Late to bag drop - QF SYD airport experience

[RooFlyer]

Speaking of check-in leeway ... o/t, sorry, but I like this story.

Colleague and I rocked up at QF check-in at SFO, IIRC abt 3 mins before check-in closed (we were sweating it, big time!). Agent was clearly startled to see us, and immediately frantically started tapping away, then got on the phone. We checked - we beat the cut-off didn't we? Yes.

Eventually we were denied boarding due to 'technical reasons'. We thought pretty clearly that with a few minutes to go, our J seats had gone to someone else.

We weren't phased - both of us had the flexibility to spend another enjoyable day in San Francisco at leisure, so we happily accepted US$500 vouchers (written out on the spot, again IIRC and which could be redeemed for cash), hotel rooms and meal vouchers.

This was a looong time ago, so I'm not playing the 'consistently inconsistent' card, but it does go both ways.

 

[SeatBackForward]

How was this so hard for the staff in the bag drop area to organise - why did they put me through 20 minutes of anguish!? I actually thought I was going to have a heart attack over the stress

I also have to wonder what exactly was the point in asking the OP to phone the call centre in this situation when the call centre wasn't able to do anything?

This is the consequence of treating your staff like cough. It's easy for new starters to complete tasks when everything is going smoothly. The true test is when things go wrong, and the business relies on staff who know how to deal with problems, sometimes hacking through the various systems, processes to get things resolved for the customer. But QF has probably lost a good chunk of staff who know about this, chances are they also possess skills that were sought after in other businesses/industries and wouldn't return to QF anyhow.

Who exactly was the "angel" that sorted things out?

The one poor sod who knows how to deal with problems and managed to stick around.

 

[Blackadder]

As usual, wrong.

OP said they went to a human and was told to hop on the phone.

Actually, Qantas being completely rigid — to the point that being 1 minute late essentially forfeits your ticket — about check-in times is new because it is linked to the inability of ground staff to offer assistance.

Prior to the implementation of this phone system, a ground staff member could extend some leniency if you just missed the cut-off time. That has been removed.

Qantas' slide to LCC status, while continuing to charge premium prices, continues.

Post automatically merged: Aug 4, 2022

If only airlines took some responsibility for ... being on time themselves, transporting your luggage with you, providing competent customer service, etc etc etc etc.

And that's why you take travel insurance.
Things like this happening aren't a new occurrence.

 

[CMA222]

If only airlines took some responsibility for ... being on time themselves, transporting your luggage with you, providing competent customer service, etc etc etc etc.

To borrow from "The Castle" - and anticipating that the response from QF would be - "tell him he's dreaming"

 

[levelnine]

No, this is not new, policy changed in 2015 to move to strict check in times. I remember it clearly and there was lots of complaining on here.

Wrong. All that changed was the check-in times. Human agents had leeway to check-in after the 30 minutes mark. Seen it happen to many, many people prior to COVID.

The rest of your comment is built on a bunch of assumptions about the OP that we can't know unless they give us a minute by minute account of what happened.

And that's why you take travel insurance.

Travel insurance wouldn't cover this situation.

 

[justinbrett]

Wrong. All that changed was the check-in times. Human agents had leeway to check-in after the 30 minutes mark. Seen it happen to many, many people prior to COVID.

The rest of your comment is built on a bunch of assumptions about the OP that we can't know unless they give us a minute by minute account of what happened.


Travel insurance wouldn't cover this situation.

Humans still have the leeway. One should be grateful when it's applied, it's not an entitlement.

There's a cut off at some point where the bag won't make the flight - and anybody with half a brain would know that now is not the time to show up late with a bag. That cut off may well be 30 minutes at the moment due to the staffing issues.

QF conditions of carriage gave QF the option to cancel all sectors on the booking due to the no show with no refund. The fact they didn't, and accommodated as far as they did, yet OP is still ranting, that's what bothers me.

8.2 Check-In and Boarding Deadlines​

Check in deadlines apply and may be strictly enforced. To help us get your flight away on time, ensure you are at the boarding gate by the time specified.

8.4 If You Are Late​

If you arrive:

• late at check-in or the boarding gate through no fault of ours, or
• without your Ticket and all necessary travel documents

we may:

• cancel your reservation
• refuse to carry you, and/or
• require you to pay a service fee to cover our reasonably incurred administration costs

 

[levelnine]

Humans still have the leeway. One should be grateful when it's applied, it's not an entitlement.

There's a cut off at some point where the bag won't make the flight - and anybody with half a brain would know that now is not the time to show up late with a bag. That cut off may well be 30 minutes at the moment due to the staffing issues.

QF conditions of carriage gave QF the option to cancel all sectors on the booking due to the no show with no refund. The fact they didn't, and accommodated as far as they did, yet OP is still ranting, that's what bothers me.

You keep conveniently skipping over the crucial part of OP's story that had a huge effect on how they were treated and is a new policy of QF.

Prior to COVID, if you arrive past check-in time, an agent (either roaming or desk) would have been able to action your request to have your bags checked after check-in had officially closed. As always, it was a matter of discretion as to whether your request would be accepted, depending on how late you were, etc.

Now, if you arrive past check-in time, an agent will tell you to take a seat on a chair and call Manila where the agent may or may not understand your situation and will be unable to actually help you (ie a Manila agent cannot print you a bag tag and put your bag on the conveyor belt — all they can do is put you on a later flight).

 

[justinbrett]

You keep conveniently skipping over the crucial part of OP's story that had a huge effect on how they were treated and is a new policy of QF.

Prior to COVID, if you arrive past check-in time, an agent (either roaming or desk) would have been able to action your request to have your bags checked after check-in had officially closed. As always, it was a matter of discretion as to whether your request would be accepted, depending on how late you were, etc.

Now, if you arrive past check-in time, an agent will tell you to take a seat on a chair and call Manila where the agent may or may not understand your situation and will be unable to actually help you (ie a Manila agent cannot print you a bag tag and put your bag on the conveyor belt — all they can do is put you on a later flight).

We can have a whole other discussion in another thread about how QF handles rebooking for no-shows. That's what this was, QF human did not ask OP to call the call centre to get a bag accepted late. They missed the cut-off, so needing rebooking.

If the human could have accepted the bag they would have. They were not obligated to despite whatever policy you think has changed. Again - now is not the time to be showing up late with a bag.

Frankly just getting through the security queue could have made OP miss the flight even if the bag was accepted. OP was late.

 

[Quickstatus]

Turn up late and expect the airline to seamlessly make the transfer to a different flight?.
Hmm no….

There are a lot of possible permutations in situations of a no show. It’s not for the airline to know which of the many permutation the traveller is in.

Checkin closes 30 min. No ifs and no buts.
If you start shifting the goalposts you will forever be expected to keep shifting the goalposts. 30min, 29 min, 28 min,27……1 min, 0 min (AKA “why can’t I check in, the aircraft is still at the gate”)

So what if a human can override a computer and checkin a bag after the cutoff. That just adds to unreasonable passenger expectations - “they were able to check me in at T-25min. Why not now at T-24min”. Make checkin times black and white

 

[RealtimeY]

At this point, they're calling my name to board my flight, but the staff are saying I'll have to rebook my trip as it's a "no show." That was not going to be a viable option.

Why was this not viable?

 

[albatross710]

I had a similar situation in February in Sydney. I commenced the bag drop about T-35 minutes, weighing everything, all looked good. When the printer went to print it didn't, the bag didn't go and I eventually got an out of order message on the screen. By the time I went to the adjacent bag drop it was less than 30 minute cutoff and denied the bag. Hurried to the human staff whom could see the out of order message and they processed the bag manually.

Lesson not to cut it so fine.

 

[levelnine]

We can have a whole other discussion in another thread about how QF handles rebooking for no-shows. That's what this was, QF human did not ask OP to call the call centre to get a bag accepted late. They missed the cut-off, so needing rebooking.

You keep changing the topic. Why can't you stick to the topic that is being discussed here? You are showing the weakness of your argument.

We are not talking about rebookings for no shows.

We are talking about what happens when a passenger is 60, maybe 90, seconds late for checking in their baggage.

In the past, they had a good chance of being accommodated by a human (no guarantees, but it was within their discretion to assist). Now they are told to pound sand and call Suva because staff are now extensions of the computer: 'computer says no, so I must say no too — here's a phone number, good luck.'

So what if a human can override a computer and checkin a bag after the cutoff. That just adds to unreasonable passenger expectations - “they were able to check me in at T-25min. Why not now at T-24min”. Make checkin times black and white

And yet it was the case for the 100-odd years of Qantas' operation prior to the pandemic .... Was there an epidemic of unreasonable passenger expectations on check-in times prior to the pandemic? Can't say I ever noticed it.

 

[Quickstatus]

Lesson not to cut it so fine.

human staff

DEN-LAX-SYD

I was late. Said hello to kerbside guy at T-29
I had 2x50kg plus ski bag

I slipped him a Benjamin Franklin for a “thank you sir, yes Sir”

It can be done but cannot be an expectation that it will happen next time

 

[Austman]

I also think that when the customer, who has admittedly been late, needs to work out their alternative options, the call centre that they now must use should have some sort of clue about the situation the customer is in.

At least the manned service desk would know the situation and tell the customer their options.

 

[Quickstatus]

but it was within their discretion to assist

This is the problem , it became an expectation. If not an expectation why are we saying:

And yet it was the case for the 100-odd years of Qantas' operation prior to the pandem

At some point there has to be a hard cutoff. Why not at T-30?

 

[antycbr]

8.4 If You Are Late
If you arrive:

• without your Ticket and all necessary travel documents

we may:

• require you to pay a service fee to cover our reasonably incurred administration costs

Do we get to back invoice QF for our reasonably incurred administration costs of actually getting Fiji or Cape Town to (correctly) issue the said Ticket?

 

[trooper]

Good question...why not 30? I doubt that anyone would object to there BEING a hard cut off... why not the published one?

Why does staff "having discretion" apparently never allow them the discretion to say..."No" ?

 

[Quickstatus]

back invoice QF for our reasonably incurred administration costs

Except that when we buy tickets, we do not insert that as a clause in the purchase contract.

....

manned service desk would know the situation and tell the customer their options

"would" change to "should"

Yes, this is what "full service" should be about. A manned customer services desk with appropriate training and executive power to effect changes in passenger's bookings. When the passenger is late its not for the airline to fix the problem in the passenger's favour but to fix the problem for mutual benefit.

The experience of @bussyboy appears (to me at least) to be more in line with a P1 tier status type service when he was contacted (not the please ring Suva bit). To what extent does this occur? Is this a manifestation of the airline trying to lift its game with on time departures?

 

[levelnine]

This is the problem , it became an expectation. If not an expectation why are we saying:


At some point there has to be a hard cutoff. Why not at T-30?

These apologists crack me up.

Prior to COVID-19 cost cutting: Arrive at the check-in area at T-29:59 and a service agent is able to help you get on the plane with your checked bag.

Now: Arrive at the check-in area at T29:59 and a computer tells you no and you're directed to spend the next 10 minutes on the phone with an agent who thinks you're calling about a lost bag.

In what way is that not a degradation in service?

 

[Quickstatus]

T-29:59

One problem is that everyone thinks they arrive within "seconds" of T-30.
Again when is the cutoff?

a degradation in service

Its not a degradation of service because it has been T-30 for years. That some have come to "expect" a bailout which they may not get now is not a degradation of service, rather I see it as the proper application/enforcement of checkin rules.