spiggy_topes
Member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Posts
- 161
[Text of letter to Qantas Customer Care sent this morning. Does this experience match with other experiences in Sydney?]
11th July 2009
Dear Sirs,
I am a frequent flyer on Qantas with around four round-the-world trips a year, always in Business or First, a similar number of return visits to Asia, and numerous interstate flights. I have held Platinum status for several years now and ensure that I fly often enough with Qantas to maintain this status, as the benefits are very useful to me.
On the evening of the 9th July my family and I returned from Hong Kong from a brief holiday. We were booked on QF128 to Sydney and then on QF516 to Brisbane, as I was unable to book a direct flight to Brisbane on that day.
The flights from Hong Kong and Sydney were fine, and all Qantas staff we met were professional and helpful. Unfortunately, the scenes that awaited us at Sydney Airport on arrival shortly after 8.00 am on the 10th July were what I can only describe as dire.
On clearing customs in Sydney we made our way to the transfer bus for the Domestic terminal. Here we were met by a queue so long that it had backed up into the arrivals hall. We were told that there would be a 45-60 minute wait for the bus, and were advised to take a different bus from outside the terminal. This we duly did. I will not detail the issues with this service as they are outside your control.
On arrival at Terminal Three we were met by another huge, snaking queue with around 100 people waiting. To my surprise this turned out to be for the Business/Qantas Club counter. The queue was so long that it was intersecting the economy check-in line (I couldn’t even guess how long that line was).
At the Business counter there were two desks open, with at least the same number of desks unmanned. Fortunately there was a desk open which was solely for flights about to be called. I realized there was no point in joining the main queue as our flight left in thirty minutes, so we waited by the ‘last minute’ desk until our flight was called, and managed to check in.
I cannot begin to imagine the impressions of a tourist, or a visitor to this country for the first time, in the face of such chaos.
Let me stress that I do not usually have any problems with Qantas. I like the standard of service both on the ground and in the air. My specific reasons for writing are as follows:
(i) If you are expecting a large volume of transfer passengers – which can be planned for – can you not ensure that there is sufficient capacity in place to handle them in a timely manner? As airport manager in charge of transfer services, I would either have extra transfer buses in place, or charter extra buses between terminals 1 and 3 for use on the public road at busy times.
(ii) If you know that a large number of people will be checking in at Terminal Three, why have such low numbers of staff to handle the volume of traffic? The reaction of most of the passengers in the business queue at Sydney was astonishment that business customers – one of your best sources of revenue - should be treated in such a manner. Surely it is not difficult to plan ahead and have an appropriate number of staff available for busy periods. Of course this will cost a little extra, but you will not be losing the business of your most profitable customers.
This is not a ‘I will never fly Qantas again’ letter, as I will continue to use your services – although I will now be trying other premium carriers on the trans-Pacific route if I have to return via Sydney. Rather, I would like to draw your attention to what I see as serious lapses in service quality that could easily be remedied with a little planning.
I look forward to your comments.
Yours sincerely
[Name, qualifications etc removed]
11th July 2009
Dear Sirs,
I am a frequent flyer on Qantas with around four round-the-world trips a year, always in Business or First, a similar number of return visits to Asia, and numerous interstate flights. I have held Platinum status for several years now and ensure that I fly often enough with Qantas to maintain this status, as the benefits are very useful to me.
On the evening of the 9th July my family and I returned from Hong Kong from a brief holiday. We were booked on QF128 to Sydney and then on QF516 to Brisbane, as I was unable to book a direct flight to Brisbane on that day.
The flights from Hong Kong and Sydney were fine, and all Qantas staff we met were professional and helpful. Unfortunately, the scenes that awaited us at Sydney Airport on arrival shortly after 8.00 am on the 10th July were what I can only describe as dire.
On clearing customs in Sydney we made our way to the transfer bus for the Domestic terminal. Here we were met by a queue so long that it had backed up into the arrivals hall. We were told that there would be a 45-60 minute wait for the bus, and were advised to take a different bus from outside the terminal. This we duly did. I will not detail the issues with this service as they are outside your control.
On arrival at Terminal Three we were met by another huge, snaking queue with around 100 people waiting. To my surprise this turned out to be for the Business/Qantas Club counter. The queue was so long that it was intersecting the economy check-in line (I couldn’t even guess how long that line was).
At the Business counter there were two desks open, with at least the same number of desks unmanned. Fortunately there was a desk open which was solely for flights about to be called. I realized there was no point in joining the main queue as our flight left in thirty minutes, so we waited by the ‘last minute’ desk until our flight was called, and managed to check in.
I cannot begin to imagine the impressions of a tourist, or a visitor to this country for the first time, in the face of such chaos.
Let me stress that I do not usually have any problems with Qantas. I like the standard of service both on the ground and in the air. My specific reasons for writing are as follows:
(i) If you are expecting a large volume of transfer passengers – which can be planned for – can you not ensure that there is sufficient capacity in place to handle them in a timely manner? As airport manager in charge of transfer services, I would either have extra transfer buses in place, or charter extra buses between terminals 1 and 3 for use on the public road at busy times.
(ii) If you know that a large number of people will be checking in at Terminal Three, why have such low numbers of staff to handle the volume of traffic? The reaction of most of the passengers in the business queue at Sydney was astonishment that business customers – one of your best sources of revenue - should be treated in such a manner. Surely it is not difficult to plan ahead and have an appropriate number of staff available for busy periods. Of course this will cost a little extra, but you will not be losing the business of your most profitable customers.
This is not a ‘I will never fly Qantas again’ letter, as I will continue to use your services – although I will now be trying other premium carriers on the trans-Pacific route if I have to return via Sydney. Rather, I would like to draw your attention to what I see as serious lapses in service quality that could easily be remedied with a little planning.
I look forward to your comments.
Yours sincerely
[Name, qualifications etc removed]