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

 

[Nitro6333]

This is why Hobart based agents can't issue tickets directly and send bookings off to a droid to be ticketed automatically, with anything more complex going to a more specialised ticketing team if manual intervention is required.

I have had Hobart based agents issue tickets instantly for me in the past

 

[dylarr]

I have had Hobart based agents issue tickets instantly for me in the past

Hobart agents are great at quickly identifying and fixing problems in bookings that are inhibiting automatic ticket issuance so the ticket will be issued when they send it back off to the droid, this doesn't necessarily mean they were the ones that issued the ticket to you although it may appear that way.

There are probably staff in Hobart with the skillset that do it here and there, but it isn't a part of their duties and if it becomes a requirement of their job then they need to be compensated at a higher rate of pay for it.

Edit: For anyone interested, search for "Australian Services Union (Qantas Airways Limited) Agreement 11" on the Fair Work Commission website and look at descriptions for Sales & Marketing Level 3/4/5 from pages 90 onwards.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, a good outcome but an hour to make such a seemingly simple change?

Because they have to queue to talk to someone who can do what you want.

Hi all. I’ve been having issues with a one of the seven bookings made all the way back in April that I am yet to see an e-ticket for. The rest were ticketed as expected bar one.

I have called multiple times to be told it was a payment issue, which I have then given CC details and told all was OK and I would be issued an e ticket. However after 15+ calls and seeing payment made twice on my bank statement, I am still being told my payment has been denied and an eticket has yet to be issued.

I am now being told by qantas agents to get my bank to reverse these charges and try again which seems very odd and I am nearing my wits end with dealing with the phone agents who refuse to transfer me to a billing or ticketing department.

My bank has advised me this is a merchant processing error from Qantas' end.

I have been told to get in contact with the Hobart qantas office however, in my 15+ calls I am yet reach to anyone outside of the Manila office. Does anyone have any advice on steps moving forward?

Welcome to AFF @fpik2022 . We've had so many newbies in a similar situation with Qantas call centres and ticketing and its really sad. Go up this thread and look for e-mails of Stephanie Tully - someone in the "Loyalty" area, who people have had some success in appealing to. Keep it short, unemotional, say that you've tried X times through the call centre etc and ask for a prompt resolution.

This is why Hobart based agents can't issue tickets directly and send bookings off to a droid to be ticketed automatically, with anything more complex going to a more specialised ticketing team if manual intervention is required.

I really believe they can - have had an e-ticket appear seconds after they say "Actioning that now for you". Now, whether it has to go to some tech first base in a microsecond before it comes into my in-box, I still count that as Hobart staff being able to "issue tickets". And "ability to issue tickets" I think is also covered by being trained/competent enough to do what ever they do and not screw things up such that a ticket cannot be issued.

 

[dylarr]

I really believe they can - have had an e-ticket appear seconds after they say "Actioning that now for you". Now, whether it has to go to some tech first base in a microsecond before it comes into my in-box, I still count that as Hobart staff being able to "issue tickets". And "ability to issue tickets" I think is also covered by being trained/competent enough to do what ever they do and not screw things up such that a ticket cannot be issued.

See my post above yours.

 

[RooFlyer]

See my post above yours.

I saw it (before the edit), but without wanting to die in the ditch over it , the practical outcome of the Hobart call centre is they can cause tickets to be issued on the spot. Whether it goes via some droid to me is irrelevant. They hit <return>, the ticket gets issued almost immediately. But I have had them tell me that its going to be queued too.

Can you give us a TL;DR version of the union agreement?

 

[dylarr]

Can you give us a TL;DR version of the union agreement?

Sure - the relevant positions in the agreement are Sales & Marketing Level 3, Sales & Marketing Level 4 and Sales & Marketing Level 5.

The duties listed in the agreement for each of those levels of the role is as follows:

Typical duties within Sales & Marketing at Level 3 include:
• Provide consistent and excellent customer service; and,
• Convert customer inquiries to sales for air and non-air revenue suggesting appropriate alternatives to maximise selling opportunities; and,
• Attempt first call resolution to customer queries and identifies individual customer needs; and,
• Answer customer sales inquiries on domestic airfares, airline procedures, auxiliary products, Qantas and partner airline loyalty programs and domestic redemption procedures; and,
• Quote and construct domestic fares and build domestic tickets; and,
• Assess and calculate and action domestic e-ticket re-issues and refunds; and,
• Provide advice on paper tickets; and/or,
• Issue Qantas Holidays documentation and chase outstanding monies; and,
• Perform product call outs.

Typical duties within Sales & Marketing at Level 4 include:
• Provide domestic total travel management sales and services to customers for carriers and selling value added products; and,
• Interpret fare rules and calculate and construct international fare types at a level equivalent to the competencies acquired at Fares 1; and,
• Issue and re-issue tickets and domestic travel documents involving Australian Domestic carriers and suppliers fare types and products; and/or,
• Ensure daily domestic Qantas Sales Return audit requirements are met including accurate completion of all documentation and sales reports; and,
• Process refunds accurately and promptly within set KPis; and/or,
• Construct wholesale travel packages; and,
• Transfer funds from one holiday package to another; and,
• Extend payment deadlines on Holiday packages

Typical duties within Sales & Marketing at Level 5 include:
• Provide domestic/international total travel management sales and services to customers and sell value added products; and,
• Interpret fare rules and calculate and construct international fare types at a level equivalent to the competencies acquired at Fares 1 and 2; and,
• Ensure daily Qantas Sales Return audit requirements are met; including accurate completion of all documentation and sales reports; and,
• Issue and re-issue international tickets and documents, including inbound, in accordance with commercial agreements; and/or,
• Ensure the coordination of field sales support functions; Organise advertising and promotion activities; and/or,
• Provide technical product support, on-the-job instruction, guidance and advice. Identify staff training needs and provide feedback to supervisor on performance issues; and/or,
• Provide first level waiver authority

The jump in pay between each level is about $5k p.a. hence why call centre agents have to push bookings off to a droid to be ticketed.

 

[RooFlyer]

The dutues listed on the EBA for each is as follows:

Thanks. That extract provided a bit of a giggle. But I gather what you are saying is that the call centre people are not level 4 or 5?

 

[Port Power]

I rang at 8:35am EST to see if I could change tomorrow’s MEL-PER Classic Reward J flight from 19:30 to QF9. Answered immediately, but in Capetown! Anyway, I asked the question, but then said “do not make any change to the existing flight yet”. I wanted to be polite, so didn’t just say I changed my mind and hang up. The man said no seat available (whew!), so I thanked him and hung up. I called again 5 minutes later and was answered in Hobart, again immediately. Matt was extremely helpful and put through a request to release a seat without me even asking. However, computer said “no”. Matt then suggested I call again tonight, then again tomorrow morning.

As I was on the phone, I also asked if I could changed my December 6 classic reward J MEL-PER to QF9 also. That was immediately available and I have the new e-ticket already.

Reason for changes? Simple - I want to use the Melbourne First Lounge!
(QF9 wasn’t flying at the time I booked in March.)

 

[parkesyau]

I rang at 8:35am EST to see if I could change tomorrow’s MEL-PER Classic Reward J flight from 19:30 to QF9. Answered immediately, but in Capetown! Anyway, I asked the question, but then said “do not make any change to the existing flight yet”. I wanted to be polite, so didn’t just say I changed my mind and hang up. The man said no seat available (whew!), so I thanked him and hung up. I called again 5 minutes later and was answered in Hobart, again immediately. Matt was extremely helpful and put through a request to release a seat without me even asking. However, computer said “no”. Matt then suggested I call again tonight, then again tomorrow morning.

As I was on the phone, I also asked if I could changed my December 6 classic reward J MEL-PER to QF9 also. That was immediately available and I have the new e-ticket already.

Reason for changes? Simple - I want to use the Melbourne First Lounge!
(QF9 wasn’t flying at the time I booked in March.)

May I ask what number you are calling to manage to get through to Hobart? Really want to speak to an Australian who can actually fix and sort things. Is it one of the ones on the page? I always end up in Capetown or FIjI

 

[Mr H]

May I ask what number you are calling to manage to get through to Hobart? Really want to speak to an Australian who can actually fix and sort things. Is it one of the ones on the page? I always end up in Capetown or FIjI

I think Port Power is platinum. As a non platinum we mere mortals cannot speak to Hobart.

 

[GilliG]

I have a (hopefully final) update. I spent 7 hours on the phone with the Cape Town team today, across 10 separate phone calls, trying to get my booking ticketed. They have charged me 3 times for the taxes/fees, and still did not have my booking ticketed.

Each time the phone went dead and my AMEX was charged without processing a refund for the prior charges, I fired off an email to [email protected] and [email protected] outlining the latest developments, highlighting the poor service delivery. There were probably about 8 emails I sent throughout the day.

Well, I just received (9PM) a phone call from a private number, a local representative from Qantas. The call started with "Stephanie Tully has requested I give you a call to resolve your booking issues". He apologised for the saga from today, asked about my desired itinerary and the amounts that had been charged to my card. He's currently working on the booking and the refund, and has promised a call-back this evening.

A good outcome, yes, but entirely unsatisfactory that I only get my issue sorted after 7 hours because I had the audacity to email the CCO directly. Apologies for my barrage of negativity today, but it's simply not good enough. I have outlayed thousands of dollars for non-refundable upfront payments on this trip as the booking is during a peak period (F1 weekend), I don't need the stress and uncertainty about whether I have a valid ticket.

I've said it before on this forum, and I'll say it again, while Qantas continues to treat its customers with sheer comtempt, I will have no shame in continuing to email their ELT directly, until their call centres are equipped to handle my queries within a satisfactory timeframe.

I have emailed Stpehanie Tully as a last ditch- this is my story

I have a (hopefully final) update. I spent 7 hours on the phone with the Cape Town team today, across 10 separate phone calls, trying to get my booking ticketed. They have charged me 3 times for the taxes/fees, and still did not have my booking ticketed.

Each time the phone went dead and my AMEX was charged without processing a refund for the prior charges, I fired off an email to [email protected] and [email protected] outlining the latest developments, highlighting the poor service delivery. There were probably about 8 emails I sent throughout the day.

Well, I just received (9PM) a phone call from a private number, a local representative from Qantas. The call started with "Stephanie Tully has requested I give you a call to resolve your booking issues". He apologised for the saga from today, asked about my desired itinerary and the amounts that had been charged to my card. He's currently working on the booking and the refund, and has promised a call-back this evening.

A good outcome, yes, but entirely unsatisfactory that I only get my issue sorted after 7 hours because I had the audacity to email the CCO directly. Apologies for my barrage of negativity today, but it's simply not good enough. I have outlayed thousands of dollars for non-refundable upfront payments on this trip as the booking is during a peak period (F1 weekend), I don't need the stress and uncertainty about whether I have a valid ticket.

I've said it before on this forum, and I'll say it again, while Qantas continues to treat its customers with sheer comtempt, I will have no shame in continuing to email their ELT directly, until their call centres are equipped to handle my queries within a satisfactory timeframe.

Thanks for your story - this is mine. Did you get your tickets after the Stephanie Kelly reference??
Any advice ? I've now emailed them as well

SUMMARY OF ISSUE

18/6/22 Booking made for 5 flights through Qantas website using frequent flyer points.

Booking Ref ****** for the following trip

Perth/Mel QF784
Mel/Delhi QF69
Delhi/KL MH191
KL/Denpasar MH715
Denpasar/Perth JQ107

Points deducted 118 730
Visa card billed ~$300

Ticket Itinerary and receipt received from Qantas Customer Services at ******

I contacted Malaysian Airlines for seat allocation and was given seats 2A on each MH flight.

18/6/22 I contacted the service centre to see if I could change my flight date from Denpasar to Perth from 12/10/22 to 20/10/22 and this was done - new return flight was 20/10/22 Denpasar/Perth JQ117

I supplied credit card details as there was a fare difference of ~$23
I was emailed an itinerary from QANTAS AIRWAYS CONTACT CENTRES on 18/6/22 at 3pm to reflect these changes and told to expect a new confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services.
All flights were listed on my bookings page on the Qantas website.
New confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services not recieved.

4/7/22 Only the 3 QF/JQ flights were listed on my bookings page on the Qantas website

The MH flights below were no longer on my bookings page
Delhi/KL MH191
KL/Denpasar MH715

I contacted the service centre who said that the Visa card transaction for the flight change fare difference had not gone through which is why the 2 MH flights had been cancelled. There was no reason given when I asked why I hadn’t been notified of this. I was told that I should give my Visa card details again, which I did, for a charge of ~$23 and the agent reinstated flights.
I received an email of the itinerary from QANTAS AIRWAYS CONTACT CENTRES on 4/7/22 at 6:32 pm.
I was told to expect a new confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services.
All flights were listed on my bookings page on the Qantas website.
A charge appeared on my Visa card banking page.
New confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services not recieved.

26/7/22 Email notification advising a time change for Mel/Delhi flight, when I went to my booking page on the Qantas website only 3 flights (QF/JQ) were listed on the bookings page

The MH flights below were no longer on my bookings page
Delhi/KL MH191
KL/Denpasar MH715

I rechecked my visa account- the $23 charge was no longer listed. My assumption was that this was the reason the booking had failed again so I contacted the service centre. The agent was unsure why this would have happened and once again reinstated flights. I inquired as to why I hadn’t been notified of this again but no reason was given. The agent reassured me it was now fixed and they had queued it to ticketing, I was told to expect a new confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services.
All flights were listed on my bookings page on the Qantas website.

28/7/22

No confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services had been received so I contacted the service centre to ask why. The agent sent me an email of my itinerary from QANTAS AIRWAYS CONTACT CENTRES on 28/7/22 at 7:32 am but said there was problem with the booking and she would look into it and handle the matter. She would call me back within 3 hours. I did not receive a call. I rang back and spoke with another agent who checked with her and told me she would call me back shortly but I never received a call.
All flights are still listed on my bookings page on the Qantas website.

29/7/22

No confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services had been received so I contacted the service centre. I was told that my booking had been rejected by ticketing and it would need to be resubmitted as there was an issue, the agent thought he could see what it might be so tweaked it and resubmitted it to ticketing. He said I should call back in 24 hrs if I hadn’t heard anything and it could be escalated directly to the Customer Care Team.
All flights are still listed on my bookings page on the Qantas website.

30/7/22

No confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services had been received so I contacted the service centre. I was told the booking was not ticketed and the issue was still not resolved - it appeared to be due to a problem with the points booking at the outset. The agent said he would try to address it but the Points Redemption Team would not be contactable until Monday 1/8/22. He agreed to contact me at 0700 Monday 1/8/22 if the problem had not been resolved so that escalation to The Points Redemption Team could occur.
All flights are still listed on my bookings page on the Qantas website.

1/8/22

No call from Qantas Airways Contact Centre as promised. No confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services received so I contacted the service centre. Reya took on the case, she saw the problems still existed - it appeared to be due to a "system glitch", she then sent me an email of the itinerary from QANTAS AIRWAYS CONTACT CENTRES on 4/7/22 at 09:25 am and 09:26, this one also listed the ticket number(as below) as she assured me it was now settled. I asked if she could organise my seat bookings for the MH flights- she did this as she was able to access that part of the system for me- she issued seats 5A for both legs (I had been issued with 2A back at the outset of the booking and again a second time). My seats were no longer available I would have to settle for 5A. I accepted this.

A short while later Reya called me- I would need to pay the ~$23 again as the transaction hadn't gone through and this should settle the matter, I provided a different credit card and the transaction appeared as PENDING to Qantas on my credit card statement. Reya said she would keep an eye on it and stay in touch.

2/8/22
No confirmation and E-Ticket Itinerary from Qantas Customer Services received and credit card transaction to qantas still pending on my card account and so I contacted the service centre. Another agent messaged Reya to let her know that I am still not ticketed and card transaction still pending, she said Reya would call me and this agent would also follow up.
I also rang Malaysian Airlines who confirm they don’t have ticketed flights for me in their system due to a pending payment.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

My partner booked a one-way SYD-JNB-CPT for end August. As reward space opened up in J, we decided to change the paid flight into a return flight for the same routing next Easter as cheaper than cancelling and rebooking.

Called the call centre using my QFF number (Gold) as I'd also had the foresight to nominate myself as the travel arranger, no wait time but routed to CPT (fitting for the booking? ).

Fed the agent the new flight dates and flight numbers, including the added return sectors. She put me on hold for about 5 minutes as she calculated the fare which pleasantly matched what I'd added up on my end, took the credit card and new e-ticket arrived immediately.

I'm almost too shocked to know what to do. I figured I'd have to crack open the wine to get through this today --- now I guess I can as a celebratory measure.

 

[djkelly69]

SUMMARY OF ISSUE

Might want to edit your booking ref/PNR out of there, don't think it adds much to the post.

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to AFF @GilliG .Sorry to hear what brought you here - all the best with it.

 

[Port Power]

I think Port Power is platinum. As a non platinum we mere mortals cannot speak to Hobart.

May I ask what number you are calling to manage to get through to Hobart? Really want to speak to an Australian who can actually fix and sort things. Is it one of the ones on the page? I always end up in Capetown or FIjI

You are right. It was the 131211 number, but being Platinum got me through. Remember, though, on second try! Still Cape Town on first try.

 

[RooFlyer]

You are right. It was the 131211 number, but being Platinum got me through. Remember, though, on second try! Still Cape Town on first try.

What your experience tells me is that Platinums will not be put into a five minute queue to get Hobart, but will simply be shunted off to the first available call centre - South Africa. That’s pretty poor I think.

Status not giving any benefit here.

 

[GilliG]

Might want to edit your booking ref/PNR out of there, don't think it adds much to the post.

ok, thanks for the advice!

 

[N860CR]

Not much luck tonight. Called and was on hold for an hour before I was disconnected. Now called back and have been on hold for 2 hours.

Need to change sectors on a OWA so god knows how hard that will be if someone answers.

 

[N860CR]

Finally connected to someone, changes made, asked for immediate ticketing and got the remark “oh my fu**ing god” before being placed on hold again. Then disconnected.

This company is an absolute disgrace.

 

[MARTINE]

Finally connected to someone, changes made, asked for immediate ticketing and got the remark “oh my fu**ing god” before being placed on hold again. Then disconnected.

This company is an absolute disgrace.

I am sure you will understand my actual response in sequence