Jetstar Written Complaints - Joke

[hardya]

What a joke it is. Jetstar refuse to provide any avenue for formal complaint except for in writing; and even then they refuse to do anything.

I sent them a letter back in August at the postal address provided on their website, in relation to a complaint where there is the inconsistency of QF award bookings on Jetstar metal (ie: QF 'my booking' states that baggage allowance is 23kg yet Jetstar claim that the limit is 20kg). Correspondence with Qantas resulted in them stating that they (QF) stand by the fact that the limit should be 23kg, and if I have to pre-pay for excess baggage (or get stung for excess baggage) then I should take up the complaint with Jetstar.

For a recent award flight on JQi to Japan for my partner, I ended up pre-paying exess baggage on JQi to avoid another dispute at the check-in counter, and then wrote to JQ a vfew days later to demand that they refund me and to ask that they please fix their system or the interface between QF/JQ, as previous correspondence/discussions with QF had them pointing the finger at Jetstar and vice-versa.

i.e. I don't care who is technically responsible, but if the baggage allowance shown on the QF "my booking" screen is shown as 23kg, then Jetstar should surely honour it. Sure, it is code-share on JQ, but the 'my bookings' Qantas page specifically says that the baggage limit for that particular flight is 23kg.

JQ acknowledged receipt of the correspondence on 8 September 2009, (Case ID CAS-389802-RCKSDN, CRM:0001285)‏, then the "silence" treatment ever since then.

Follow-up e-mail to [email protected] was ignored, with the same "silent treatment" given to another e-mail sent to the attention of Kylie (the "so-called" Head of Customer Relations) at [email protected].

It is hardly worth my while, but I am tempted to lodge a claim via the Small Claims Tribunal, if for nothing else but to inflict some costs on Jetstar due to their refusal to communicate.

 

[thewinchester]

I actually agree that it would be worth pursuing JQ through your local small claims tribunal, because they have a historical nonchalance towards complaints management and do need to wake up to themselves.

A couple of default judgements here, more bad press there, and Detective Sgt. Peter Faithful (aka Noddy or the artist formally known as Simon Westaway - for those who never watched Janus or Phoenix) getting on the dog and bone to rip a few people a new one, and it might - just might - get them to lift their game.

 

[Mwenenzi]

....I sent them a letter back in August at the postal address provided on their website, in relation to a complaint where there is the inconsistency of QF award bookings.....

Why did you write to JQ about a QF award ?
Your award ticket was provided by QF, not JQ
QF would have paid JQ (in some form) for the ticket.

 

[N860CR]

attention of Kylie (the "so-called" Head of Customer Relations) at [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]

I too hit a brick wall trying to communicate with this member who seemed to last here for a very short period of time.

 

[hardya]

Why did you write to JQ about a QF award ?
Your award ticket was provided by QF, not JQ
QF would have paid JQ (in some form) for the ticket.

Because, for pre-paid additional baggage on JQi, you must pay the fee directly to JQ (even with a QF-ticketed award ticket). I tried calling QF to organise pre-payment, and they directed me to JQ, as QF have no facility to accept the payment.

My beef is with JQ's failure to interpret the QF 23kg allowance as being valid, hence forcing me to pay JQ for pre-paid additional baggage.

 

[Dave Noble]

If Qantas provided the incorrect information, then it is Qantas with whom you should raise the complaint rather than Jetstar

Jetstar's economy allowance is 20Kg and they were quite correct to limit based on that; if QF told you that you were allowed 23Kg and you got charged for being 1-3 Kg over, then you should ( I would say ) take it up with Qantas

That QF MMB said it was 23Kg doesn't provide any requirement for JQ to provide that much but would seem that QF would be responsible

I cannot see how taking JQ to court would have any success

Dave

 

[hardya]

That QF MMB said it was 23Kg doesn't provide any requirement for JQ to provide that much but would seem that QF would be responsible

I cannot see how taking JQ to court would have any success

Dave

Noted. However QF-tickets on JQ metal do not always have the same conditions attached to it as JQ-ticketed pax.

For example, with the exception of QF-awards, any other QF-ticketed international fares on JQ metal include meals/drinks, as opposed to JQ-ticketed.

So where is the line drawn?

I did take the matter up with QF initially and have it in writing from them (e-mail) that "you are definitely entitled to 23kg as you are on a Qantas-ticketed Jetstar service. You should therefore take up the matter with Jetstar Customer Relationships".

Irrespective of whether I take it further or not, this is yet another example of the cough we put up with from the QF Group and their lame excuse for a subsidiary airline, JQ. Customer service unheard of.

 

[N860CR]

Perhaps try to elevate this with Qantas customer care. Their entry level people (even the "Premium Team") are pretty useless, however once you get higher there are actually people who can take action.

 

[david870mdg]

Are you running out of toilet paper?
If so I would suggest a written complaint to JetStar and wait for their reply.

 

[hardya]

Update: Jetstar called me today, apologised for the extended delay in responding to my complaint, offered to refund the unnecessary purchase of pre-paid excess baggage and also offered a $50 voucher due to the delayed response.

Great outcome.

Despite the delayed response, the follow-up action was appropriate.

 

[N860CR]

For future reference... did they admit that they were wrong and you should have been entitled to the 23kg, or say sorry it was misleading but we're still right (however we're going to compensate you anyway).

 

[hardya]

For future reference... did they admit that they were wrong and you should have been entitled to the 23kg, or say sorry it was misleading but we're still right (however we're going to compensate you anyway).

The JQ rep stated that the information on the QF "Manage My Bookings" screen was correct, in that QF codeshare on JQi should have 23kg baggage limit.

She apologised that JQ had given me the incorrect information.

I asked if it was possible to follow up on why the JQ and QF booking systems don't seem to talk to each other properly (i.e. the 23kg info does not get transferred in the booking to JQ), however she suggested that I just keep the hard copy print out from the QF site and insist to check in staff that 23kg is the correct limit.

If anybody else has this same problem again, suggest you quote my complaint CRM reference in my initial posting in this thread as a precedent and retrospectively request (in writing) a refund for any excess baggage charges for the first 3 kg above 20kg.