eosphoros
Member
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2011
- Posts
- 293
I recently had an AONE4 ticket re-issued by QF and they quoted me an additional $1074.20 AUD in taxes/fees/carrier charges. This seemed to me an incorrect calculation, since I had already paid $1511.08 AUD in taxes for this ticket. (My new ticket has far fewer sectors and countries, and the only additional country (without stopover) is Singapore.) When I questioned the agent in respect of the calculation, she said that the taxes I had previously paid had been ‘absorbed’ by a previous re-issue, and that the additional $1074.20 was due to my flying out of London and Sydney. I pointed out that this made no sense, because those cities were on the itinerary as originally ticketed and therefore the taxes in respect of those ports should have already been paid. (Obviously they can increase but I doubt that there has been such an enormous increase.) I further pointed out that if these calculations were correct, it means that the total taxes and fees on my ticket came to over $2500 AUD for KIX-xHKG-LHR-xDFW-SYD-CBR-SYD-xSIN-HKG-HND-KIX. Again, I was told that it was due to London and Sydney. I didn’t have the energy nor time to argue so I notified the agent that I would deal with this later when I had time, and that since I’m travelling within 48 hours (LHR-DFW-SYD) to issue the ticket.
Today, I went through my emails made a chronology of events in respect of the ticket. I noted in my email inbox that earlier in the year when I no-showed for what would have been LGW-SKB and then SKB-JFK, I was emailed with a re-issued ticket out of JFK. This re-issue was not requested, and I suspect it is the reason why the additional tax collection is so high — I am being charged for UK APD (which I had already paid) and makes sense of the agent’s nonsensical explanation that the charge is because ‘You are now flying out of London rather than New York’.
Armed with this information and all the e-ticket numbers, I contacted QF again today. I believe I was hung up on twice. The first agent provided the same bogus explanation that ‘London is expensive to fly out of’. Well, yes, but I had already paid the APD. When I pointed this out and sought to quote the original e-ticket number, the line cut out. I called again and the second agent explained that the no show fee on the AONE4 is USD 500. I pointed out to her that it was in fact only USD 125 and that in any event, that is not reflected in the $1074.20 provided on the receipt, since QF took a total of $1244.69. She flatly asserted (again) that all no show fees are USD 500. I then stated that I have a copy of the rules and asked her to wait for a moment so I could direct her to the clause. The line immediately cut out.
A few questions for the community:
1. Are these disconnections merely a coincidence? It seems to me highly suspicious that the line (which was otherwise clear) would immediately cut out when the possibility of a dispute arose in which the agent would have to do some actual work and thinking.
2. Do the additional taxes of $1074.20 seem correctly calculated?
3. If ‘No’ to Q2, how should I best go about claiming a partial refund of the additional amount paid over?
As a side note, I find it utterly astonishing that the second agent flatly asserted that all no show fees are $500 on every single ticket. This is quite frankly complete incompetence.
My current thinking is to wait until I get back to Sydney so that I can speak during business hours to someone more senior.
Today, I went through my emails made a chronology of events in respect of the ticket. I noted in my email inbox that earlier in the year when I no-showed for what would have been LGW-SKB and then SKB-JFK, I was emailed with a re-issued ticket out of JFK. This re-issue was not requested, and I suspect it is the reason why the additional tax collection is so high — I am being charged for UK APD (which I had already paid) and makes sense of the agent’s nonsensical explanation that the charge is because ‘You are now flying out of London rather than New York’.
Armed with this information and all the e-ticket numbers, I contacted QF again today. I believe I was hung up on twice. The first agent provided the same bogus explanation that ‘London is expensive to fly out of’. Well, yes, but I had already paid the APD. When I pointed this out and sought to quote the original e-ticket number, the line cut out. I called again and the second agent explained that the no show fee on the AONE4 is USD 500. I pointed out to her that it was in fact only USD 125 and that in any event, that is not reflected in the $1074.20 provided on the receipt, since QF took a total of $1244.69. She flatly asserted (again) that all no show fees are USD 500. I then stated that I have a copy of the rules and asked her to wait for a moment so I could direct her to the clause. The line immediately cut out.
A few questions for the community:
1. Are these disconnections merely a coincidence? It seems to me highly suspicious that the line (which was otherwise clear) would immediately cut out when the possibility of a dispute arose in which the agent would have to do some actual work and thinking.
2. Do the additional taxes of $1074.20 seem correctly calculated?
3. If ‘No’ to Q2, how should I best go about claiming a partial refund of the additional amount paid over?
As a side note, I find it utterly astonishing that the second agent flatly asserted that all no show fees are $500 on every single ticket. This is quite frankly complete incompetence.
My current thinking is to wait until I get back to Sydney so that I can speak during business hours to someone more senior.