Qantas WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EVER!

[denysmorel]

Hello,

My wife and our 3 kids boarded a Qantas flight from Brussels to Sydney via London and Singapore, for a nice holiday in Australia where I stay.
They took their first flight and arrived in London. They were ready at the gate to board the next plane to Sydney. But when the Qantas lady checked the passports, she accidentally tore apart the transparent sheet inside the passport of my daughter. And she didn't authorize them to board the plane!
She bluntly told them to go back where they came from!
My wife was left alone with 3 kids at 10 pm on a Sunday night in a foreign city! She didn't receive any assistance from Qantas people in London. And she was later told that she would have to pay for her flight back to Brussels, and that all the following flights were full! And she would also have to pay for new flights to Australia! Moreover, they couldn't give her luggage back!! She had to stay a night and a day in London with 3 kids and without anything.

Now compare this experience with the Qantas Charter: "We will look after you if things don't go as planned".:evil:

 

[ermen]

I dont understand. Why would she deny boarding?

 

[samh004]

I think more information is needed on this unfortunate turn of events.

I see that Belgium passports have a transparent sheet that covers the passport info page for security purposes I assume? Are they easily tearable, quite fragile? The info pages suggest it's an external page, so if it was ripped out and you kept it with the passport it'd still be valid?

https://www.checkdoc.be/CheckDoc/in...ument=1115&checksecurity_level=2&id_menu=0012

I'm trying to think what else could have gone on here. Not that AFF-ers always disprove events, but we want to examine and get to the bottom of them, and there's always more to the story

 

[The Rok]

Can we have the rest of the story please! The parts that are missing!

 

[mannej]

I assume there is more to the story then what is being presented currently.

As a matter of interest, were there any passports with less than 6 months validity on them?

 

[beardoc]

denysmorel:

Welcome to AFF!

Thanks for giving your feedback - we get a lot of comments about airlines here - some positive, some negative. Yours is an interesting one, and I can imagine that it would have been awful for your wife and kids to be stuck like that without help.

I'm figuring that the tearing of the transparent sheet was accidental (I might be wrong here). However, what I find most uncomfortable was that you were denied boarding at Heathrow. Was there any reason given that they were denied boarding? Was it a visa issue perhaps? If there's not the appropriate visa (Australia has a e-visa system for visitors), the customer service agent would not have been allowed to let you board the flight, as you would have been refused entry to Australia when you landed.

It would be great if you could provide a little more information about why the QANTAS agent denied boarding - was there a reason given?

 

[Mal Ware]

Not that AFF-ers always disprove events

.............

 

[samh004]

.............

Exactly why I mentioned it. It seems that way, but we hear so many stories and so many rants that we are always a little skeptical about things ourselves and there's always additional facts hiding somewhere.

 

[medhead]

Given it sounds like a denied boarding and the inference is the passport was damaged by the airline staff member surely the EU regulations will be of some help. Having said that I'm surprised that the clear plastic sheet (I assume this is the cover over the photo) would just rip. Perhaps the staff member thought the ripping was an indication of a bigger problem.


Sent from the Throne

 

[medhead]

I dont understand. Why would she deny boarding?

Damaged passport, possibly indicates it was tampered with, high risk of refused entry to Australia = cost to airline.


Sent from the Throne

 

[amaroo]

Interesting story....

They say most illegals arrive by plane....maybe you've been caught up in the whole immigration/border control tightening that is consuming the Globe.

 

[harvyk]

I'm with the others on this one, there is something missing here. I'm not going to say QF staff are always angels, but they usually have a very good reason to deny someone boarding.

 

[denysmorel]

Hello,

I understand that you're all skeptical about this story. Here are some additional facts: there were no issues with the eVisitor visas, and the passports were all valid for more than 6 months.
The belgian passport has a transparent page in it, as an additional security feature. This sheet is fragile. The passport was manipulated by the staff members in Brussels during check in, then by immigration officers, then again in London. And finally when boarding the plane, the Qantas staff member accidentally removed the transparent page from my daughter's passport. She then said that Qantas could not take the risk of taking her to Australia, because the airline would bear the cost of return if she was refused entry. She didn't even apologize and didn't offer any kind of assistance.
After a while, my wife finally found British Airways staff members (flight from Brussels to London was operated by BA in code sharing), who were much more helpful and tried to reach immigration officers in Australia to check if the fact that the page was not attached anymore would really be an issue (the page was still available). Unfortunately, they couldn't reach anyone, and finally managed to find a hotel for my family to spend the night.
My wife just called me to say they arrived in the hotel at 1 am, 10 hours after they arrived at the airport in Brussels. I called the embassy and my daughter can get a new urgent passport tomorrow. I am trying now to reach Qantas to put them on the next flight.

 

[amaroo]

Hello,

I understand that you're all skeptical about this story. Here are some additional facts: there were no issues with the eVisitor visas, and the passports were all valid for more than 6 months.
The belgian passport has a transparent page in it, as an additional security feature. This sheet is fragile. The passport was manipulated by the staff members in Brussels during check in, then by immigration officers, then again in London. And finally when boarding the plane, the Qantas staff member accidentally removed the transparent page from my daughter's passport. She then said that Qantas could not take the risk of taking her to Australia, because the airline would bear the cost of return if she was refused entry. She didn't even apologize and didn't offer any kind of assistance.
After a while, my wife finally found British Airways staff members (flight from Brussels to London was operated by BA in code sharing), who were much more helpful and tried to reach immigration officers in Australia to check if the fact that the page was not attached anymore would really be an issue (the page was still available). Unfortunately, they couldn't reach anyone, and finally managed to find a hotel for my family to spend the night.
My wife just called me to say they arrived in the hotel at 1 am, 10 hours after they arrived at the airport in Brussels. I called the embassy and my daughter can get a new urgent passport tomorrow. I am trying now to reach Qantas to put them on the next flight.

On face value - I agree with you.

I hope they don't charge you anything for the replacement flight.

 

[medhead]

I would also demand that qantas cover all of your costs as the staff member caused the problem. At least ask about compensation under the Eu regulations. This was caused by the airline and could have been avoided.


Sent from the Throne

 

[denysmorel]

My first concern currently is to make sure they arrive safely in Australia. Even if my daughter gets a new passport tomorrow morning (it is still night in London), I have also to take care of the eVisitor visa which was linked to her previous passport!
I filed a complaint with Qantas Customer Care by email, but I am afraid that it will take too long and they will miss the next flight to Sydney.
Does anyone know if Qantas Customer Care can be reached by phone?

 

[samh004]

I am trying now to reach Qantas to put them on the next flight.

Sounds like someone should page Red Roo to this thread to get someone on it.

 

[Alanslegal]

And finally when boarding the plane, the Qantas staff member accidentally removed the transparent page from my daughter's passport. She then said that Qantas could not take the risk of taking her to Australia, because the airline would bear the cost of return if she was refused entry. She didn't even apologize and didn't offer any kind of assistance.

So you were denied boarding at the door of the aircraft? Wow, if this is as correct as you describe it as, then I am shocked. real shocked (at QF).

So at the plane a QF staff accidentally tore the page, why couldn't they just leave it there even if its a loose page? I am sure Immigration in Australia would be somewhat understanding to the situation eg. it was accidentally ripped out but here it is.

 

[simongr]

Sounds like someone should page Red Roo to this thread to get someone on it.

A tweet might also work.

So you were denied boarding at the door of the aircraft? Wow, if this is as correct as you describe it as, then I am shocked. real shocked (at QF).

So at the plane a QF staff accidentally tore the page, why couldn't they just leave it there even if its a loose page? I am sure Immigration in Australia would be somewhat understanding to the situation eg. it was accidentally ripped out but here it is.

I think that is the point of the security devices - not to be lenient. especially with a seemingly single parent travelling with a child who now has a potentially fake passport - certainly heightens the risk of being denied entry to Oz.

I am genuinely surprised that the QF staffer at the door of the aircraft didnt call back to the gate to get it sorted - maybe they didnt realise that they had torn it out and thus didnt think that they were responsible.

This page is the customer care page.

Qantas Customer Care | Share your concerns, compliments and feedback

It suggests calling your local office if the flight is between 24 and 72 hours:

Contact Qantas | Contact Centres and Office Contacts

13 13 13

 

[JohnPhelan]

So at the plane a QF staff accidentally tore the page, why couldn't they just leave it there even if its a loose page? I am sure Immigration in Australia would be somewhat understanding to the situation eg. it was accidentally ripped out but here it is.

No way. If the passport is damaged in any material way, it will always be knocked back by Immigration.

According to the OP, the transparent page is a security device. Having that detached from the passport would ring major alarm bells.

Bottom line for any airline is that, if they believe a passenger will be refused entry at the destination, the airline will refuse to carry them. Sounds like that's what happened here.

I'm sure QF will carry them on the next available flight once the new passport has been issued, given that a QF staffer allegedly caused the damage.