HBA call centre - amazing service for platinum request

[smckay]

Executive summary - 2 hour call but secured a J OWE itinerary.

I don't think it appropriate to use her name, but last Thursday a lovely lady from Hobart spent 2 hours on the phone with me finding rewards flights SYD-AMS then LHR-SYD in May & June 2024. She used her 30 years experience to check every single route I know of and then some (India was in the mix there) and (in her words) tricked the computer into giving up seats that were the classic 'not available to existing bookings'.

Whilst found early on (say 30 minutes) routes via the US, it didn't meet the QF + 2 rules for a OWE, so she went a-lookin'. The amount of effort she spent finding me flights was outstanding.

Finally, we found one, which whilst not great gets me where we need to be and back - SYD(QF)-PUD (Shanghai)(AY)-HELS-AMS (AY) and then LHR-HND(BA)-SYD(QF). Both QF legs were Plat requests which were instant.
The transit times are great, the most is 2:30 outbound. Coming back we couldn't do a transit on one day so we both agreed a quiet night in HND was fine.

I guess being Platinum helped but the service was outstanding and I must have thanked her half a dozen times.

 

[flyingfan]

Great to hear, credit where credit is due. Even when I haven’t had a successful outcome I’ve appreciated the proactive east and lateral think of their agents to find a solution and not just diss you or throw it in the too-hard basket.

 

[ronlon]

Good story but sad at the same time. There should be a degree of consistency with skill set and service across all Qantas call centres.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Exactly! Hobart is great, but the only people that can get through are platinum or higher. The rest of us 11 million members have to deal with call centres that can’t even ticket an itinerary

 

[smckay]

I totally agree with @MEL_Traveller & @ronlon. But, even when getting HBA I have been given the cold shoulder if it gets too hard.
I posted this as I was in a bit of disbelief that this lady tried so hard to find my J seats for 2. She knew the system and how to work it, including telling me the new system was much worse than the old one (which she also used).
Hopefully someone from Qantas lurks these forums and understands that the offshore call centres are very much lacking in skills. On this same itinerary I previously had an SA agent book me flights out of LHR 2 hours before I landed that same day into LHR. The service needs to start well before you get to the airport which can be hard to achieve most times.

 

[Daver6]

Great outcome. You should provide to QF and mention her by name https://www.qantas.com/au/en/support/contact-us/customer-care-feedback-form.html

 

[Ade]

But, even when getting HBA I have been given the cold shoulder if it gets too hard.

Happened to me last night ... called up HBA to ticket a status-run multi-city ... the first agent I was put thru was good - understanding of what I was trying to do. Even went to the extent of looking into my previous trips to see if she can replicate it ... as she was half-way thru, the call dropped. I waited for over 20 mins to see if the agent would ring back, no luck. So I called, was put thru to someone again in HBA (don't want to mention the name as this is not a positive feedback) who was very cut-throat, started asking questions like why you want to do this trip - it's a overseas trip with some random domestic legs attached to it, doesn't make any sense blah blah ... didn't even try to listen what I was going to say/ask and even said that there is nothing left to do other than ticket it and if I don't the booking will drop by midnight. I didn't even say anything, thanked him for his time and finished the call.

My first time ever rude customer service from HBA!

 

[smckay]

Great outcome. You should provide to QF and mention her by name https://www.qantas.com/au/en/support/contact-us/customer-care-feedback-form.html

Yes, that has been my plan and thank you for the link.

 

[FrustratedQP]

I’ve had a few dealings lately with the Premium Call centre and I must say a few times I have been diverted to the Fiji call centre who were also very helpful and quite knowledgeable.

 

[Ade]

Not to steal the focus from HBA - just got off the phone with CPT for 4 hours … truly, very bad experience, the agent on the phone was very dismissive and didn’t want to help … I got a headache dealing with the agent - very unhelpful and no proactive initiatives in problem solving exhibited … I never thought I’d say this - but if the agent were under my employ - they’d be fast tracked to a training course tomorrow, on listening to customers, understanding customer requirements, technical acumen, politeness, professional communication etc … I’d want to fire that agent, but, would give them a chance to upskill and see if they are able to perform …

 

[smckay]

Part 2.

Need to arrange a OWE for my sister. Researched, found basically the same flights as us (3 days later).
First call - CPT. Lady was a struggle - requested 3 different in and outbound options, didn't know how to check them and told me they were on request. So I tell her I have 3 confirmed J seats. So she managed to start booking with the flights I had found. Then my mobile dropped out. Waited a few minutes, no call so called up. As luck would have it she did call back whilst I was on hold.
2nd call- CPT again. This lady struggled with the whole concept and then hung up on me after about 15 minutes.
3rd call - CPT. Very heavy accent, hard to understand. Did manage to complete the booking but confused with merging the requested seats, blah blah. Last leg was June next year. My man told me there was plenty of availability on the 26th but on a Malaysian code share. Huh? Lots of back and forwards until he finally figures out he's looking at June this year. Sigh.
A lot of time on hold, plenty of pauses. Tells me he needs to speak with rewards team and can he call me tomorrow? Booking shows in MMB, all flights confirmed so I accept this.
Next day (today)
1st call - CPT. HUACA
2nd call - CPT. HUACA
3rd call - HBA. Yay. Another 22 year veteran, looked at the booking clucked and fumed and fixed it. My man had my sister on 2 flights YVR-SYD, same day and the Computer Said No.

So, finally the second OWE is ticketed and done.
Interestingly, I requested and was approved for 1 x J rewards seat in May and June 2024;
SYD-PUD
YVR-SYD
LAX-BNE
We have family in Syd and Bne so either one worked.

Maybe rewards seats are starting to loosen up?

As an alternative getting to Europe the Sydney-Shanghai on QF then Shanghai to Helsinki on Finnair in J looks like a viable option most days. 2:30 transit in PUD and a decent lounge by what I see. A 6 hour transit in HEL before the LHR flight gives plenty of lounge time.

 

[jpp42]

Interestingly, I requested and was approved for 1 x J rewards seat in May and June 2024;
SYD-PUD
YVR-SYD
LAX-BNE


As an alternative getting to Europe the Sydney-Shanghai on QF then Shanghai to Helsinki on Finnair in J looks like a viable option most days. 2:30 transit in PUD and a decent lounge by what I see. A 6 hour transit in HEL before the LHR flight gives plenty of lounge time.

Where is PUD? Did you mean PVG (Shanghai, China) ? (PUD actually refers to Puerto Deseado Airport in Argentina...)

 

[smckay]

Shanghai is what I meant. That would be some forum post, arriving at Puerto Deseado and expecting a connection to Helsinki in 2 hours time.
But maybe CPT could achieve the booking.

Post automatically merged: Jun 27, 2023

Dear Mr McKay,

Thank you for contacting the Qantas Frequent Flyer Service Centre.

We appreciate the time you've taken to write to us. Rest assured that your comments and feedback will be heard at the right department.

For future feedback about your travel experience, you may like to use our Customer Feedback Form available online at qantas.com where you can share your concerns, compliments and feedback.

Kind regards,

Ferre
Qantas Frequent Flyer Team

Not sure if this is cut and paste response but at least they heard me.