Article: Qantas Considers Bringing Call Centres Back to Australia

[AFF Editor]

Qantas Considers Bringing Call Centres Back to Australia is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/qantas-call-centres-back-australia/

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[ozboy01]

Doesn't matter the location, they need the staff to be properly trained first.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Unpopular opinion: I think they should outsource the call centres to countries that get customer service (e.g. USA). And while they’re at it can they please bring back customer service desks at airports so that when a flight goes IRROP I don’t have to be put on hold for several hours? It would also be nice if they could hire Americans to work in those customer service roles here in Australia (again they get customer service)

-RooFlyer88

 

[AIRwin]

I still call centre Australia home!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I still call centre Australia home!

Under Alan Joyce’s reign it was I still hold (on the line) Australia home

 

[elanshin]

And while they’re at it can they please bring back customer service desks at airports so that when a flight goes IRROP I don’t have to be put on hold for several hours?

They're there, just only a couple of people per counter and not with many flashy signs. Although it's usually airside not landside.

 

[hutch]

Unpopular opinion: I think they should outsource the call centres to countries that get customer service (e.g. USA). And while they’re at it can they please bring back customer service desks at airports so that when a flight goes IRROP I don’t have to be put on hold for several hours? It would also be nice if they could hire Americans to work in those customer service roles here in Australia (again they get customer service)

-RooFlyer88

I'm all for great customer service, but US based airlines are far from the beacon of amazing customer service in my opinion.

 

[Mickey Mouse]

I'd put up with (now the media's heard of it - Fashion of the Day, drumroll please) A.I. answering my calls ... if the clowns behind QFIT had nothing to do with it and it had sensible authority!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Doesn't matter the location, they need the staff to be properly trained first.

Yes and no!

Try having a conversation with an o/s call agent who truly and honestly believes qantas doesn’t fly after 8am between Sydney and Melbourne, on any day of the year.

No matter how wet behind the ears, you simply wouldn’t be faced with that sort of ridiculousness from staff based in Au.

 

[kpro]

Unpopular opinion: I think they should outsource the call centres to countries that get customer service (e.g. USA).

It would also be nice if they could hire Americans to work in those customer service roles here in Australia (again they get customer service)

Is this sarcasm? I feel like the some of the poorest customer service I've experienced has been trying to deal with call centers for USA based airlines. Heck even my last experience at Flagship check-in JFK was less then stellar.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Is this sarcasm? I feel like the some of the poorest customer service I've experienced has been trying to deal with call centers for USA based airlines. Heck even my last experience at Flagship check-in JFK was less then stellar.

Oh, i find US agents absolutely fantastic. They know their stuff backwards and work with you to get problems solved. This is across AA, UA, and AC. I don’t fly delta so no data points there.

 

[elanshin]

I find for the most part (unless you can't understand accents) the overseas staff aren't necessarily bad or clueless (yes they exist). It's just their sxope of power to fix issues are very narrow. Alternatively they should set up a proper escalation channel.

Your basic CS agents can deal with the booking enquiry that your technologically challenged person calls about. But a genuine problem that isn't easily solvable and need a bunch of overrides gets sent up the escalation.

Have a ticket case made for the customer and a higher team follow up. That's generally how many other company customer services function.

 

[LondonAussie]

Yes and no!

Try having a conversation with an o/s call agent who truly and honestly believes qantas doesn’t fly after 8am between Sydney and Melbourne, on any day of the year.

No matter how wet behind the ears, you simply wouldn’t be faced with that sort of ridiculousness from staff based in Au.

I had an interesting experience in Heathrow after a BA cancellation. No ticketing staff at the airport, you need to ring the call centre. I got through to someone who rebooked me onto a flight an hour later. Great service I thought, until I heard him say "from Gatwick". After a bit more questioning, he admitted he was in India and had never been to London, and didn't realise Gatwick was so far away from Heathrow that it would be impossible to get there in time.

So you do need some people with local knowledge, or that can be educated with that knowledge.

 

[elanshin]

I had an interesting experience in Heathrow after a BA cancellation. No ticketing staff at the airport, you need to ring the call centre. I got through to someone who rebooked me onto a flight an hour later. Great service I thought, until I heard him say "from Gatwick". After a bit more questioning, he admitted he was in India and had never been to London, and didn't realise Gatwick was so far away from Heathrow that it would be impossible to get there in time.

So you do need some people with local knowledge, or that can be educated with that knowledge.

I can see this conversation in the future already. "Oh your flight out of SYD was cancelled? We have another one that we can get you on. It's just at the other airport.... What do you mean you can't get there in an hour?"

 

[anat0l]

I find for the most part (unless you can't understand accents) the overseas staff aren't necessarily bad or clueless (yes they exist). It's just their sxope of power to fix issues are very narrow. Alternatively they should set up a proper escalation channel.

Your basic CS agents can deal with the booking enquiry that your technologically challenged person calls about. But a genuine problem that isn't easily solvable and need a bunch of overrides gets sent up the escalation.

This is so true.

Overseas call centres get a really bad rep, but when they are well trained, have current knowledge and have the appropriate powers, it is very difficult to say they are automatically worse than an Australian call centre.

Some may prefer the overseas agents because they often act with deference and patience more than Aussie ones.

I'm lucky enough to recognise and be able to work with most accents of English, having cut my teeth calling overseas based technology company support lines to log new repair jobs while working for customer service at Harvey Norman. I realise not many others are so lucky and can struggle with this.

The real issue as said is that the new call centres aren't empowered enough to solve real issues without excessive escalation or simply saying no stubbornly. After all, if customers can take care of the most trivial things by themselves online, then what's the point equipping your call centre staff to that minimum level when a person calling in likely has a more difficult and/or complex issue?

 

[elanshin]

After all, if customers can take care of the most trivial things by themselves online, then what's the point equipping your call centre staff to that minimum level when a person calling in likely has a more difficult and/or complex issue?

If you work in any sort of help desk call center, the majority of the calls are people that don't know how to fix their simple issues (it's why you always get asked when you call IT help desk - "did you restart your system?"). And for those types of enquiries a low level employee is fine. I actually don't think every CS agent needs to be equipped to deal with every weird situation.

They just need to make it an efficient way to move your call over to someone who's got the power to fix your issue either immediately or at least know what needs to be done if it's genuinely something complicated. And for the truly bizaare ones or things that can't be resolved immediately - case number, email, promise to call back in X time.

HUACA shouldn't be a thing basically. Agent 1 may not be able to help you immediately, but they can immediately pass you onto Agent 2 who has a better chance of fixing it. If it means being on hold for a bit, I'd rather that knowing that Agent 2 is empowered to do so rather than play the HUACA roulette.

 

[KSC]

Hope they bring in a chat function within the app for less urgent matters.
Glad to hear investment in self service.

The main problem is that they have currently outsourced overseas to probably the cheapest agency they could find. I would hope it’s cheap, with the lack of consistency in problem resolution. I’m pretty sure any good competent agent will probably realise they could get a better gig elsewhere.

Thus the need to build a new culture and mission to help customers, solve resolutions and make people smile.
Having locally based agents will help in many ways, however training and nurturing will be important.

Retaining and hiring some experienced agents that can deliver great customer service is paramount. They would also be vital to help continually improve the customer journey.

Another issue at play I have noticed a trend with gen Z workers in general find talking and customer service skills challenging. This is apparent with the sub par service I have experienced allot recently in luxury stores all the way to retail and fast food. Simple things like no eye contact or asking a customer a question and not listening to the answer.

Polite, professional, solutions oriented customer service is becoming a lost art.

 

[encryptededdy]

Yeah, absolutely agree about a chat function. It saves time for everyone involved (customers don't have to wait on the phone, agents can attend to multiple chats simultaneously), it's easier to send booking-related information (PNRs, flight numbers, etc. don't need to be read out) and my personal favourite is that it gives the customer a paper trail of what they were told without having to deal with a phone recording and the issues around that.

 

[ChrisMars]

Re: call centrr
I am wondering if the issue goes further than offshore vs onshore, poor training vs good training. I feel like the key issue is outsourcing, where some management aspects becomes out of Qantas control, once the contract is signed. Outsourced company top and unique focus is to squeeze as much cash as possible, within the boundaries of the agreed SLAs.
If Qantas bring back those job home, one would hope it won't be outsourced neither. Then Qantas fully control staff, training, management, accountability etc...

There will still the need for one or two offshore call center to handle 24/7 call (which also protect the price promise scam)

Finger crossed this is sorted out when I drop SG in 1.5 years.

 

[KSC]

Re: call centrr
I am wondering if the issue goes further than offshore vs onshore, poor training vs good training. I feel like the key issue is outsourcing, where some management aspects becomes out of Qantas control, once the contract is signed. Outsourced company top and unique focus is to squeeze as much cash as possible, within the boundaries of the agreed SLAs.
If Qantas bring back those job home, one would hope it won't be outsourced neither. Then Qantas fully control staff, training, management, accountability etc...

There will still the need for one or two offshore call center to handle 24/7 call (which also protect the price promise scam)

Finger crossed this is sorted out when I drop SG in 1.5 years.

Definitely a factor. Having the staff be employed directly by Qantas would make a huge difference, in terms of quality on what could be achieved.
The outsourcing companies are more inclined to run body shops and have higher attrition of staff.
Also data breaches with different security standards is more possible.

Speaking about ‘price promise’, I had an offshore operater that did not want to honour it 30 minutes after a booking was made. Tried constantly to charge me, even when reading out policies. This is the issue with offshore, poorly trained and especially contracted outsourced staff. They are trained not to care, as complex long calls impacts turn around time statistics. It’s incentivised to have your call magically drop out.