Air New Zealand [Diverted to MEL, Self paid to SYD - reimbursement?]

[RooFlyer]

Re: Air New Zealand

many thanks for your comments.
this was trip i paid for personally to see someone who was ill in NZ
the points you are raise are important ones and I will clarify them in my next discussion with AirNZ

In spite of what some others want to say, your rights do not end with what the airline - or any business - serves up. Anyone who believes that is a mug. For instance, if you buy a TV and it doesn't work, you don't have to follow a store 'policy' of, say "Write to us and at some stage we'll get back to you. it might be 6 months or more, but you have to follow our policy else you won't get any refund or compo."

That's what I would call a cool story, but its BS.

You may not get any satisfaction going the 'consumer' route (in fact I think its unlikely), but the point is that you don't have to "be prepared to pay and get over it." Gosh, there are some mugs about.

 

[farawaymum]

Re: Air New Zealand

Seriously do you need to be so nasty

 

[Mogul]

How much was the flight to Sydney.

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: Air New Zealand

A remedy was offered and the customer didn't want to wait in line, they then chose to pay for flights out of their own pocket.

I look forward to NZ crediting you back for the flights, since you have made it clear you didn't want to wait in a queue of people

 

[gungadin6]

Re: Air New Zealand

Love your point of view and assumptions in your response
Take your point and note we should all bow down to the airline
More power to AirNZ

A remedy was offered and the customer didn't want to wait in line, they then chose to pay for flights out of their own pocket.

I look forward to NZ crediting you back for the flights, since you have made it clear you didn't want to wait in a queue of people

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: Air New Zealand

Love your point of view and assumptions in your response
Take your point and note we should all bow down to the airline
More power to AirNZ

Please let us know when Air NZ reimburse you for booking other flights, because you simply didn't want to wait in a queue

Thanks

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Re: Air New Zealand

cool thread

 

[JohnK]

Sorry to hear of your experience.

I would also get frustrated in the same situation and possibly arrange my own flights but doesn't mean Air New Zealand is any less responsible. I wouldn't want to lose a day of work because the airline couldn't react quickly enough.

Not sure of your issue with travel insurance. Premium shouldn't increase after claim unless you have some arrangement at work.

Good luck and hope you have satisfactory esolution.

 

[gungadin6]

Ok will do

Please let us know when Air NZ reimburse you for booking other flights, because you simply didn't want to wait in a queue

Thanks

 

[mannej]

I think there may be a bit of baiting from both sides here, which isn't necessarily helping the thread.

If you feel aggrieved by the way Air NZ handled the situation, and you are looking at placing a complaint the best advice I can have is the following;
- Keep it concise and factual
- Avoid any emotive or suggestive comments (i.e what would you do if you were in my boots etc).
- and outlay what you feel is a reasonable resolution.

Emotive and long-winded complaints don't really get too far. My gut feeling is that you won't get to far as you did go out on your own (I have done that previously with delays), but all the best.

 

[OzEire]

From your posts (OP) I think I would have waited about an hour and then made a judgement call about the efficiency of overnighting in MEL. I would have done exactly the same as you and booked my own flight.

Having myself been stuck in the wrong port like this, outside the airline's usual bases, I would not quickly trust any airline to fix it efficiently. So good call by you.

Now, by all means take NZ to task over their shoddy cust service in MEL, but don't expect your SYD flight to be repaid;, perhaps aim for a few points or a voucher.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think it depends on the reason for the diversion.

Within Air NZ's control, I think you should be expected to wait a reasonable time before making your own arrangements. At the very least, you could ask for partial compensation, up to the total cost NZ spent on other passengers they had to overnight and fly the next day (assuming the hotel and flights weren't provided to NZ free of charge. Which I highly doubt.) Just because you made your own arrangements shouldn't completely absolve NZ of any cost.

If it was outside NZ's control, I think you might have a harder case to show. They might have been taking all reasonable steps in the circumstances they were given. And you might have been expected to also extend time and patience. But still worth asking if they will pay you the base amount it cost them to accommodate other pax.

As for not knowing if there were any staff behind the desk... it would be a normal course of action to ask. you could have asked the passenger in front of you if they could see someone at the desk. If there hadn't been anyone there, your case could have been stronger.

 

[TomVexille]

I think it depends on the reason for the diversion.

Excellent question.

 

[gungadin6]

Many thanks to everyone for your constructive advice on my matter
I sincerely appreciate your feedback
Best wishes for the festive seaon

 

[JohnK]

I think there may be a bit of baiting from both sides here, which isn't necessarily helping the thread.

I think it doesn't help when people jump in with "Serves you right, what did you expect?". Not very helpful at all.

 

[N860CR]

I agree entirely with the big corporate lovers.

You should have stood in line in Melbourne for maybe 2 or 3 days. I mean, seriously, what did you expect. An airline to do the right thing and deliver you to the city you'd paid to travel to?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

It's possible Air NZ use contract staff in MEL (as they do in BNE) for checkin which may explain why there was any lack of direction or communication when things go awry as contractors handle many different airlines and there's a high turnover of staff so you end up with the situation where people in the job a short time with limited or no experience in disruption handling are left to try and sort out the chaos.

It may be worth sending Air NZ a pm via their Facebook page politely seeking recompense due to you needing to be in SYD for work the next day. If that doesn't work then put in a claim with the travel insurance company stating your reasons for getting back to SYD that night & that you unsuccessfully (if that turns out to be the case) approaching Air NZ for reimbursement first prior to submitting the claim.

 

[Boris spatsky]

It's possible Air NZ use contract staff in MEL (as they do in BNE) for checkin which may explain why there was any lack of direction or communication when things go awry as contractors handle many different airlines and there's a high turnover of staff so you end up with the situation where people in the job a short time with limited or no experience in disruption handling are left to try and sort out the chaos.

It may be worth sending Air NZ a pm via their Facebook page politely seeking recompense due to you needing to be in SYD for work the next day. If that doesn't work then put in a claim with the travel insurance company stating your reasons for getting back to SYD that night & that you unsuccessfully (if that turns out to be the case) approaching Air NZ for reimbursement first prior to submitting the claim.

Yes, the MEL AirNZ staff are contractors. Most don't even wear the AirNZ uniform at the checkin counters (from memory they are Volga Dnepr or the like...)

 

[farstar]

Re: Air New Zealand

A remedy was offered and the customer didn't want to wait in line, they then chose to pay for flights out of their own pocket.

I look forward to NZ crediting you back for the flights, since you have made it clear you didn't want to wait in a queue of people

It really depends on how long I would need to wait and what appointments I would miss if it was me. Also if a whole plane was diverted there should have been announcements made about service recovery over the PA, it does not mater if it is the airlines fault or not, they need to fix it for the customer (if only for PR) as generally the customer has no control over fixing the situation. I was at Sydney International and United had a flight canceled for the second day in a row and they made a full announcement saying people would be sent to Blue mountains and Wollongong as hotels were full which is not great but at least they put it over the PA and were truthful which gives them maximum credit in my book.

 

[Milboo]

Re: Air New Zealand

December 7 = massive thunderstorms in Sydney which resulted in the airport being closed for a period and flights were diverted.

It was bad enough I remember looking at the radar (and screen shot it to share with a friend) and this is what it showed: