ACCC action re cancelled Qantas flights

[justinbrett]

Google it

I knew the answer, was checking if you did.

Probably best to go with what I actually wrote rather than your 'look over there' reconstruction of. it.

Most major international airlines have had wi-fi for years or many years

Which makes your statement a look over there situation since it was in reply to a statement about QF’s fast and free wifi.

 

[Scimitar]

Did anyone read Joe Aston's article in yesterday's [9/5] Age - attached? Very enlightening his comments on redeeming Covid-era Flight Credits. Will the ACCC investigate those too?

QF embarrass me with their behaviour.

 

[drron]

So if QF was really sorry and didn't want to upset it's passengers they might immediately issue refunds for all unused Covid Cedits. That would be a good start.

 

[RooFlyer]

Did anyone read Joe Aston's article in yesterday's [9/5] Age - attached?

I missed it, so thanks for posting it. Great to see Aston back in the saddle. I enjoyed seeing the following.



"settlement was even characterised as a 'win' in some quarters"

Must read AFF .

And nice that the ACC fine will be accounted such as it won't impact executive bonuses. but then we wouldn’t expect anything else, really.

 

[RooFlyer]

I knew the answer, was checking if you did.

Of course you did.

 

[RSVKanga]

Most major international airlines have had wi-fi for years or many years

You’re either missing or twisting the point. We’re not talking about Wi-Fi, we’re talking about fast, free international Wi-Fi for all passengers regardless of class or FF status.

Most major international airlines have had paid Wi-Fi for years, and/or discriminate based on class or FF status when determining who should use it. Also speeds are usually average.

QF’s international Wi-Fi will be ultrafast and free for everyone, regardless of whether you are a non-FF with the cheapest Y deal or a loyal WP in F. I’m not sure if any other major airline offers this. Just admit that it’s great

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I quite frankly don't understand why people are so worked up about this whole situation. Qantas is 100% innocent on the ghost fares affair. How do I know? They agreed to pay $120 million to consumers and the ACCC to make the matter go away. Innocent parties always pay millions of dollars to prove they are innocent.

Joking aside, I do wonder when Qantas will open their wallets and reimburse travellers. How will we know if we qualify for the compensation?

-RooFlyer88

 

[AIRwin]

How will we know if we qualify for the compensation?

Home - Qantas Customer Remediation Program

www.secure-portal.com.au

 

[RooFlyer]

Home - Qantas Customer Remediation Program

www.secure-portal.com.au

That doesn't actually answer K88's questions. It neither says when nor how people qualify. Will Deloittes rely on the same defective Qantas IT that helped to cause this (according to Qantas) to identify the people affected?

They need to publish on this site the class of people who will be 'remediated' and, more importantly how people can check to see if they fall into that class.

I mean, just how vague is this?
The Qantas Customer Remediation Program will compensate Qantas customers who made a booking on a flight for travel from May 2022 and were impacted by Qantas’ delayed flight cancellation processes.

Same old, same old ...

 

[kangarooflyer88]

That doesn't actually answer K88's questions. It neither says when nor how people qualify. Will Deloittes rely on the same defective Qantas IT that helped to cause this (according to Qantas) to identify the people affected?

They need to publish on this site the class of people who will be 'remediated' and, more importantly how people can check to see if they fall into that class.

Of course Qantas will claim privacy as a reason for not doing that. What would be beneficial is simply a listing of the dates and flights that are covered by the settlement. In that way travellers can look up their prior flights to see if they won the Qantas lottery!

I mean, just how vague is this?
The Qantas Customer Remediation Program will compensate Qantas customers who made a booking on a flight for travel from May 2022 and were impacted by Qantas’ delayed flight cancellation processes.

What do they mean by impacted? If they were rebooked does that mean they aren’t impacted? And again which flights are part of their illegal delayed flight cancellation program? The ACCC may have thought (wisely might I add) that getting a quick win would be better for customers and shareholders but without specifics on how this process will be played out, it may very well be that the process serves customers poorly. Certainly I wouldn’t be surprised if Qantas comes back in a year and says, “great news we only had to compensate passengers $5 million of the $20 million we set aside. Time for a bonus for our CEO Vanessa Hudson (whose monogram is on the tail of every Qantas bird).

For those saying this is the same old from Qantas I do disagree. If Alan Joyce was at the helm they may not have settled. Or if they did settle he may have ran his mouth and said something derogatory about their customers (e.g., “these customers are not match fit to fly us. They failed to understand the bundle of rights they had and use them and for that it’s frankly not our problem. We are only settling to make this matter go away”

 

[RooFlyer]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Qantas comes back in a year and says, “great news we only had to compensate passengers $5 million of the $20 million we set aside. Time for a bonus for our CEO Vanessa Hudson (whose monogram is on the tail of every Qantas bird).

I was going to say that, but it would be far too cynical for a flying neophyte like me

 

[RooFlyer]

We’re not talking about Wi-Fi, we’re talking about fast, free international Wi-Fi for all passengers regardless of class or FF status.

You are, I'm not. Yes, I will happily admit that its great when it happens. Qantas has quite a bit of form on not delivering what's promised. I'm tipping they just won't be able to resist adding fees and other impediments once it gets going.

 

[drron]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
The proof of QF's amazing wifi will be in the using not a QF announcement. They have too much form to trust them.

 

[justinbrett]

I mean domestic (and now partial international) wifi has remained fast and free since introduction almost 5 years ago.

 

[downgraded]

I mean domestic (and now partial international) wifi has remained fast and free since introduction almost 5 years ago.

My experience for domestic wifi is slow or non functional, which when it is the sole entertainment proposition is a fail in my book.

 

[SYD]

My experience for domestic wifi is slow or non functional, which when it is the sole entertainment proposition is a fail in my book.

Generally works ok for me. What sort of routes are you flying?

I have found that the QF entertainment app itself doesn’t work however even when connected…

 

[downgraded]

Generally works ok for me. What sort of routes are you flying?

I have found that the QF entertainment app itself doesn’t work however even when connected…

Mel-syd using the QF app or iView as there was something I'd been watching. When iview failed I tried QF, no better, no internet as it turned out. With no airline entertainment I simply expect the sales pitch to deliver what it claims. I don't think that's too much to ask.

 

[encryptededdy]

I think I've only ever been on one Qantas domestic flight with non-functional WiFi. It wasn't working for anyone on the flight but the CSM refused to reset the wifi hardware for some reason.

 

[justinbrett]

Mel-syd using the QF app or iView as there was something I'd been watching. When iview failed I tried QF, no better, no internet as it turned out. With no airline entertainment I simply expect the sales pitch to deliver what it claims. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Might be an iview issue. I generally use YoiTube / Disney+ / Netflix and they all work fine save a short 1-2 min disruption every now and then.

I’ve had issues with iview on land so that doesn’t surprise me

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Irrespective of what Qantas does with wifi be it deploying it on international flights thanks to StarLink or sticking with a domestic “made in Australia,” solution one thing is clear here. Qantas misled passengers when it sold those tickets they were unwilling to honour. It would be one thing if they cancelled a flight because they had a maintenance issue. I get it stuff does happen. Even schedule changes I can understand. But selling tickets you know full well you won’t honour, misleading and deceiving customers to snatch away business from rivals, that’s plain wrong. How many people made plans in reliance of Qantas honouring its commitments to them?

I think it is episodes like this which remind of us the need for consumer protection legislation here in Australia. The sad truth is consumers are better protected flying internationally than they are domestically. At least internationally, Australian consumer law’s Montreal Convention comes into play. There is no equivalent for flights domestically. If Qantas or Virgin cancels a flight on you, you are at their mercy. There is no requirement for them to put you on the next flight which often is the case under Australia’s Montreal Convention on international flights. And to be quite frank, I would have preferred to see an EU261 type legislation be the outcome of this whole fiasco rather than a token of remediation to a handful of customers.

-RooFlyer88