Qantas Call Centre Long Wait Times

My understanding (from unofficial sources) is that there is a pool of priority phone numbers that airport staff give to passengers which rotates every few weeks.

I will attempt to publish the currently active number(s) in this post:

1300 304 318
1300 659 161
1300 025 396
1300 659 116

1300 024 715
1300 025 390
1300 659 115
1300 659 134
1300 659 502

 

[NM]

Looks like Qantas "enhanced" their contact centre to save money. If you look at the videos the staff don't have a mouse , maybe they would be more efficient if QF invested in providing a mouse for their staff.

View attachment 274516

But they did give the agent a wireless keyboard to "type" on

 

[CMA222]

In case you missed the email -

Dear xx_X,

Australians have waited a long time to get back in the air, so the last thing you want is to wait hours on the phone to talk to our contact centres.

Our recent call wait times have not been acceptable. We apologise to you, and all our customers who have experienced challenges in getting through to us, and want to reassure you that we’ve made fixing this issue a top priority and we know we need to do better.

We now have more staff in our contact centres than before the pandemic, but call volumes are at an all-time high – from an average of 7,500 calls a day to 14,000. With border restrictions easing across the world, each change brings more calls.

The time our agents are talking to each customer has increased by an average of 50 per cent as people rearrange travel plans that are up to two years old.

Each month we are recruiting and training more people, and we’ll keep hiring more people and investing in better technology so it’s easier to talk to us, which will mean we will see improvements each week. In the meantime, we hope you can be patient with our dedicated Qantas staff members; our wonderful frontline staff are doing all they can.

We know that some of our customers would prefer to speak to a real person to have their questions answered, and we understand that, however in the majority of cases customers do have the option to use qantas.com to book flights, including using Flight Credits, and make changes to their existing bookings. More than half of calls we are currently receiving can be resolved online, so we are developing a series of ‘how to’ videos to help explain the most common questions received by our contact centres that can be resolved on qantas.com.

Thank you for your continued support, loyalty and, most of all, patience. We look forward to welcoming you onboard soon.

Warm regards,



Stephanie Tully

Qantas Group Chief Customer Officer

Perhaps this should have more correctly been posted in the 'a bit of humour' thread ?

 

[Mark1966]

Seems like the CEO is getting into the mea culpa too!

Qantas boss Alan Joyce has apologised to customers experiencing marathon waits to connect to their call centre, blaming the problem on overwhelming demand in the wake of borders reopening.
Social media posts from frustrated customers have highlighted an increasing problem for the airline with some people placed on hold for up to 8-hours as they attempt to change bookings or get a refund.

The Australian Services Union has also weighed in on the issue, claiming average call waiting times were now between four and five hours, and existing staff were bearing the brunt of customers’ frustration.

In an address to the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Joyce offered an apology to anyone trying to get through to a Qantas call centre.

Mr Joyce said the average wait time was an hour and a half which was too long for general calls, and half-an-hour was too long for premium calls.

“That’s because our call centre with these changes of borders, has gone from 5000 calls a day to 15,000 calls a day,” he said.

“And every time there’s a change, like New Zealand opening up, it spikes.”

Mr Joyce denied there had been any staff cutbacks at call centres, saying staffing had actually grown from 370 people during Covid, to 800 currently

“By the middle of the year we’ll have 1000 people. So we’re trebling the size of it to try and keep up with that volume,” he said.

“But the thing we’re having to do is trying to get people to do a lot of the administration themselves if they can.”

He estimated that 60 per cent of callers could resolve the issues themselves through the Qantas website or app.

“Other international airlines are having the exact same issue, so … I’d say bear with us for the while,” Mr Joyce said.

“Some things won’t be quite what you expect from Qantas but we are working on it and trying to fix it as fast as we can.”

In any one shift, 250 to 300 people are available to handle calls to Qantas, working out of centres in Hobart, Auckland, Cape Town (South Africa) and Fiji.

ASU assistant national secretary Emeline Gaske said staff were exhausted and “working beyond breaking point”.

“These problems started with Qantas offshoring local jobs and cutting in-airport customer service last year under the cover of the pandemic,” Ms Gaske said.

“That puts huge extra pressure on call centres and Qantas didn’t add any new call centre staff.

“Now that we’re seeing the industry recover, and customers return to Qantas, they must repay Australian taxpayers and employ local staff.”

The ASU wanted to see Qantas bring offshore call centres back onshore where staff could receive proper training, access to the best IT systems, and quality control.

“Local jobs that have been cut or offshored in recent years should be returned home,” Ms Gaske said.

Source: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/bu...s/news-story/d3d104e655ff77326be3a40755163ca5

 

[TheInsider]

They have now posted the BS on Twitter too.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1511886806383738880

 

[Mark1966]

They have now posted the BS on Twitter too.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1511886806383738880

Cannot wait to read the replies ...

 

[antycbr]

But they did give the agent a wireless keyboard to "type" on

Using wireless keyboards is bad form from a sustainability perspective. Tsk tsk QF.

Fortunately this keyboard is never going to be used.

 

[Guvner]

Using wireless keyboards is bad form from a sustainability perspective. Tsk tsk QF.

Fortunately this keyboard is never going to be used.

It's also sub-optimal from a cybersecurity perspective.

 

[encryptededdy]

Looks like Qantas "enhanced" their contact centre to save money. If you look at the videos the staff don't have a mouse , maybe they would be more efficient if QF invested in providing a mouse for their staff.

View attachment 274516

I mean, maybe their systems are text user interfaces and/or keyboard navigation only

 

[TheInsider]

I mean, maybe their systems are text user interfaces and/or keyboard navigation only

She could be left handed?

 

[Sydney BE]

i had to have my fights reticketed due to a cancelled flight on my return... it's been 3 days and countless calls to qantas it is still not reticketed.

My outbound flight is next week. I just got a text from qantas to remind me that i need to provide the following to fly
-neg PCR test
-Vaccination Cert
-Proof of travel insurance
- One health pass (Philippines)

all well and good but the one thing i really need is a properly ticketed flight which is on qantas to provide

 

[Spacetravel]

She could be left handed?

The other video with the other agent also is lacking a mouse

 

[TheInsider]

The other video with the other agent also is lacking a mouse

Could have a touch screen!

 

[Guvner]

Could have a touch screen!

Hot desking with touch screens?? No thanks.

 

[eco]

Don't think it is all the Call Centers. Customer Service does not exist. I have been trying since December 2021 to get some BONUS points added to my account which I have paid for, and QANTAS has taken the money. I have given up phoning 131113 now I complain by Emails which does not work either. WHAT AM I TO DO?

 

[support]

An update from my end, as I regularly call Qantas to process memberships to the Qantas Club. After sending an email complaining of the poor wait times to do this I received a call back earlier in the week asking if I would like to proceed with any new memberships. I replied that I had managed to get through, eventually, and that was that.

Today I managed to get picked up in under a minute and the staff member was very helpful with my request. Perhaps they're getting the message.

 

[DC3]

Don't think it is all the Call Centers. Customer Service does not exist. I have been trying since December 2021 to get some BONUS points added to my account which I have paid for, and QANTAS has taken the money. I have given up phoning 131113 now I complain by Emails which does not work either. WHAT AM I TO DO?

Have you tried emailing Stephanie? Nothing to lose. Although, Stephanie pretty much only replied with a “sorry” to one AFFer’s matter.

 

[MARTINE]

That email is just embarrassing.
Blaming the people then claiming in hiring more staff, yeah in places with minimal training which solves nothing.

All the focus is on marketing, everything else a distant last!

But at least there is a shiny new ad to paper over the cracks.
My take on Miss T’s email - the fact she knows so little about her own business ie there is almost Zilch you can do online (thereby forcing you to call - ain't no customer prefernce involved) says it all.
A steaming pile of Grade A compost

 

[NM]

She could be left handed?

Or perhaps ambidextrous ... I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

 

[NSun]

I just saw on YouTube a video from Qantas (uploaded only a few hours ago) titled "How to use your flight credit". They appear to realise there's an issue but don't realise the issue is people are calling because they can't do these things online not because they could but don't know how to.

 

[RichardMEL]

hands up who believes all the CC staff go to their office and sit there in bright red roo logo tops?