Optus/Qantas points scheme failure

[GaryBne]

Optus/Qantas points scheme failure
Although the number of points on offer is insufficient for me to change carrier, as I was already with Optus I thought a few extra points would be nice. I spent way mofre time trying to get these points tha n they werre worth - but it became a challenge against incompetence.
Optus pre-announced and allowed a pre-registration for existing customers some time in June. When the scheme was formally opened on September 1[SUP]st[/SUP], I was notified and registered that day.
After my billing cycle on 21 Sept no points arrived as promised. Nor did they arrive after 21 October.
Complaints via email to Optus went unanswered. Emails deleted unread. Many lengthy phone calls to customer service and I am told repeatedly to call QFF.
QFF doesn’t take calls, but the emailed advice was to “call Optus”
At this stage Tenacity took over from common sense and I ended up spending hours making perhaps 20 calls, and even more emails.
Eventually I get credited with Sept and Oct points on the same day in Mid November. A week later I receive an email from Adam in SMB Melbourne who says the system is all fixed – and points will arrive automatically.
Nov 21 – no points arrive. Again I am told to wait 30 days as if 30 days is a fixed time delay and not a maximum allowance. And again I am told to phone QFF. (Who only refer me back to Optus?)
Optus has developed a part of their web site where I can see QFF points credited. Even within the Optus site, points are not showing up by 22 Dec. (21 Nov+30 days).
More calls later – and I am starting to talk with a Filipino accent by now.
Then finally I receive and unsigned email from an Optus employee who can’t even spell Qantas (sic)
From: <noreply at optus com au
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:18:44
To: <x
Subject: Regarding Quantas Point

Hi Gary,

This is a follow up email regarding the Nov QFF points.

Due to techincal problem, all the payments made from Nov 1st to Dec 5th 2011 has not been processed in the Optus Rewards system and it will be delayed until mid-January.

We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused to you.

Any payments made post December 5th will be processed as per normal.

Regards,
Optus SMB Customer Care.


Has anyone else had such difficulties? I mean for 3 months?
Clearly it’s a disaster for Optus. Any scheme that is intended to gain loyalty and fails so dramatically has the opposite effect on loyalty.
Further – Optus has done a lousy job of training their call centre staff. E.g. calling QFF is [poor advice: they even hand out the 13 phone number – which has a recorded message stating refer points issues to the web site. No One in customer service has any idea who ore how to fix QFF points issues.

I assume that most have given up - the sensible FF would have!

Gary

PS i only got action after referral to the TIO on 22 dec

 

[thewinchester]

Well this is the first I've heard of any problems with Optus to QFF earning, and until there's widespread reports of issues then it's a bit early to be calling this a disaster.

If the situation is as the OP has described - What it comes down to is the line of business applications used by Optus, in that they have not appropriately tested their ability to perform the task.

Some of the basic business technology processes that could be needed on the Optus to achieve the points transfer include;

• matching up who had linked their accounts for QFF earnings
• determining if new transactions had occurred that were eligible for earnings, and if so how many points
• updating relevant transactional and logging journals
• transmission of the points earning journal to QFF for processing and crediting against customer accounts
• receipt of confirming logs for reconciliation against journal

And if as the OP suggests this is an ongoing problem, they may have not rigorously tested their systems and processes to handle the volumes of customers wishing to earn points.

This isn't a problem unique to Optus - you'll always hear and see reports of Company X taking forever to credit points or not crediting them at all. From airline partners, hotels, hire car companies, this issue happens all over the frequent flyer partner spectrum.

Some partner companies are great at resolving these issues, doing so after a single call, email or fax. Others however, as is evident with the OP's comments on Optus are leaving much to be desired.

How to resolve

If points are still owing: To escape the infinite loop you seem to be in, my recommendation would be to scan or download copies of the 1st page and account billing summary of each Optus account for which you are still to receive points.

From there, email these along with your member information to the QFF Service Centre (frequent underscore flyer at qantas dot com dot au) with the subject of Missing Points Claim. Make sure that you, without any emotion or hyperbole, describe the length of the delays crediting and the steps taken to resolve the matter. This will at least put it in front of someone at QFF who can try and get things resolved.

And again, if there are lots of people who are having the OP's problem, the more emails they receive alerting them to the issue (and similarly postings and actionable 'information intelligence' posted here on which will no doubt gain the attention of Red Roo), the better chance the issue will be brought to the attention of those who need to know - and traction to fix it gained.

 

[YQY]

No issues here - I have had FF points for the last three broadband bills being deposited within a couple of days of payment.

 

[Reg Reagan]

No issues here either, have received all FF points for mobile bills however I have a personal a/c as opposed to SMB.

 

[GaryBne]

Update: Saga of Optus / QFF points

More on the saga …
First – thanks to all who posted above.
I took winchester’s excellent advice and wrote an email to QFF. All I received in response was a template reply saying essentially “ go ask Optus”
After several months, and taking the problem to the Telecommunications Ombudsman (TIO) and to the MD of Optus SMB I received a phone call from a Pinay (Sonya) who seemed to be actually working in the Optus “points” department. Finally I was in touch with the “nerve centre”
Sonya’s advice was that my account had not been awarded points because my Optus account name was in my business name and my QF FFlyer account was in my own name. She had no answer to the question: why did it take months of complaints to discover this?
Different account names ? Well that is no surprise surely? I changed from a personal to an SMB account at Optus years ago – to get a deal that suited me. A requirement was that the account changeover to a business name. Given that, I would guess that 99% of all SMB accounts would be in business names.
100% Of FFlyer accounts are in personal names - they have to be! So do 100% of SMB customers have the same glitch? It seems not, given member’s advice above.
Sonya’s suggested solution? To change my QFFF account over to my business name! how plain dumb. She just didn’t understand that ALL FF accounts have to be in a person’s name - I educated her as kindly as I could muster – explaining that FF records include personal phone numbers, passport details etc, so they must be in a person’s name, just as an airline ticket must also be.
Again: the Optus implementation, integration and training is proven to be sadly inadequate.
Aside: I now see on “My Optus” a web page that allows me to change the user name on my account. I am not going to touch it! Lest I disturb some workaround.
10 Jan 5:38pm Sonya leaves me a voice mail “everything is fine now” I have no idea what that means. I say that because over the last few months I have had been given similar assurances several times. If Sonya had explained some it workaround in detail then I would have felt more assured, but alas I missed her call and had no opportunity to ask detailed questions.
SO – I now have my $8.16 worth of points - all manually input. Let’s see over the next month if it starts to work automatically. Maybe by March we will know. I’m not holding my breath, but I am hoping that my tenacity on this issue will assist other FF members who are not as stupid as me – and don’t waste so much time for $10 p.a. worth of points.
Keep smiling
Gary

 

[N860CR]

I had the same problem (phone in business name, which funnily enough is my name with Pty Ltd on the end) and it was equally hard to deal with. I know we complain about airline customer service... but telecommunication companies really take the cake with that! Optus/Telstra/Vodafone are all equally useless (nobody knows who to speak to or who can fix things) and tiny problems become massive hassles. I guess the main point of difference is that a phone company will eventually bend over and do exactly what you ask (as the ombudsman seems to push them into it). Airlines will dig their feet in.

Eventually the issue with Optus was resolved (along with a substantial credit on my account for time wasted).

 

[GaryBne]

Thanks Daniel

Yes - it’s only the Telecommunications industry that has their own Ombudsman service. Along with the building industry (which has its own dedicated court/tribunal) these are the most whined about services.
Many years ago BA and their caress system proved that handling complaints fast and early and generously actually reduced costs and retained customer loyalty.
Example: damaged luggage? “Well sir, sorry about that – we can have yours repaired for you ASAP - Or you could choose to take any of these brand new cases on the shelf over there right now. Any size or colour, and I will help you repack your gear in the new bag if I may?

• Problem solved: pax happy, no administration of repair, letters, no invoice to certify and pay - almost zero admin costs AND a smiling customer. But no – so many companies want to investigate! Think customer – fix frown then fix system so it doesn’t re occur – that’s all you need to do.

Implementation of Optus/ QFF points was an It project. And like banks, telecoms are 80% IT, 20% hardware. So you think that Optus would be good at this. But no: obviously inadequate testing with dummy data. Worse still, inadequate call centre staff training and even worse – no solution in place months after the problem is known.

Keep smiling boys and girls

 

[GaryBne]

TO : The helpful person who PM'd me.

Yes I will - but I need to have more posts here before I can send a PM to you. maybe you can pm me an email address? if not, and I resect that, I'll figure out plan B ( make a few more posts asap)

cheers
Gary

 

[DeKa]

Implementation of Optus/ QFF points was an It project. And like banks, telecoms are 80% IT, 20% hardware. So you think that Optus would be good at this. But no: obviously inadequate testing with dummy data. Worse still, inadequate call centre staff training and even worse – no solution in place months after the problem is known.

Qantas claimed at the time it was a cinch from their side!
Optus integration a cinch for Qantas - Business - News - ZDNet Australia

Optus integration a cinch for Qantas

Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au on May 30th, 2011 (May 30th, 2011)

Qantas' head of loyalty IT, David Glover, said that integrating Optus into the Frequent Flyer program would be more challenging for the telco than it would for the airline in terms of IT.
David Glover, Qantas Frequent Flyer's head of Loyalty IT. (Credit: Luke Hopewell/ZDNet Australia)

"[Getting the two systems talking] may seem complex, but we've obviously built interfaces with a vast number of partners today, and we try to re-use the model as much as we can so we'll be leveraging what we've done before. We don't see anything hugely complicated. That's from our side; I think Optus have a bit of work because they've now got to capture member numbers," he said in an interview with ZDNet Australia.
"Optus in terms of just creating a field within their products that's going to identify and capture a member numbers and get that from their customers, there's quite a bit of work going in to make that happen," he added.
Glover said that, on the Qantas side, a recent move away from a 23-year old Fortran-based customer loyalty platform to an Oracle platform has made integrating new partners, like the massive Woolworths and Optus partnerships, is easy for the airline.
"Replacement of the old systems puts us in a position where we're no longer limited or hindered by our technology," he said.
Qantas went to tender for a year for the new platform, finally selecting Oracle's Siebel Loyalty Management platform for its almost eight million members.
Simon Hickey, CEO of Qantas Frequent Flyer, said that the ancient Fortran system was inflexible and held the loyalty program back.
Simon Hickey, CEO of Qantas Frequent Flyer. (Credit: Luke Hopewell/ZDNet Australia)

"Fortran is a very stable platform, but you can't then change much. It's more expensive to run, harder to get people who cut code in it anymore and everything takes longer and is more difficult than it should be," Hickey said.
"That's where Siebel comes in, so when we want to bring in a new partner or want to do the things we want to do with the business going forward, it's built to be that more open."
In more recent times, Qantas has been hit by rising fuel prices and ongoing industrial action, which CEO Alan Joyce has identified as some of the greatest threats to the survival of the airline. Glover said, however, that even when times are tough at Qantas, IT programs like Next Generation Check In and the Oracle migration are still given priority.
"We look to cut expenditure elsewhere, but technology is the foundation of the airline and for the loyalty, at least, the Frequent Flyer technology is fundamental to our operations," he said.
"We've got other plans on the horizon."
(Front page image credit: Qantas B737-800 VH-VXU image by Andy Mitchell, CC BY SA 2.0)
URL:Optus integration a cinch for Qantas - Business - News - ZDNet Australia

 

[GaryBne]

DeKa – thanks for the research.

I have found from the handful of IT projects I have been involved in, that often IT projects are run by programmer type personalities who have a blind spot when it comes to ease of use, implementation, communication and marketing issues. I’m sure they complain equally about marketing type personalities.
Management’s role is to breach the gap between both sides.

Qantas seem to have done it well. Optus not so good.

having said that, I feel that QF have a role is overseeing the implementation of partnersz - because some of the "mud" from a poor implementation wil stick to the QF brand. (just as a franchisee is managed) Especially as QF has many partners and lots more experience.

 

[markis10]

Yes - it’s only the Telecommunications industry that has their own Ombudsman service. Along with the building industry (which has its own dedicated court/tribunal) these are the most whined about services.

There are a lot more industry sponsored ombudsman than just the TIO:

• Credit Ombudsman
  The Credit Ombudsman Service Limited (COSL) is the external dispute resolution scheme for the non bank credit industry, approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
• Employee Ombudsman (SA)
  Provides advice and assistance to South Australian employees.
• Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW
  Provides an independent way of resolving customer complaints about all electricity and gas suppliers in New South Wales and some water suppliers.
• Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria
  EWOV has the power to investigate and resolve disputes between Victorian consumers and their electricity, gas and water companies.
• Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland
  Provides complaint investigation and dispute resolution services to residential and small business energy customers across Queensland and water customers in south east Queensland.
• Energy Industry Ombudsman SA
  Investigates and resolves disputes between South Australian electricity and gas customers and their providers.
• Energy Ombudsman TAS
  Investigates and resolves disputes between Tasmanian energy customers and their providers.
• Energy Ombudsman WA
  Investigates and facilitates the resolution of complaints from residential and small business customers in Western Australia about their electricity or gas company.
  Financial Ombudsman Service
  FOS is an independent External Dispute Resolution service which you can use if you are unable to resolve your dispute through your financial service provider's Internal Dispute Resolution process. FOS independent dispute resolution processes cover complaints about financial services including banking, credit, loans, general insurance, life insurance, financial planning, investments, stock broking, managed funds and pooled superannuation trusts.
• Private Health Insurance Industry Ombudsman
  Provides an independent service to help consumers with health insurance problems and enquiries.
• Produce and Grocery Industry Ombudsman
  Resolves disputes over supply of fresh produce and processed foods to markets and retailers.
• Public Transport Ombudsman VIC
  Deals with complaints about Victorian public transport that members of the community have been unable to resolve directly with the public transport operators.
• Superannuation Complaints Tribunal
  An independent Tribunal set up by the Australian Government to deal with complaints about superannuation funds, annuities and deferred annuities, and Retirement Savings Accounts.
• Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
  Deals with complaints that consumers have not been able to resolve with their telephone or internet company.

 

[GaryBne]

Ouch@! I stand corrected Thank you - sincerley

 

[N860CR]

I've believed for a while now that the airline industry should have one as well (at least for dealing with customer service issues).

They make the whole process a hell of a lot easier as it's in the companies best interest to resolve the problems properly at the first point of contact. The ombudsman charges the company a fee of some sort as soon as a complaint is escalated to them.

 

[GaryBne]

Yes – the TIO charges fees to the telecoms companies.

A level one referral is $32, level 2 (conciliation) is $280, and a level 3 or 4 (investigation) is $530 or $2,400.

I guess that most complaints are at the $280 level. Even so – its shows up as a real $ number in the accounts.

but even without thee fees - it is still in thewir best financial interst to handle complaints ASAP

 

[docjames]

Well, I havent seen a cracker of a point from Optus. Personal account. Same name as FF.

Given up. Left Optus.

 

[frankxinyu]

WHat would you expect? This tends to happen whe QF chooses to team up with a company who can not even supply 3G network sufficiently to their customers..

Floptus is a big fail on Qff's behalf..

Maybe team up with best n less next?

 

[mannej]

WHat would you expect? This tends to happen whe QF chooses to team up with a company who can not even supply 3G network sufficiently to their customers..

Floptus is a big fail on Qff's behalf..

Maybe team up with best n less next?

I wouldn't be calling them the worst.

It also seems that since Optus has taken over the QP internet supply, comment has been that it was a big improvement over the previous Telstra offering.

 

[docjames]

It also seems that since Optus has taken over the QP internet supply, comment has been that it was a big improvement over the previous Telstra offering.

Not big, massive.

 

[Cynicor]

I can now use the internet. That's an infinite improvement over the 'unable to log-on due to congestion' internet access we had previously. Still thinking I'll leave Optus as a personal customer, however.

 

[frankxinyu]

I wouldn't be calling them the worst.

It also seems that since Optus has taken over the QP internet supply, comment has been that it was a big improvement over the previous Telstra offering.

Really?

From my point of view, used to use Vodafone, 3 and Optus..now I'm with Telstra, can not be happier.

Excellent 3G network, even in extreme conditions and areas. perfect for traveling domestically.

Home Internet has been very fast and reliable

Best part is when I ring up i get to speak to Australians most of the times..

I expect qff to team up with other 'premium' business as they are a 'premium' airline..

Optus is not one of those in my book