a competent and helpful person, just about made up for waiting 2 hr the first time and getting hung up on.

Everyone who has had a bad experience on here should be keeping notes of there treatment (dates, times, delay issues, cut offs, no resolution or stuffed up resolution) and immediately prepare a letter (email) to Fair Trading in their State. If they get enough complaints consistently they will take it up with QF but only if people are serious enough to follow through and not just vent here. QF are showing absolute contempt to the consumers. The same letters could be copied to your local member of parliament. If there is no momentum to put a rocket up QF northing will change. I will not book anything with QF at present in case I have to ring them with an issue. Rant over !

I actually tweeted at Sen. Tony Sheldon when he tweeted about Qantas getting $2bn in assistance and laying off 2k staff back in December that maybe Qantas should spend some of that $2bn in more call centre agents but yes, writing a letter probably has more effect!