Banned from QF (for a few months)

[SOPOOR]

I just find that in general , companies these days have such bad customer service levels on average that we have to resort to legal threats and ombudsman action for them to even acknowledge them..

Its a sad and disappointing world

 

[jb747]

The cabin crew response to DYKWIA...

Look around, and loudly ask if anyone knows who this gentleman is. He seems to have forgotten.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

19 pages !!!!!! 19 ! holy cr*p - I'm keeping my big mouth shut and going back to the Chit Chat thread

 

[suze2000]

Oh, and exactly where were you misled? You are assuming that the IFE was never going to work, and that the people on the ground knew that.

A bit OT, jb747, but can you confirm that IFE can overheat and not work on the ground but then be found to work fine once airborne? Because it sounds a bit iffy to me.

ETA: No further reading down the thread shows that there is a scenario... but still, IFE failures are frequent and there's little compensation for it offered, if at all. (sometimes you might get an extra Magnum or something, when what you really need is booze to numb the tedium!)

EETA: OMG this thread is long and I've just waded my way through it. I knew, the minute I read the OP, that there would be little sympathy for the OP because of the responses after I posted a complaint about a QF flight on here, which were basically "well you were flying Y, what did you expect?".

I have some sympathy for the OP, but don't understand why he's come here to bring it up now, I feel his POV may be somewhat skewed and that the VCAT ruling probably has the nub of it correct.

 

[RichardMEL]

Petty to you but not everyone thinks that way.

I pay $500 for a one-way airfare and my IFE does not work. Airline refuses to refund any portion of the airfare. What do I do? Write it off as bad experience? And then it happens again. And again.

You may have misunderstood what I meant. I meant "petty" in context of the idea of taking it to court where costs almost certainly would be more than that $100.

Putting a claim in with the airline for X hours without IFE? Sure... no problem with that (I probably wouldn't myself as I usually have my own, but that's jus tme)...

The suggestion was made that possibly the OP may have taken the IFE claim (of $100 as outlined in the VCAT document) to the MC.. yeah, I think that's pretty petty. You'd even wonder if a court would throw it out as a waste of everyone's time and tell him to go to Small Claims Tribunal or something (oh wait, they have no juristiction.. sigh)

Contract of Carriages almost never refer to exact cabin experiences including seats, entertainment or F&B offerings... You get downgraded from an A330 to a 737 (I just noticed I've had a flight swap for next month as it happens).. tough. If the flight runs when you booked it for and gets you there that's the main thing to them.

That doesn't mean I do not understand or appreciate one wanting or expecting something and getting something else.

And of course, getting no entertainment for a very long flight due to a technical issue.. yep.. that's coughpy and the airline should provide for some compensation. I have no idea if $100 is reasonable or not. That's in the eye of the beholder I guess. Is that as good as 10k points or whatever the usual comp might be? Againm subjective (I'd prob take 10k points over $100 myself, only if it means that gets me over the line for that F reward someplace).

Anyway I didn't mean wanting compensation for broken IFE was a petty thing. I meant the notion of taking it all the way to court. My 2 cents.

 

[SOPOOR]

You may have misunderstood what I meant. I meant "petty" in context of the idea of taking it to court where costs almost certainly would be more than that $100.

Putting a claim in with the airline for X hours without IFE? Sure... no problem with that (I probably wouldn't myself as I usually have my own, but that's jus tme)...

The suggestion was made that possibly the OP may have taken the IFE claim (of $100 as outlined in the VCAT document) to the MC.. yeah, I think that's pretty petty. You'd even wonder if a court would throw it out as a waste of everyone's time and tell him to go to Small Claims Tribunal or something (oh wait, they have no juristiction.. sigh)

Contract of Carriages almost never refer to exact cabin experiences including seats, entertainment or F&B offerings... You get downgraded from an A330 to a 737 (I just noticed I've had a flight swap for next month as it happens).. tough. If the flight runs when you booked it for and gets you there that's the main thing to them.

That doesn't mean I do not understand or appreciate one wanting or expecting something and getting something else.

And of course, getting no entertainment for a very long flight due to a technical issue.. yep.. that's coughpy and the airline should provide for some compensation. I have no idea if $100 is reasonable or not. That's in the eye of the beholder I guess. Is that as good as 10k points or whatever the usual comp might be? Againm subjective (I'd prob take 10k points over $100 myself, only if it means that gets me over the line for that F reward someplace).

Anyway I didn't mean wanting compensation for broken IFE was a petty thing. I meant the notion of taking it all the way to court. My 2 cents.

There are people and I understand where they are coming from who believe that you need to stand up for your morals or justice or else the world will not change

They are probably hoping that once enough people make a stand about something that the company will turn around and say oops, yeah we had better fix that up or we will continue to get court cases.

And that's why I'm Thankful of the ombudsman for other industries.

A lifetime ago I bought a phone outright from a
One of the larger telcos.
I asked for a invoice for my tax probably 12 times in 5 months for my tax return . I emailed called and almost evry reply was yes we ve sent it should receive it within the next 5 mins. My final reply I got was if youre not happy with our response, please contact the ombudsman

Fed up, I lodged a claim and they replied quick smarr with what I needed and even gave me a $200 credit.

What a waste of time for one piece of paper!

 

[JohnK]

There are people and I understand where they are coming from who believe that you need to stand up for your morals or justice or else the world will not change

A number of years back HSBC sent email spend $x this month and we'll send you a $25 Coles gift card. So I did the spend and no gift card. I was promised the gift on 3-4 occasions but nothing arrived so I'd had enough and went to FOS.

All for a $25 gift card you say? Yep and I got my $25 gift card plus another $100 gift card for the inconvenience. I didn't ask for compensation it was offered by HSBC.

 

[SOPOOR]

A number of years back HSBC sent email spend $x this month and we'll send you a $25 Coles gift card. So I did the spend and no gift card. I was promised the gift on 3-4 occasions but nothing arrived so I'd had enough and went to FOS.

All for a $25 gift card you say? Yep and I got my $25 gift card plus another $100 gift card for the inconvenience. I didn't ask for compensation it was offered by HSBC.

And isn't this exactly what the fos is for??

Us consumers pay our mortgage and bills off or else there are late fees and credit defaults as a consequence. It should go the other way too.

 

[RichardMEL]

A number of years back HSBC sent email spend $x this month and we'll send you a $25 Coles gift card. So I did the spend and no gift card. I was promised the gift on 3-4 occasions but nothing arrived so I'd had enough and went to FOS.

All for a $25 gift card you say? Yep and I got my $25 gift card plus another $100 gift card for the inconvenience. I didn't ask for compensation it was offered by HSBC.

great example and congrats

except going to the FOS likely wasn't going to cost you anything much more than your time and effort, unlike taking a company like QF to court for a relatively trivial amount.

 

[JohnK]

great example and congrats

except going to the FOS likely wasn't going to cost you anything much more than your time and effort, unlike taking a company like QF to court for a relatively trivial amount.

And there should be something better than ACA for airline complaints. It is all one sided at the moment and only the brave continue to fight.

 

[Anna]

The suggestion was made that possibly the OP may have taken the IFE claim (of $100 as outlined in the VCAT document) to the MC

He was going to make his claim for comp for having no IFE under the Montreal Convention. That never had any chance of success. The Montreal Convention is not about comp for having no IFE.

I agree QF should throw some points or $$ at pax who have no IFE for the inconvenience, but they don't need to rely on international treaties for it

 

[MEL_Traveller]

He was going to make his claim for comp for having no IFE under the Montreal Convention. That never had any chance of success. The Montreal Convention is not about comp for having no IFE.

I agree QF should throw some points or $$ at pax who have no IFE for the inconvenience, but they don't need to rely on international treaties for it

That’s the question I guess... if an airline doesn’t want to compensate for something which is advertised/contractual... where do you bring your claim?

IIRC the OP wasn’t specifically bringing the claim under Montreal, they just brought it at VCAT. The airline argued it had to be Montreal, and therefore no jurisdiction?

 

[RichardMEL]

That’s the question I guess... if an airline doesn’t want to compensate for something which is advertised/contractual... where do you bring your claim?

How is IFE service "contractual"?

I get the argument that QF advertises they offer IFE as a service on flights but I am not at all certain that this qualifies in terms of a breach of contract (as under the Contract of Carriage, which tickets are sold subject to).

Don't mistake this comment to indicate I think lack of IFE due to failure is acceptable or that compensation from the airline shouldn't occur, specially on long sectors, but I am just not too sure one can argue that it constitutes a breach of contract.

 

[SOPOOR]

How is IFE service "contractual"?

I get the argument that QF advertises they offer IFE as a service on flights but I am not at all certain that this qualifies in terms of a breach of contract (as under the Contract of Carriage, which tickets are sold subject to).

Don't mistake this comment to indicate I think lack of IFE due to failure is acceptable or that compensation from the airline shouldn't occur, specially on long sectors, but I am just not too sure one can argue that it constitutes a breach of contract.

True. But where do you draw the line?

Is food contractual, Are toilets?
What if the airxon was broken?

Obviously food is very important, but if you were a lawyer, you could be arguing it's not "contractual"
That's where good will comes into play, and when I get a gesture of good goodwill, I value it

 

[RichardMEL]

True. But where do you draw the line?

Is food contractual, Are toilets?
What if the airxon was broken?

Obviously food is very important, but if you were a lawyer, you could be arguing it's not "contractual"
That's where good will comes into play, and when I get a gesture of good goodwill, I value it

I would suggest that it's a matter of degrees of seriousness and pax wellbeing. You can go for 12 hours without being able to watch the Box Set of Family Guy, but it's not very reasonable to go without food, and I would also suggest aircon is possibly a mechanical issue that would keep the flight from departing (jb767?).

I'd also say not having food for a flight of any length would also delay/cancel a flight on the ground and be appropriately(hopefully?!) handled.

I've certainly been on flights where the food chillers had gone u/s (in Y, the ones in F were fine ) and the flight would not go till they were fixed (and IIRC I think some catering had to be replaced, but my memory could be fuzzy on that one). However I've also been on domestic flights where there was no food (IIRC it was a SYD-MEL and there was an accident with the catering truck en roue to the aircraft and they decided to fly it rather than delay further).. for an hour flight.. eh no big deal.

I am sure a canny lawyer could sue an airline for some sort of emotional distress due to lack of IFE or whatever on a longer haul flight (probably in the USA ) ... but again.. contractual breach? I think that would not be the right way to approach such a thing.

 

[cambriamarsh]

I would suggest that it's a matter of degrees of seriousness and pax wellbeing. You can go for 12 hours without being able to watch the Box Set of Family Guy, but it's not very reasonable to go without food, and I would also suggest aircon is possibly a mechanical issue that would keep the flight from departing (jb767?).

I'd also say not having food for a flight of any length would also delay/cancel a flight on the ground and be appropriately(hopefully?!) handled.

I've certainly been on flights where the food chillers had gone u/s (in Y, the ones in F were fine ) and the flight would not go till they were fixed (and IIRC I think some catering had to be replaced, but my memory could be fuzzy on that one). However I've also been on domestic flights where there was no food (IIRC it was a SYD-MEL and there was an accident with the catering truck en roue to the aircraft and they decided to fly it rather than delay further).. for an hour flight.. eh no big deal.

I am sure a canny lawyer could sue an airline for some sort of emotional distress due to lack of IFE or whatever on a longer haul flight (probably in the USA ) ... but again.. contractual breach? I think that would not be the right way to approach such a thing.

A point to note, just because a cannny lawyer can make up an argument doesn’t mean they will succeed. Most times the judge will try to make a sensible decision rather than support a legalistic approach that results in an injustice ( not always but hey!).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I dunno. Good points. But Qantas advertises that food, baggage and IFE are ‘all included in the fare’. That means the fare you have paid includes those things. Their subsidiary, Jetstar, doesn’t include those things, and you pay for them. Therefore choosing to fly Qantas you have paid for those services.

IFE may be a minor issue... but you could also then argue that as Jetstar doesn’t serve food on flights of 10-11 hours (MEL-HNL), that food also isn’t important (as long as they made an announcement before departure so people could buy their own food in the departure lounge)?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

The Gucci Bag incident weirdly appeared on my Facebook feed yesterday and it took me only a few seconds to relate back to this thread and the other VCAT case.

Thought you were more an LV girl PF! On the subject of designer luggage, I don't think I've ever seen a commercial pilot in possession of a designer bag from Gucci or any other fashion house - they just don't spend money on that kind of thing.

Not sure what kind of 'pilot' the OP is? Maybe one with a PPL that does a couple of laps of Moorabbin or Tyabb on the weekends?