G'day & Forum Questions

[johnomg]

G'day All

I just wanted to introduce myself and this seemed like the most appropriate Board for that.

Firstly I have to say that I wish I had searched the Internet and found this Site earlier (live and learn), from the posts I have already seen it would have saved me a lot of Headaches and Frustration. In that vein I would like to thank the people who do post here on a regular basis, the questions and answers I have read, if nothing else have made me feel that I'm not an isolated case.

A bit about me (for those interested):
I grew up in a time far removed from the one we find ourselves in now. You had to turn a wheel on Telephones, B&W TV was the newest thing out, Records were Vinyl and gigantic, Calculators and Mobile Phones are what you saw on Sc-Fi TV shows. I watched the first run of Lost in Space, Star Trek, Dr Who, Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch etc... on TV.

I think you get the idea, I'm old ... but not old enough to be on a first name basis with Noah

I use to travel a lot for work (too much), met the wife and decided she was more important than living out of a suitcase. We spent 9 months on our Big Once in a Lifetime Trip of the UK, Western Europe, L.A. and Hawaii awhile back. For me the Travel Bug died quite a few years ago, however the wife goes back to Scotland every 12-18months to visit her Family so I still deal with Travel Agents etc... on a regular basis.

Anyway enough of that and onto my purpose here, I am currently a Flight Centre Customer (Casualty/Victim/Dupe take your pick). I'm going through the Flight Centre Meat Grinder and with any luck might pop out tomorrow sometime (fingers crossed).

I will post my story in a few days and hopefully the Members here can tell me where I was Naive, at Fault or what Basic Errors I made and how to avoid them in the Future (yeah I know, don't deal with FC is the first tip).

For now I would like to ask a few questions about posting, I have read the Forum Rules and don't want to Breach them, so any advice is appreciated in advance.

Question 1:
Is it ok to mention the Branch I had trouble with???
I feel it's unfair to tar all FC Branches with the same brush and would prefer to be specific.

Question 2:
Is it ok to name the people I dealt with???
Not like it's a secret, I have lodged Formal Complaints and I have no problem with them coming here to put their side of the story across. Again I don't think it's fair to tar all the employee's in a Branch with the same brush as it was a select few that I dealt with. I noticed that naming people for Good Customer Service seems to be ok, so just wondering if the opposite is acceptable too.

Question 3:
I noticed the Forum Rules state that you shouldn't post correspondence without the consent of both parties. Not that I have much from FC, but none of them have the Private/Confidential footer and as far as I'm concerned if it's communication regarding my dealings with them then it's up to me if I want to share???

Question 4:
Can I ask for Business recommendations???
I noticed the Forum Rules said No Advertising, if I was to ask people to recommend Travel Agents etc... that they found to be good (in my area) would the responses breach the Forum Rules???

That's about it for now, sorry for the long initial post.

Regards
John

 

[albatross710]

G'day All

Question 1:
Is it ok to mention the Branch I had trouble with???
I feel it's unfair to tar all FC Branches with the same brush and would prefer to be specific.

In my opinion I think it is reasonable to indicate which branch you went to if you believe it will provide value to the forum members.

Question 2:
Is it ok to name the people I dealt with???
Not like it's a secret, I have lodged Formal Complaints and I have no problem with them coming here to put their side of the story across. Again I don't think it's fair to tar all the employee's in a Branch with the same brush as it was a select few that I dealt with. I noticed that naming people for Good Customer Service seems to be ok, so just wondering if the opposite is acceptable too.

In my opinion it is of little use to me to have specific names of people involved. It isn't going to add to the strength of your issue.

Question 3:
I noticed the Forum Rules state that you shouldn't post correspondence without the consent of both parties. Not that I have much from FC, but none of them have the Private/Confidential footer and as far as I'm concerned if it's communication regarding my dealings with them then it's up to me if I want to share???

Please consider if forum members will gain value from the sharing of the information. Is the issue a systemic failure of the vendor or is this a one off that has occurred.

Question 4:
Can I ask for Business recommendations???
I noticed the Forum Rules said No Advertising, if I was to ask people to recommend Travel Agents etc... that they found to be good (in my area) would the responses breach the Forum Rules???

In my opinion people often ask for and receive guidance on where they should go for further help. I don't think a forum is a place to spruik for business though.

Do consider that this is your first post on the forum. First impressions count. You would probably want to join a forum by making a positive contribution to the forum in the longer term, not just to 'vent' from a particular experience. Consider how to state your issues in a format similar to other posts with a view to a positive outcome and contributing to the knowledge of the forum as a group.

 

[munitalP]

Welcome to AFF!

I agree with the previous comments - however, in my experience the rules are rather loosly applied and the MODS (Lindsay Wilson, Dave Noble, NM and Serfty) will rapidly "correct" any post which does cause distress, heart murmors, nausea or anything else currently deemed as being against the TOC. With that in mind however, it is advisable to stay within the boundaries!

Again, welcome to AFF


Mr!

 

[opusman]

Just be aware that there have been several incidents in Australia of people being sued over comments made in online forums - although generally truth is a defense in libel cases it may still not be worth any potential hassle, particularly when it's a large company with deep pockets like Flight Centre.

 

[straitman]

johnomg,

Welcome to AFF.

I don't deal with FC but have read enough over the years to understand your frustrations. After this event you need to get a good TA and/or learn from the forum about the best way forward for future bookings.

Good luck.

 

[johnomg]

Thank you to albatross710, munitalP, opusman and straitman for your responses and advice.

While it is an Emotive issue for me, I can see that posting in that vein (while making me feel better for a short time) does not contribute to a resolution or act as a learning experience for other Members.

When I do post I will try my best to remove my emotions and only deal with the facts so that I can get other people's opinions and advice.

Thanks again
John

 

[Travel Guru]

If you can post some details about what happened, i'm sure both myself and others will be only too happy to offer some advice.

As someone who once worked for FC and is still in the industry, i'm always happy to help disgruntled FC clients gain some justice.

TG

 

[johnomg]

G'day TG

Thanks for that, greatly appreciated.

Give me a little longer as Head Office seems to be resolving "part" of the issue now (a connecting flight gone missing) and my main concern is to get the wife back in the country.

Once I have her back home (my priority right now), then I will follow up with HO by lodging a complaint on how I was treated by the Branch during the process. I will post the full story here first to get the opinions and advice of others. Maybe I'm just being Naive and this is all Normal practise???

Right now my Emotions are running on over drive :evil:

Regards
John

 

[serfty]

... Maybe I'm just being Naive and this is all Normal practise??? ...

Unlikely to be normal (industry) practice. If it was a simple change of date/flight, then it's a rare fare that simply can't be re validated with the payment of various penalties, feees etc.