Qantas Customer Care Service

[parksie]

As others have said, if seats are unavailable, none will be released. So you cant get blood out of a stone.
As far as waiting three hours I think the assumption should be made that the call is lost in the network, and you should ring back.

Hi,

Just spoke to Platinum FF and they advised me the wait is based on the fact they had many calls.

almost 4 hours on the phone waiting.

They gave me another number to call for Platinum.

However they also told me that I would not get a reply to my email from customer Service because the flight had not left yet.

 

[parksie]

I am having trouble figuring out if the OP just wants to follow up on a complaint, or if he/she wants to ask QF yet one more time to change their flights.

If it's the latter then they may as well give up. If they couldn't do it 8 weeks ago the chances are even slimmer now.

If they just want a response to a complaint then yeah, sure, keep waiting on hold I guess?

Also, I don't know how QF should respond to this complaint other than "we'll pass on your feedback regarding availability of award flights".

My spidey senses tell me this is a case of customer wanting something they were never promised, and they plan on making life miserable for a whole bunch of support staff until they get it.

All I wanted to do was ask if they received the email which was sent last Wednesday.

We have no formal notification of it even being accepted by Qantas.

If it was my business I would advise the person we had received their email and were dealing with it.

I called Platinum FF this morning and they gave me this number 9691 3399.

I called the number to ask if my email had been received and waiting on hold for almost 4 hours before calling Platinum on my cell phone.

People I spoke to at Qantas Platinum couldn't believe that I had been waiting so long.

No offence intended but I really don't know why your spidey senses tell you I was trying to make miserable for support staff at Qantas.

I am always very polite.

I did not receive any reply to my email sent almost a week ago (for all I know it could have been lost)

I was on hold for almost 4 hours today.

 

[simongr]

I think people are just intrigued why you expect to be able to release award seats. Most experience and complaints here are about exactly that topic. I guess most people wouldn't even bother to phone and ask.

 

[parksie]

I think people are just intrigued why you expect to be able to release award seats. Most experience and complaints here are about exactly that topic. I guess most people wouldn't even bother to phone and ask.

In my experience you never get what you don't ask for.

Thats all.

 

[reductionist]

All I wanted to do was ask if they received the email which was sent last Wednesday.

We have no formal notification of it even being accepted by Qantas.

OK, you may find this of value then.

If you have a problem with our performance, we want to hear about it, as your feedback helps us to identify and address issues with our service. You can call our dedicated Customer Care team during business hours in Sydney on +61 2 9691 3399, write to us or contact us via qantas.com. We will acknowledge your feedback within 5 business days. While we endeavour to resolve your complaint as quickly as we can, every case is different and some more complicated matters may take longer to resolve.

Qantas Customer Charter

 

[maninblack]

In my experience you never get what you don't ask for.

Thats all.

You are absolutely correct. You have every right to ask and push for what you want as much and as often as you like, as long as you remain polite in doing so and you say you have, so good luck, and yes sometimes you do get lucky in these situations.

As for QF customer care service, their performance is erratic at best. I finally had contact from them after 2 months on one occasion.

 

[parksie]

OK, you may find this of value then.



Qantas Customer Charter

Hi there,

Well perhaps I jumped the gun by a day - thanks for letting know about this.

I will see if i can a reply later this week.

 

[reductionist]

For the record I have sent several complaints to QF since becoming a member of their FF program.

I haven't received a single response to any of my complaints yet.

Probably, as you say, because I didn't ask for any compensation.

 

[straitman]

The four hours really seems like your call did not register as WP.

I have spoken to Qantas Corporate this morning - about 15 sec wait,
Premium Desk - about 30 sec wait and they rang me. All without issue.

 

[nlagalle]

For the record I have sent several complaints to QF since becoming a member of their FF program.

I haven't received a single response to any of my complaints yet.

Probably, as you say, because I didn't ask for any compensation.

we all know it is hit and miss. Although QF have responded to all the complaints i have lodged, everytime with a phone call. Last one was the 2x3x2 seating on the A330 J product.The even called me back later stating the middle seat was being removed.

 

[parksie]

You are absolutely correct. You have every right to ask and push for what you want as much and as often as you like, as long as you remain polite in doing so and you say you have, so good luck, and yes sometimes you do get lucky in these situations.

As for QF customer care service, their performance is erratic at best. I finally had contact from them after 2 months on one occasion.

I really think a business with 30,000 employees should be able to deal with email correspondence pretty easily.

Even an auto response would be viable.

I can even put an auto reply on my email!

When you are kept in a vacuum you are always thinking about "did they get me email" "will they reply" etc etc

Plus they have had such bad press over the past 8 weeks i really did think that they would try and push the boat out to help us with the seats.

 

[nlagalle]

I really think a business with 30,000 employees should be able to deal with email correspondence pretty easily.

Even an auto response would be viable.

I can even put an auto reply on my email!

When you are kept in a vacuum you are always thinking about "did they get me email" "will they reply" etc etc

Plus they have had such bad press over the past 8 weeks i really did think that they would try and push the boat out to help us with the seats.

There is an auto-reply that comes with complaints etc lodged online. i have always received one. it goes like this:

****This is an automated message from Qantas Customer Care in response to your feedback.****
****Please do not reply to this email as this mailbox is not monitored*****

Thank you for taking the time to send us your comments about your recent experience with Qantas.
We are currently experiencing a high volume of incoming customer feedback and ask for your patience and understanding whilst we respond to your request. One of our Customer Care Executives will be in touch with you as soon as we can.

Yours sincerely

Qantas Customer Care

 

[parksie]

The four hours really seems like your call did not register as WP.

I have spoken to Qantas Corporate this morning - about 15 sec wait,
Premium Desk - about 30 sec wait and they rang me. All without issue.

Hi Bill,

I rang the platinum number this morning and spoke to the Platinum desk.

They said they couldn't help me with the email to the Customer Care exec centre and then gave me the number to ring.

I rang this number and then was put on hold for 4 hours.

Later when I spoke to PFF the lady advised me that I should have been given another number but clearly wasn't.

 

[parksie]

There is an auto-reply that comes with complaints etc lodged online. i have always received one. it goes like this:

Hi,

My email was sent via my email.

Not via the website.

No auto reply was received once the email was sent.

 

[wilco]

i've never heard of that happening before - if there was availability (for 4 seats) then you'd pay the change fee and they would be moved. I'm not even sure what a load manager is in that context - generally they are the ones that load an aircraft up.

What I have barely managed to decipher so far is:

• Pax booked 4 seats for 21 December
• Pax decided 8 weeks ago that flights are no longer suitable
• Pax contacts Qantas and expects (demands) to date change on the basis that commercial fares are still available for sale
• Qantas refuses and hes upset about it.

I believe the term he is after is "yield manager", and when I was one at BA, I had the authority to amend availability as I saw fit.
I can see no compelling reason whatsoever for QF to make available ANY X, Z, U or P seats "just because" he wants them too. IF I received such a demanding request, I would refuse it, not only because of the limited seats available but also because such bad behaviour should not be rewarded.

In my experience you never get what you don't ask for.

Thats all.

It never hurts to ask, but from reading your post, it seems like you have asked several times over several weeks and im not sure how many times you need to be told "NO". Further to that, I read your posts as being exceptionally demanding and impolite despite your assertions to the contrary.

As as my mother always told me, "you catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar" so may this serve as a warning to you for next time you call Qantas or anyone for that matter, and abuse the very staff you expect to help you.

 

[reductionist]

and abuse the very staff you expect to help you.

Apparently he/she's been quite polite about the whole thing.

If I had to wait 4 hours on the phone I'd be far from polite however.

 

[wilco]

Apparently he/she's been quite polite about the whole thing.

If I had to wait 4 hours on the phone I'd be far from polite however.

I think id be pretty peeved too, but the OP has acknowledged the issues of late and I would have thought its not too much of a stretch to realise that Customer Care would be FLAT OUT dealing with all the claims stemming from the grounding/union activity.

I know the OP says they have been polite, but from reading comments like, "all i want them to do is move my flights", "I want 4 seats out of sydney earlier than 21 Dec. Thats all I want" and "complain about the fact that Qantas refuses to move our FF seats Syd - Lon" I form a different view.

The OP has also stated that they want to change the flights to any departing up to 5 days earlier. Would the OP be happy if QF got them on a flight 1 day before? As it stands, they have indicated QF is holding seats for them ex SIN on the 19th but there is no availability on the SYD-SIN leg.

None of this makes any sense to me, but thankfully, it doesn't have to.

 

[reductionist]

I know the OP says they have been polite, but from reading comments like, "all I want them to do is move my flights" I form a different view.

Yep, so did I.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I just ran a check for you for any X, Z, U or P class availability to SIN from 16/12 onwards, out of BNE, SYD, MEL, ADL and PER, and was unable to find you *any* availability at all on the international sectors.

If QF yield mgmt won't release any seats on the flights just before Christmas (their busiest time of the year), your only option is really to have the award booking refunded and book as a normal revenue passenger from AUS-SIN if you are able to keep your SIN-LHR award leg.

 

[parksie]

Yep, so did I.

Well thank you Wilco & Reductionist, I do appreciate your input, however, not your comments about my attitude and behaviour towards Qantas staff which is completely untrue and uninformed.

I have never once demanded any change - it has always been politely requested and that is my right as a regular customer with Qantas.

The truth is, all I actually want for my family is to get them to London earlier - it has nothing at all to do with demanding anything, and BTW I don't want Qantas to do anything other than to try and change our dates of travel.

My main issue (and therefore the subsequent complaint to Qantas) was that this first enquiry started around 10 weeks ago and I feel at that time they could have changed the seats as there were many available.

With regards to Wilco's comment;

It never hurts to ask, but from reading your post, it seems like you have asked several times over several weeks and im not sure how many times you need to be told "NO". Further to that, I read your posts as being exceptionally demanding and impolite despite your assertions to the contrary.

For your reference each time I called to speak to Qantas Platinum I was advised to call back in another weeks time to check if the situation has changed. Which I always did to ensure I could try and secure the earlier flights.

If the Qantas staff had the same attitude as you i.e. "how many more times do I have to be told no" then I wouldn't fly them at all.

In addition I really have no idea how you have found my posts to be "exceptionally demanding and impolite" despite my assertions to the contrary

I really quite surprised by your comments made and quite upset to read these.