Flight cancellations and poorly trained call centre staff

[AndyGoodyear]

Hi All

Is anyone else having issues with flight itineraries continuously being cancelled or affected by schedule changes? Of course, I know that Covid right now will be affecting flights, but I have just had one of the most frustrating calls with Qantas.

An upcoming trip to Tassie for late November (reward booking planned since May) has so far seen at least 4 schedule changes and 2 cancellations. The itinerary was SYD - HBA (JQ) and HBA - SYD (QF).

A couple of weeks back my OB Jetstar flight was cancelled - and even though there were other flights available the same day, I was advised I couldn't travel on any of those due to no reward seats being available. Conveniently there were very expensive flights available instead. I got around this by moving my OB flight to the day before. Now my return QF flight on 4th Dec has been cancelled. I was told by QF call centre staff that this was due to "NSW restrictions on arrivals from Tas" - completely untrue. They wanted to move me to 7th Dec, or said I could change to the JQ flight on the same day. I queried the points, as JQ flights cost less for rewards than QF - and was told I would automatically be refunded the points and tax differences. I was then placed on hold for 90 minutes while the agent changed the flight! It seems QF have recruited a large number of people who do not have correct training, because this is not the first time I have experienced extensive delays with changing a flight.

90 minutes later my flight was rebooked. I was then transferred to the frequent flyer team regarding the points difference, who then transferred me to reservations - who advised that as this was a 'voluntary' change from QF to JQ - I would not be refunded any points. All up, I was on the phone for over 2 hours.

Sorry for the rant - but I am completely exhausted for what should have been a simple change and query. Just interested if its just me, or a common occurrence - in relation to both schedule changes, and what seems to be completely poor service standards.

I should add that in the grand scheme of things, we are only talking about a small amount of points here. It's more the principle.

 

[Ade]

I can only feel sorry for what happened to you @AndyGoodyear and I can understand your pain. QF customer support hasn't always been great ... I mean it was always a hit/miss ... Some have good and some have bad experiences ...

If you don't mind my asking - what level of QFF are you?

I have never (touch wood) had a bad experience with the call center. I guess this is partially because of the QFF level. From what I gather, QF WP & P1's don't have to wait longer to get in touch with a staff member to have their queries address. However, from your message, I'm unable to gauge how long you had to wait before the call was attended by a staff ? But it is not uncommon for the waiting time to be longer than usual .. especially now, any delay is attributed to CoVID ...

re : training CC staff & their competency level - I have had some bad experiences with the "knowledge" of the CC staff ... like, they wouldn't know the right baggage or seat policy for QF SG or WP etc .. but they have always been able to change a booking within 2 mins (provided their systems are working fine, availability is showing up etc etc) ... but 90 mins to change a booking isn't acceptable ...

Post automatically merged: Oct 11, 2021

who advised that as this was a 'voluntary' change from QF to JQ - I would not be refunded any points

I don't think your change was "voluntary" ... QF cancelled the 04/12 flight and so any change that you had to make due to the change QF did is not "voluntary" ... I have heard of pax being put on a different airline altogether because the airline they originally booked with is unable to fly them that day (flight cancellations/delays etc) ... And as a pax it's a good thing because you can points/credits on both airlines for that leg

 

[Ade]

I should add that in the grand scheme of things, we are only talking about a small amount of points here. It's more the principle.

I COMPLETELY agree with you on this point ... it's the principle of these things that matter ... you earn points, you burn them ... but as a business providing services for the payment taken/made, it's the responsibility of the business to be able to serve as in the best possible way ...

We could discuss in length re what's the conditions upon which a business operate and the "contract" that is implicitly drawn between the business & customer, but, in most cases, as long as both parties do the right thing, by the "principle", that's what is important ...

 

[henrus]

This sort of problem is a common problem with Qantas (and plus the whole travel industry). We could be here all day whilst I name/shame them.

Regarding the refund of points, even if it was a voluntary change then a refund should have been made.

I hate to be "that person" but the reason why Qantas/Jetstar is canceling these flights is because they think there is a good chance that Tasmania will not allow people from Sydney in without some form of quarantine.

Now I agree training of staff should be better but I do think a level of slack should be cut specifically around borders. I don't think Qantas (or any airline) ever thought they'd need to train staff on how domestic borders operate or deal with domestic cancellations in the thousands but I guess 2021 here we are.

What they probably need to do is public a very clear public policy in the event of domestic flight changes both award and cash fares so that people know what to expect. They publish one for agents so why not have one for the masses as well,

https://www.qantas.com/agencyconnect/au/en/agency-news/agency-news-july-20/commercial-policy-for-domestic-border-closures.html

Interestingly that page does suggest that classic award flights have the same options listed for cash tickets but obviously that's not your experience.

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Thank you both for your replies. I am a Gold level FF.

I can understand if the wait times for calls to be answered are long - but my call was actually answered after 2 minutes. However taking 90 minutes to change a flight is next level ridiculous.

@henrus - yeah, I've been reading the statements by the Tas premier and am expecting that I may not be able to travel.

I definitely understand cutting staff some slack around borders - like you said, who knew they would need to train staff on that - however the training I'm specifically talking about is making a simple flight change. It's the third time it has taken 1-2 hours to change a flight on three separate bookings.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just interested if its just me, or a common occurrence - in relation to both schedule changes, and what seems to be completely poor service standards.

A common occurrence, I'm afraid, both in relation to schedule changes (in covid times) and service standards (for a long time, unless you are Plat or above).

 

[aikman]

If you haven't had the pleasure yet of being hung up on by a QF phone agent then I think you are doing quite well.

I hope they at least transferred you to the survey at the end of the call so you were able to provide feedback.

 

[Ade]

If you haven't had the pleasure yet of being hung up on by a QF phone agent then I think you are doing quite well.

lol and I thought it was my phone network that had an issue

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Update - after speaking with someone in the customer care team and explaining what had happened, they agreed it was not a voluntary change and refunded the difference in tax and points. They commented that it was a pretty simple thing to do, and should not have required me spending 90 mins on the phone!

 

[Ade]

Update - after speaking with someone in the customer care team and explaining what had happened, they agreed it was not a voluntary change and refunded the difference in tax and points. They commented that it was a pretty simple thing to do, and should not have required me spending 90 mins on the phone!

Glad it worked out for you, @AndyGoodyear

 

[clifford]

Update - after speaking with someone in the customer care team and explaining what had happened, they agreed it was not a voluntary change and refunded the difference in tax and points. They commented that it was a pretty simple thing to do, and should not have required me spending 90 mins on the phone!

Do you know which call centre you spoke to initially? Was it South Africa, I wonder?

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Do you know which call centre you spoke to initially? Was it South Africa, I wonder?

It could have been, but not 100% sure.

 

[dingogav]

The Qantas South African Contact Centre is the worst to deal with. I have come to the conclusion, after many hours on the telephone with them this last year, that agents constantly place customers on hold during a call because they either:
- have no confidence in their abilities to perform the most basic of transactions without referring to colleagues -OR-
- deliberately drag out the call in order to complete all actions, as Qantas clearly does not allow them any downtime in between calls to update reservations.
A recent call to Qantas (on behalf of my 81 year old parents) to resolve constant schedule changes to a simple domestic business class award, resulted in me being placed on hold 5 times and the call lasting half an hour.
An experienced Qantas Hobart agent would have no doubt addressed the issue/s in 5 minutes. I realise that Qantas is saving much money by outsourcing work to South Africa, but does it really make business sense when each call is taking six times as long!?!
Having worked for customer focused airlines like Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, I am ashamed to refer to Qantas as our national carrier.