Unhappy With Qantas

[david964c2]

I am a long time reader and appreciate a lot of information I have obtained on this forum from those who contribute.

I guess I just want to have a rant about my latest Qantas experience.

I am loyal to Qantas as I have three close friends who work for the company. My partner and her team at work, also put 95% of their travel through Qantas.

On Monday night, due to a communication breakdown (I had not realised my Aunty was also booking my mothers flights) we each booked a return flight for my mother, Melbourne/Singapore, in November.

In the morning I emailed and faxed Qantas explaining the mistake, acknowledging that I was aware of the fare conditions, hoping for a little compassion, given my mother does receive a pension and can not afford the two airfares.

Given she would still be flying on the flights, I was sort of hoping or maybe wishing that they would refund one of the fares, especially given it was requested 12 hours later. They can even keep the $30 credit card fee.

To my surprise, I received a response 3 hours later. This was a generic response advising of the fare conditions, and not even having the courtesy to acknowledge some of the points I raised. If this was done, I would have felt a lot better thinking my claim was adequately considered.

I know the fare remains as a credit on my mothers account, but there is a change fee and as she is 74 and the Singapore trip may be her last travel as this is a trip we organised for her to go overseas. So the credit may never be used.

All I can say is, I understand why some people I know no longer fly Qantas. In my opinion they do not care about customers, especially in these circumstances of an honest mistake.

Despite my friends who work for this company, it may be time to fly other airlines.

Qantas, you have lost me and hopefully my partner.

Rant Over.

 

[harvyk]

Try calling them, sometimes explaining the situation goes over better when you speak with an actual person, esp if it's is technically your mistake. By emailing you've simply given them room to fob you off since in this case they are sitting in the right...

 

[Mwenenzi]

Welcome to the forum

Fare conditions are the fare conditions. Non refundable tickets are one of fare conditions that make them cheaper.

You have zero reason to be unhappy with QFWhat happened was not due to the action of Qantas.

Are the 2 tickets for exactly the same flight & exact booking class with exactly the same name? The airline IT systems usually pick up exact duplicates and raise a red flag that gets attention by a live person. People (including myself) do book 2 flights close together and only take 1, with the full knowledge they will suffer cancellation fees or even 100% loss on a no show.

 

[drron]

if the worst comes about there is nothing stopping your mother/you using her credit to buy someone else a ticket and she can be repaid that way.

 

[TonyHancock]

Doesn't QF allow 24 hours grace on bookings?

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to the forum david964c2 (and I'm sure there is a story behind that screen name!)

Shame about your experience; as harvyk said, give them a call; nothing lost. Wouldn't pay too much attention to those who aren't sympathetic and can only contribute "tough luck"; most of us do try to constructively help out those who have made a blue or who have suffered at the hand's of an airline's 'customer service', where possible (especially a noobie!)

Please come back to us with any further outcome.

 

[serfty]

Doesn't QF allow 24 house grace on bookings?

ISTR such may be "same day" rather than 24 hours.

 

[medhead]

If you realised the mistake on the same day you could've cancelled one booking with no penalty. It isn't exactly fair (see below). But hopefully someone else will read this and not get caught.

Doesn't QF allow 24 house grace on bookings?

ISTR such may be "same day" rather than 24 hours.

Yep Same day. Same Day No Mistake | Qantas

Simply advise a Qantas travel consultant by calling 13 13 13 by midnight of the day of making the booking.

Which is a bit inequitable for people who book in the evening vs booking in the morning. It really should be 24 hours.

 

[Alanslegal]

Ring up and see what can be done.

Otherwise keep both bookings, use two sets, use two blanket, make the most of it. But then again I recall reading that the airline 'should' pick up that two passengers with identical names are booked on the flight and they may actually initiate a cancellation (and refund) of the second ticket.

 

[deejo77]

Ring up and see what can be done.

Otherwise keep both bookings, use two sets, use two blanket, make the most of it. But then again I recall reading that the airline 'should' pick up that two passengers with identical names are booked on the flight and they may actually initiate a cancellation (and refund) of the second ticket.

QANTAS don't do this THANKFULLY in my case - I have two "John David Smith" in my travelling party - they have the same names, address and contact details - only thing to tell them apart is one is Grandpa and one is my son - so it would have to get checked down to DOB to realise they are 2 different people.

 

[Pvcmenace]

I booked a flight last year with Delta airlines for my dad, computer fudged up I thought mid booking and I rebooked, lo and behold I had made 2 bookings as determined through email confirmations. Called the Aus number and the 24hour rule applied, flight refunded within 2 days.

 

[serfty]

The USA DOT actually mandate a 24 hour rule OR a 24 hour hold for bookings made more than 7 days out.

There is no such regulation in Oz.

 

[drivatruk]

i always find a phone call 1st, then an email if no joy, is a good way to go. And i don't always stop at the first phone call. Sometimes it takes a few calls to get someone you click with.

Also nothing to say another airline would cancel the ticket.

 

[Jimmy124]

Were the two sets of flights on the same dates and flight numbers? If so, you should be able to get a full refund without penalty for the cancelled one - generally you will need to provide the live ticket number so they can cross reference.

Refunds

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Dupe ticket issue A refund is required due to more than one ticket is issued for the same journey.

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[Awesom Andy]

If this is anything to go by, even Jetstar would refund the ticket if cancelled within the same day.

 

[JohnK]

I didn't think it was possible to have 2 bookings for the same person on a flight.

I know Qantas receives a lot of queries but surely some of these are sensitive and a generic reply is not good enough.

 

[Pleb Status]

I didn't think it was possible to have 2 bookings for the same person on a flight.

I have had two separate bookings on the same flight numerous times over the years. The 'system' normally picks this up within a day or two after ticketing and you will generally get a call for a 'please explain'.

With regards to the OP, QF did not make the double booking and they give some grace period to rectify the issue which was not used. There has to be a line somewhere, even though the circumstances are unfortunate.

 

[maninblack]

I didn't think it was possible to have 2 bookings for the same person on a flight.

I know Qantas receives a lot of queries but surely some of these are sensitive and a generic reply is not good enough.

TA's used to do it regularly, holding seats in different fare buckets, waiting for customer decision and so on. At a certain point QF sent an automated auto-cancel warning.

As to the OT's point. Vote with your wallet, that's the consumers power. It's only a very small percentage of travellers who need QF anymore, many alternatives. Assuming the ticket was about $1200, they keep the $1200 but lose your business forever, their choice.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

If you realised the mistake on the same day you could've cancelled one booking with no penalty. It isn't exactly fair (see below). But hopefully someone else will read this and not get caught.





Yep Same day. Same Day No Mistake | Qantas



Which is a bit inequitable for people who book in the evening vs booking in the morning. It really should be 24 hours.

the concept and the fine print don't match up with this 'promotion' (for want of a better word) and in this circumstance i would have to argue 'same day' means 'within 24 hours' or at the very least 'within a reasonable number of hours after booking'.

you cannot have a 'guaranteed' booking 'with confidence', if you make a booking at 2330 and are denied that guarantee because you booked at 2330 rather than 0001.

in that light, the terms are contradictory, and the principle, rather than the actual operation would likely win in court.

the advertisement is clearly the 'confidence' which is designed to stop people leaving the qantas site to compare other sites. they want you to book right now, and hence offer a 'guarantee' to entice you to book.

 

[medhead]

If this is anything to go by, even Jetstar would refund the ticket if cancelled within the same day.

As do Qantas, as already mentioned up thread. Unfortunately the OP didn't call the same day so even Jetstar wouldn't refund either.

the concept and the fine print don't match up with this 'promotion' (for want of a better word) and in this circumstance i would have to argue 'same day' means 'within 24 hours' or at the very least 'within a reasonable number of hours after booking'.

you cannot have a 'guaranteed' booking 'with confidence', if you make a booking at 2330 and are denied that guarantee because you booked at 2330 rather than 0001.

in that light, the terms are contradictory, and the principle, rather than the actual operation would likely win in court.

the advertisement is clearly the 'confidence' which is designed to stop people leaving the qantas site to compare other sites. they want you to book right now, and hence offer a 'guarantee' to entice you to book.

That's why I said it is a bit inequitable. But thanks for outlining precisely my point.