Qantas Customer Service

[Petch]

I noticed this About Qantas - Newsroom the other day...

Qantas announced today it would open a new customer service Centre of Excellence in Sydney in October 2008 that would provide an enhanced training program for over 18,000 staff from across the Qantas Group.

...and received this recently...

We value your feedback on your last domestic flight ___________________________________________________________

Qantas has commissioned ANOP Research Services to undertake a confidential survey of members, to obtain feedback about your recent domestic flight experience. You have been randomly selected to participate in the research and it would be much appreciated if you could complete our online survey...

So I thought it might be of interest to some here, to identify what areas of customer service, are of significance to the domestic flying kangaroo.

Thus, an analysis of their analysis…

 

[Petch]

The Survey

First up, the cities not classified as “other” by Qantas domestic are –

• Adelaide
• Brisbane
• Cairns
• Canberra
• Darwin
• Melbourne
• Perth
• Sydney

(Sorry Taswegians, none of your cities seemed to be on the list!)

And the way Qantas delineates passengers’ flying purpose –

• Business/convention/educational
• Family/friends
• Holiday/leisure/sport

Some other interesting things they wanted to know; my perception of Qantas domestic “value for money”, whether I “recommend Qantas to family” & my thoughts on “Qantas’ commitment to providing excellent customer service”.

 

[Petch]

The Booking

I had to score the booking process, and advise how it was done (e.g. online/other) and who did it.

 

[Petch]

The Check-in

In regards to checking in, it wanted to know if I did so online or at the airport, (as it was at the airport; it asked if I did so at the general counter, Qantas Club counter, QuickCheck, departure gate, valet parking or other). I was asked to rate -

• The time I spent in a check-in queue,
• the “courtesy and friendliness” of the staff,
• the “helpfulness and proactivity” in dealing with any issues
• how much I felt like “an individual and valued customer”.

Finally, it wanted an overall score.

Clicking through to the next section, it discussed security screening, and I had to rate –

• the time spent in the queue,
• the “speed & efficiency” of the screening process,
• the “courtesy & professionalism” of the staff

And next to give the whole process an overall score.

My rating for the terminal was next on its list, and I ranked –

• “atmosphere & décor”,
• the amount of flight informational available,
• the variety of stores

And, you guessed it, a final overall terminal reaction.

It was interested in the following aspects of the Qantas Club;

• “atmosphere & décor”,
• “level of crowding”,
• “courtesy & friendliness” of staff,
• “tidiness & cleanliness”,
• “quality of light snacks”,
• “range of drinks”,
• “business facilities”,
• availability of “newspapers & magazines”

Ending with a request for a final overall rating.

 

[Petch]

The Boarding

Next it discussed The Boarding & Departure, rating –

• “efficiency and orderliness”,
• “punctuality”
• “on-time departure”

It then asked me for any specific comments about the overall on-ground service.

 

[Petch]

The Flight

Moving onto the cabin crew, I had to rate –

• “courtesy & friendliness”,
• “grooming & professional appearance”,
• “availability throughout the flight”,
• “helpfulness during the flight”,
• “manner & amount of care taken during meal service”,
• the way they made me “feel like a valued customer”

And, yet again, a final overall rating for the crew.

I was asked what type of “meal service” there was, if I had ordered a special meal and what I thought of -

• the portion size
• “food quality & taste”,
• “freshness”,
• “presentation & appearance”,
• “appropriateness to time of day”

Ending with an overall rating for F&B.

Up next on my journey through the questionnaire was ranking the aircraft facilities;

• “cleanliness, including toilets, throughout the flight”,
• “cabin appearance, interior design & décor”,
• “legroom”,
• “comfort”

With a final overall facilities score.

In regards to Inflight Entertainment it wanted me to rate –

• “range & interest of video programs”,
• same for audio,
• “video picture quality”,
• “sound quality”

Ending this section it asked for any specific comments about the in-flight service.

 

[Petch]

The Arrival

Finally, it wanted to discuss The Arrival. Presenting a rating chart for –

• “efficiency & orderliness of the disembarkation procedure”,
• time taken for any checked bags to arrive
• valet parking.

Finalising the form, were questions about how many were in my travelling party, if I carbon offset, ff status, number of return domestic flights I took last year and the airline I was most likely to choose for my next trip (Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar, No Preference price/schedule, not flying domestic again or other). I must have picked Jetstar as it then asked if I would “consider” Qantas or Virgin…

Anyway, I thought it was interesting to see exactly what aspects of “service” Qantas might be focussed on, and share on AFF!

 

[straitman]

Did the survey take longer than the flight :?:

 

[Platy]

IMHO, these surveys by ANOP are misdirected (in terms of target market), ill-conceived in terms of content/structure and skewed in data collection, so that QF hears what it wants to hear.

Furthermore, I do hope that Lesley Grant, Geoff Dixon, John Borghetti, etc are compelled to go on the customer service training so they have a better idea of the customer's perspective. Some other companies make their staff from the top down attend such presentations, work a couple days in call centres, etc to enforce contact with customers.

...some hands on meet and greet by senior staff with real customers would tell them far more than any stupid survey outsourced to a sycophantic supplier of dubious competence.

 

[JohnK]

I received an identical survey after taking my first DJ flight recently.

My survey also included questions like how much I travel, a breakdown of domestic carrier DJ/QF/JQ and how much money I spend on travel....

 

[HardieBoys]

My partner and I flew Jet Airways in December 07/January 08, and were handed a very similar survey to complete. The staff appeared to be handing out between 5 and 10 surveys per flight.

 

[mosanator]

My wife was asked to complete one of these type survey's for BA on our flight to MCO. I was asked to complete one between LHR and FCO.

On both occassions, I think they would have taken one look at them and put them in "file 13".

We were not at all impressed with any (other than our aircraft didn't crash) aspect of BA. And indicated as much.

(This was in Y )