New low by QF for Mum's flight to a wedding in Darwin - not going

[dougieboy]

My mother received a phone call from Qantas Call centre this evening at 8:02pm regarding QF824 from Brisbane to Darwin departing 9:45am tomorrow morning. She is a lifetime silver status member. My mother was informed that due to "operational requirements" the aircraft was 'changed' and only economy class was available. My mother cannot fit into a standard economy seat. This ticket was booked on 4th January 2022 for a wedding. She inquired as to aircraft type and they were not forthcoming. Eventually found out it was a 3-3 config but again the Qantas agent didn't know much. Only option was for my mother to accept an economy seat for a flight that was apparently full as no spare seats were available next to her (to accommodate personal needs).

Long story short when asked to speak to manager she was questioned by the agent as to why and was effectively gatekeepered and not permitted to speak to a manager. Passive aggressiveness was definitely on display here. Refund processed in 8 weeks. No wedding and mum is also put out for hotel room booking with 2 day cancellation fee. It all adds up. I checked expert flyer seat maps - only 6 seats in J class are occupied, in Y there are only 7 spare seats left, with 2 seats spare next to each other. The customer agent said there were no seats empty side by side. Lying to mum or lost in translation? Lost another QF member as she sure as hell doesn't want to expect last-minute calls with limited option (downgrade or take the midnight flight to Darwin late tomorrow). In the good old days, you could be re-routed via Sydney with no drama.

Mum is upset, obviously triggered and shut down with what should have been a good week away seeing family and friends for a special occasion. Makes me think twice about booking a ticket I will stay local and stick to driving. Is it worth reaching out or take this as one of life's lessons? thanks for reading Doug

PS: Upon reflection, the QF customer agent may be better suited to working at Centrelink as she seemed a natural in challenging and not listening to customers, and instead afford contempt. Gotta see the funny not so funny side of it.

 

[AIRwin]

There is still a Business Classic Reward seat via TSV tomorrow morning if you have enough points:

 

[dougieboy]

There is still a Business Classic Reward seat via TSV tomorrow morning if you have enough points:
View attachment 274114

Thanks for letting us know - I discussed this with mum and she seems settled in not bothering with this particular trip. They could have offered this flight too instead of the midnight flight... hmmmmm makes us wonder why this wasn't offered?

 

[Pushka]

Thanks for letting us know - I discussed this with mum and she seems settled in not bothering with this particular trip. They could have offered this flight too instead of the midnight flight... hmmmmm makes us wonder why this wasn't offered?

If the rep was not based in Australia they may not even know that route. One such event occurred recently with a family member. Returning to Adelaide from Perth on a Thursday, that direct flight was cancelled. Instead of offering her the next day direct flight, on the Friday, they gave her a Saturday flight departing Perth at 5 am to fly to Alice Springs and a four hour wait to connect Alice Springs to Adelaide arriving over 12 hours later.

Hope your mum has an enjoyable day anyway and is able to forget this.

 

[DC3]

My mother received a phone call from Qantas Call centre this evening at 8:02pm regarding QF824 …. I checked expert flyer seat maps - only 6 seats in J class are occupied, in Y there are only 7 spare seats left ..

Most unfortunate. The problem is that there can be an aircraft change at short notice wth any airline. What aircraft type was originally to fly that route as it’s currently showing a B737?

EF shows the loading for QF824 as fully booked. Some passengers may not have selected seats as yet, so the cabin seat maps may show seats as still available (selectable).





As posted above, there’s another option to get to DRW in the morning. Poor form from the Agent not to suggest other options.

 

[DC3]

… makes us wonder why this wasn't offered?

Poor training, incompetence or maybe just plain old laziness.

 

[Matt_01]

Not the best outcome and I may have miss read yor post. Was your mum originally booked in J and was it booked using points or revenue, was the aircraft downgrade from a wide body as if so I suspect QF would have most likely reallocated seats for business PAX based on status and fares paid. I did not know that QF used a wide body aircraft on this route and if so I have learnt something new. The other thing I found interesting from your original post (actually 2) the first been the offer of a midnight fight as when looking at EF there is no midnight flight, but a late flight out of BNE that lands after midnight and looking at the load will not actually run but has not been officially been cancelled by QF.

The second was your J seat map that shows 4 blocked seats the image below show the same seat map taken this evening most likely at a different time and QF may still be working through seat allocation for status PAX

 

[dougieboy]

Not the best outcome and I may have miss read yor post. Was your mum originally booked in J and was it booked using points or revenue, was the aircraft downgrade from a wide body as if so I suspect QF would have most likely reallocated seats for business PAX based on status and fares paid. I did not know that QF used a wide body aircraft on this route and if so I have learnt something new. The other thing I found interesting from your original post (actually 2) the first been the offer of a midnight fight as when looking at EF there is no midnight flight, but a late flight out of BNE that lands after midnight and looking at the load will not actually run but has not been officially been cancelled by QF.
View attachment 274120
The second was your J seat map that shows 4 blocked seats the image below show the same seat map taken this evening most likely at a different time and QF may still be working through seat allocation for status PAXView attachment 274127

Good morning and thank you for the chart highlighting limited availability. She purchased a ticket for around $2572 return - i think its either a business sale or possibly full fare in January 2022. Like you said they may have been working thru pax status, and silver isn't gold or lifetime platinum. The plane are almost always B737 equipment. No widebodies. Customer agent originally stated aircraft change, then 'operational requirements' jargon. When pressed it was still a 3-3 configuration, and were trying to figure out if they oversold business class and it was like getting blood out of a stone. We asked if it was 2-3 configuration , a 717, or a 737 and she would not disclose. My mum was offered that late night flight that gets into darwin after midnight - which she chose not to do, as well as not fly in economy on the flight. If it were me I would have lumped it and grin and bear it. Different people make different choices.

What I don't like is seeing my mother with a history of complex PTSD shut down because of the incompetence of a sales agent, and I'm left picking up the pieces all weekend. Take home message - always press for re-routing as sales agents may not understand other flights available that can get you to your destination.

 

[dougieboy]

Most unfortunate. The problem is that there can be an aircraft change at short notice wth any airline. What aircraft type was originally to fly that route as it’s currently showing a B737?

EF shows the loading for QF824 as fully booked. Some passengers may not have selected seats as yet, so the cabin seat maps may show seats as still available (selectable).


View attachment 274115


As posted above, there’s another option to get to DRW in the morning. Poor form from the Agent not to suggest other options.

Yeah it was a B737 and still B737 this morning. I think they oversold J class - she should have said this to her and be honest about it. It's the passive aggressiveness and lack of respect let alone any empathy afforded - the intent in the agents mind was to downgrade or put on another flight and not work through a solution and problem solve. These are different days compared to the halcyon days of QF and a lesson we can all learn at her painful expense.

FWIW ill try to engage her this morning and see if she can speak at the call centre and make an official complaint. Her PTSD though, I suspect she'll just shut down in learned helplessness. I tried - and thank you for your comments and time.

 

[dougieboy]

If the rep was not based in Australia they may not even know that route. One such event occurred recently with a family member. Returning to Adelaide from Perth on a Thursday, that direct flight was cancelled. Instead of offering her the next day direct flight, on the Friday, they gave her a Saturday flight departing Perth at 5 am to fly to Alice Springs and a four hour wait to connect Alice Springs to Adelaide arriving over 12 hours later.

Hope your mum has an enjoyable day anyway and is able to forget this.

Mum is off to Bunnings this morning rather early! Bit of gardening me thinks! We bought a mulberry tree the other day to plant in the new place in Brissy, so the kids can walk past and pick them off the tree on their way to school. We will move on from this. I agree with you the agent seemed like she wasn't from Australia, and may not know and seemed a bit green for a customs agent. I'm sorry to hear that your family has endured a similar fate with inefficient and long waiting times just to get from point A to point B. grrrrr!