ATT: All Westpac Earth customers - points ripoff resolved!

[N860CR]

I know this should go in the Westpac section, but I just wanted to make sure it gets read by everyone who holds one of these products.

I've been in a long running battle with Westpac regarding the Qantas Bonus Points on the Earth product. Basically, as with most Qantas branded credit cards, Westpac offers 1 bonus point for every dollar spent on Qantas services. Westpac defines this as basically a Qantas flight with a QF flight number.

That is all well and good and works as it should when making a booking via qantas.com that originates in Australia. The problems start when making a booking that originates outside of Australia and is ticketed from another Qantas office. The example I picked up on was a booking ex AKL (however further investigation has revealed the same issue out of SIN and SUV).

To cut a very long (and I mean 15-20 hours of work!) story short, after months of lies and different stories through 6 levels of staff at Westpac, I have finally received an acknowledgement that Westpac have been breaching the terms of this product for as long as it's existed and are now "working towards" fixing the problem. Who knows how long that will take...

I have advised them that I would like to see them rectify the issue for all bookings ever made with the Earth card (I believe it's been around for about 7 years now) however have not got a straight answer on that.

I would suggest, however, that everyone who holds one of these cards and has made purchases either via qantas.com for flights originating outside of Australia or via a Travel Agent go ahead and contact Westpac and advise them you know of their mistake and responsibility to rectify the problem. Feel free to PM me if you want a direct contact for somebody at Westpac who is aware of the problem.

While it may seem all a little petty (although it has been worth a lot of points to me), I'm a strong believer in consumer rights and I get very annoyed when I see large companies blatantly ripping customers off. I hope this is able to help a few of you out.

Mods, could you please leave this in the QF forum for a day or two to ensure coverage and then it can hide away in the Earth section

 

[anat0l]

I'm a strong believer in consumer rights and I get very annoyed when I see large companies blatantly ripping customers off. I hope this is able to help a few of you out.

I'm a believer of fair dealings on both sides (consumer and goods/service provider) - not this "the customer is always right" stuff - but saying that this situation is where the provider is definitely not acting in good faith. So my hat definitely goes off to you.

If it has been happening for as long as you state (7 years or so), some people may not have kept records that long of possible errors. I am assuming you were more proactive and vigilant and have kept all relevant records.

I wonder how Westpac was not awarding points for Qantas services if it was booked on another Qantas website, when they all come into the system as QANTAS anyway. Travel agents are more difficult, because the entry on the statement would be something like HARVEY WORLD TRAVEL or whatever but it wouldn't state which airline you booked, and if it was a mixed booking (e.g. Qantas and Cathay Pacific - no codeshares), would they only apportion the Qantas extent of the charge with the bonus?

I guess you will be sending them comprehensive documentation showing all owed points with evidence. How many points are you out? And I assume you have a concrete copy of their admission of mistake (or other regulatory body detailing the fact).


Once again, well done.

 

[oz_mark]

I wonder how Westpac was not awarding points for Qantas services if it was booked on another Qantas website, when they all come into the system as QANTAS anyway.

AFAIK, these things work on Merchant ID's rather than the text of the merchant name. It is likely that Westpac have only set it up for the relevant Australian Merchant accounts. Certainly most other cards restrict it to the relevant Australian merchant accounts, while Westpac seem not to.

 

[Brettmcg]

Did they give you a timeline as to when the issue will be resolved and what customers can do about having points credited post-flight?

I'd love the 5000 points from a W booking made through qantas.de

 

[N860CR]

If it has been happening for as long as you state (7 years or so), some people may not have kept records that long of possible errors. I am assuming you were more proactive and vigilant and have kept all relevant records.

Fortunately, Westpac online stores years of statements (its either 7 or 10 years, not sure). What was very interesting, during the whole ordeal, I was at an ATM one day and my Earth card was magically eaten by the machine (first time in my life that it's happened and there was no apparent reason for it). After the cards were replaced, as it changes the account number, there was no longer a way to access my previous statements.......

I wonder how Westpac was not awarding points for Qantas services if it was booked on another Qantas website, when they all come into the system as QANTAS anyway. Travel agents are more difficult, because the entry on the statement would be something like HARVEY WORLD TRAVEL or whatever but it wouldn't state which airline you booked, and if it was a mixed booking (e.g. Qantas and Cathay Pacific - no codeshares), would they only apportion the Qantas extent of the charge with the bonus?

It seems the only merchant account that they used to recognise Qantas transactions was QANTAS AIRWAYS MASCOT AU. As soon as it charges as QANTAS AIRWAYS SG or QANTAS AIRWAYS NZ, the system does't recognise it.

Certainly most other cards restrict it to the relevant Australian merchant accounts, while Westpac seem not to.

That's correct, most banks seem to have the clause "purchases made through Qantas in Australia" or something along those lines. Westpac state: " Selected Qantas products and services are Qantas passenger flights (with a QF flight number) booked directly with Qantas". Maybe the intention all those years ago was to restrict it to qantas.com.au, however they neglected to write it into the T&C's. The official word I have from them now is that all purchases through both Qantas.com.au and overseas websites as well as travel agents (I found this interesting, I didn't raise this in the complaint at all) are eligible.

Did they give you a timeline as to when the issue will be resolved and what customers can do about having points credited post-flight?

No. The official line was basically "we'll sort it out but it might take sometime". I was told to contact them directly for future purchases to have them manually credited.

I asked as to what's going to happen to all the people who have been ripped off over the years and was basically told it's none of my concern and that they're not going to comment. It's very interesting how a banks "customer service" focus changes when you've caught them out in a stuff-up. Over the last month I've been lied to, abused, had appointments with managers "forgotten" or "missed" and have now been told basically that Westpac don't want my business anymore. I've been left massively out of pocket, however it was worth it to have a win for the little guys! Very funny how these companies play the game. It's all well and good when they've got you up against the wall, however when the tables turn their approach changes a lot!

The best option, Brettmcg, is just to call Westpac and raise it as a complaint. They will award them to you (as they know they have to) however if you have any dramas, send me a PM and I'll provide the information of who to speak to.

Anyone else who thinks they've been caught out by this over the years should just give Westpac a call. I'd put the onus back on them, they stuffed it, they can dig through 7 years of accounts and find the missing points!

I was hoping they'd come right out and set a plan in place for fixing the issue for other customers, however it seems they're still playing hardball and want to sweep it under the carpet as much as possible. I've refereed it on from the FOS to the ACCC now who will hopefully do something.