Poor Mel QF F lounge service

[kpc]

...I missed my JQi flight from Mel to Syd, and had to be escorted back out through immigration @ Mel...more details to come:shock::evil:. (PS: it was not because I had too much to drink if you are wondering!:shock

Did the lounge staff not call the flight, or was there no call from the gate to the lounge. I hope at least you got to use the lounge. I inquired once as it was getting late and boarding was almost completed when I got to the gate.

I was on JQ3 travelling Mel-Syd, leaving at 1415. Checked in at 1115 to enjoy the Mel F lounge. On arrival at the lounge, after presenting my JQ BP and QF Plat card, was told they would make an anouncement as to when my flight was boarding. Had a very nice meal and shoulder / neck masssage BTW.

At 1340, as no boarding announcement had been made, went up to the desk and asked when they would be boarding JQ3 to Sydney (my exact words).... was told the flight had been delayed to 3pm, go back and relax with a drink and they will make an announcement when it was time to board. No problem (and note the departure boards did not appear to be updated when I looked then). At 230pm with no announcements being made, went up to get an update on JQ3 that I was previouly told had been delayed til 3 pm, they confirmed they had not been notified of boarding, and would ring to find out.....I was getting a bit anxious when they said no one was answering but they then refreshed their screen to say the flight was in the final stages of boarding! WTF... so we (including +1) grabbed our bags and rushed to nearby gate 9 which looked deserted, and all the doors appeared closed...... we could still see the plane, tho!

Grabbed a passing J* CSA walking past and enquired abot J*3 to Syd. "Oh, you must be pax kpc and kpc+1. We have been paging you over the PA, and the QF lounge (didn't ring the F lounge tho), we have now off loaded you from the flight and we will escort you back out through immigration / security! Went to the J* service desk who accused us of delaying the flight etc etc. When I politely told him that the QF F lounge staff had told us we had been delayed til 3 pm, so it really wasn't our fault and no boarding call had been made for J*3, he replied well they must have got confused with J*7 which was delayed til 3pm. Anyway, he will put us on the next domestic J* flight leaving 4 hours later, but it will cost us $129!!!:evil::evil: Controlling my annoyance and frustration, he also said I should pay first and then take it up with QF later. I insisted he ring the F lounge to confirm we had been given the wrong information. He did, and after a long discussion, the QF F lounge apparently said "we may have forgotten to issue a boarding call for J*3". With that, we would put on the later J* flight for no extra costs but had to await a further 4 hours at Mel.

Pretty annoying as I missed an appointment in Syd at 6pm, and a family reunion dinner that night!

I'm pretty annoyed with the QF F lounge for (mistakenly) telling us our flight was delayed when it was not, and then J* initially trying to charge us extra for missing our flight. Tempted to write a letter of complaint re F lounge desk at Mel or should I just put it down as a lesson learnt from a "now not so naive" traveller who believed what he was told by the QF F lounge desk at Mel? Your thoughts?

 

[BAM1748]

While annoying, it was a mistake nothing sinister.

 

[dfcatch]

Whilst it may have been a simple mistake by the F lounge, perhaps it was also a J* mistake.

Sounds like everyone passing the buck.

But I am tempted to give the F lounge staff the benefit of the doubt as I have found them to be nothing but helpful when required.

 

[cove]

Now the drinks test......
What was the first name of the person who did the massage?

 

[serfty]

Looks like the "holes in the cheese" lined up with this one.

Not only would it be the fault of the First Lounge staff in mistaking a 7 for a 3, why did not JQi staff call the First Lounge looking for 2 missing PAX?

I would have done similar to kpc by checking with the service desk, but I have been around to long to completely rely on that. I posted recently that I try to keep abreast of things, looking at the displays, checking FlightStats, www.melair.com.au etc.

 

[kpc]

While annoying, it was a mistake nothing sinister.

Probably....

Whilst it may have been a simple mistake by the F lounge, perhaps it was also a J* mistake.

Sounds like everyone passing the buck.

Yup!

But I am tempted to give the F lounge staff the benefit of the doubt as I have found them to be nothing but helpful when required.

I like to think so hence I don't think I would make a written complaint!

Now the drinks test......
What was the first name of the person who did the massage?

I can't remember her name but can I describe her?

Looks like the "holes in the cheese" lined up with this one.

Not only would it be the fault of the First Lounge staff in mistaking a 7 for a 3, why did not JQi staff call the First Lounge looking for 2 missing PAX?

Thinking about it, I think i would agree that J* and the QF F lounge staff both stuffed up here.

I would have done similar by checking with the service desk, but I have been around to long to completely rely on that. I posted recently that I try to keep abreast of things

I'm still a novice flyer, Ross. First time, I have ever missed a flight! Lesson learnt I guess!

 

[markis10]

I would make a complaint, there were various levels of checks and balance in place that failed, it should not have happened.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Reading the off topic thread yesterday I thought this might have been the problem.

I was in the Sydney F lounge one time and thought that boarding was late so I checked with the staff and they rang the gate to find boarding was underway, I was one of the last to board, but at least I made the flight.

A bunch of miscommunication and Jetstar try and blame you for missing the flight.

I would be blaming Jetstar for this one, the departure board is also another good check.

I think a nicely worded letter to Jetstar would be worthwhile.

Put it down to experience.

 

[awilcockson]

On the bright side, you got to spend another 4 hours in the F Lounge

 

[dk4]

I too had a similar situation in The First Lounge once. Missed a flight in the same sort of scenario - flight delayed, stayed in the lounge, was advised to relax/enjoy as they would keep an eye on things for me (only me on that nonQF flight) and they promptly forgot about it/me. I too raced to the gate at the last second (after the hair on the back of my neck started to tingle), only to see the aircraft pulling away.

Where my story differs though, is that I immediately went back up to the First Lounge, where they took responsibility for their mistake and organised for me to get to my final destination using an alternative flight, at their cost.

I would imagine (based on my similar experience), that should you have returned to the First Lounge, they would have recognised that their mistake caused you to miss your flight, and you would have been re-accommodated onto a Qantas domestic flight, and a First Host would have guided you back out through the formalities of the International Terminal.

Not much help now, but thought I'ld share.

 

[kpc]

On the bright side, you got to spend another 4 hours in the F Lounge

We didn't as we were escorted back out through security / immigration straight away, and then spent the time in the QF domestic J lounge awaiting our much later JQ flight:shock:

I would imagine (based on my similar experience), that should you have returned to the First Lounge, they would have recognised that their mistake caused you to miss your flight, and you would have been re-accommodated onto a Qantas domestic flight, and a First Host would have guided you back out through the formalities of the International Terminal.

Not much help now, but thought I'ld share.

In hindsight, this would have been the best option but the J* CSA we ran into at the now closed gate, immediately took us back out through security / immigration.

 

[indigo1]

Wow some people will stick up for QF through thick and thin. What happened was inexcusable and the fact it happened in an F lounge and the OP was asked to cough up more $$$ for QF's mistake makes it even worse. What happens if it was an intl. flight that only operated a couple of times a week?

The actions from QF here are terrible, mistakes happen, but to lump responsibility on the pax isn't on. The gate staff should have been able to see the pax had status so it seems odd they didn't ring the lounge. If it was me I would be writing a letter of complaint.

Sorry to hear you missed your dinner also

 

[munitalP]

I would make a complaint, there were various levels of checks and balance in place that failed, it should not have happened.

I would write a letter confirming what had happened so the F lounge staff can learn from it. I personally have not had a problem with a J* flight, but a very late call on a QF flight on evening in MEL.

It's cough when something like that happens, but your actions of a letter addressing the problem may stop it happening to others in the future.

munitalP

 

[harvyk]

Wow some people will stick up for QF through thick and thin. What happened was inexcusable and the fact it happened in an F lounge and the OP was asked to cough up more $$$ for QF's mistake makes it even worse.

Yes on account of the F-Lounge, that was a very slack of the staff, but it was JQ staff who instructed the pax to pay extra...

 

[dfcatch]

Wow some people will stick up for QF through thick and thin. What happened was inexcusable and the fact it happened in an F lounge and the OP was asked to cough up more $$$ for QF's mistake makes it even worse. What happens if it was an intl. flight that only operated a couple of times a week?

The actions from QF here are terrible, mistakes happen, but to lump responsibility on the pax isn't on. The gate staff should have been able to see the pax had status so it seems odd they didn't ring the lounge. If it was me I would be writing a letter of complaint.

Sorry to hear you missed your dinner also

The question here is that it may not have been 100% the fault of the QF staff in the F lounge.

JQ is also involved here and it may be that JQ was significantly responsible for the problem, plus it was JQ who blamed the OP and suggested he pay for the mistake. It wasn't QF who handled it poorly in the end (based on the OP's information).

Markis and munitalP are correct however - that a letter is appropriate, so that it can be investigated, and perhaps procedures put in place (regardless of whether QF or JQ's fault) to reduce the chance of it happening in the future.

My hesitation in not "jumping down the throat of the F lounge" is simply based on their track record of superior customer service, including when things go wrong. To me - that earns them the benefit of the doubt in the first instance.

IMHO - JQ has not earned that reputation or that right, and to me, the OP's situation reflects that.

 

[maninblack]

I believe that the staff in the F lounge were so busy serving AJ, George, Gary and the fellow with the ponytail their steak sandwiches that they simply forgot about you, oh and everything else too.

PS. My last meal in the F lounge was very ordinary and my last 4 J class meals were bordering on inedible.

 

[tuapekastar]

Bummer situation for you kpc. I agree that it was probably just human error. But I also agree with several other posters that it is worth a letter (to both QF and JQ, as they choose to be 'separate' entities when it suits them, and the JQ flight and QF Flounge were both involved), but not so much a 'complaint' letter as one simply stating what happened so they have the opportunity to examine their processes and perhaps make them more robust, so others do not get inconvenienced as you did.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Looks like the "holes in the cheese" lined up with this one.

Not only would it be the fault of the First Lounge staff in mistaking a 7 for a 3, why did not JQi staff call the First Lounge looking for 2 missing PAX?

I would have done similar to kpc by checking with the service desk, but I have been around to long to completely rely on that. I posted recently that I try to keep abreast of things, looking at the displays, checking FlightStats, www.melair.com.au etc.

Whilst it may have been a simple mistake by the F lounge, perhaps it was also a J* mistake. Sounds like everyone passing the buck. But I am tempted to give the F lounge staff the benefit of the doubt as I have found them to be nothing but helpful when required.

Who does the ground handling for JQi at MEL - JQ themselves or another company such as AeroCare who handle JQi in SYD?

I think part of the problem here is non-QF ground staff don't know there is an F Lounge so wouldn't think to ring it. I'm assuming phoning is the only method they have to communicate as being different companies they wouldn't be able to communicate via radio which would be more effective.

It does appear Flounge staff made an error confusing the delayed departure of JQ3 for JQ7 but that was not the only broken link in the chain - the other one being ground staff not calling the F Lounge.

There was another thread recently that discussed JQ boarding calls in QF lounges (see link below).

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....arding-calls-qf-clubs-22541-4.html#post486076

 

[kpc]

Who does the ground handling for JQi at MEL - JQ themselves or another company such as AeroCare who handle JQi in SYD?

I think part of the problem here is non-QF ground staff don't know there is an F Lounge so wouldn't think to ring it. I'm assuming phoning is the only method they have to communicate as being different companies they wouldn't be able to communicate via radio which would be more effective.

It does appear Flounge staff made an error confusing the delayed departure of JQ3 for JQ7 but that was not the only broken link in the chain - the other one being ground staff not calling the F Lounge.

Thanks for the insider's view Oz!

There was another thread recently that discussed JQ boarding calls in QF lounges (see link below).

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....arding-calls-qf-clubs-22541-4.html#post486076

Somehow, I missed this thread; reading through others' experiences there was a bit like deja vu for me.....looks like I wasn't the first, and won't be the last to miss / nearly miss a J* flight. My normal practice is to head to the boarding gate at the designated time even if there are no boarding calls, but this time without prompting, the F desk SPECIFICALLY told me they would announce boarding for my flight, and then I made the fatal mistake of asking the F service desk about my flight when it was not called to then be mistakenly given wrong information. Anyway, I have learnt a very important lesson (after many years of flying and flights, and this is the first time I have ever missed a flight), and fortunately the incident happened at "home" in an English speaking port that I was very familiar with, and I had no later connecting flights. GOD only knows what I would have done if the above had happened in a non English speaking unfamiliar airport.

Still deciding about writing to QF / J*...can anyone suggest an address (?email) I should use?
Thanks for all your replies above....interesting to see others' take on my experience above!

 

[drron]

Maybe PM Red Roo first.
However this from the reports is not an isolated incident so maybe the Flounge staff need to be proactive when they know JQ pax are in the lounge and ring to make sure they are updated on boarding times.